The first time I smelled something foul between my legs, I told myself it was the hotel sheets. Maybe the cheap detergent. Maybe the old mattress.
We ladies know how embarrassing it is to stink down there, it is a must that we keep that part essentially clean.
The second time, I blamed my own body. A weird discharge, maybe from stress. I even googled it at 2 a.m. after sex with my husband, hoping it was just a passing infection.
And the third time? When I stood naked in the shower and my skin started to peel… when the smell stuck to me no matter how hard I scrubbed?
When I saw myself rotting from inside?
I was reduced from the Goddess of music and every man's idol, to a stinking dead rat.
The top label owner and billionaire, Fred Orchard's wife is dangerously ill and the whole world was asked to pray for me.
Many said it was my evil and that I deserved death.
I was called different names, a witch, a plagiarist, a thief, an evil woman. All because I was wrongly accused and framed.
I used to brag to my girls about how good my husband was in bed because of how good he filled me. At least that's what I thought. But it was all Urine...
Fred always said I drove him crazy after every section.
But I didn't. I know I didn't.
I was decaying...
Never once did he love me...
He was rotting me from the inside.
All those infections, the endless UTIs, the burning, the bleeding… that wasn't normal. But he made me think it was.
Whenever I tried to get a health professional, he would say it was nothing and buy drugs that weren't working for me.
We tried so many times, but the babies never came. I blamed myself again and again. I did numerous IVF's that failed.
I tried surrogacy but for some reason, the surrogate mother kept having miscarriages. Then one day, Fred returned with a little boy, saying he was his newly adopted son since we couldn't have a child.
He said he loved me too much to have a child with another woman. "It's okay if you don't accept him, but we need a successor sweetheart. My grandma is already talking."
I accepted him. I loved the child. I even forgot my career for him, without an idea that child belonged to my sister.
Turns out, they have been fucking behind my back for so long and she even had a child for him.
My sweet innocent sister, whom I loved with all of my soul. The same girl I spent all of my money on training her in college.
Later, when Fred couldn't take the smell anymore, he started calling me names. Said I stank. That I made him sick. Said he was disgusted.
I prayed, cried, fasted like a fool, but it was too late. I was dying already.
Now laid on the bed alone in a secluded environment... "Father forgive and accept my soul into your kingdom." I cried those painful words as my body turned weak and my breath shallow.
"If given another chance, I promise to deal with everyone that hurt me." Darkness covered me after the last prayer.
----
"Come, Eve, Fred is this way!" I took in a deep sharp breath at the sound of my name. Before I could react, I felt a push and immediately, the door closed.
A familiar warmth washed over me with a force that had my back crashing against the door harshly.
"What took you so long?" I heard the same deep rasped voice from my past, the same hot breath that made me shiver.
"Hng." My body reacted to his touch.
His hands moved around me like they knew me. His touch is soft but firm.
Wait! What the hell?
Have I been reborn again?
If I'm not wrong this would be my wedding day. The day my baby sister Mirabelle set me up with a complete stranger who ruined my marriage and life.
This was my chance to change everything, but before I could react, the man lifted me and the next second, my back hit a softer surface this time.
He started ripping my wedding dress off my body. "No... No... No... Wait!" I panicked but he didn't stop. History was repeating.
I thrashed against him, struggling to break free but he was just too strong for me.
"Relax, my butterfly."
Those words slithered into my mind like poison wrapped in silk. My body betrayed me, pleas melting into shameful moans. Darkness claimed me, and when I jolted awake, it was morning.
"No. No, no... fuck!"
I shot out of bed, heart pounding like war drums
This was the same time the reporters had arrived in my past life. They had swooned in like flowing waters capturing every movement.
This time, I got off the bed quickly, knowing I had only thirty seconds till they arrived, I searched for something to wear and my eyes caught the beautiful black dress hanging in a corner.
Perfect. I was an artist and my artist hands worked fast, slipping into the fabric as if I were backstage at a show, changing before the curtain rose. Heels clicked into place. My pulse thundered louder.
I grabbed the scattered clothes, shoving them beneath the bed.
I still felt a heavy ache as proof of my betrayal, my body felt like I had been hit by a truck, but I didn't let that affect me.
I've been given a second chance at life, this time, I'm here to correct my mistake and make things right.
Just as I threw the clothes beneath the bed, the door flew open with reporters flooding in just like in the past.
They captured every little movement. I tilted my chin, striking a pose, just as I'd been trained. Let them capture me, I'd give them an image they couldn't twist into weakness.
In my past life, they had taken me unaware and that had left so many headlines that ruined my life. People still blamed me for hurting my husband the way I did.
They called me unfaithful and said that I was lucky Fred still chose me.
In this life...
"Mrs Orchard, how could you sleep in a hotel on the night of your wedding and without your husband?" The first question landed and just as I opened my mouth another came.
"Mrs Orchard, Mr Orchard has been your childhood sweetheart, we know how much you embarrassed yourself online to be married to him, how can you betray him like this?" Another came.