Not A Trophy Wife

Chapter Eighteen

I stood staring at the three faces before me without moving, without saying anything. I stood for seconds, minutes, or an eternity... I couldn't tell. Until finally... I burst out laughing.

"Seriously, Dom? Did you really need that backup?"

"Savi."

"Hi, Mom." I walked down the steps and hugged my mother, disregarding how angry I felt at her. "Hello, Dayna," I greeted Dominic's mother, who was standing beside him.

"You scared us, Savi," she told me kindly.

I stepped back again and stood on the first step. Barefoot as always and in Jayden's t-shirt.

"Listen, Sav." Dominic began. "I'm sorry you had to witness that."

My eyes grew wide. "You are sorry I witnessed that?" My tone bordered on hysterical. "But you are not sorry for doing it, huh?" I jumped at him and started punching him in the chest. "Bastard!"

"Whoa, whoa! Back off, lioness. What have you become?" He took a step back as my mother tried to calm me down. "I got the suit from Dior yesterday," he said, smoothing his jacket.

"Is everything okay, Savi?" Jayden, who apparently had heard the commotion, came over, wiping his hands with a towel.

I turned to him and shook my head.

"So, this is Jayden?" Dominic looked at him haughtily and then looked at me. "A mechanic? Really, Sav? In a caravan?" He chuckled but then continued to speak. "The name Savannah Lewis used to be respected. And here, no one has even heard of the name. Instead, when we asked where to find you, everyone asked, Are you looking for Jayden's girl? Well, there is another definition that fits better—Jayden's bitch."

"Son!" Dominic's mother scolded him.

"How dare you! Get out of here!" I screamed.

I felt Jayden's hand discreetly behind my waist. He seemed to want to calm me down as well.

"I'm counting the seconds until I get out of here. But you're coming with me," Dominic retorted in a cocky tone.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"Savi." Dayna walked up to me. "Will you give me a few minutes to talk?"

I looked back at Jayden. I wasn't sure he would feel comfortable if I left him in Dominic's company. But he nodded at me.

Dayna and I walked a short distance away from the others. As we walked, I turned back—Jayden was pulling out a chair and had apparently invited my mom to sit down.

"Honey." Dayna took my hands. "I'm sorry you felt so hurt. It's all my son's fault. He should have explained everything to you from the beginning."

"What do you mean?"

"This is how things are in our family. It is our duty to care for ourselves and be like a bijou next to our husbands. And they... they have their entertainments, about which we keep quiet."

"You want to convince me that what Dominic did and has done for probably our entire marriage is normal? You're telling me you put up with this too?"

"Every good thing comes at a price, honey. The problem is that your marriage to Dominic started very quickly, it was unplanned, but we had to act on the situation." Her voice was kind. Calm. Controlled.

"What are you talking about, Dayna?"

"When that foolish girl got pregnant by my son and refused to have an abortion, my husband decided that Dominic should urgently get married in order to consolidate his position as a serious man. Sebastian chose you—"