Nothing Is Ever What It Seems

Hi! I am back

J

This is the sequel to "Not What It Seems" This could be read as a standalone story, but it would be best to read the previous story, since certain parts in this story cross over with the first story. There would be at least ten chapters to this story and I have already written some parts of each chapter.

If you've never read my story before, I must give a fair warning that I love back stories and flashbacks. As one reader described my story is "messy like life." You may find my story frustrating and confusing, but I assure you everything will come together in the end- remember patience is a virtue! As for those, who have read NWIS and have supported me, thank you, I hope you enjoy this one just as much.

So, to reiterate, this story will have lots of flashbacks and will build up slowly, which means it is not a "stroke" story, so to speak. Of course, if you stick with me, the

good stuff

will be aplenty in later chapters.

As disclaimers go, this story (including subsequent chapters) will contain some violence, abuse and non-consent sex.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

25/03/06

He's out again.

To be honest I am not sure if I should be relieved or distraught at his once again absence.

It wasn't always like this.

I still remember fondly the first three months of our marriage. Granted it wasn't exactly what I had expected, but he was still really attentive and loving. But then it changed when he came home with the stench of alcohol, cigarettes and stale perfume one evening. I guessed where he was and confronted him about it.

I could never forget the way he looked at me and his reaction.

He laughed in his slightly tipsy state and left me standing there in the hallway. Even the next day he had no remorse. We haven't been married for six month and already he has changed.

I married him and gave up my dreams because that was what he wanted...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two weeks,

Hallie mused to herself as she packed her husband's bags. He would be gone for two weeks for a business trip and also to pick up an award his father's law firm had won. He was watching her pack as he comfortably lay down on the bed. She knew he was in one of his good moods judging by the smile on his lips. This also meant it was a good time to broach a topic that she was normally afraid to do so.

"Jack, I don't think I want to go the Charity Ball this year..." Hallie trailed off as she saw a flash of annoyance appear on her husband's face.

The Charity Ball was something Hallie and Alin both despised. However, it was a conflicting emotion they both felt for the event; it was full of arrogant wealthy people but this also derived funds and awareness. Still, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go to an event and act so fake in front of people she didn't particularly like.

Aside from her dislike, this year's Charity Ball also coincided with Tao and May's wedding. She had bonded with the couple during Alin and Jared's wedding. Their hospitality touched Hallie and she was eager to see the happy couple marry. Judging from her husband's expression, it was obvious she wouldn't be allowed to go.

Sometimes it made her sad and ashamed that her life revolved around attending balls, fashion shows, shopping and looking after her children. Of course, to some it was a life that they would happily trade for and would use every trick in their book to snare a man that could afford to give them just that. For Hallie, however, it seemed shallow and it made her feel no better than a vulture- living off Jack and her family.

"It's just...I know important clients of yours are going too and I don't want to embarrass you. I want them to see you in the best light without me dragging you down." She noted his expression relaxing somewhat. If she wanted something from Jack, it was always easier for her to worship him and state her own inadequacies.

To Hallie's surprise, he got up and kissed her affectionately on her lips, "Just be ready for me that day." One finger traced her lips before slipping down to the curve of her breasts, "Wear that red dress I bought you. It shows off your tits and I want to show off what a sexy whore I have." He said leering at her.

Hallie didn't even know she held her breath until she heard the door to the adjoined bathroom closed. His intimate touch had sent shivers down her spine- reminisce of the last time they had coupled. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief at the sound of running water.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jared twirled his wedding ring around his fingers thinking back to seven and a half months ago when she had placed that ring on his finger. He smiled at the thought of seeing his wife later.

Later

For now, however, he was stuck in a pointless meeting, listening to

sounds

passing through. It wasn't because he didn't care about business anymore, quite the contrary in fact. Since acquiring The Haltor Corporation's subsidiary operations, HTU, it had been nothing but challenging.

At first, he had expected to face hurdles, but the reality was on a whole different level. First of all, John Haltor's conviction and Charles defrauding scandal meant they had had to regain stakeholders' confidence, which had not been an easy task.

Secondly, whilst BankSafe was a young, vibrant and innovative company, The Haltor Corporation, in comparison, was rigid, strict, and almost old-fashioned in its approach. BankSafe encouraged taking calculated risks, Haltor Corporation did not.

Thirdly, many senior management and veteran workers at Haltor Corporation, though stubborn as hell, was a great asset to BankSafe. However, due to '

creative'

differences they had threatened to quit. The real reason was their reluctance to hand over their loyalty to a former rival company.

Even when he was on his honeymoon he had had to deal with business- though he did ignore all emails and calls for one whole week until Alin interfered and told him that she didn't mind him dealing with important things. He was surprised. What was more important than spending time with his new bride? Jared smiled fondly at the memories of his honeymoon. He remembered vividly when they-

"Jared, what are your thoughts?

Jared?"

He groaned mentally. He hadn't been listening for the majority part of the presentation, since it was the same old shit again. It consisted of quarterly statistics on the performance of the company, and so on and so on...

He had cancelled all but this meeting today. He had wanted to pick his wife up from the airport personally, but this was an important meeting with the board he couldn't reschedule

again

, so he had had to sacrifice picking up his wife.

That pissed him off.

"The mergers have proved to be a success. The merge with Haltor Corporation, working with Zhang Enterprise and the merge with MediaOne... it's been a good year for us, to say the least."

"Yes... but with all the negative media associated with their name, it may not be good to play up to the fact we've acquired HTU-"

Jared rolled his eyes. These meetings were so predictable. He held up his hand, "Do you think we can hide the fact that we merged with their company when it was reported widely?

No

."

"But-"

"It's been a pleasure today. I have other urgent matters to attend to. We shall conclude this today." It wasn't a request, rather a statement. If he was to stay in this meeting for another damn minute, Jared wouldn't be happy.

Others nodded in agreement, some hated the fact that this seemingly arrogant man could be in charge of this company. Jared shook their hands and left the meeting.

He felt like shit today. Alin needed him and he was unable to be with her. The words that she should quit working or at least go on leave were on the tip of his tongue every time he spoke with her, but he knew that was unfair. He had learnt that he shouldn't dictate her life. Never-the-less, it hurt to see Alin working so hard especially considering the circumstances.

She was already home, by the time he let himself in. He could sense her presence, if the small suit case by the door was not a clear enough sign. Without seeing Alin for three weeks, he had wanted to kill Steven. After spending a good month honeymooning, Alin had been eager to get straight back to work.

Initially, she didn't want to take a month for their honeymoon, fearing she would be seen as unprofessional. Steven understood the need to take a month. Alin did not and had wanted to only take two weeks. This was discouraged by both men.

After a month of relaxing, exploring, making love, and

making love

, Jared was thrust back into reality when their busy schedule collided. It was torture only seeing his wife a few weeks every other month. It would be either him flying to Beijing or her flying back to New York. Lately, her schedule had been less demanding since Ryan had insisted on cutting back on her workload, but this time, because of complications in construction, both Ryan and Alin had to fly out.

It was strangely quiet save from some background noises, which sounded like TV news report coming from their bedroom. Jared gently pushed the bedroom door open and he instantly smiled. Alin slept soundly curled up on her side, one hand rested on her protruding belly, the other was slid under her head, propping her up slightly. She was wrapped in a towel and had just exited the shower before falling asleep. Worried she would catch a chill, Jared placed a blanket on top of her.

She shifted slightly but then one eye opened sleepily, "Jared?"

It never mattered where he was, if he could hear the sound of her sweet voice, he knew he was home. Alin sat up slowly and stretched her arms. Jared quickly rushed to her side, so that he could support her as she sat upright.

She turned around and smiled at him whilst shaking her head, "I'm not about to break. I'm okay! You worry over me too much."

He hugged her from behind, his hands placed on her belly. Alin was over six months pregnant now. When they first found out, Jared was beyond ecstatic.

Alin was not.

She berated herself for not being careful. With her work, she didn't think it was fair to have a baby as yet, so had decided to put it off for another year or two. But with the short wedding plans, the sudden honeymoon and the blissful times she had spent with Jared, the idea of contraception was far from her mind.

It had been a magical month. Alin was so excited when Jared told her he had planned for them to take their honeymoon across South-East Asia. It made her so happy that they didn't end up somewhere like Saint-Tropez- not that there's anything wrong with it, she just preferred going somewhere less like a

playground for the rich and famous.

During the day it was so much fun exploring, hiking and experiencing different cultures. However, at night they would bring each other pleasure, until they cried out each other's names. Jared would then gather her in his arms, and hold her all night.

Unfortunately, returning from their honeymoon, Alin constantly felt nausea and tired. After putting off going to the doctors for a month due to her busy work schedule, she finally decided to go after violently throwing up one morning. She was thoroughly shocked when the doctors announced that she was eight weeks pregnant.

Jared was so happy.

When Alin nervously told him, he was expressionless, which agitated her. Then his lips slowly curved up before it broke into a wide smile. She could see his eyes start to tear up as he pulled her in and hugged her tightly. She needed no further confirmation on how he felt.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the happiness and love for her developed quickly to smothering. He was always concerned and refused to let her do anything too

strenuous,

which included working. They had argued many times, and made up through making-love, and then argued again. Finally after persuading him that she would be careful and that he had promised to treat her with respect, which meant also respecting her right to choose, Jared had reluctantly let her go.

It wasn't his intention to control her. He would never do that again. It was his concern. Alin had no bottom line when it came to working and he feared for her health. It was a challenging few months to not see his wife for so long. He had made sure to see her whenever he could, preferring to fly out to see her rather than she coming, since he feared the long flight would put a strain on her. After all, his wife was his number one priority.

"I miss you, Alin." He said as he kissed her on the cheek. He shifted so that he sat in front of her, one hand shot up to caress her belly, and then he leaned forward to place light kisses there, "And daddy misses you too, baby." He pressed his face against her belly and felt the baby's sudden kick. "Alin, did you feel that? The baby just kicked!"

She chuckled, "Aww, sometimes you can be so cute. Of course I can feel it. I think he's saying that he misses you too."

"He?"

"I-" she started but wasn't sure how to continue.

"What's wrong?"

"I had a dream last week. It was my mom. She was so happy that I'd found happiness with you. She said she was eager to meet her grandson. Are you not happy if it's a boy?"

"I'm glad your mom is happy with me. And of course I don't care about the sex of our baby. As long as the baby is healthy then I'm happy. But in a way I do want a girl-

Daddy's little girl."

Jared smiled fondly at that thought, "I want a daughter that is just as pretty as his mommy."

"You're so lame." She said but blushed at his compliment.

"I am? Then why is my pretty wife blushing? I'm not going to lie and say I'm not worried though. I will be the overprotective father whether it'd be a boy or girl. I mean if it was a boy, I'm still worried it would lose his innocence too quickly... like how mine was lost to you-"

"Innocent?" She scoffed, "You're as innocent as OJ!"

He burst out laughing, but then quickly composed himself, suddenly becoming more serious, "It kills me to know carrying our baby is making you suffer." He stroked her face affectionately, "You're so beautiful. You know that? Seeing our child grow inside you... I love you more than anything. I just wish you didn't have to go through all this pain."

He gently urged her back so that she could lie back on the bed. He kissed her forehead and was about to move away when Alin quickly sat up and grabbed onto his hand.

He turned and saw her eyes glistening, "Jared, I miss you... come to bed."

"You're tired honey-"

"No, I'm not." She moved a little so that there was space on the side of the bed and patted the free space. "Come sit down."

He reluctantly sat on the edge, noting her doe eyes looking back at him longingly.

She really had no idea.

Alin scooted closer to him and placed her hands on his shoulder, feeling him tense up. Ever so slowly she started to massage his shoulders.

"You're really tensed..."

He swallowed hard. "Yeah... I am." Where this was heading to, he had no idea.

Letting her hands continue to sooth his aching muscles, Alin leaned close and started to nip at the sensitive skin on the nape of his neck

"B-baby, what are you doing?" He uttered breathlessly as he felt her hands slowly slide to the front, and undoing the buttons on his shirt.

"Alin-"

"How was your meeting today, Jared?" She whispered silkily as her cold hands glided across his bare chest. The coldness against his warm skin made him shiver in anticipation.

"Um... yeah it was fine."

He took a sharp intake of breath, "You need sleep. After the flight you must be tired." Even as the words left his lips he could hear how unconvincing it was. He hadn't made love to his wife for nearly four months. It was stupid, but he was worried he would somehow hurt her or make her feel uncomfortable. Instead he would always ward off her advances.

It killed him inside every time. He wanted her more than anything.

"Jared, I

want

you."

"But-"

"No, Jared I've been feeling like this for so long. I

need

you."

"Baby, I love you. I don't just want you, I need you, but carrying the baby is already tiring you out, I don't want to-

"I've just come out of the shower and I need

someone

to get me dirty..."

Eventually, Alin had her wicked ways with him, and as she lowered herself onto his thick hardness, Jared rolled his eyes back in pleasure all arguments fled from his mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alin woke up to darkness save from the bustling lights from outside. She could hear noises from outside the room and also a delicious scent of food cooking wafting in. She stretched her tired arms and then heard her growling stomach. Alin frowned and turned to the bedside table to look at the time- 9:30pm. No wonder she was so hungry, it must have been over eight hours since she had eaten. Now she also has to consider the little one too.

Grateful that Jared must have woken up to get some food cooking. She got up and put on a robe. She went in to the kitchen to see her husband looking more distressed than she had ever seen him. He was chopping vegetables like a mad man.

She smirked. Again, he was probably cooking the only thing he could make that was actually surprisingly nice- seafood and vegetable pasta with a creamy sauce or some other combination. When Alin first went back to Beijing after their honeymoon, Jared had missed her a lot and decided to do something to surprise her. Enlisting Hallie's help, he managed to learn this dish- anything out of the pasta comfort zone seriously challenged his non-existent culinary skills.

Without the help from Hallie, the first few times he tried to cook, it ended up pretty dodgy: sometimes the meat or seafood was undercooked and the pasta would also be under/over-cooked. As he improved through (lots of) practice, the only relapse was his tendency to under or over season the food. No one understood how he could drive such a hard bargain when it came to business but his inability to cook even the simplest dish.

Regardless, Alin was touched at the effort he had gone to and the willingness for him to change his ways. A year ago when he had asked for her forgiveness, Alin was sceptical. Yes, she loved him, but she couldn't let her love and desire for him compensate his aggressive behaviour towards her. Trusting her instinct she had given him a final chance. Now watching him with his brows furrowed with intense concentration, she was elated that her instincts were right for once.

Walking towards him, she still couldn't quite make out what he was cooking. Alin tried to wrap her arms around him, like how she used to, but of course with her pregnancy she had to settle for halfway.

He tensed but knowing it was Alin, quickly turned around so that he could hold on to her.

"Hmmm... let me guess..." She tilted her head up and he kissed her cheek, "I got it." She beamed, "Chicken and vegetable pasta..." Alin paused and pretended to contemplate, "umm... with a creamy mushroom sauce?"

"You cheeky little thing." He laughed as she teased him. "No, as a matter of fact it's something I learnt whilst you were away."

"Hallie taught you?" Even as the words left her mouth, Alin couldn't help but suppress a chuckle as she imagined him obediently following Hallie's orders.

"Um...no... I was looking through websites and found these recipes actually." When he saw her wide grin, he pointed to the door, "Since you enjoy teasing me so much, go outside and sit. I don't want you to be in here, it's pretty stuffy and you're distracting me." He said with as much authority as he could muster.