Chapter 133 - Everything Will Be Quick

"Mary, may I ask before I proceed? Does Sam know about your secret with Zara?"

Mary's hand started to shake. Few years after she betrayed Zara, the news of her death reached her. She became too guilty that she never got the courage to see her even in her last day at the funeral. She lamented for her loss in silence and at a distance but somehow, she could never bring herself to regret the sin she had committed.

"Sir, before I'll answer your question, how much do you know about it?"

"I can support it with a legal paper."

"What do you mean?"

"I gave in to her desperation and executed the plan," he answered and a smile of satisfaction spread into his face.

Mr. Dioko watched Mary's eyes widened in fear as her face turned crimson in one moment then turned pale as a white sheet in the next. She stared at him in disbelief and in the next second, shook her head as if to wake herself up from a nightmare.

"No! It couldn't be," she protested, the revelation was just too hard for her to chew. A chilling sensation ran down from her nape to her back, making her fine hair stand as the scene unfolded into her mind.

"But yes, it's me.You were both staying at a resort at that time and you were already drunk when I arrived."

Mary felt as if anytime, she would faint. Of all people, why him? She just couldn't accept and imagine herself being with this man the night she agreed to her bestfriend's request.

"Now, tell me. How much does your husband know about it?" Mr. Dioko repeated his question while shifting his gaze from her to Sam.

"I was already pregnant when we met but Sam didn't care about my past. He never even asked what happened," she stammered as with shaking lips she looked up to the dark gaze of her husband.

Mary was not numb at all that she could not feel the rising tension Sam was enduring at the moment despite his silence. His frown deepened and she felt he could break at any moment. The train of their conversation was already predictable.

"Sam, allow me to tell you what happened. Zara, my wife and Mary were bestfriends... "

____

Sarah and Mary were bestfriends, indeed. Their bond started during their childhood age. They were neighbors and were each other's only playmate. They grew up and went to school together until they were in their early teens.

When they reached high school, a cruel fate hit Mary's life. Both her parents died in a car accident and she was left at the mercy of her relatives who were all suffering from poverty.

To spare a relative from financial troubles, she applied as a working student to a male teacher whose wife had died due to cancer. Her only job was to take care of his six-year-old daughter until it was time for her to leave for her night class.

She was just being considerate enough that to add another mouth to feed would really be a burden to the family she would be staying with.

Her life went well at first and she was well-provided until his teacher's attention was turned to her. It was perhaps out of loneliness and hunger for intimate companionship that he set an eye on her. Aside from their age gap and her unreadiness for such relationship, she refused to his romantic advances. Not knowing that her constant decline challenged him and set his obsession on fire.

One night, as she returned from school, her teacher entered her room with a knife, forcing her to submit herself. If not for Zara who, unexpectedly, came over to find her, she knew she could have been molested. She shuddered in recalling that scene. What would be her shield against that glistening, sharp blades?

From then on, through Zara's intervention, her parents were convinced to have Mary live with them in their home. And perhaps out of compassion to her industry and diligence, Zara's parents also sent her to school until they both graduated in college. However, Zara and her family migrated to US and she was left alone to fend for herself.

Years passed and Zara met Mr. Dioko at the height of his success. She got married with him after some years of challenging relationship which thrived under constant battles against ambitious women. However, they were not blessed with a child and that failure caused a spike of her insecurities. They often quarreled due to her unfounded jealousy until Mr.Dioko decided to move here in the Philippines. He hoped that by allowing her to connect with her old friends and family members, her focus would be diverted to something sensible, rather than finding fault in him and brooding for her barrenness.

Due to business matters, Zara came a week ahead of Mr. Dioko. She took the chance as her vacation before she would get entangled by the hassles of moving into their new home. With no one else in mind, she called Mary and the days did not go by without her venting about her insecurities for marrying a successful man with too many women as her rivals.

"Zara, you should give him a child. The baby would make your husband stay, " suggested Mary as Zara came crying again after a phone call with Mr. Dioko.

"But how? We had already tried everything and had been to many gynecologists."

"It's your stress that causes it. Why not spend a vacation with him and relax?"

"I have polycystic ovaries. The chance of me getting pregnant is very thin."

"How about considering an adoption?"

Zara paused for a moment. An idea flashed into her mind as Mary's suggestion left her lips. Why did it occur only now? She was more than willing if it would be his child.

"Mary, I swear. I will kill myself if I'll discover someday that my husband is seeing another woman."

Mary got startled. She had just read an article about suicidal tendencies. And the warning was still clear in her mind. "Never ignore even indirect references about commiting suicide since a person saying it would really do it when opportunity strikes."

"Stay away from that thought, Zara. There must be ways."

"No, Mary. I really swear. You'll know it when I'm gone."

"Zara stop it!"

Mary reached out for Zara's hand. She was already sobbing and it tore her apart. There must be incidents in their marriage that caused her insecurities and she couldn't blame her for being irrational.

"Then help me," said Zara as she held her bestfriend's gaze with begging eyes.

"Zara, If only I could, why not?" Mary assured her, not knowing that she fell into her trap.

Zara sobbed louder as she poked herself for being so useless. "It's the price I have to pay for marrying someone like him!"

"Zara, please tell me. How can I help you?" Mary was already teary-eyed, Zara was just too contagious.

"Really? You're willing to help me?"

"Promise."

"Then sleep with my husband. All your needs will be provided. The moment you will deliver the baby, she will be mine and you'll be free."

Mary was shocked beyond words that, all of a sudden, she felt that the world had stopped spinning. She stared at her in disbelief, searching for the right words to describe how desperate her friend had become.

"Mary, I promise to do it in a less-guilty way. I haven't told you yet who my husband is, right? And I haven't shown you his photos."

"Just take a little wine and a sleeping pill and everything will be quick. I will also make it sure that he will be too drunk to remember who you are. You'll wake up in the morning and feel like it didn't happen."