Nine

Jameson's idea to start the second phase of the plan lingers in my mind all through the night. His butler had used a ladder to sneak me back up to my room. Luckily, Matt never showed his devilish self all through the night, leaving me to my thoughts and worries about how to proceed with the plan.

I dozed off a little around 4 am, just as the sun was about to warm the dark clouds with its vibrant golden rays.

A loud knock on the door jolts me up from the bed. Matt? It's definitely Matt, I thought. My heart starts pounding loudly in my chest as I imagine what he will do to me once he gets the door open.

"Bella? Just open the damn door!"

A jab of pain in my chest replaces the pounding when I realize it was Lauren who is screaming my name.

Another knock, "Bella? Are you in there?"

"Leave me the heck alone!" I scream through gritted teeth as the bitter memories of my wedding night flood into my head.

"Uh uh, someone's in a bad mood. What is it sweetie? Are you still crying over spilt milk?"

I march towards the door with all the veins in my body throbbing in outrage. But before my hand could reach the doorknob, I remember that I am not with the keys and wouldn't be able to do anything to Lauren. At least not yet.

I stomp my hands on the door instead, "I hate you, Lauren!!! I hate you with everything in me!"

I hear her sigh and say, "I hate you too, Bella. More than you can ever imagine."

Her words anger me more, making me slump on the floor, with my back against the door as tears start forming in my eyes.

"Who do you think you are? Getting married to a whole Davenport family? A slimy bitch like you who has nothing to offer except a pretty face."

I still can't get it. Why would Lauren be jealous of the fact that I married into an important family like the Davenports, whereas she also has a wealthy husband who is willing to worship the ground she steps on?

"Was that why you did what you did? Sleeping with my husband on my wedding night just because you think I don't deserve Matt?"

"Yes. You don't deserve Matt," she snaps back.

"Says who? You?"

"To hell with what you think I think!" she slaps her hand hard on the door, "If I say you don't deserve him, then that's it! You don't deserve him!"

I bite my trembling lips as the tears pooling at the corner of my eyes threaten to slide down my face. What exactly is making her so furious about my marriage? It can't be because of mere jealousy. Or simply because she hates me.

I stand back up on my feet, "And what makes you think I don't deserve him?"

"Look, little sis, if I say you ain't good enough for my… For Matt, then best believe that you ain't. You don't have to argue with me or ask me why you are not enough for the Davenports."

"Then I'm going to go ahead and ask you why you think I am not good enough for them?" I challenge her back.

When she takes time to reply to me, I try to stomp on the door again, but only then do I hear another voice, making my hand hang in the air.

"What is she saying?" I hear Matt ask Lauren.

"Just her usual beating around the bush and crying like the tiny whiny thing she is," Lauren replies to him.

And just then, I use all my strength to push at the door. The hard wooden thing didn't budge under my weight. Instead, it leaves a jab of pain in my shoulder, forcefully stumbling me backward until I land on the floor on my back.

The sharp pain shoots up my spine, making me scream in agony.

I am half expecting the door to open and them scrambling inside to find out what is wrong with me. However, what filters into my ear is their laughter.

Lauren mutters something I couldn't make out due to the pain still trying to wrench me apart.

The next thing that comes after Lauren's voice makes my skin begin reddening with anger. The sound of two lips smacking together in a kiss makes it worse.

"I hate you both! I hate you both!"

Not minding the pain, I get to my feet and stumble to the door. But I stop halfway when what Jameson told me the previous evening comes to my mind.

"Nonchalance. It's an offside idea, but we need to try it."

When I had given him a dubious look, he had gone ahead to lecture me on how using reverse psychology might work in my situation. If Matt knows how heartbroken I am about his betrayal, it means that I am simply giving him the upper hand to try and hurt me more.

But how do I act nonchalant when the pain of what they did is eating me deep in my soul? How do I try to act as if everything is okay when, in fact, nothing is okay? My world turned upside down on my wedding night, and the two people involved in the act are currently outside, trying to make me more miserable.

Ignoring Jameson's plan altogether, I get to the door to tell them a piece of my mind, only for the door to open right at the same second, smacking me right in my forehead and sending me striking down again.

"Oops," Lauren chuckles.

Out of the corners of my eyes, I can see that she is dressed in a floral gown and matching pumps, looking like one of the real housewives. I watch her look around the room with such disdain that fuels more pain in my head.

"Why not say whatever it is you wanted to say right to my face."

"What was she saying?" Matt asks.

I notice that he is also less concerned about my current state. So much for getting married to the love of my life.

"I told her the truth about her not deserving you, but the bitch thinks otherwise."

"You are such a green snake in the green grass, Lauren! I hope your husband finds out about everything you have been doing behind his back."

Matt slowly approaches where I am lying, "And who's gonna tell him about it? You?"

"She wouldn't do such rubbish? Who's going to believe her? Definitely not my husband, I presume."

Matt starts lowering himself on top of my body, just as I have imagined him doing all these years on our wedding night. I also fantasized about him sparking up emotions all through my body with just a touch.

Reality hits me when his large hand presses my jaw tight, almost to an unbearable painful point.

"You want to snitch on your own sister?" Matt asks with a voice laced with thick anger that keeps rising by the second.

"She thinks reporting me to my husband will make him start treating me as a misery."

"Because unlike me, you deserve such treatment!" I manage to tell her, which makes Matt land a hot slap on my face.

"You can't be serious right now!" he barks back at me.

"And what makes you think I can't do it."

"Because that would be you setting yourself up my darling. You mention anything about what you saw that night to anyone, I will cut off the deal I have with your family. You know what that means, right?"

"Dad is going to skin her alive!" Lauren screams excitedly.

Whatever hatred I have for Lauren multiplies at that point, on realizing how excited she is about the harsh treatment I am going to be getting from dad.

I have always known Lauren as the older sister who wants to be the better sister. She wants to be in everybody's good books. She is willing to impress everyone, even if it means displeasing herself. Always competing to be better than I am in everything.

All these I don't mind, except that sleeping with my husband is where she crossed the first line. Using it against me is the second dangerous line she is crossing.

Jameson's words about nonchalance pop up in my mind again. I swallow past a lump in my throat as I try to prepare myself to act on it.

"I think I will do it myself," I hear Matt tell Lauren, "after all, she is now my wife. I own her now and I can fucking do anything I want with her."

He uses a finger to lift up my chin, "You answer to me from now on. And whatever I ask you to do, you dare not refuse to do it. Got that?"

Just then, I burst out into laughter, making both Lauren and Matt's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

My laughter continues, ringing loudly at the corners of the room and echoing right back at us, even though my heart is shattering on the inside.