Chapter 4 Candice Stevens not Walters

Candice finished work at the local hospital where she recently started her residency. She could not understand how she managed the day since she had a crazy night out with her best friend Trevor. She went into the locker room and changed into her own clothes. She walked to the bus stop and waited for her local bus.

She was happy that she sat next to an older woman who was very talking non stop. She would have fallen asleep and missed her stop if it wasn't for this woman's chatting. She laughed to herself as she walked toward Lyric Heights. She had realised that she did not even get anything that the woman was talking about.

At 7 pm she had just finished dressing up after a warm bath. She was about to start preparing for her dinner when she heard a knock on the door.

'Who could that be? Trevor is visiting his mother so there is no way he could be at my door.' She asked herself as she walked to the door. She looked through the peephole but could not see the person's face as he was facing down.

She opened the door to see a handsome man in smart casual and about six feet tall. She looked at the guy carefully and concluded that he was lost. She could not identify him from anywhere she had been. There was no way a god like him could be her visitor. She eventually realised that she had been staring at him and felt embarrassed.

"May I help you?" Candice asked politely. She still could not take off her eyes from this handsome stranger.

"Candice Stevens?" Clive asked staring at Candice intently.

"I'm sorry.... you have the wrong person. I'm Candice Walters. Candice replied and still stared at the stranger. How she wished she was this Candice Stevens. She felt that everything about this guy yelled money and power. Any woman in their right frame of mind would want to wake up next to this man.

Clive smiled and spoke. "That was before you got married. I'm Clive Stevens your husband. May I come in?" Clive pushed the door open and got himself into Candice's apartment. He went into to the living room and made himself comfortable on the sofa.

Candice held her mouth as she was astonished by the man's revelation. She could feel her body shaking and her heart pounding out of her chest. Now she wished she was not this Candice. She leaned against the wall with her intertwined hands behind her neck. She slid down and buried her face in her knees. She knew she was doomed.

Candice thought of the conversation she had with Trevor after he handed her the marriage certificate. 'How could this be? This man does not look gay.' She thought to herself. Trevor had said that the man on the marriage certificate was gay and would never find out that he was married.

"Are you not going to offer your husband food or water at least?" Clive had now left the living room and was now standing in front of Candice. He held her hand and helped her to stand up. Still holding her hand, he led her into her kitchen.

"Now prepare food for me I'm starving." Clive spoke as if he was well acquainted to Candice. He opened the fridge and saw that there wasn't much. He opened the food cupboards and could only see empty shelves.

Candice still had not said a word. She truly did not know what to say. Her world was collapsing she could now visualize herself in prison. If only she had agreed to her father's demand of marrying her to an older guy.

"I'm sorry...... Mr. Stevens. Let me explain my situation and you can do whatever you want. I am ready to face my fate." Her voice was still trembling. She was not sure what Clive was like, but she could tell that he had money. She knew the rich could be ruthless.

"I'm not interested in your story. You are my wife that's all that matters. Now Mrs. Stevens let's go grocery shopping, I'm starving." Clive said to Candice who was still trembling with fear. Tears welled in her eyes and a few drops rolled down her cheek.

Clive ignored Candice and opened the door and went out closing the door behind him. Candice did not know what was happening. She picked her phone and dialed Trevor's number. To her frustration Trevor did not pick up.

She tried three more times and still there was no reply. She was now fearing for the worst. She wanted to run away but thought that since Clive was able to locate her it meant that he could find her anyhow. She decided to wait for her fate.

In less than an hour Clive was back from the grocery shop where he had picked some ingredients for dinner. Candice opened the door for him, and he went straight into the kitchen. He placed the items on the kitchen counter.

Candice just watched and shook her head helplessly as Clive took his small suitcase into the main bedroom.

"I think today I should cook for my wife." Clive said as he started preparing the food. As an owner of chain of hotels cooking was one of his specialties. He ordered Candice to wash the vegetables to which she obediently did.

'What is he going to do to me? Is he going to kill me after the meal?' Candice was battling with thoughts. Clive seemed not to care about what Candice was thinking as he carried on with his cooking.

He served the food on the small dining table and gestured Candice to sit down and have a meal with him. They ate quietly and he couldn't help but notice that the woman sitting with him was very pretty. Her beauty was natural and something about her was attracting him to her.

"Thank you for the delicious meal. I don't think I will be able to cook the way you do." Candice was honest with him. Clive watched Candice as she cleared the table. She carried on doing the dishes and was surprised that Clive came to help her.

"Why did you do it Candice? Why did you violate me like this? Is it about my money?" He was calm but his words were sharp.

Candice could feel the electric shock running through her body. She knew the time to explain would come but was not sure if he was ever going to believe her. She explained everything in detail whilst avoiding eye contact.

"I really did not even bother looking at your name as this was just temporary. My actions cannot be excused but Mr. Stevens this is the truth." This time Candice looked at Clive to read his facial reaction.

"Do you really believe that your friend picked me because he believed I was gay and would never marry? Even gay men can have marriages of convenience." He asked and continued without giving her a chance to respond first. "What about if he had his own motives?"

Candice never thought about that, she trusted Trevor. "Trevor has been by my side during my dark days. I never and still don't believe that his intentions were bad."

Clive did not say anything else which scared Candice. She wanted to hear more about his thoughts but was too scared to ask. They finished doing the dishes and they sat on the sofa and watched TV.

Candice was scared of the situation she was in and wanted to phone the hospital to check if anyone wanted to be relieved. She was however worried that Clive would think that she was up to something sinister.

"Let's go to bed. I'm tired now." Clive walked casually as if he was in his own home. He went into the main bedroom and put on his pyjamas and got into the bed. Candice followed and took her pyjamas and was about to leave for the spare bedroom.

"Where do you think you are going? You are my wife, so you share the bed with me." Clive asked and Candice went into the bathroom and came out in her pyjamas and got into bed with him. She had now left her life to fate.

When she got into the bed Clive placed Candice's head on his chest and continued to stroke her hair. She immediately fell asleep in wrapped in his arms