The Accidental Wife by Sara Islam

I didn't remember getting drunk the night before. It was just one drink. How would one fruity drink makeend up with a hammering headache? I take a deep breath and turn to the right on the soft bed, only to hit something. No, someone! All I managed to remember from last night was being at Julian's birthday party. He was my stepsister's fiancé. It was a huge party, and many guests were present. With whom did I end up leaving? My heart started to beat so fast as no memories of last night made their way to my head. I looked down and saw myself completely naked. Fuck! Who was that stranger I slept with? Quickly, I sat up on the bed and kept my body covered with the sheets. I was drowning in shame. I was never the kind of girl who got drunk and slept with strangers.

The stranger besidegroaned as he stirred a little. I wanted him to turn around. My curiosity was getting the best of me. I needed to see his face. My eyes were fixated on him, unable to move with millions of questions running through my head.

I waited for him to turn around and once he did, I wanted to bury myself alive. My eyes were open wide, and my mouth parted in shock. How the hell did we end up in bed together? Out of everyone at the party, I had to find myself in bed with Julian. This was an absolute nightmare.

I never wanted to betray Fiona. No matter how different we were, I never thought about doing something as horrible as that. My dad was going to killand my stepmother would make sure to givea slow and painful death.

"What the fuck!?" Julian's voice snappedout of my thoughts. Pure shock was crystal clear on his face. Quite understandable. I was in the sstate too. "How the hell did we end up here?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't know anything. I have just woken up and I can't remember anything from last night," I replied, rubbing my temples as the headache got stronger the more I spoke.

"I don't even remember talking to you last night!" he hissed.

"Neither do I! Do you think I'm in love with this situation?" I fired back. Julian and I weren't fond of one another., just like how Fiona wasn't fond of me.

"We slept together, Emily! Do you realize the mess we are in? I'm about to marry your sister in three months. You've just ruined my life!" I wanted to correct him and tell him that Fiona was never a sister to me. She was merely a stepsister, but it wasn't the tfor that. I had other things to care about, like the fact that he was acting like I was the one who lured him into sleeping with me.

"And my life isn't ruined? Do you think I orchestrated this or something? I have a boyfriend I'm in love with and once he finds out about this, he's going to leave me." I was baffled and petrified. I didn't want Chester to leave me, but this was bad, and nothing could make him believe that I was innocent.

"Oh, I wouldn't put it past you," he sarcastically chuckles, makingfrown. What the hell did he mean by that? "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I reached for my clothes that were thrown beside the bed and tried to get dressed under the covers. He might have seennaked last night, but I didn't even remember entering that room with him.

For a reason I didn't know Julian and I had never been fond of each other. I failed to remember the reason behind that growing hatred, but I honestly didn't care about him. It wasn't like I had to be all friendly with him. He was just my step-sister's fiancé and I wasn't close to her either.

"I seriously don't have tfor this!" He stormed towards the door as he buttoned up his shirt, and I ran after him as I tried to put my shoes on.

"We need to talk about this mess. You can't just leave!" I snapped at him as he walked out of the room, and I followed him.

My heart sank in my stomach once I stepped into the hall because the last person I wanted to see was standing in front of me.

My boyfriend.

His eyes were wide with shock, and I was sure that my face was paler than it already was.

"What the hell were you doing in Julain's room, Emily?" I gulped the moment my eyes landed on Chester. How was I going to explain that situation to him? "Chester, letexplain," I muttered, my heart hammering in my chest.

"What exactly happened, Emily?" Chester corneredagainst the wall and I had to suck in my breath. I didn't know what to expect from him.

"I... I woke up with J-Julian in bed," I whispered.

"What the fuck!?" I flinched when he raised his voice.

"Alright, you need to get away from her." Julian surprisedby pushing Chester away from me.

"Of course, you're going to defend your whore!" he yelled at Julian. I wasn't anybody's whore. Chester was my first and I was only twenty-two. I had always been faithful to him. "She's not my whore. We're telling you we don't know what happened," Julian hissed, standing in front of Chester. By now, my body was slightly shaking. "I don't care about her at all". "What's going on?" I looked up and saw Fiona along with Dad, and Maggie, his wife. This was about to get so much worse.

"Let's get inside a room because people are about to call security on us," Dad said as he opened the door to his suite, and we all followed. "Talk," he ordered once he closed the door. "Your daughter slept with her sister's fiancé." Fiona gasped upon hearing what Chester had to say.

"Fiona, baby, it's not what it looks like!" Julian quickly said as he walked over to his fiancée. Fiona's eyes were shooting arrows of hatred towards me.

"How could you do this to me?" she whimpered, keeping her eyes on her fiancé for a moment as she looked at him with agony in her eyes, then her eyes landed on me. The look was different. I would be dead if looks could kill. Suddenly, she launched herself atand started to pull at my hair and slapacross the face.

"Fiona, stop! She's not worth it!" Julian pulled her away from me, but of course, he had to throw an insult. Why was he pinning all of this on me? I knew that the odds were in his favor, not mine, but I wasn't going to let him throw the whole blon me. Not once in my life had I looked at him romantically. I wasn't attracted to him in any way.

"She's a fucking slut!" Knocks on the door interrupted us and Maggie went to open the door.

"What's going on over here?" Rose, Julian's mum, wondered with worry evident in her tone. I just wanted to hide.

Nobody would believe that I had nothing to do with that. Part ofdid not even believe that I was entirely innocent. My memory was blurry, and I didn't know how to defend myself. I had a feeling that I was drugged, but who would believe me? Who would pickover Fiona? She was even my dad's favorite.

My eyes fell on my father who eyedwith disgust as he said, "What the hell have you done, Emily?" "Nothing!" I screamed. "I didn't do anything. I woke up with Julian in bed, but I don't remember anything and neither does he. I don't remember going to bed with him last night. I don't know what happened!" "Did you really expect a good man like him to be with a cheater?" Even my own father believed that I would cheat. He didn't even knowwell enough to accuseof something like that, but of course, he would pick Fiona overany day.

I lost my mum when I was just ten years old. She was everything toand my number one supporter. When she left, she took a part ofwith her and ever since then, I had never felt full. There was a hole in my heart that had been bleeding for twelve years, aching for her.

My dad had always been in my life, but he had just been... there. Present but not really present. He had never paid attention towhen wasm young, always leavingto my mum. When she died, he hired a nanny for me. He thought that I wouldn't need anything if he providedwith food, clothes, and pocket money. I never saw care or love from him. I had always thought that he wasn't an affectionate person, but I was wrong.

He was affectionate with Fiona, always treating her like a princess, and I was just... forgotten. I didn't understand why he did that to me, and my gride heldback from asking. I was never going to ask for love. Deep down, I knew I wasn't a bad person and I deserved to be loved. But at that moment, I needed somebody to be on my side. I needed somebody to believe that I didn't do anything. I needed my mum. "Enough of all of that. Let's check out and continue talking at home," Julian's father interfered. "Julian and Emily, you're going to go to a lab to get a drug test done." I nodded quickly. I needed to prove that I was drugged.