Uncovering the truth

New York gave us a cold welcome when we arrived. With December hasty rolling in, the chills got colder demanding heavier sweaters from New Yorkers. I reminisced about the brief memories Damien Jaeger and I had made in Sydney, Australia. We had visited the parks, explored the feisty wildlife and spent a long night on a yacht overlooking the open sky. The heavens had decided to favour us that night and withheld the rain, giving us a cloudless night sky.

"What are you thinking about?" Damien Jaeger's husky voice called my attention.

I turned from the window of the Rolls Royce phantom to look at him, "These past few days." I said, "Everything changed so fast, I can almost not believe it."

Damien Jaeger enveloped his palms on my hand and slowly pinched me, "Ouch!" I exclaimed, "What was that for?"

"It's not a dream, Mélie. It's real." He said, "Even though it feels like a dream."

I smiled at him, "You could say it's a dream come true then."

The rest of the ride home was spent in each other's arms while Gray drove the car. I could swear I caught him stealing glances at Damien Jaeger and I.

Walking into the mansion side by side with Damien Jaeger, I felt a wifely pride in me and anticipated seeing Ella and Stacy. A part of me however, held sympathy for the poor kids who had already gotten attached, thinking they are all sisters.

"Welcome madam, welcome sir." The house staff gathered to welcome us.

"Where's everyone else?" Damien Jaeger inquired, returning to the autocrat I've always known him to be.

"Ella went out for work. And so did Stacy." A worker explained, "However, Natalie is with the kids in the game room."

Damien Jaeger nodded then turned to me, "She needs to know before the others."

"You can go up to your room to have some rest, I'm sure you are exhausted."

I wanted to protest but thought it better than to over-stress myself while I was still healing, "Okay." I answered like an obedient little child and watched him strode towards the direction of the game room before finally heading to the elevator to my room. I was itching to see Darcy again. I missed my little princess.
~

"Mommy!" Darcy's excited voice nearly startled me.

I sat up from bed with a wide grin on my face as she pounced on my still fragile body, "My Baby!" I exclaimed, "I miss you so much."

"I miss you too!" "Mommy Natalie said you fell ill."

"Natalie?"

"Shhh." Darcy said suddenly, "We're not supposed to be loud."

"Wait." She drew back in confusion then her eyes sparked with realisation, "I'm not supposed to be loud."

"Sorry mommy, I forgot."

I couldn't help but laugh at her childish innocence, "It's okay, sweetie. I can never be mad at my princess."

A head peeped through the door, "Mélie."

It was Natalie, wearing an anxious look on her face.

"Natalie!"

"How are you feeling now?" She asked, "Heard you fell off the stairs or something.

It wasn't the stairs, Natalie. It was 'or something'.

I flashed her a smile, "I'm fine, Natalie."

"Alright." She replied with relief, "You should rest then."

"Natalie?" I called her as she was about to close the door.

"Yes, Mélie?" She asked. Our eyes met and she understood my concerns, "We'll talk later, Mélie.

"Mommy, you fell down from the stairs?" Darcy said after Natalie had closed the door.

I lowered my head to meet her and my nostrils inhaled the bubblegum fragrance of her hair cream, "Mommy fell but she's okay now."

"I love you, Mommy." Darcy said and planted a kiss on my cheeks. If only she knew how much more I adored her!
~

Ella, Stacy, Natalie, and I sat in Damien Jaeger's private living room awaiting his arrival to the meeting he had called. The room was large- far too big to be a private living room. But the setting gave off the fact that it was indeed made specifically to suit the taste of its owner; long dark curtains covered the 2 Windows in the room. The walls weren't coated in marbles but instead of very dark tinted glass. 4 couches sat spaced out from each other with no centre table. At one side of the room, a winery sat with exotic drinks arranged on the shelf. The other shelf at the other side of the living room held a few books.

Damien Jaeger's arrival in the living room ended the survey I was using to distract myself from the deadly glares of Stacy and Ella.

"How was Australia, Damien?" Ella chirped excitedly.

"I didn't call you here to tell you about my business trip, Ella." He said firmly and she quickly withdrew.

My eyes traced down to his hand and it was then that I noticed that he was holding a file.

"Why'd you call us then?" Stacy asked.

"If you would just shut up and listen, maybe you'll know the reason." Damien Jaeger said with a composed aggression. Stacy lowered her eyes on the floor.

I looked at an anxious looking Natalie who tried in vain to hide the expression on her face. She already knew everything.

"You have until tomorrow morning." Damien Jaeger said.

Everyone else looked confused.

"...to leave my house." He completed his sentence.

Stacy laughed a mocking laughter, "You finally got tired of the whores, huh?" She crossed her pyjamas clad legs, eyeing me, Natalie and Ella.

"What are you talking about, Damien?" That was Ella, "You're kidding, right?"

"You know I don't make jokes, Ella." He replied with a straight face, "Stacy, this evacuation also includes you."

"What?!" Stacy said in a near scream.

"None of you are the mothers of my children."

Stacy batted her false eye lashes dramatically. She knew she was guilty. However, she feigned oblivion, "Damien, how can you say something so bizarre?"

"Damien, do you really think I would have a reason to pin a pregnancy on you in the peak of my career?" It was Ella's turn to talk, "I mean I wouldn't be surprised about Stacy but-"

"Don't you dare, you whore!" Stacy cut in furiously.

"Enough!" Damien Jaeger's voice took me off-guard, sending chills down my spine. Stacy and Ella seemed to have suffered the same effect.

He threw the file at them and several papers flew open. A gasp escaped a guilty throat with eyes bulging in unforeseen shame and paranoia. Through the well lit room, I could catch a glimpse of what was contained in the file; the entire truth they thought they had been hiding. Pieces of evidence from DNA tests results to house addresses to racy pictures and cunning setups.

"Can you explain?" Damien Jaeger's voice thundered, more furious than ever. Ella and Stacy resembled the unliving. Or had they really died when they saw that they had been discovered of their treachery?