The Accidental Wife by Sara Islam

on totightly, as if she was scared.

"Rosie, you know you can tellanything, right?" | said, looking at her face.

"I know." She nodded. "I'm going to play in my room."

Not wanting to force her to stay, | nodded and let her go.

"What's wrong with her? Maya wondered and | shrugged.

"I don't know what to do. She has been like that for a while. One day she was all good and the next she was in a

constant bad mood" | sighed, rubbing my forehead

"Did anything happen recently?" she askedand | shook my head.

"| even made sure that she wasn't hwhen Matt cover to talk toabout Julian," | told her, | had told

her before what happened, but | kept sparts to myself. Precisely, | kept anything related to the way | had

been feeling out

"Just take slow steps with her and she's going to open up to you," Maya assured me. "Speaking of Julian, you

sure you don't mind inviting him to the wedding?"

"Yes, | don't mind. | have learned to co-exist with Julian and things have been good between us," | told her as 1

helped her out of the dress.

My phone started ringing, so | went to check who was calling

""Hey, Harper," | answered.

"Hey. How are you?" she said.

"I'm good, you?"

"All good. Listen, I'm taking the kids to the arcade, and | was wondering if it's okay with you to let Rosie join us,"

she requested.

"Of course! She has actually been really down bately and | don't know what's wrong with her. She doesn't want

to talk, but if you can get her to, that would be amazing," | told her.

"I will do my best. Get her ready and | will pick her up in an hour" she assured me.

After she hung up, | made my way to Rosie's room and found her playing with her dolls. | sat down on the floor

beside her and kissed her cheek. "What's my most favorite girl in the world doing?" | asked her. "Playing with my

dolls. Do you want to play with me?" she asked me, givingone of the dolls, specifically, her favourite one.

"Well, I'm actually here to ask you if you'd like to go to an arcade, | wondered as | took the doll from her. | gently

picked her up and placed her on my lap.

"With you?" Her eyes lit up.

"No, cupcake. Auntie Harper is taking your cousins to the arcade and toldthat you can tag along if you want,

| told her, caressing her hair. Her eyes returned to how dull they were and | frowned. | didn't know what was

wrong with her. "Rosie, why are you upset?" | asked, kissing her temple.

"Mormy, you love me, right?" | was taken aback by her question. Why would she askthat question! Had |

been neglecting her?

Chapter 31

"I love you and | love every single thing about you," | told her, holding her close to me. "You're my entire world

and there's nobody else in this world that | love more than you."

A real smile appeared on her face and she muzzled her face in my chest. "You won't be upset if | go, right?" she

asked and | immediately shook my

head

"Let's pick a nice outfit, yeah!" She gaveone of those bright smiles that | absolutely adored. The two of us

got up and we picked a nice together. After dressing her and fixing her hair, the two of us went downstairs. Maya

was already there, making lunch for us.

Luckily. Rosie's mood improved and | was relieved that she was doing well Was all she needed was to hear me

tell her I loved her? Didn't | tell her enough?

I knew that | had been busy lately, but had I not been paying her attention? Maybe | needed to take her on a

vacation after the fashion show. | wanted to make it up to her. | didn't want

to be the mother who picked her career over her child. She was my number one priority and if | had to take some

toff to take care of her, then | was going to do that

| spent the rest of the day with Maya, doing sthings related to her wedding. Thankfully, everything was good

and nothing was delayed. She had a great wedding planner, who made sure that everything was

on track. Although Maya could have left everything to the wedding planner, she chose to be involved.

"Sam is on his way," Maya told me. The three of us were going to have dinner together. Rosie was going to have

dinner with her cousins, then "Harper was going to bring her home.

| checked on her twice and Harper informedthat she was happy and enjoying her time. Maybe all she

needed was a day out. | hadn't taken her out in almost five days. She could have toldthough. | would have

taken her out if she wanted.

"I think | haven't been paying attention to Rosie," | told Sam and Maya while we were having dinner.

"You not paying attention to Rosie?" Sam chuckled. "That's just like saying Earth is flat."

| told them about her question and how she started to get bener afterwards. | also told them about how she was

happy with her cousins and aunt. Clearly, | had been doing something wrong.

"Rosie is a child" Maya told me. "Maybe she watched a bad video or had a bad dream and doesn't want to talk

about it." | wasn't convinced, but | just nodded.

After half an hour, Rosie cback and | loved how joyful she looked "Did you have fun?" | asked her, earning a

vigorous nod from her. | was relieved that she was finally happy. "Do you want to drink hot chocolate?" | asked

her. "Yes!" she excitedly said.

| ended up making hot chocolate for the four of us since Maya and Sam were still at my place. As we were

watching tv, Rosie accidentally knocked my cup of hot chocolate while bringing hers.

Instantly, her eyes went wide and she looked atwith pure fear in her eyes.

ne

"M-mommy. I'm sorry! | didn't mean to do it. | will clean it up!" she stuttered, making her frown. Why was my

daughter scared of 1 | done something that made her scared of me!

Loflike that? Had

"Rosie, it's okay. I'm not upset with you, cupcake," | assured her, bringing her close to me. | didn't care about

anything but her. Why did she freak out like that!

Maya started to clean up the coffee table while | focused on my daughter

"I didn't mean to do it," she cried. | looked at my friends in confusion and they seemed to be as confused as me.

"Please don't makeleave. | will be a better girl, | promise." Tears streamed down her rosy cheeks and my

frown deepened What did she mean?

"Make you leave! Cupcake, what do you mean by that?" 1 softly asked her.

"Aren't you planning on sendingaway to live with Daddy, | love Daddy, but | want to live with you." She

sniffed and | straightened my back for a moment. "I'm trying to be a good girl and not cause you trouble, so you

won't sendaway." Maya and Sam seemed more confused than ever and | was utterly baffled.

"Rosie, this isn't true. I'm not sending you anywhere. Is it because of the night you spent at Daddy's place? Did

you think that I'm going to send you to live with him?" | needed to understand what made her think like that. She

slowly shook her head, then looked down

"Aren't you going to make a new family and forget about me?" Her questions hadbaffled. Where the hell did

they cfromt

Chapter 31

"Rosic, Mommy loves you so much and she would never let you go, Sam assured her.

"Who told you that, sweetheart?" Maya asked, placing her hand on Rosie's back.

She seemed scared and refused to look at any of us.

"Rosie, I'm always going to keep you safe. You have nothing to be scared of. Somebody has been telling you lies,

and Mommy needs to know who that person is, | tried to explain to her. Slowly, she lifted her head and opened

her mouth, then closed it again. "Please, cupcake. Tellwho told you, that," | begged her.

She took a shaky breath and uttered one word, "Matt"