Phoenix ✔️

Chapter 35: Unravel

"It should be somewhere here, Nicole. Give me one second," Elena says, as she looks through the boxes to see what she can. I'm crossing my arms, while tapping my foot repeatedly just to relieve my nerves a little bit more.

I can smell Persian food coming from the kitchen, with the sizzling of spices and meat perfuming the house. I try to focus on that and not the stress of trying to find my mom's diaries. "Ah, got it!" Elena squeals, as she brings out three dusty, leathery books from the box.

She blows off the dust, fans it out, and then stands up. "Here they are. Nicole, are you sure you want to do this?" she asks, as I take the diaries.

"I have to. I can't stay in the dark forever, you know. It's time to find out why she hated me so much."

Elena sighed, and then said, "Okay. Let me know if you need anything else. I'll be helping Roy cook," she says.

I walk to my room, and say, "Don't burn the house down! We all know your world famous cooking skills!" I can practically feel Elena's eyes roll, and then I set the books down on the bedroom. I take one, and flip through the pages. I look at the dates to see if there's anything that peaks my interest, and there's one that's dated around 7 months before I was born.

Something about that intrigues me. I'm curious as to what she would write so soon before I was born. I start to read, and immediately, I feel like I'm in her shoes. Just not in a good way.

(Start of Entry)

I came back home, feeling sweaty and hot from everything that Ken had done. He knew how to make me feel loved and worshiped. He knew how to satisfy every one of my fantasies, in the best ways possible. I came back home, to find the lights still on even after dark. I knew something wasn't right at all. I knew something hadn't been right for the longest time, but this was the kickstarter to my suspicions.

Anyways, I walked in, being as quiet as I could. I set my keys down, and went up to the kitchen to get myself some water to cool myself off. As I was sipping it, I heard someone come up behind me. Thinking it was Dominic or Elena, I spun around, only to see Robert standing right behind me.

I could tell that he was slightly annoyed with me, but I knew how to make it so that he couldn't ever get mad at me. "Where were you?" he asked, in a very angry tone.

I set my glass down, and said, "Out."

He crossed his arms. "Cut the crap, Tanya. I knew you were doing something else that's way more important than your husband and kids."

"Why are you so concerned about my personal life, Robert?"

"Are you kidding? I know you're cheating on me, Tanya! Dominic and Elena are wanting their mom, and what are you doing? You're out screwing every guy that you lay your eyes on! How can you betray them like this?"

I knew how to shut him up at this point. I had been planning this for a while, so that nothing falls apart. I knew this was the correct way to have a decent marriage so that I knew to have him wrapped around my finger. "I'm not betraying them with the fact that they're going to have another sibling to hang out with."

Robert's eyes widened, and he said, "Holy hell, you're pregnant?"

I nodded a little bit, and said, "Yep. And what would everyone think if you left your pregnant wife out to dry, huh? Nobody wants that."

Robert scoffed. "How do I even know if it's mine? I don't even know how long you've been cheating on me."

I smirked, and said, "I'm 9 weeks along. I only started cheating on you a month ago. It's yours, Robert. I went to the doctor's last week and they confirmed. It's yours." The look of defeat on his face was priceless. I knew that I had got him. I knew that this was the way to keep him and my kids in my clutches.