My Wife Is A Stranger

Chapter Seventeen - Him

(A year and a half after Tristan signed the divorce papers and failed to find out information about the receiver,)

On the deepest part of the forest a little far from Dasmarinas, there’s a sacred forest where only people of the Crestfallen know.

A few people were starting to gather in that place since everyone’s trying to contact everyone to come back to the Kingdom since their Queen has returned, but she is not ready to take her place at the top just yet.

She was determined to be strong and train together with Timothy to be fitted for her position in her Kingdom. He thought she was good and acted just like her father before.

He doesn’t want to claim the throne until he feels like he’s suited to it and now, her daughter’s acting the same way as he did.

Timothy smirked, Clara is a smart and skilled fighter, her instincts are more accurate than animals. He thought she was going to have a hard time since they all waited for her to be okay after she gave birth to her eldest son.

Yes, Clara found out that she was pregnant for weeks after she left the hotel, she couldn’t believe that she was carrying Tristan’s baby.

After she arrived at her Kingdom the year after she left, she learned about all of the things that had happened in the past.

Her parents are the King and Queen of Crestfallen, Vladimir and Lowella, and the parents of Tristan.

She decided to reflect on it because she just couldn’t believe that’s what happened to her parents in the past and Tristan’s parents were killed because of them.

But Timothy decided to let her understand that they didn’t do that because her parents forced them, but they did that to wish them a good and happy life with each other of their own will.

Clara was still shocked at the information that she had learned for months, she cried for who knows how many weeks and was about to start her training when she got sick.

She was nauseous, smells her favorite food weird, and was moody. Timothy at first, thought it was just the effect of leaving her husband, but that wasn’t the case, so he decided to call for doctors.

After finding out that she was pregnant, everyone rejoiced, especially Clara.

Having her baby was the only one that kept her sane despite all of the stories she heard from Timothy in the past, the baby she conceived after making love with the man that she loves, which is Tristan.

But now, Timothy’s having a hard time getting Clara back on her feet, which is odd since she never misses or always dodges the hits he’s been giving to her.

“Clara, you have to stand, you can’t change if you keep receiving my blows, you can block it, I know you could,” Timothy firmly said while playing with his baseball bat.

She didn’t answer him as she kept gazing from below, she was crying inaudibly and thought the pain would disappear after receiving a few hits from Timothy.

“Queen, I’ll call you Queen again if you don’t stop moping there like a child,” He warned before taking out some cigarettes.

She sniffed before she slowly stand up from the ground, “I-I got the envelope that you sent to me yesterday,”

“Oh? And what about it?” Timothy asked before sighing, it’s about the papers that he almost failed on getting.

He found out that ‘The Bible and Angels’ were trying to find out who will get the divorce papers.

Luckily, he tricked one of the employees into not going to work and exchanged him with someone he knows from Crestfallen to retrieve it on a busy day where they won’t notice who took it without the details needed.

They were good, but he knows that he’s much better than them, he knows how they think after all except for Clara’s husband, ex-husband rather.

“H-He finally signed the divorce papers huhuhu! Do you think he doesn’t love me anymore?” Clara cried while hiding her head in her knees.

Timothy just watched Clara bawling her eyes out, all she did ever since she arrived in her kingdom was to reflect from the past, cry secretly, train, and take good care of herself and her child during her break time.

Her son, Xavier Jay was almost five months old and he called for a babysitter so that Clara could rest after her training. She insisted on taking good care of him sometimes, but Timothy kept reminding her that she had to train.

She’s been pretty preoccupied ever since she came here, she’s trying to understand everything about her kingdom, “Is this the reason why you’re acting up?” He asked and sighed when Clara didn’t answer him.

Even if she didn’t answer, he knows that her answer is yes, so he thought why did he even bother asking her about it?

“I already explained that this should happen, you have to protect your husband right?” He reminded her, so Clara just bit her lower lip before nodding.

She knew it had to happen, but her heart aches every time she thinks that Tristan signed this without hesitations.

“Do you think…he signed that without hesitation?” She bit her lower lip, so he shook his head at her.

“I highly doubt that, he was also determined to see who’s going to receive his response from the post that he let his people stay there for days,” Timothy informed, so she clenched her fists.

She misses him badly and she’s so worried about him after hearing his state after she left. Timothy promised to give her recent information about Tristan. 

Even if she isn’t there physically with him, she wanted to be sure if he’s alright, “I-Is he…okay?” She whispered, so he just looked at her intently before nodding.

“No one’s going to be okay after the woman that they love left them,” Clara almost flinched with his reply, “But that man has a tough shell, he’ll be fine,” He smirked.

“But you said he got addicted to drinking, is he alright now?” She curiously asked, so he just nodded at her.

“He’s doing well now and trying to achieve his sobriety, so never mind the divorce papers, that’s just for the play, if the time is right, you can go meet him again,” Timothy casually sat beside her.

“And maybe, both of you will get married again someday inside of this Kingdom,” He sincerely added.

Clara sniffed before shifting her gaze at him, “Y-You mean it?” She mumbled, so he just chuckled before nodding at her.

“Why would I lie to my Queen?” He playfully winked before standing up and pointing the baseball bat at her head, “Now stand up because we're going to have harsh training today because of your behavior,” 

Clara whined after she heard his statement, but she just sighed before she decided to train with him again.

Her son is about to wake up soon and she wanted to be there when that happens even if she had a babysitter.

***

(Present time)

“Uwa! Uwa!” Clara winced after hearing that her son was crying, she immediately rubbed her eyes and went to the crib to check on him.

“Shush, shush, there now, why are you crying?” She whispered before carrying him up on the crib.

Clara softly patted his back and swayed her body slowly to put him to sleep again, she then looked at the calendar and almost gasped after realizing that it’s been two years ever since she left Tristan.

“Did you know that it’s been two years, baby Xavier?” Clara asked, but he didn’t answer her since he was already asleep.

He’s about to turn one in the next few months, but he can already walk and speak a few words. She felt really bad that Tristan wasn’t here to see him grow up this fast.

But she had to do this to protect herself for her to look after the people that she loves, “H-Hubby, I miss you,” She mumbled with tears streaming down her cheeks, she also trained herself to be tough emotionally, but every time she thinks about Tristan, her heart breaks.

The years she’s been here weren't that hard because of her son except for the training she’s been having together with Timothy, she learned a lot from him with the skills and the past, especially the fact that Tristan’s parents were killed because of her parents.

“D-Do you think your father could forgive me or my parents for losing the people he cares about at such an early age because of them?” She whispered, but the only thing that she heard was the sound of her son breathing in and out soundly.

“The sole reason why he grew up alone and experienced such a harsh childhood was because of my parents, he’s avenging their deaths because of us,” She closed her eyes while biting her inside cheeks.

“I don’t know what I’ll say to him if I ever see him someday,” She whispered before sniffing and shaking her head.

Nothing good will happen if she keeps on moping, she has to be tough, so that one day if she ever meets Tristan again, she can protect him too herself confidently.

“I hope you’re doing fine, hubby,” She whispered and decided to place her sleeping son on the crib before pacing towards her desk to write in her diary again.

Clara kept notes of the days she’s been away with him, she can’t believe that it’s almost been two years since left him.

A knock from the door interrupted her from writing, so she composed herself since she knew who it was from the outside.

“Timothy? What brings you here?” Clara inquired after she opened the door, she was then greeted by the calm face of Timothy.

“Queen, your husband’s in danger,” He casually informed, so Clara invited him inside of her room.

She also couldn’t understand why Timothy still calls Tristan her husband when her civil status right now is single because she divorced him.

“W-What do you mean? Why is he in danger?” She worriedly asked so he gave her numerous folders.

Clara decided to check it and noticed that it was Andrea Lopez’s picture, “Why do you have pictures of Andrea Lopez?” She was confused before looking at him.

“I heard from our people observing underground that Vladimir took care of her when she escaped, I think she’s plotting something to get your husband and kill his people,” Timothy informed, so her eyes widened.

“W-What? I should go help him,” Clara was about to leave her room when she was stopped by Timothy.

“You can’t go out there yet Queen, a lot of eyes are spying everywhere to look for the Queen of Crestfallen, you have to be aware of that always,” Timothy reminded her, so she just clenched her fists.

“T-Then how am I going to help him? I trained to protect myself, this kingdom, my friends and family,” Clara sounded frustrated and Timothy understands how she feels.

“First, there’s something you need to do,” He smiled, so she furrowed her eyebrows before tilting her head.

“What do I need to do aside from getting out there to help him?” She confusingly asked, so Timothy took out the crest of their kingdom from his pockets and revealed it to her.

It was the familiar crest that she has been seeing before when Timothy tries to protect her from danger, the shield-like crest that contains a design of a cross and wings.

“Accept your role as our Queen, you’ve been trained enough and it’s just right that you accept it,” He informed, so her eyes widened.

She almost forgot that she didn’t pledge yet to accept her role since she insisted on getting stronger first before she proved worthy of that position.

“Am I truly ready for that?” Clara wasn’t sure if she asked herself or Timothy, so he just smiled before kneeling before her.

“Queen, I’ve trained with you for the past two years you’ve been here, I thought we might take a lot of time to get you stronger, but you prove me wrong,” He stated, so she almost panicked because he’s kneeling right in front of her.

“Timothy, stand up please,” She requested while biting her inside cheeks, she feels anxious every time some of their people do this to her.

“You’re much stronger than me, your husband, and everyone that’s going to try to destroy you, I claim that,” He mumbled before raising his head and offering his hands to her.

“Be our Queen and lead us, we’ll promise to obey your orders no matter what,” He added while looking at her intently.

To be continued…