NICOLE'S POV

          It's been a week since we went to Chris's funeral. Ava was fine when we went home, but a mysterious call that she received after that made her act out of character. Ava seems totally not herself. I wonder who was the caller? I want to ask her about what's   the matter that has been playing in her mind, but I don't want to add more burdens to her shoulders.

          "You're going back to the dorm today correct?"

          I am startled by her sudden appearance at the door. I am just finishing packing my bags when she appears. I nod. She looks like she wants to say something but it never happens.

          "I'll send you. Just tell me when you're ready."

          Again, I nod before she goes inside the room and sits on the bed. She sighs before lying on it.

          "You look like you're having a bit of trouble? Anything you want to share?" I go to sit beside her and touch her thigh.

          "Share? All right. I'm stressed out."

          Stressed?

          She gets up on her elbow and faces me. "Tell me. Did you have sex with that dead man before?"

          Where is this coming from?! I am reluctant to answered her, but when she seems serious and glares, I comply. "We did. We were sixteen when we had our first time."

          She suddenly laughs at the fact. "How many times have you been together intimately?"

          Thats a personal question between Chris and me!

          I sigh.

"I've lost count. We'd been together for so long and recently broke up. What do you think?"

She gets up to a sitting position before burying her face in her hands as if she's crying. But, I know her well. She's not even crying. That's her way of dealing with her anger.  Why does she have to be so angry about something that will never happen again.

          "Ava ... I'm your wife now. Don't be that way." I place my arms around her shoulders.

          "I'm not completely honest with you." She suddenly says.

          What does she mean by not completely honest?

          "You've been keeping a secret from me?" I ask before she slowly nods. "What kind of secret?"

          I am curious and nervous at the same time. While keeping a composed composure knowing she's been hiding something from me after I've been so honest with her, every single scenario has been running wild in my brain as I wait for her to speak up.

          "You're actually my second wife." She says lowly, but I hear her clearly!

          I immediately remove my arms from around her and stand up from the bed with an expression of disbelief. I don't know how to react to what she just said, so I glare at this so called wife of mine. "What are you saying? Are you saying I'm just someone you go to when she's not there for you?!"

          She wants to hold my hands, but I swat her away. "No, don't say that."

          "Is that why you proposed the contract when we married each other? Was she the reason?"

          She shakes her head no.

          "THEN WHAT?! WHY MARRY ME WHEN YOU HAVE A WIFE ALREADY, YOU BITCH!"

          I can't believe I have to face another betrayal like this! I want to run away, but she manages to hug me from behind.

          "Please don't run away. She knows about you. She went to our wedding. She even sign the marriage form that stating her consent of our marriage."

          She did? So, she's not actually cheating on her first wife?

          "Wait, that's impossible. There's no way someone could be that kind towards others. You're bluffing. You don't even have a first wife right? You're trying to get back at me, right?" I laugh it off, but she doesn't laugh. Instead she hugs me even tighter.

          "I'm not lying. She's in Astor right now. She was furious when she learned about the contract we had together. That's why I tried to revoke it. Nicole, ... I'm sorry for lying to you. At first, I was trying so hard to make you hate me, but .... my heart decided to not listen to what I had to say."

          I'm her second wife? Is this even real? Why would her first wife even agree to be sharing her wife with me? Is this even reality right now?

          "Why are you telling me this now?"

          "I don't want to lie anymore. I just want to let you know the truth before it's too late."

          "Who is the woman?" I ask with bitterness.

          "She's the daughter of a duke. It's safe to say this is all a political marriage."

          I can't believe this is happening to me. What did I do to deserve this?!

          "Why did our parents force us to be together when your parents knew that you're married to her?" I ask because my curiosity is over the top now.

          "I ... I don't know ... I'm just following orders."

          I can't believe this. I'm a home wrecker. I'm a fucking home wrecker! I finally manage to release myself from her hug and want to leave her alone when she covers the door with her body.

          "Nicole. I'm sorry. I know I've been a terrible person. Please, come with me to Astor."

          What? She wants me to go to Astor? Don't tell me she wants me to meet her first wife!

          "Why should I? If you want to go just go. I'm going back to the dorm anyway." I go to my bags, but she holds them down. She suddenly kneels in front of me and grabs both my hands, begging.

          "Please... come with me to Astor. I need my wife ... you and her, together, to go to Princess Aqua's party with me. Please, Nicole. The announcement has been made. Everyone in Astor knows about both you and her."

          I've never seen her this ... vulnerable. She's really crying now. Should I let my ego take the best of me or be a woman who stays loyal to her wife? It hurts ... it hurts when she was not being honest with me since the day she said her vows to me. I fucking even told her about Chris the first hour we met!

          "Besides, she wants to see you. She wants to meet you face to face."

Her first wife wants to meet me face to face?! For what? A brawl? I really can't believe this!

          "Whats her name? I should at least know that." I ask nonchalantly.

          She gives me a sad smile when I finally given up on running away from this reality.

          "Katharina."

***

          The ride back to my dorm is awkwardly silent. She does try to talk to me, but I decide to ignore her until we arrive.

          "When the time comes, just text me. We'll go to Astor together."

          Ava nods before she closes the door.

          I watch her go before I go to the building and make my way towards my room. Inside, Mary is just sitting at her desk listening to her music and doing her assignment.She is too engrossed in her little world to even notice me.

          My heart is aching, and my brain is in a complete mess. What should I do? What should I say when we meet? How should I even act towards her now that I know I'm just a home wrecker.

          Suddenly I feel my phone vibrate, but I ignore it. It's probably Ava telling me about stuff I don't want to know again. Not long after, somebody calls me. When I finally grab my phone, I am shocked that it is my mother-in-law. I pick it up and say my greetings.

          "Ava told me. We should meet up. I am downstairs waiting for you. Let's talk over coffee."

          She's here? I go to the windows and notice she's waving at me.

          "Wait." I hang up and grab my handbag before heading out again. I have a lot of questions in my mind for her, but I don't know where to start.

          She is smiling when she sees me walking towards her car. "Come on in. We have a lot to talk about."

          I do as told and go to the passenger's side.

          She greets me with a smile before starting to drive. I never knew that someone at her age even listens to Krewella.

          "How's life?" She asks while waiting for the traffic.

          "It's fine I guess." I answer while looking out the window.

          So she decides to have a small talk before talking about the huge matter?

          I don't know what happens next, but the last thing I remember before closing my eyes in fear is her pressing the acceleration pedal with all her might making the car suddenly jolt nearly hitting the car right in front of us. She laughs as she drives passed every single car as if she's a professional racer! What is wrong with this old woman!

          "Now that we have your attention, let's go."

          I didn't even notice that we have arrived at our destination. I almost worship the ground when I'm finally out of the car.

          "Oh come on. It wasn't that bad." She chuckles before grabbing my arm and leading me inside such a high end restaurant.

          The waiter leads us to a free seat and takes our orders. While we wait, I notice she's taking something from her handbag and hands it to me.

          "A copy of the form. Proof that Katharina signed it. In other words, she gave her consent to this marriage between you and Ava. I'm sure you're wondering why your parents and both Theodore and I basically forced you two to marry each other correct?"

          I take a peek at the form, and she's right. My eyes land on a sophisticated looking hand sign on the form as well as her name, Katharina Grimaldi.

          "Your father and my husband made a deal way before both Ava and you were born. They promised to marry off their first born, so they could be a family at some point. You see they're both best buds."

          I know that already. I just want to know about Katharina's part in this marriage.

          "For Katharina, it's different. Since Ava is my first born, she was chosen to marry her for political issues. Since the Duke never had a male heir, Katharina was an only child, and she's the one who was chosen to marry my first born."

          Politics? That's the reason they were marry off?!

          Our refreshments come, and I immediately take a sip of the coffee that's in front of me.

          "If it will make you feel better, it's normal in Astor for someone to have two or more spouses. If you know what I mean." She winks.

          What?! It's normal?!

          "Also, Ava and Katharina were married when they were seventeen years old."

          I spit my coffee out of my mouth and  hit my mother-in-law's face with it. She was showing her disgusted look while wiping her face off with the tissues.

          "What?! 17 years old?!"

          She nods. "It's common for nobility to be marry off at a young age."

          I can't believe this. Astor sounds like a country filled with crazy people at this point.

          "What do they expect from this? An heir? I doubt that could happen you know."

          Aaliyah suddenly laughs at my retort. "You're funny, Nicky. But, an adoption is always an option for couples like you."

          Don't tell me they adopted a child.

          "They have a child?"

          She shakes her head no. "Unfortunately, their work would never let that happen." She replies.

          "So what? This whole meeting over coffee was just for this little talk?"

          She shakes her head no. "There's more actually. I'm sure Ava didn't tell you about this little information. So, I'm here to inform you that once you've met Katharina drama, conflicts, and rumours will invade your life. There are many people out there who want to see her downfall." She takes a sip of her drink. "That's part of the reason she's living away from Ava and even letting you to be married to her. She wants somebody to take care of Ava's needs while she's incapable of doing so."

          So what? I'm just someone for Ava to release her lust on?

          "What do you mean incapable?" I asked.

          "You'll see for yourself soon enough. Anyway, be happy. It's fun you know. You have two people to care for."

          She expects me to accept this marriage that easily? Ava lied to me about being single! She lied!

***

          "We'll be arriving in a few hours. How about we eat something?" Ava asks me when I'm clearly reading a book.

          I am about to decline, but when I look up from my book, she's already holding a tray of food in her hands. I'd feel sorry for her if I just brushed her off. "Fine."

          She smiles before placing the tray in front of me.

She's trying to lure me in as she prepared my favourite food.

          I sigh at her attempts. How can I forgive her for lying to me? I know she's been a good wife to me and never laid her hands on me, but still ... I can't ignore the fact that she lied after I've been so honest with her. She should've told me about it the moment I told her about Chris.

          "Are you mad?"

          I look up at her face while she looks at me. Ugh, why does she have to be so cute with that expression.

          "I don't know. Can I have that?" I am referring to the green beans on her plate.

          She gives me her green beans in a heartbeat.

          I wonder what kind of country Astor is supposed to be. Honestly, I'd never heard of it before this. All my life, I've been staying in Maestropolitan and never even ventured into other parts of the world until recently. I've been everywhere following this woman around.

          I'm actually more nervous about meeting this so call mysterious first wife to be honest. I tried to look up Katharina on the net, but somehow, nothing comes up like Ava does. It's like her whole existence has  been wiped out from the net. That's so weird because even I have a single trace on the net.

          Looking at this food, makes me realise I am hungry since I've been skipping my meals upon knowing the fact that I am her second wife. I can't grasp the fact that I'm a home wrecker. I wonder how did she feel when she was told that Ava is marrying me. 

How did she feel when she saw her wife, who she's been with since she was seventeen years old, kissing another woman?

          "Ava, Katharina really went to our wedding? Why did she even attend the wedding? Doesn't she feel the jealousy building up in her heart? I feel like when we meet, she probably will slap me across the face."

          Ava sighs. "No. She won't do that. I know her too well. She'll probably talk to you about some matters and that's all. But she would never use force except when it's necessary for her to do so." She explains.

          Well that's good. But, if she does resort to violence, I will happily accept it since ... I am at fault in this matter.

          We finish our food, and I continue to read my book while Ava looks through her work. Sometimes, I feel sorry for her. I've been neglecting her, and I don't feel good about it. But ... I just ... i ... can't change the fact that she lied to me ... yes I did lie to her a lot when we first married, but I came clean immediately after we were busted. But still, she's always been good to me even after I lied to her.She did yell a lot when that happened, but ... I can't forget how loving she was.

          I sigh heavily until it gains her attention. She is looking up at me when I walk towards her and suddenly sit on her lap.

          "Whoa. What's wrong?" She asks.

          "I'm sorry for being an asshole." I apologise.

          "No ... it's me who's supposed to apologise to you. I've been a bad wife, and I've been lying to you. I'm sorry." She rests her head on my chest as she hugs my body.

          I am in bliss at this moment. I soon realise that this bliss will soon end as we land in Astor. With her first wife there, I, the second wife shouldn't be in the way. Maybe I should try to tolerate this matter. Like Aaliyah said, it's common right? Who am I kidding! I probably get too possessive when i see them both together. I sigh mentally. We stay like this for a few minutes before I go to her side and hug her sideways as she continues to do her work.

          Little do I know, I have dozed off until she wakes me up and tells me that we have arrived in Astor.

          "Welcome home, Duchess Avalynn ... and Duchess Nicole I presume." I am still in a daze, but I smile at the man who spoke to me.

          Wait, Duchess? Me?!

          "Duchess Katharina has prepared a car for you both to use. It's waiting for you. Don't worry about your bags, Milady, I'll be taking care of them."

          Me, a Duchess? How is that even possible? Damn this title is really getting into my mind.

          "You okay? You look surprised." She asks when she helps me up.

          I can't tell her that the title gets to me. She'll laugh at me.

          So ... the first wife didn't pick us up herself huh. I surely thought she would be the first person to meet us since she hasn't seen Ava for so long.

          Ava takes my hand, and we both walk down to the car that's waiting for us.

          "Welcome home my Duchess." A driver opens the door for us after he bows.  "Lady Katharina apologised for not being here herself. She has a packed schedule today. But, she did tell me that she will be home to welcome you both."

          Ava and I go inside the car.

          I can't shake the feeling that this first wife seems to be very important here in Astor, and she's a Duchess to boot. Who am I compare to her? I am nothing! I'm just a student who's struggling with her grades while this first wife is a Duchess! I am so out of her league.

          "You seem distant. What's wrong? Worried? Nervous?"

          I nod.

          "Don't worry. She may be important in this country but she's a human being like us. Come on, she's your wife as well after all."

          I still can't believe that I'm in this kind of relationship. How did it come to this?