The Confrontation

Shanna's POV

Eyes wheeled to the strange woman beside Derek then back on me. The silence itself was too deafening.

"Are we interrupting something? I only did what you ask of me, brother. Barbara is here now," Derek put in, adding fire to the scene.

"You asked her to come live with us?" I let out a gasp, turning a surprise eyes to my husband.

Richard demeanor was rather cold. Like he hadn't realize what this lady standing right here had done to me at the scene of the party. Even after I had begged him to let me in on who she was. He gave out presumptuous excuses about my health.

"Derek, do take her to the room prepared for her," Richard voiced without a hint of remorse in his tone.

Turning to me, he reached for my hand. "We need to talk."

I scoffed. Marilyn must have endured a lot while she'd been with him.

How hilarious.

I swat his hand away from mine. Noting how the kids at the dinning table kept watching us. I tried a wean smile and started up the stairs to my room.

How do I continue and do not go crazy living someone's else's life?

The door went open behind me but I remained still. "Marilyn," Richard called me affectionately.

Bale rose to my throat, burning me profusely. "Please, do not touch me." I reminded him.

"Please, come sit with me." He begged.

After awhile, he went on to sit on the edge of the bed while I took my place on the stool before the mirror.

"Go on." I motioned with a nod.

"Before our wedding was fixed, Barbara came to me - she was seven months gone. She had been warming my bed even before I met you," Richard paused watching the contours of my expression.

"Warming your bed? Why didn't you just marry her? why bring me into all this?" I scoffed.

Richard stood up, brushed a hand over his head then forced himself to come to me. Kneeling before me, he took my hands. "I regret it, Marilyn. I have ever love only you. You're the star that light my way_"

Closing my eyes briefly, "can you stop with that, please?"

I wasn't interested in hearing how deep his love was for me. The disgust that ran through me was more than enough to steer from him.

Richard cleared his throat, embarrassed by my words. "I didn't believe Barbara could be carrying my child because I had been sterile for far too long."

Immediately he said that, my eyes sought his. 'He could be lying to me, don't listen to him,' my head said to me.

"But the doctor confirmed that it could be my baby. I neglected the advise because I had been careless. Barbara threatened to reveal this to the press, and that was exactly what she did." He finished.

My breathing slowed. Would Marilyn want an abrupt divorce after discovering that her husband has another woman? That very thought wrecked within me.

Afterall I still haven't found out Marilyn's killer. I still needed to find out if actually Eucharia was the one who had tried to kill her.

Leaving would make no sense. My life could be in more jeopardy than it already was.

"What do you plan to do?" My voice was calm.

Richard's brows arched as he reached for my hands again. "The press had tainted my reputation. But I want to redeem it. Barbara will remain here until her baby is born. Until then we will discover if the child is mine."

Was he more concerned about his image than what I was presently going through?

"And if the baby is yours?" I asked him.

"I will set up a separate quarters for her and the baby. You are still my wife and will remain so." He replied.

"I still remain the lady of this house." I relayed.

"Hundred percent." He smiled as he confirmed.

*********

My stomach quietly growled, reminding me of how I'd avoided breakfast. I took the stairs noting how the kids played in the living room.

The moment I walked past them, everyone paused. Eucharia and Barbara who had been talking looked over at me.

I ignored them and went about my business.

"Perhaps you should prepare something for us all." Eucharia walked into the kitchen.

"The maid can do that." I said, ignoring her as I picked a saucepan.

"Aren't you the lady of the house? And Richard praises you for your remarkable cooking skills." Barbara followed after her.

I looked up at her. She was wearing a woolly free dress while her hair flowed freely behind her.

"That's why we have a maid for that." However pissed I was by their comments, I preferred to stay calm.

Like me, Marilyn must have loved to cook. We were more than doppelgangers; we were indistinguishable. And that was precisely why Jaime wanted me to take Marilyn's place.

"You are rude and uncouth. I clearly told Richard that you would make a bad wife." Eucharia was in my path in no time.

I inhaled deeply. This was no time for trouble but they clearly wanted one so badly.

"Can you step aside?" I met Eucharia menacing gaze.

"We can teach her a lesson, Eucharia. I'm the one with a baby and I need all the care. If she won't do your bidding, we can make her." Barbara had a sly look on her face turning on the tap by the zinc.

Anger surged through me. "Your baby?" I fired, "well, how do we know if it isn't a fake pregnancy, trying to string Richard to your whims.."

Eucharia surged forward, her gaze spitting fires. She caught my hair. I yelped out trying to push her away.

Barbara was quick to catch my neck. How she was so swift to do that? I didn't know.

"Shove her head into the zinc," Barbara suggested.

Eucharia nodded to that. And the two women forcefully slammed my head into the zinc which was filled with water.

I tried to push off the women but the strength of the two women dwarfed mine.

I tried to scream. Water sloshed into my ears, nose and opened mouth.

My hands flailed.

It felt like death.

Was this how Marilyn died?

"This will teach you a lesson never to be rude to me!" Eucharia's voice croak above the water.

"Do it well, Eucharia. She will never speak to you in such manner ever again." Barbara fanned the coals.

My mind was blank. And the more I tried to fight for control, the more their strength overshadowed mine.

Where was Richard?

Was no one going to save me?

Footsteps raced towards the kitchen. Someone was coming.

"What is going on here!" Richard thundered.