Chapter Sixty-two Estera Roberts’ POV (Present Time)

"Oh, my God those people are evil!" Ameera exclaimed.
"I can't believe they did that to you!" Ashley interjected.
"I’ve always told you guys, that rich people are weird," I said, trying to make light of the situation. Reliving that period of my life wasn't easy. I had since buried it deep inside me. And would have sworn it had dimmed in my memory. But I was wrong. Speaking about it brought all the emotions welling inside me, making me remember the intense love I shared with Evan and the pain of losing him. I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling vulnerable.
"Now it made sense why you kept Dr. Hottie at arm's length…." Ameera said.
"And why you kept your maiden name!" Ashley said, giving me an empathetic gaze.
"Maiden name?" I repeated.
"Why are you looking like that? Didn't it ever occur to you to add your husband's name to your name?" Ashley asked.
"You never did a change of name?" Ameera said.
"Whoa, what are you two talking about?" I said, letting out a peel of nervous laughter. "I am not married to Evan. We never got marr … " I stopped when the scene replayed in my head. The church, the rings, the documents and the certificate I signed. A deep frown furrowed my eyebrows. "Wait, I never did see that certificate," I muttered.
"Are you saying you weren't aware you are married?!" Ashley asked.
"Oh, my God she didn't know!" Ameera replied, answering for me.
"Did he trick you?!" Ashley exclaimed in evident indignation.
“He needn’t trick me, Ashley. I love him, he is the love of my life.”
"But how could you not know?!" Ameera said, paused and shrugged, "I take that back, I can totally imagine how you could miss that… I mean the guy is ‘Jason Momoa’ hot, and those blue eyes--are out of this world! But damn, girl! It was in a church!"
I nodded. "Yeah, it was…" I said in a barely audible voice. I had only focused on his words. He said we were pledging not actual wedding. He said he was fulfilling a promise, not the real thing. Has Evan set out to deceive me into marrying him? If yes, then why would he do that?
"You did want to marry him, right?" Ameera asked. I nodded, holding her gaze. "And how many days after he took you to the church did his father attack you?"
"About a week I think…"
"And he said your husband had earlier refused his proposal to marry some girl?" Ameera asked
"My husband…" I whispered, somewhat testing the words. Evan is my husband? Could this be true?
She must have noticed I was quite befuddled because she reached forward to cup my face and said, "He married you, Estera. That was what he did." I pressed my lips together and tears welled in my eyes.
"Why didn't he tell me though?" I said in a voice that shook with emotions.
"With what you have told us about him, and what you said his father said and judging by how pissed his old man sounded, I think Evan chose you, and he married you for a good reason," Ameera said with a warm smile.
"The only person who could explain it better to you is Evan," Ashley interjected.
"You need to talk to him," Ameera said. "You owe yourself that much. If he is a character in your past you need to end that story and if there's a possibility that he can be in your future, you need to know--for you, Estera. You deserve to be happy."
"And judging by how intense he got with you last night, I doubt he had put you in his past too," Ashley added.
"He said he loves me. In the present tense…" I whispered. "But I can't be with him. His father is a pig, and dangerous, he might hurt my aunt. And I am certain what you guys deduced about the church thing must be wrong. Because that would make him a bigamist…."
"Unless he did that on purpose…" Ameera said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, there's another way to find out…" Ashley said.
"Yup," Ameera said.
"Let's try to get you a marriage license!" Ashley exclaimed.
"A what?!" I burst out in nervous laughter. "Who would I say I am marrying?!"
"I don't know—can we use Doctor Hottie?" Ameera asked.
"No!" I exclaimed. "He can never know about this! I don’t want to hurt him like that…"
"Girl, you are married, he needs to know, so as not to get his hope up!" Ashley said.
"We don’t know that for certain… we are just speculating!" I replied vehemently.
"Okay, give me that," Ameera said as she settled down beside me on the bed and carried my laptop to place on her outstretched legs. Ashley went to snuggle beside her on the other side.
"There should be a way to search for these things online," Ameera mumbled as she started to type. And for about a minute we all went mute watching her make inquiries.
"Okay, it says here we can find it on this site, but we have to pay… let's see…" she mumbled, clicking rapidly. My heart was literally in my mouth. It was beating so fast and as a doctor, I knew that wasn't good. I needed to calm down, but I was scared of what we would find.
"His full name?" Ameera asked.
"Let's use mine instead," I said and I'm certain they could detect the fear in my voice.
They gave me a side glance and Ameera said, "You are not alone in this, Estie, you have us now--"
"If they try shit we will do a drive-by! I know people, gurl," Ashley said with a dramatic flair that got us all laughing.
"Thank you so much you two, " I said with feeling.
"We are sisters now. And sisters watch each other's back," Ameera said. I nodded with a warm smile.
She typed in my full name and waited. Shortly after the information came back with my details and stated my marital status as classified. We all gasped.
"Wait, let me try to input my mother's name…" Ameera said and the search showed Ameera's mum's marital status as married. It also listed that she had requested a marriage license years before. The details provided were thorough. I swallowed. Ameera gave me a side glance.
"You need to talk to him," she said. I nodded.
"Do you think there might be any other reason why it would say classified?" I asked as I unconsciously grabbed a fistful of Evan's jacket, pressing it to my nose.
"Yeah… are you an undercover agent or in witness protection?" Ameera asked with a raised eyebrow. I let out a sigh of resignation.
"I don't know how to face him…" I whispered.
"You don't have to do it immediately, you can give yourself time to process all these," Ashley said. I nodded
"Just remember we are here for you," said Ameera. I nodded and managed a smile.