Alec swirled the whiskey in the glass before he swallowed it all. Strong burning taste developed as the drink went down his throat. He had finished almost the entire bottle while sitting on the corner chair in his bedroom, thinking about the revelations made by his drunk wife. The burning taste was his drink was soothing down but the pain his wife had caused him was still present.
He looked at her, who was just beginning to wake up from her deep sleep. He, on the other hand, hadn't slept the entire night. The fact that his wife had too lost a partner kept him awake.
The fact that she loved someone, and that someone was not him made him jealous.

He noticed the platinum band in her left hand. He had noticed it before also but he never understood it's significance until now. It was her wedding band that she must have got from her previous husband. It was part of a promise, the other half, she must have given to him. Maybe her previous marriage would have been a better one. They both wouldn't have got married because her husband had to win a case, but maybe because they both were so desperately in love that they couldn't imagine a life without each other.
And now here she is, living a life without him, with someone else, whom she doesn't love.

They both, in the end, are in same position, scared to let go of their old love, except now he loves her and she doesn't.

But that still doesn't numb the pain. It hurts him that she doesn't trust him enough to tell him about her  past.

She stirred a little and began opening her eyes. He looked at her, the beauty she was, wondering how many secrets were buried inside her. "Good morning." He finally said.

"You are practically screaming in my ears right now." She closed her ears. Even with her secrets and her messed up hair, bloodshot eyes, he loved her and he wanted to tell her this. Maybe it would help her to open up but then.... Then he heard Melissa's voice and he stopped again.

"You haven't slept? You look like a mess." She inspected him from the bed.

"Well last night was a busy one, didn't let me."

"What happened last night?"

"You returned home. Drunk." He got up from his chair and went to the nightstand. He offered her a glass of Mrs. Norris special hangover cure. "Have this, you will feel better."

"How drunk was I?" She looked scared. "Did I say something? About where I was or-"

"I already knew where you were. Mother told me that you were on leave and since I couldn't find you, I had tracked your cell to Georgia."

"Tracked my cell? What am I, a criminal?" She shouted and immediately regretted.

"Then next time let me know where you are going. I am a business man Beth and I have rivals. I don't want you getting in trouble."

"I can take care of myself."

"I saw that last night."

"You still didn't tell me, how much did tell you?"

"When were you going to mention about your first husband Beth?"

"I told you about him?" Her skin was beginning to turn pale.

"Just that it was his birthday."

She gulped hard and set the glass aside. She crawled out of the bed and walked to the bathroom.

"When were you going to tell me about him?" He asked her again.

"I don't want to do this now." She splashed water on her face.

"Then when do you want to, because we will have to talk about this you know."

Beth turned the water on at the highest speed to block his voice. He was beginning to lose his cool. "Beth answer me dammit! When?" She ignored him. "Beth!" He grabbed her arm to make her face him. "Why didn't you tell me? Is this why you wear this platinum band?" He held her hand to point at the ring he was talking about.

"Never! I wasn't going to tell you about him!" She shouted. "Leave me," She yanked her hand out of his grip. "And yes, this ring," She lifted her left hand up, "This ring was given to me by my husband who is dead now! He died but I can't let go of this ring, just like you can't let go of Melissa! Is it a crime that I wear it? You have a problem with that?"

"No, I am not saying that but I am just hurt. I told you everything about Melissa but you couldn't even mention about your previous husband."

"Well Alec, not everyone is like you. Not everyone talks about their personal lives like you do!" She wiped her face with a towel and picked up her bathrobe from the racks.

"Personal lives? How many lives are you living Beth? What is so personal between husband and wife?"

"Unless you have noticed, we aren't the exact definition of husband and wife!" Her words wounded him. He was beginning to see a life with her but for her, they were still living a fake life.

"Then what are we definition of?" He lost his cool.

"Broken relationships!" She stared at him with defiant eyes. There was sudden silence between them. Alex couldn't argue with this. They were now becoming broken. They were broken before but now they are breaking apart even more.

"Ahem-" Mrs. Norris knocked. "Your mother and Ms. Lucy are here. That is all." She quietly slipped out of the room. Alec quickly checked his bedroom clock. His mother was coming over for a Christmas brunch at twelve. It was almost one in the afternoon.

"Now if you will excuse me, I have to take a bath." Beth pushed him outside the bathroom and slammed the door on his face.

•

"Grace!" Beth smiled towards her mother in law. "Lucy! Merry Christmas you both!" She tried her best to sound cheerful. Dressed in a red sweater and trouser, she hoped to look as Christmassy as possible.

"Beth, my god you are alright? Where had you disappeared? You got all of us so worried." Grace held her at arms length, inspecting if her daughter in law was in one piece.

"Oh nothing Grace, I had just gone to take care of some business. That is all. Don't worry, I am fine." She hugged her.

Lucy came to give Beth a hug. "Merry Christmas darling!" She held her tightly and whispered into her ear, "You okay after.... you know what I am mean.."

"Come with me." Beth whispered back. Lucy looked at her questioningly. "Room." She mouthed back to her. "I will just get your gift Grace." She turned around and bumped into a green sweater. Alec looked brilliant in his green sweater and trousers.

"Mother, Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you too, Lucy."

"Same to you." Lucy greeted him.

"Well Merry Christmas Alec. Now tell me where is the Christmas cheer in your home?"

Alec and Beth glanced at each other, wondering if evidence of their fight was so evident. "What do you mean mother?"

"Well why is your Christmas tree so barren. You both opened your gifts already, without waiting for us?" Grace teased them. They, on the other hand, had almost forgot that it was Christmas. They hadn't opened any gifts. They hadn't got any gifts. "Well, this is for you both." Grace handed them a huge box. Alec kept it aside and faked a smiled. "We'll open it later."

"It's okay. Let's get that dinning table set up and eat some food. I have got Christmas pudding." Grace pulled out another box. Beth pulled Lucy in her bedroom. "What happened?" Lucy inquired. "You look worried. You guys had a fight or something?"

"Yes, he got to know about him."

"But how?"

"I got drunk and blurted it all out last night." Beth hung her head in embarrassment.

"Are you stupid? God woman! I don't even understand why you haven't told him everything yet. How much he knows?"

"Not much. And you know I hate talking about my past. It's-" They both heard the doorbell rang. "Now who is it?" They both walked out to see Jacqueline and Hosley enter the house. Alec and Grace looked worried. Beth herself was worried. Those together could only mean one thing- trouble.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" Jacqueline wished in her icy tone. "It seems we weren't invited to the party? Now why is that Alec?" She tilted her neck and batted her eyelashes.

"Because this is a family brunch, no one else is allowed." Beth spoke, agitated with their presence in the house.

"Aww, I used to be family too Alec."

"Well now you aren't I guess." Beth wrapped her around Alec's. No matter how many fights they have, with Jacqueline in the house, she kept her guards up.

"Now, don't be so unwelcoming on Christmas day Mrs. Mason. Merry Christmas to you all." Hosley hissed. Alec pulled Beth closer to him and wrapped his free arm around her waist. He was never really sure about Hosley's intentions.

"So you have gifts for us? Because we sure do have." Jacqueline smirked.

"When did you both got acquainted?" Alec looked suspiciously.

"Well, it so happened that we both were looking for the same thing."

"And what is that?" Beth asked.

"Your gift."

"Which is?"

"Why ruin the surprise so fast, sweet Beth? Before the big reveal, why don't we have that delicious pudding."

Grace set the pudding aside before Jacqueline could take it. "Why are you both here? Clearly there is something going on that we don't know about. You are an old fried Jacqueline , I request you to be polite about your conduct."

"It so happened Ms. Mason," Hosley hissed from the back. He had quietly taken his place on the couch. "We both wanted to know more about Beth. I mean, don't we all? She barely tells anyone about anything."

Alec looked at Beth. He knew what Hosley meant about not knowing anything. He himself didn't know what all was still hidden from him. "What did you want to know about my wife counsellor? Feel free to ask."

"Oh there is nothing left to ask. Jacqueline and I know the whole truth now."

"So why are you here?"

"To tell you the truth of course. I really don't expect Beth to tell you everything from her past." Jacqueline said. "I told you she is a liar."

"I am not a liar! I never lied about anything!" Beth clenched her fists.

"Jac please, you are speaking to my wife!" Alec warned her.

"Whom you are going to leave when you get to know the truth."

"And why is that?"

"Because she killed Mels! She is the reason why Melissa is dead!"

****

Dum dum dum....

Heya! Happy new year everyone. I am back. Finally a new chapter! This was supposed to come out yesterday on first but thanks to my stupid internet, I couldn't publish it. But I am hoping, somewhere in the world, it is still first so I guess I made it.

So how did you like the chapter? Do you all like the twist? Well we have reached the climax. Write down your views and comments in the comment section. Vote if you liked the chapter and share it with your friends.

Also, Happy new year everyone and congrats on surviving 2017. Have a great year ahead people.

Love,
Alice.

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