The substitute bride

Chapter 4

It has been exactly two months since Petra got married, and Bryan was still in a coma; nothing had changed.

Petra's life continued the same as before, but it was a little more bearable. She prohibited Emma and her father from coming to her house, and that was one of the best things she did, as now she had neither Emma to tease her nor her father to humiliate her or tell her what she should or shouldn't do. Rebekah sometimes visited her daughter-in-law, and for Petra's luck, she never stayed long. But whenever the woman left, she always made Petra feel bad with her malicious comments, which she made no effort to keep to herself.

Rebekah always spoke ill of Petra’s body and appearance, making comments like, “You’ve gained some weight, you need to lose it,” or “You need to go on a diet, or you’ll get fat.” Sometimes, Rebekah criticized Petra’s haircut or her clothes. These comments drove Petra crazy, but she only took a deep breath and said nothing; she didn't want any more problems, especially with the witch that was her mother-in-law.

Petra was studying at home, as she was in her last year, so they hired a private tutor for her. All of this was her mother-in-law’s doing, who said that she couldn’t go to school or leave the house, except to visit her husband. She was now a married woman to a famous man, and she couldn’t be out much; she had to stay out of the cameras and avoid gossip or any news about herself or the marriage. Petra could also not say anything about her marriage or even about Bryan himself; Rebekah would steer clear of anything related to her son that could harm him.

Thus, Petra could only go to the hospital to see her husband. During these two months, she went to the hospital three times a week and stayed in the room where Bryan was, just sitting in silence, doing nothing.

Until today...

Petra was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs next to the hospital bed where her unknown husband lay in a coma. She held his hand as tears ran down her face.

She needed to talk to someone, and she felt strange confiding her secrets to a man she had never seen before, but she felt she needed to unburden herself. So she grasped his hand and began to speak:

—I don’t know who you are, but I need to talk to someone. My sister is so mean to me. She humiliates me all the time, ever since we were little, and I never understood why; I’ve never done anything to her. Emma has always been jealous; she always influenced our father to turn against me, since we were kids, but now that we’re adults, she’s getting worse and worse. I’m at my breaking point; I feel like I’m going to do something crazy and end all this suffering at any moment.

Petra let some tears spill down her face as she continued to speak.

—And my father... he’s horrible to me too. He always compares me to my sister and makes me feel like I’m not good enough. No matter what I do, it’s never enough for him. — She sighed and continued — He blames me for my mother’s death; she died giving birth to me. Since then, he has rejected me and only kept me around for his own benefit, like this marriage...

She sighed and squeezed the hand of the unknown man.

—I didn’t want to get married. I was forced into it by my father, and now I’m trapped in an unhappy marriage, in an unhappy life. It feels like my life is completely out of my control. — She smiled, shaking her head. — In fact, I’ve never had control over it; I never had a choice. I just had to accept what my father chose for me.

Petra paused and fell silent for a moment, gazing at the unknown man who remained motionless in bed.

—I know I can overcome all this. I know I’m strong enough to deal with it, but sometimes I feel like I don’t have the strength. I have no one to talk about these things, so I’m talking to you, my husband, but even so, you’re a stranger to me. I hope you can hear me.

Petra kissed the man’s forehead and stood up to leave the room. As she walked out, she felt a little lighter, as if she had released part of her worries from her chest.

…

Petra left through the service area and walked toward the garden, holding gardening tools in her hands. She was tired of just sitting around doing nothing; sometimes she read a book, but she needed to do something different.

So, on a curious inspection of the house, she found the gardening kit, and since Petra loved plants, she decided to take care of the garden, planting some roses to bring life to that house. She asked the driver, Joseph, to go buy seeds for her to plant since she couldn’t go out.

With the help of a rake, Petra began to prepare the soil, leveling it out and getting everything ready for planting. Now, with a small spade, she made little holes to place the rose seeds, which were varied in both species and colors.

After planting, Petra grabbed a watering can and started to water everything. Now she just had to wait for them to grow, but the work wasn't finished; she would have to keep taking care of the plants for them to grow beautiful and bloom even more beautifully.

From a distance, Rebekah, Petra’s mother-in-law, watched the girl happily working with the soil. Petra was now completely covered in dirt and sweat, but she didn’t mind; the feeling of taking care of the plants was relaxing on so many different levels; she felt joyful. However, Rebekah didn’t like that; she didn’t want a dirty daughter-in-law; she wanted a refined and elegant one.

She needed to take drastic measures to make Petra change her ways, and Rebekah was going to shape Petra into the woman she wanted, making her a chic and refined lady. So she left Petra’s house without her noticing and went directly to the mall, where she would buy new clothes for her daughter-in-law.

—Mrs. Petra won’t like this, —Joseph said. — She’s a simple girl.

—Employees shouldn’t interfere in the lives of their employers, so just be quiet, —Rebekah said, making Joseph stay silent and simply follow the orders he was given.