Word count: 2156

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Stephanie couldn't keep her excitement in as she heard the announcement her mom just made. She saw her mom rubbing her stomach as she announced that the Ambrosia's were expecting a baby.

"Your mom is going to have another baby, Steph!" Dixon told her with a surprised expression, tightening his hold on Stephanie's hand.

"Yes! There's a baby in my mommy's stomach." She smiled, her eyes glistening. She was happy her mom listened to her. She always told her mom she wanted a baby so she would play with it and she wouldn't be alone while watching TV or playing games. Now her mom had listened to her and put a baby in her stomach.

She gave Dixon a big hug, grinning like a Cheshire cat before slowly but excitedly walking towards her dad, who now had his right arm around his wife's waist as he guided her down the podium.

"I climbed up here on my own you know? I can walk." Monica told her excited husband with a sly smile.

"Shh. The baby needs to be protected even though it's just probably a few weeks old." Sucre told her seriously and helped her down, sending a feeling of jealousy into the hearts of several women and business investors who were present at the event.

"Whatever you say, daddy. Now you know why I was calling you daddy earlier on." She blushed shyly, her mind wandering to other places while Sucre smirked at her.

"Now I know." His eyes twinkled then he caught sight of Stephanie running over. "Slow down baby."

Stephanie hugged Monica's leg. "A baby is in there right?" she asked and palmed Monica's stomach with an incredulous expression.

"Yes a baby is in there." Sucre replied and carried her in his arms, pecking her cheek.

Monica giggled and thanked people as they took turns walking to her and congratulating her on the pregnancy. Andrew also came along with his phone raised. Apparently he had called Veronica and was filling her in on everything that was happening when Monica made the announcement.

Monica received the phone and went to her seat with Stephanie and they chatted for a while.

Meanwhile, Sucre was with Nancy Daemon in a secluded part of the building after she'd told him she wanted to discuss something important with him. Her face was ashen and he knew she was deeply upset about something.

"I think it's time I say it in words Sucre." Nancy stated with a gentle tone, looking delicate like a flower as her rosy lips moved with each word she uttered.

"What do you mean?" Sucre asked. Was she planning on doing something important or taking a big step in life that she knew he would have to know about?

"Come on Sucre. I came here all the way from New York and I even enrolled my daughter in Stephanie's school just because I wanted you to realize everything. Still you're as oblivious as they come." She shrugged her shoulders. Her jewelries glittered under the brightness of the lights and accentuated her heart shaped face.

"Well, I still do not understand what you're getting at." He shrugged with confusion morphed on his face.

"Remember when your wife left you?" Nancy asked gently. She had a delicate expression and was never pushy or harsh. That was why Sucre made friends with her when they first met.

Sucre frowned. What did that have to do with anything? "Yes?"

"You were cold and treated everyone indifferently. At that time too, I was going through depression because of Xavier's cheating and backstabbing."

"Yes. I remember." Sucre sighed and wondered why she was taking him down memory lane. He didn't like remembering the time when Monica had left him because he was a monster at that time. Her betrayal of their trust and lack of understanding in their relationship had turned him into an inhumane man.

He had wanted to go in search of her but she'd cleared all traces of her existence in New York except her things which were at his house. He'd hired private detectives that looked for her and found out she was now in Canada and they had been keeping tabs on her but Sucre made sure he worked on himself, cut himself from all his exgirlfriends and also built his empire so he could go back and take what was his when the time came.

Before their sudden separation, they had been having a rough time in their marriage and Monica kept telling him that she loved him and she still couldn't leave him for anything. It was at that same period that a jealous exgirlfriend of his shot her in their school premises when she went to see a friend. She had been in the hospital for almost two weeks and that was because the bullet only hit flesh, almost scraping her bone.

He blinked and heaved another sigh, feeling his mood turn gloomy.

"We had each other's backs and even when I was having my baby, you called my family all the way from India just to let them know how I was doing. I remember everything and think about how loving you've been since we met." Nancy explained gently and moved towards Sucre, who gave her a small smile.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and Sucre kept the smile on his face. "I'm glad I met you that day, with your heavy stomach...even though you had been planning on commiting suicide."

Monica ended the call and returned Andrew's phone. The MC had rounded the event and most people had left.

She wondered where Sucre was, realizing he had suddenly disappeared after they received some gifts from several of their guests who also congratulated them on Monica's pregnancy.

She set out after keeping Stephanie and Dixon with Andrew who was more than eager to have the two funny kids around him; especially after Stephanie sneakily told him that Dixon had asked her to be his girlfriend, much to his amusement.

He just couldn't get enough of the two kids.

Back at the other side of the hall which was currently unoccupied, Nancy broke down and hugged Sucre tightly. He wrapped an arm around her, grimacing at the sight of her tears. He'd seen one too many in this lifetime.

"It's okay. You're here now and you have your daughter to always comfort you. We are also here for you." He comforted.

"He's threatening me Sucre. He wants to get full custody of his daughter." She sniffed and pulled away.

Sucre shook his head. "No way in hell Nancy. He threw you out of his house didn't he?" Sucre's jaws clenched tightly.

"Do something for me Sucre." She sniffed and dabbed at her cheeks, her dark hair glistening under the brightness of the chandeliers hanging all over the spacious hall.

"Tell me Nancy."

"Be with me."

Sucre felt as if a bucket of cold water had just been dumped on his head. He took her hands off his shoulders, his body tensing. "What?"

"Yeah. I saw how lifeless you were all those years after she ungratefully left you. Also, didn't you tell me that night that you didn't like your wife?"

"I told you I didn't like her but I also remember telling you I loved her."

"Loved." She retorted and took a step back. "Past tense."

"No Nancy. You see the blood flowing through my veins? It's a living proof of how much I love her because she never gave up on me when I was at my lowest. It's because of her I didn't give up all these years. I could've died but she gave me reason to keep living. I can never leave her. Even when I thought I stopped loving her, my heart still beats for her." Sucre told Nancy seriously.

"She can never make you as happy as I can. She left you, remember?"

"No Nancy. You're thinking all these in the wro-"

"I on the other hand never left you and I can never leave. I love you Sucre. I-"

Sucre raised a hand, his expression turning cold and fierce which made her release a startled squeak. "Stop this nonsense Nancy. Just stop it! I love her. We are friends Nancy and I am willing to put this past us if you can just act as if you never said all these. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading back in."

Nancy looked down in shame, her tears pouring down her face as her shoulders shook. She held his hand just as he was leaving and Sucre stood still to hear what she wanted to say. Nancy was a good lady and she would make a man happy someday but Sucre knew he wasn't that man. He was happy as he was already.

His wife and daughter were all that really mattered to him.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same way Sucre. I'm sorry for trying to push myself on you. Lastly, look."

With a blank expression, Sucre turned around in suspicion but Nancy pressed herself to him swiftly, going on her tippy toes. She kissed him and wrapped her hands around his neck.

Sucre was stunned to silence. His head grew hot as fury blazed through him.

Monica was watching at the entrance where she stood. She saw them speak, she saw the witch curve her arm around Sucre and he had hugged her back earlier on. 

But she also heard his words as he literally vowed to never love another woman except her.

Her eyes burned as she watched the woman kiss her husband. She stood, transfixed. Should she run off like she did years before or should she go in there and beat them both till they were admitted in a hospital?

The kiss didn't last for more than five seconds. Sucre pushed her away and Monica felt her heart beat wildly in her chest as she stood rooted in her spot. She wasn't going anywhere. This was her husband and she wouldn't leave him for anything or anyone in this world.

"What the hell Nancy?" Sucre yelled.

"Sucre I'm sorry. I thought you would kiss me back and-"

"You thought I would kiss you back like your husband did to that girl in your presence? Not everyone is like your husband, Nancy. Face it and stop trying to ruin other people's happiness because yours was ruined. I'm leaving now. I don't want to see you anywhere around me or my family. Is that understood?!" He thundered.

Nancy screamed as tears fell from her eyes. She clutched her chest tightly, heaving as sobs wracked through her.

Sucre turned around and started marching but suddenly stopped when he spotted Monica standing at the entrance, with wide eyes and parted lips.

Fear gripped him as memories of that night from four and half years ago flashed before his eyes. She'd left him once and she couldn't do it again. He didn't know how he would survive if she left him again.

"Monica? Baby it's not what you think."

Monica's lips trembled as tears slowly fell from her eyes. Nancy was still crying behind him. Then she ran past them out of the hall.

"Sucre, I trusted you." Monica stated stiffly.

Sucre's steps faltered. She trusted him. That was 'past tense'. Did that mean she no longer trust him?

She ran towards him and he shielded himself with one hand over the woman who was a head shorter than him— his wife. Just as she raised her right hand up and Sucre was scared she misunderstood him enough to want to hit him, she flung her arm over his neck and embraced him.

Sucre's breath came out shakily as he exhaled. If he was a woman, he would have been bawling his eyes out with the emotions overwhelming him at that point.

"Baby. I believed you, I'll continue to believe you forever and ever." She giggled and wiped at her cheeks. "And when we die, I want to come back as your wife. As the one you'll kiss," she kissed him sloppily, "and make sweet love to over and over again. I love you Sucre."

Sucre's face broke into a wide grin. "I love you too baby. Let's go in. Thank you for believing me."

He chuckled and pulled her impossibly closer to him, thanking God for helping him to avoid the misunderstanding that could've occured between them again.

He needed to maintain a safe distance between himself and other women.

*

Yasss! Here ya go. There was almost a fight but thank goodness it was avoided just in time. The past almost replayed.

What do you think about this chapter? Your comments are welcome ❤️