Chapter 1 The Beginning: Deception's Web

• ‘I am pregnant’, Sophia said, with a smile on her face and her voice filled with mix of excitement and apprehension.
• ‘What? Is it for him?’, Richard asked, with a sharp voice, his voice narrowing in suspicion.
• ‘No, it’s for you. It has been two months since he touched me. You are the only man who had sex with me of recent and I am just two weeks gone’, Sophia said, with her words hanging in the air, expecting Richard to say something.
• ‘This is not the right time for you to be pregnant for me. If it is for him, that’s fine, as it would hasten up our plans but not for me’, Richard said, with a dissatisfying look on his face.
• ‘What the hell are you trying to insinuate now? Are you trying to tell me to get rid of my baby?’, Sophia asked, with her confusion turning into anger and trying to decipher what was going on in Richard’s head.
• ‘You will have to do that if there is need for us to do so. Edward can’t know about our relationship now. We are just a few steps away from achieving our aims and we can’t let all these get ruined by this pregnancy. Once we find a way to make all he and his family have become ours, then we can make our relationship open and have as many kids as we want. Try to understand me, Sophia’, Richard said, in a pleading and strained voice.
• ‘I do understand your point, Richard, but we can’t just kill our child because of the goals we are trying to achieve. We can have Edward under our thumbs without us killing our baby. I can make him believe the baby is his and he will be so happy to hear the news. He has really changed towards me in the past two months. He has been showering me with all the love he had never shown me before, since we got married. He took me out on a date last week and he even discussed with me about having a kid together. He will be so happy if I tell him about the pregnancy. He will raise the kid thinking it is his and eventually will all his property to him. Him doing that, is also a way of us achieving our aims as soon as possible. I think that’s a better way to go about it than killing our child’, Sophia said in a pleading voice, trying to convince Richard.
• ‘It is a good idea but are you sure mom will agree to this? She is hell-bent on us carrying out our plans as soon as possible’, Richard asked, with his eyes searching Sophia’s face.
• ‘I am sure she will agree to this. She is your mother but why do you find it difficult to talk to her? She will agree to this, as I am carrying her grandchild, and she won’t be in support of me aborting the pregnancy’, Sophia said, moving close to Richard with a lustful look on her face and dragging him close to her.
• ‘Are you not happy with the fact that I am carrying your child or is it that, you do not love me anymore?’, Sophia asked, Richard caressing Richard all over his body with her hand.
• ‘You know I love you and you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Thank you for being in my life and thank you for fighting my cause by getting married and sleeping with the man you do not love. As for our baby, I promise to love you both always and I can’t wait to live in with you both as a family’, Richard said, smiling at Sophia with Sophia returning the favor.
• In no time, their lips met, kissing passionately and making out.
• Edward witnessed and heard all their conversations and there he stood still, not knowing the decision to take; whether to turn back and leave or to enter Richard’s room, so the duo would be aware of his presence. He could not believe all what he had heard and the fact that both his best friend of 5 years and his wife of 6 months had just betrayed him. He never expected such from them and he felt his heart breaking into pieces upon the scene he had just witnessed.
• As he turned around to leave, his legs were heavy for him to carry but he forced himself to carry them, walking away with a heavy mind and a heart that had begun to fall in love and had just been shattered. His hopes of having a happy life with Sophia so she wouldn’t end up like his mother, Catherine, just got shattered. He got into his car and as he drove off, he began to reminisce on his past. He remembered his life as a child, which wasn’t a pleasant one for him and his mother.
• His late mother, Catherine, got married to Daniel (Edward’s father) at a very young age in the city of Los Angeles. Catherine, Daniel, Liam and Molie grew up together as childhood friends, and Catherine had since childhood been in love with Daniel, but Daniel was never in love with Catherine, as he was so much in love with someone else. Both Daniel, Liam and Catherine came from a well-to-do family, but Molie didn't. Liam was actually Daniel’s younger sibling, whom Daniel believed their father favored more than him. As they grew, Catherine confessed her feelings to Daniel who turned her down as he didn’t have any feelings for her. Catherine couldn't give up on her feelings for Daniel and so, she kept on trying so hard to get Daniel’s attention, but none of her tricks worked as she kept on getting rejected each time. On the other hand, Liam was madly in love with Catherine and when he made his feelings known to her, he was turned down. Not minding the hurt that came from Daniel turning her down every time, Catherine kept on loving him and hoped that he would be HERS one day and magically, the day came, and she walked down the aisle with Daniel, not being able to contain her joy.
• Daniel's father’s company was on the edge of going bankrupt and the only saving grace for the Lion’s company to be saved, was to merge with the Clinton’s family company. Jackson Lion (Daniel’s father) sought for help from his friend, John Clinton (Catherine’s father), to save his company from going bankrupt. The Clintons agreed to merge with the Lions if their children would get married to each other. This condition was proposed by Catherine to her father, as she had thought that was her only opportunity and avenue to make Daniel hers.
• The Lions had no other option than to accept and forced their first son, Daniel who never loved Catherine and loved someone else, whose identity Daniel didn’t disclose, to get married to Catherine. Catherine was all over the moon on her wedding day, as her wish finally came true and she was walking down the aisle with her dream man. As they exchanged vows, Catherine put on a satisfying smile, knowing she had finally gotten a hold of her dream man but Daniel on the other hand, was devastated and seeing the woman he loved watching as he exchanged marital vows with another woman, really hurt.
• Life with Daniel after their wedding was not what Catherine had anticipated. She never got Daniel’s attention as he barely came home. He was most of the times at his secret lover’s place, whose identity was unknown. Daniel ignored her totally, making her devasted but she found solace in their friend, Molie, who kept on encouraging her that Daniel would change and finally fall in love with her one day. Two years went by and still yet, Catherine hadn’t gotten Daniel to fall in love with her and his attitude kept on getting worse. Catherine thought if she births Daniel’s child, maybe he would change his attitude towards her and then, she decided to get pregnant. The question then was – How was she going to conceive, when Daniel hadn’t touched her since they got married? She thought over and over again, on what to do to make him make love with her and then, she devised a plan which actually worked out for her.