6 months later…

“Take it out! Take it out! Take it out!” Eden screamed as pain radiated from every orifice of her body. She knew childbirth would not be easy, but the contractions she was experiencing felt as though she was being ripped in half.

Never in her life had she experienced this type of pain. She had no idea that this level of pain existed. The contractions were so intense that she was on the verge of passing out, but she fought hard to remain conscious. The pain was overbearing, but she knew that bringing this baby into the world would be worth it.

“Get this fucking baby out of me!” Eden screamed as boulder size sweat beads ran down her forehead. She knew.

“I don’t know why you wanted a natural birth. You saw how hard that shit was on me,” Eve laughed as she held a cool cloth against Eden’s sweat drenched forehead.

Jermaine didn’t care about the profane language spewing from Eden’s mouth. The only thing he cared about was finally having a family of his own. He had lost his entire family when he was twelve years old. Now he was bringing new life to the Shelton name.

“You’re doing good baby,” Jermaine said proudly as he allowed Eden to squeeze his hand.  He was so excited; but more importantly he was proud. He thanked God for restoring the love and trust in his marriage. Envy tried to destroy his life, but it hadn’t worked. Just the thought of her had darkened his mood.

Jermaine gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to think of her, but at this very moment Envy was on his mind heavily. As he stood in the delivery room, he thought back to the day he knew Envy had to go.

****

“What is going on here?” Jermaine screamed as he stormed into his office.

The sight of so many unfamiliar people rummaging through his office let him know that everything Cassidy said was accurate. He had participated in some unsavory acts in his office, but those acts were with consenting adults. Nothing he had ever done had ever been with someone that couldn’t vouch for themselves. This sight made him sick to his stomach

“Jermaine what-”

“Cut the shit Harold. Someone called you here, but I guess it was too much for you to call me and inform me of this bullshit. I had to learn about this from the fucking news,” Jermaine screamed angrily.

A vein throbbed in the middle of his forehead. Harold knew by the way it pulsated that Jermaine was either on the verge of blacking out or having an aneurysm. Harold knew that he could have called but why would he? He and Jermaine were not friends. They were colleagues and that was it.

“How was I supposed to call when they confiscated our phones until the investigation was over. All phones had to be secured,”