It all started when my parents informed me of my arranged marriage to Keith Acland,21, when I was 19 years old. It was due to a business deal my father's company had formed with Acland family's company. The Acland family owned the Acland Hotel Holding limited company an extremely successful international hotel company. With hundreds of four- and five-star hotels all over the world. Their family had an estimated net worth of over 20 billion (USD).
My father was the heir of a well performing construction company. Although my family weren't billionaires like the Aclands', we were millionaires which was still impressive.
The business deal our families had struck had to do with my father's company helping to construct some new hotels for Aclands'. My marriage to the heir of the Aclands', Keith, was to strengthen the new partnership between the two companies.
My marriage to Keith was loveless which was to be expected as our marriage was arranged. However, after our wedding and we began to live together, we developed somewhat of an amicable relationship. A year into our marriage and we gave birth to our one and only child; our son Anthony. I loved Anthony so much and was completely devoted to raising him well. The first years of being Keith's wife were pleasant.
However, everything changed 'she' came 7 years later. I would bever forget that day. It was Keith's birthday, and I had organized a party to celebrate. All our family members and friends were present. As the party was in full swing with everyone enjoying themselves, suddenly a woman entered that caused everyone to stop and look at her.
I immediately recognized her. She was Keith's former lover, Diana, from before we got married. When we got engaged Keith stopped seeing out of respect for both our families and our union. However, I knew he had loved her, and he felt guilty for leaving her. All this time I wondered what had happened to Diana as she appeared to have disappeared from the social scene. I wondered why she was appearing now after 7 years.
It was then that I noticed the child standing by her side and holding her hand. It was a boy who seemed close in age to Anthony, who was 7 at the time and looked strikingly like Keith. She then announced to everyone at the party that the boy was Keith's child. I would never forget the shock and utter disbelief I felt upon hearing this as well as everyone else at the party. She claimed that after Keith had left her to marry me, she found out she was pregnant.
After the party she showed Keith an apparent DNA test to prove the boy was indeed his son. I felt the whole situation was suspicious. Keith felt guilty for abandoning her an the fact that she had to raise their son alone, so he decided to take her in and allowed her to stay in our house.
At first, I thought her place in our home would be temporary as Keith figured out what to do with her. I was understanding of the situation to an extent, because I was sympathetic to the fact that Keith was forced to leave his lover for me. So, if that was his son he was still the father and had to look after him.
However, I NEVER could have imagined the way in which things would have ended up panning out. Diana and Keith seemed to rekindle the romantic connection they had in the past, gaining his favour. With that she began her smear campaign of me.
For example, her belongings would go missing and then they would be found among my things. Or she would harass and bait me into a fight and then turn around and claim I was harassing her. Because of how it looked Keith took her side causing him to distrust me. She also formed a relationship with the servants of the house and began to turn them against me and my son.
She soon took over the house and began to run it as if she was Keith's wife, pushing me to the side. To everyone in the house I looked like I was the crazy jealous wife who was harassing Diana. Diana's plan on taking my place in this house became clear to me. I had stop her and fight for my place.
Keith had her and her son attend public events with us as if we were one big happy family. He also told her to join me when I met with my friends who were the wives of his friends or business partners. At first my friends were on my side and felt the situation was wrong. Then after a while of meeting with Diana they began to like her and eventually took her side. Diana had a way talking to people and making them like her. The same way she had turned the maids against me.
I he wasn't planning on having her leave our home, but in fact he was integrating her into the family.
She had his favour and was well-liked by everyone. Before I knew it Diana had taken away my husband, my friends and my title. Worst of all my son was put in a precarious position. Everyone began to think she was soon going to take my position, and I was going to tossed aside. What's more is that they felt she deserved it more than me since her smear campaign had worked and my reputation was now negative.
Everyone seemed to have turned against me and my son. The final blow was when the legitimacy of my son being Keith's biological child came into question.
Unlike Diana's son who looked exactly like Keith, Anthony's features were, unfortunately, more like mine. Keith acted as if he believed the rumours, even though he had been there throughout my pregnancy. He knew Anthony was his.
I tried to fight for my place in my own home. Unfortunately, Keith seemed to fall deeper for Diana with each passing day whilst I became a stranger to him. He always picked Diana and her son.