One Last Chance

Four: Void

Trevor

She is lying on the bed seductively in her sleeping lingerie, when I walk out of the bathroom. She always does that to keep me from going to work. But she never wins any of her attempts.

"Good morning sweetheart." Her voice is so seductive, but she can't charm me. She can never do that. No matter how hard she tries.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her as I dry my hair.

"It's my room too, you know." I'm tempted to roll my eyes but I don't.

"You should be at work."

I really want to get rid of her. Less time I spent with her, the more peace of mind I get.

"I quit." My eyes shoot open.

"You what?"

She can't be serious.

"I thought I should be a stay at home wife, and take care of the kids, besides you work hard for the both of us."

She must be kidding me.

"Which kids exactly Charlotte? Stephanie is Nineteen, Sunshine is ten, which kids are you taking care of? And last I checked I have enough nannies to do the job, so get your lazy ass out of that bed and get back to work."

She always takes advantage of the fact that, I own the firm she works for to do whatever she wants. I'm not the type of man that entertains a housewife. We might have enough money, but she needs to make herself busy.

"Seriously, my lazy ass. Mind your language Trevor, remember this marriage thing was your  idea, not mine."

"But you loved it." She was so excited when I asked her to marry me. It was her dream come true. That's what she ever wanted even when I was with Annalise.

"Yea, because I love you." She sounds like she's almost crying and now I feel guilty. I don't know why I always have to be this cold towards her.

She was never in for the idea of us getting married, she knew I was in love with someone else, she's always known that. But I asked her, more of begged her to marry me.

I'm not growing any younger, soon I will be hitting the fourth stair in life, and I needed to settle down, have a family of my own, I didn't want to bring another person into my home. Charlotte is the mother of my daughter, she is the only person I trust to take care of my babies.

Life is short, I loved her once and I thought maybe I would rekindle the feelings, but I was wrong, my heart belongs to someone else.

Someone who hates me, someone who never wants to see me. She left me. I begged her to stay and give me a chance to make things right, but she still walked away. She promised not to leave me no matter what happens. But the moment she found out the truth, she walked away without even looking back.

I know I messed up, I do that most of the time, but she should have heard my own side of the story. I admit I was angry about my wife's death, I thought she had something to do with it, but the moment I found out she wasn't part if it, I wanted to make things right. That day when she was in the car accident, that was the night that I realized I never wanted to lose her, no matter what she had done. But I guess I didn't play my cards right. I lost her.

I let my bitterness and anger take over and I lost the woman that I cherished most, the only woman that I will ever love.

I waited for her to come back to me but she never did. I should have gone after her, explained things, asked her for forgiveness, but then she was arrested for Annalise's murder. I tried to get her out and hired the lawyer in the name of her father. If she had known Nelson was my guy, she wouldn't have accepted that. Then the recording, I found out Chris had sent it to a lawyer friend of his, Mr Gilbert who happens to be my old time foul. So he was so happy to represent this case. Ruin my reputation.

I'm just glad the judge heard my plea, it's what you get when you had a famous father and an influential mother.

I know I should have told Pascale about all that, but it was too late, she had already left the country, never to return.

So I married Charlotte. Though she left a void in my heart that not even Charlotte can fill it.

"I will get my job back, if that's what will make you happy." Charlotte snaps me out of my thoughts and I realize she is out of bed. She puts on her night gown and heads for the door.

"You don't have to, look, I'm so sorry. Let me make it up to you. Dinner tonight?" Her lips form a grin when I tell her that.

"I would love that." Those words make my heart skip a beat. She loved using that phrase.

Charlotte walks out happy and I let out a sight breath. I really need to work harder if I want this marriage to work.

She is an amazing woman, she doesn't deserve the way I treat her.

I know, she was complicated and played a big role in Pascale leaving me, she was just being jealous of Pascale, but I was also jealous of Joseph. Dude was so perfect for her, young and good looking, he knew her, inside out, what she loved what she didn't love, her favourite food, colour, he was the perfect guy for her, and I was this guy that was so scared of losing her to him.

The boy was smart, I knew he was going to tell her about the secret if I didn't tell her earlier, that's why I tried to separate them, but it's so hard to separate two people that have been together since childhood. About Chris shooting him and killing his father, it was a mistake, that's why I had to kill him. I know I was always jealous of him, but Pascale loved him.

I didn't know why Chris kept on with the mission even after I told him to stop. Later on Charlotte told me he was also bitter because he loved Annalise.

I never thought Lise would get to the extend of cheating on me with my own security guy. There are a lot of things about her that I never understood. I was holding on so much to her, when she was the bad person in this storyline.

When I walk downstairs, Charlotte and the girls are having breakfast. I just love how perfect my family looks. It may not be as perfect as I wanted it to be, but it's complete. She loves the children, she's a responsible wife. That should be good enough.

"Morning dad." Stephanie stands up and kisses me on the cheek.

"Morning sweetheart. You're leaving already?"

"Mmmh, I have an early class." I still can't believe I have such a grown daughter. She joined campus a few months ago and I should say she's grown into a very beautiful girl.

"Fine, have a good day and incase you need anything just give me a call." She nods and grabs her phone and car keys from the table before kissing her mother on the cheek and she leaves.

I always thank the heavens that she forgave us and accepted us as her parents, it took some time but she learnt to let go and she even calls us mom and dad. Amazing, I know.

"Sunshine are you okay?" She hasn't said anything ever since I got here, not even a good morning so I'm a little concerned. She has always been the jovial one.

"Yes dad."

"Are you sure?"

"She's fine sweetheart just let her be, come on hurry up, the driver is waiting to take you to school." I don't like the tone that Charlotte is using on my daughter. And I thought she said she would be dropping her to school on the days that she doesn't go to work.

"I'm sure she can talk just fine."

"I'm fine dad."

"You sure?" She nods and picks her bag. She's definitely not fine. I know even if I insist she won't tell me anything so, I won't push further.

"Charlotte you should drop her off." She turns to look at me like I just said the most weird thing in the world.

"Why should I do that? She has a driver for that reason." She says with an attitude.

"I said you should be the one to drive her, you aren't going to work, you should do it. You're my wife that's one of the reasons I married you."

"To do the Chauffer's work?"

This woman is getting to my nerves.

"No, to be a mother to her."

"She's not my mother." Sunshine cuts me off.

Charlotte throws daggers at her and I'm tempted to drag her upstairs and have a real talk with her, I will do that after work.

"You should teach her to respect me, I know she doesn't like me but I'm your wife now she should respect that."

I'm so not having this fight with her. This two never get along.

"We will talk in the evening, the three of us, you both have to learn to respect each other."

"She's the child here, she should learn to respect me." I fold my fist in anger and when Sunshine's eyes move to my folded fist I quickly pocket.

"I'll take you to school. Come on let's go." I grab her arm and she follows me.

"Don't forget the dinner."

Charlotte shouts after me and I roll my eyes. We won't be having that dinner.

Sunshine is very quiet when we get into the car, so unlike her. I want to enquire more, but as I said earlier, she won't tell me anything.

My phone vibrates just when I'm about to start the car.

"Tyson."

"Long time man."

"Well, you quit your job, I can't tell you anything." When I found out he lied about Joseph's death I was so pissed. So he quit.

I'm a little surprised that he would still call me. I mean he said he didn't trust me anymore because of how I treated Monalisa. From all I know, is that he got very close with Joseph.

"Let's leave that in the past, how have you been?"

"Good, why did you call?"

"Just checking up on you, we were friends in the past remember." Yea until he decided to switch friends.

"I would say we were more of acquaintances." I put the phone on loudspeaker and place it on the console as I start the car.

"Are you sure you're fine? You can still trust me."

I don't understand why he called. I admit we were sort of close, but that ended when he quit his job as my main security guy.

"I'm fine."

"Yet you never invited me for your wedding." I scoff, he's right, I didn't know he would bring that up.

That wedding was a secret, people only found out later that I was married.

"You're with them now, I wouldn't do that." I didn't want Pascale knowing about it. Seline assured me she would do everything in her power to make sure she doesn't find out. So far I know she doesn't know anything so all is good.

"She deserved to know."

"We are not going to talk about Monalisa with you."

Sunshine turns to look at me when I mention her name.

She still adores her.

"She found out anyway, let's just say she's so broken."

No she didn't.

"How did she find out?"

"You're famous, she is famous, such news spread fast, anyway, some journalist at the airport told her, you should have told her earlier, she is so broken man." When he says that my heart goes out to her. I just hurt her again.

But I thought she didn't care about me.

Wait, did he mean the airport, as in, she was at the airport?

"Wait a minute, is Mona back in the country?"

"Yea, yesterday night, thought you read the news." My hands freeze when he says that.

She is back.

"Dad Monalisa is back?" Sunshine asks and I only nod.

I hope I don't bump into her anytime soon.

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