The Billionaire's Second Wife

“Come on, Andy. It’s just for a night and I promise you will love it.” Andrea’s sister Rachel pleaded her with her puppy eyes. “No way, Rach. Bobby is too small to be left with a babysitter.” Andy said pulling her hand out of Rachel’s hold. “Moreover, Justin doesn’t like me going to clubs late in the night. So, forget it.” She walked out of the kitchen. “You don’t have to leave him with a babysitter. How about you call Justin’s mom, after all she stays in the next street. I’m sure she would be happy to look after her grandson for a while.” Rachel suggested. “I don’t think so. She would create a ruckus if she gets to know where you are planning to take me.” She shook her head negatively. “Well, then let us not tell her the truth. Just tell her that you are going to visit a friend, who met with an accident or something like that?” Rachel turned her around so that she could look into Andy’s face. “Please Andy, it’s the first time I’m performing in a band and I want you to be there to cheer me.” Andy heart melted looking at her little sister, “Alright alright.. I’m coming, fine?” “Yeh!! I love you sista!!” Rachel hugged her sister before running near her baby nephew. “Hey Bobby, I’m going to take your mommy away for a while. Be a good boy, okay? I promise to bring her back to you as soon as I’m done.” She kissed his baby soft cheeks loudly. Bobby giggled in response to her wet kisses. Andrea called her mother-in-law home to take care of Bobby and as expected she readily accepted to take care of her grandson. “I’m sorry for calling you so late in the evening, Sandra but I really have to visit my friend in the hospital.” Andrea apologized with a sorry look on her face while holding her hands. “Oh come on, Andy. I am happy that you called me.” She said carrying bobby from Andrea’s hands. “Hey baby, mommy will miss you.” She kissed the top of his head before making her way to Rachel’s car parked outside. Andrea let out a huge breath that she was holding for more than a minute now, “I can’t believe you made me do that..” She whined turning to her sister who was driving the car. “What else was I supposed to do? There was no way your husband and his mother were going to let you out of that house. It’s been five months since Bobby was born and they have been keeping you inside since then. You deserve such outings once in a while Andy. You don’t have to change your lifestyle just because you became someone’s wife and a mother.” She rebuked lightly. “That’s not true.. I have been going to parties with Justin..” She claimed. “Don’t even dare calling those boring soirees as parties, Andy.” Rachel rolled her eyes at her sister, causing her to chuckle. “All you get to do there is fake smile at everyone.” That was absolutely true, Andy thought. Her life had changed so much in just a year of marriage. She used to go to night clubs and parties earlier but she had to give up all after marrying Justin. He was a hotshot Billionaire in the city and she couldn’t stick to her old lifestyle being his wife.   They reached the night club in half an hour or so. Rachel pulled out her guitar from the back seat of her car before guiding Andy to the front table that she had deserved for her. “I need to go backstage now.. Will you be okay here? ” She asked her. “Don’t worry about me. I will be just fine.” Andy gave her an assuring wink. “Okay..” She was about to leave when Andy stopped her. “What’s wrong?” “All the best..” She hugged her little sister before letting her go. “Thank you.” Soon Rachel’s group walked on the stage and she was seen walking with her guitar. The crowd began to go wild as they cheered for them. The music blared from the speakers and the lead singer started singing her part but Andy’s eyes were glued to her baby sister. She watched Rachel with a happy grin on her face. They were only a year apart and they grew up as best friends rather than just siblings. They possessed completely opposite characters, right from childhood. Andy was a little reserved and shy while Rachel was wild and out-going. Nevertheless, they had all the fun in the world when they were together. Rachel was independent and bold. She encouraged Andy to do many things that she had never tried in her life before which sometimes made her husband pissed off at her. He always thought that Rachel was a bad influence on his innocent wife but much to his annoyance they were literally inseperable.   When their performance was over, the audience stood up and it took several minutes for the crowd’s hoot to die down. “You were amazing, Rach..” Andrea screamed as she squeezed her into her tight embrace. “Thank you. Thank you..” She took the seat beside Andy and ordered a bottle of Vodka. “Rachel, you know I cannot drink.” “Andy, when did you become so boring? I’m sure there’s nothing wrong if you just have a couple of glasses.” She poured the bottle’s content into a glass and pushed it in front of her. “Alright..” Andy began to sip her drink. “So, how’s it going with your new boyfriend, Chris?” “Nothing much..” Rachel shrugged her shoulders as she took another sip. “He asked me to move in with him.” “Oh my God, That’s great!!” “I don’t know Andy. I’m not very sure about this. You know how much I fear committing myself into a relationship. What about you? How’s everything going on between you and Justin” She tossed the question back at Andy. “I’m very happy with Justin. He loves me and bobby a lot. He keeps saying that we are the centre of his universe.” She said with a slight blush. “You lucky bitch..” Rachel murmured playfully at her sister, making Andy pinch on her arm. “Ouchh..” She rubbed her arm with a pout. “But seriously, I’m very happy for you Andy. I can see how much Justin loves you, it is clearly visible in his eyes.” “I know..” Andy paused. Something crossed her mind that instantly caused a cringe in between her eyebrows. She knew that Rachel believed Andy had never kept anything from her but that wasn’t entirely true. She had a secret that she wanted to bury deep in her heart and take to her grave. Andy didn’t even want to think of what Justin and Rachel’s reaction would be when they got to know about it someday. She hoped that such a day never came in her life, for it would only break her family into pieces. “What’s wrong?” Rachel asked when she noticed the sudden change in her sister’s mood. “Nothing. I was thinking about Bobby.” She lied. “Oh come on. He would have slept by now.” She pushed another glass in front of her sister before Andy gulped the clear liquid to take her mind off those gloomy thoughts.   “Oh lord.. I feel.. like the.. whole.. world.. is spinning around.. me..” Andy said stumbling on her leg, as she made her way out of the club. She looked beside her. Rachel looked kind of wasted too and she couldn’t drive her back home for sure. Andy decided to call her husband to take them back home and pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket. “Hello..” Justin spoke in his crisp voice. “Hey baby..” She stuttered. “Excuse me.” She heard him talk to his colleague. It was almost nine in the evening but she remembered that he had an important meeting to attend with his Chinese delegates. “Are you drunk?” He asked walking away from everyone. “A little..” “Andy, don’t you know that you are not supposed to get drunk when you are breastfeeding a child?” His voice was slightly raised. “I’m sorry, Justin. Please don’t get mad at me. Your mom is taking care of Booby and I came to a club with Rachel.. I..” “You went to a club?” She didn’t get to finish when he interrupted her. “Andy, have you lost your mind? How could you leave Bobby and go?” “What is he saying?” Rachel asked Andy when she heard Justin scream at her sister. “Let me talk to him..” She began to pull her phone but Andy was quick to slap her hand away. She knew how much Justin disliked Rachel and now that she was drunk like crazy, she didn’t want Rachel talking to him. “I’m sorry, I wouldn’t go to night clubs hereafter.” She muttered softly and heard Justin huff in return on the other side. She knew he was trying to control himself. “Alright.. Go home now. It is already very late.” “Justin, can you come here to drive us back home? I don’t think Rachel can drive right now..” “What?! I can drive..” Rachel protested stomping her foot on the ground. “Well she definitely cannot drive..” Justin muttered hearing her blabbering. “..but honey, I’m in the middle of a meeting and you know I cannot leave now. Why don’t you get a cab? Rachel can stay at our place if she wants and she can go home when she is sober.” He suggested. “O-Okay.. I will do that..” “You sure you will be okay?” He asked. “Yeah.. yeah.. don’t worry.” She assured. “Okay call me once you reach home, okay?” “Sure honey..” She ended the call. “Andy, we don’t need a cab. Trust me, I can drive. I barely had a few drinks and I’m not even half drunk.” Rachel kept convincing her. “No way.. You are beyond drunk and I don’t want the cops to slap us with a heavy fine for drunk and drive.” They waited for a cab but since it was very late and the club was situated in the outskirts of the city, they couldn’t get a cab even after waiting for an hour. Andrea was growing very impatient with each second. Sandra had called her thrice, saying bobby was crying non-stop and needed her. She didn’t know how she was going to face her mother-in-law in this condition. She had no other option but to let Rachel driver them back. “See I told I can drive..” Rachel giggled and turned to Andy when she started to drive on the isolated roads. “Yeah yeah.. now please look ahead.” Rachel turned the volume of the music to its fullest and started singing along with it. “Rach, please stop it and concentrate on the road..” Andrea pleaded but she turned a deaf ear to her sister’s requests and raised the speed of the car. “Rachel.. I’m being serious now.. slow down.. please.”   “Ohh laa laa laa..” “Rachel, watch out!!” That was the last thing that Rachel heard before a truck slammed into their car and everything went blank.   ****************************************************************   “Mr.Reynolds..” Justin’s secretary peeped into the conference room with a worried expression. “You need to take this call.” She said bringing the cordless near him. “Mr.Chen, kindly excuse me..” he grabbed the phone from her with a frown. “Who is it?” Other than a sorry look she gave him nothing. “H-Hello?” “Am I speaking to Justin Reynolds?” He heard an unfamiliar voice. “Yes and may I know who’s on the line?” “I’m Patrol officer, Adam Cavanaugh. Your wife met with an accident while she was coming back home.” Justin couldn’t hear anything after that. All that his mind could register were two words, ‘wife’ and ‘accident’ but they were enough to make his heart hammer against his chest wildly. The phone fell from his hold before he ran to the elevator to get into the parking lot. He drove his car as fast as he had ever driven in his entire life, skipping all the traffic signals on the way to the hospital. “My wife, Andrea Renolds is admitted here.” He informed the receptionist and immediately noticed the pitied look on her face. “Go straight and take the first right sir.” “Okay.. Thanks..” He ran to where he was directed to but a scowl marred on his face when he saw the mortuary board hanging on the door. “What the f**k?!” He cursed loudly. “Stupid woman.” She must have given me the wrong direction, he thought. ‘This must be a mistake.’ He muttered. He was about to turn around when the mortuary door opened and out walked a man in a white coat. “Mr.Renolds?” He asked. “Y-Yeah..” Justin’s whole body began to tremble like a leaf. “I’m Dr.Gerald, We are done with the post-mortem and the reports will be sent to you tomorrow morning. Now, you can take your wife’s body home.. These are your wife’s.” The doctor handed him something in a small zip lock pouch. He didn’t know what this man was saying? Wife? Post-mortem? Justin’s breath was caught in his throat when he saw Andrea parents crying at the end of the hall.  He jogged near them. “What’s going on? Where is Andy?” He asked. “Andy is dead..” Her father’s whole body shook as he said that bluntly to Justin. “What? No!! That is impossible.” He ran his fingers into his hair. “She was with Rachel when I last talked her. Call Rachel she will tell you. This is all some misunderstanding.” He argued while pulling out his phone to call Rachel. As soon as he dialled her number, he heard the shrill of her mobile in the lone corridor. Her mother was holding Rachel’s damaged phone. “They were drunk. Rachel lost control and rammed into a truck.” Andrea’s mom sobbed in between. “Rachel got out with a few wounds but we lost Andy on the spot.” ‘How is it even possible? I talked to her just a few minutes back.’ He thought. He felt like his world was crumbling into a million pieces. He held his head in his hands and stumbled back on a nearby chair. “Mr.Renolds, are you okay?” The doctor asked concernedly. Justin sat there not knowing how to react. He looked down and saw Andrea’s wedding ring and the small pendant that he had gifted her a few months ago for their first anniversary. Tears started to brim at his eyes when the cloud of confusion slowly began to clear from his mind. Just like that Andy was gone from his life, leaving behind their five months old son. What was he going to do now?