Chapter Ten Sayani Storm
“Fuck!” I hissed, flopping onto the bed after trying on what felt like the hundredth damn dress.
My bedroom looked like a boutique exploded—dresses flung across the floor, heels scattered, nerves fraying by the second. I glanced at the clock and groaned. I was supposed to be dressed and in the car by now. Instead, I was in my bra and panties, sweating over brunch like it was the damn Met Gala.
But it wasn’t just brunch.
This was the moment I’d been waiting for.
I was finally introducing my husband to my family, and I was nervous as hell.
For the last year, I’d been trying to convince Prime that it was time. Time for them to meet. Time to stop sneaking around like I was ashamed of my own marriage. But for some reason, he kept putting it off, telling me it wasn’t the right time.
I had to get married without my family by my side. No father to walk me down the aisle. No brothers to crack jokes or threaten my husband. But Prime had been the first man to swoop in, sweep me off my feet, and not want anything in return.
That’s what made him and our marriage worth it.
“Yani, what the hell are you doing?” Prime barked from the doorway. His voice was sharp, already irritated. “You’re gonna make us fucking late.”
I sighed, sitting up on the bed, elbows on my knees. “I’m having a hard time finding something to wear. Everything I try on makes me look fat.”
Prime’s eyes narrowed. “That’s because you are getting fat, the fuck? Hurry up and find something that doesn’t embarrass me.”
His words hit like a slap, but I swallowed them down. If I cried, he’d only get meaner.
Prime could be the perfect gentleman. He could say all the right things, kiss me like he meant it, touch me like I was the most precious thing in the world.
But moments like this always reminded me how easily he could flip and how cruel he could be.
“You don’t have to be so mean,” I mumbled, slowly rising from the bed.
His jaw flexed. He dragged a hand down his face and sighed like I was the exhausting one. Then he stepped further into the room, switching up.
“My bad, baby. I don’t mean to be an asshole,” he murmured, sliding his arms around my waist.
Hearing him say that made me smile. It softened the sting. Letting me push his words aside like I always did.
This was the man I loved. And I knew he loved me too.
I rose onto my toes, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “I don’t know why. They’re going to love you like I do.”
I flicked a piece of lint from his shirt, smoothing out his collar—falling back into the role of the devoted wife. The one who ignored the little cuts because she believed in the sweet version of him.
But Prime’s gaze flicked off to the side. Something unreadable tightening his features.
“Yeah… I’m not too sure about that,” he muttered. “I think your brother Eason is going to be a problem.”
I froze as I took a step back.
My forehead creased. “And uh, why do you think that? Last I recall, you don’t know my brothers. You’ve never met them.”
My stomach twisted. Because why did he sound like he had? I stared at Prime, my stomach twisting at the way his expression flickered, just for a second before he smoothed it over.
Prime sighed, rubbing a hand over his jaw.
“Look, Yani, it’s nothing crazy, alright?
” He let out a forced chuckle, but I didn’t miss how his gaze darted to the side.
“I just heard some things about him, that’s all.
I know he don’t play when it comes to his family, and I just don’t wanna be stepping on toes. ”
I tilted my head, still not convinced. “How do you even know anything about my brother?”
I could see the wheels turning in his head, the way he was calculating, and trying to spin this shit into something believable. And before I could press him further, he exhaled, running a hand down his face like he was debating whether to tell me the truth.
“Alright, fuck it,” he finally said, shaking his head. “I wasn’t gonna say anything ‘cause I know how you are when it comes to your family, but since you’re pushing it, yeah I know your brother.” He met my gaze, his expression grim. “Because he’s been up under my baby mama.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Baby mama?
I blinked, my mind struggling to process the words. “Excuse me?”
Prime sighed, rubbing the back of his neck like this whole thing was hard for him. Like he was the fucking victim. “Her name’s Xalori,” he said. “She’s the mother of my son.”
My knees nearly buckled. Son?
I stumbled back, gripping the edge of the dresser for balance. My entire world tilted on its fucking axis. I had been with Prime for a year. A whole damn year. How the hell was I just now finding out about this?
“You have a kid?” My voice came out in a whisper, full of disbelief.
He exhaled, stepping toward me and reaching for my hands. “Listen, I wanted to tell you, baby, I did. But I didn’t know how.” He let out a bitter chuckle. “Hell, I barely got a chance to know my son before that bitch started playing games.”
I yanked my hands away. “What games?”
Prime’s jaw ticked. “She’s been keeping him from me.
She told me that baby wasn’t mine, then turned around and tried to pin him on me when she realized she needed money.
And now, she got your brother playing house with my fucking kid like I don’t exist.” I inhaled sharply, my pulse thudding in my ears.
I didn’t know this woman or her story, but if she liked, if she used a child to manipulate the situation then fuck her.
“We should go,” I said tightly, forcing my voice not to crack. “We’re late.”
I didn’t wait for him to answer. I just needed to get the hell out of there before the floor cracked any further under my feet.
The drive to my parents’ house felt like an eternity.
Prime was driving, his fingers drumming against the wheel like he didn’t have a single worry in the world, while my messy and tangled thoughts raced.
I stared out the window, letting my nails dig into the fabric of my dress, irritation prickling at the edges of my patience.
I wasn’t stupid. I figured Prime was a man with secrets.
But I’d convinced myself that none of them had to do with me until now.
By the time we walked through the grand entrance of my parents’ estate in Monarch Heights, I had pushed the whole conversation to the back of my mind.
Or, at least, I tried to. The moment I stepped into the dining room, my eyes locked onto a woman sitting next to my brother, and all that rage I had tucked away came rushing the fuck back.
Her ass was sitting beside him like she fucking belonged there. I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached. Eason was sitting there, looking at this woman like she had the sun, moon, and stars between her thighs while my husband was being kept from his own damn kid.
Eason noticed me first. His dark gaze flicked up, sharp and unreadable. He didn’t look surprised to see Prime standing next to me. No, he looked like he’d been expecting this shit.
Xalori shifted in her seat, her lips parting slightly, like she was caught off guard. I wasn’t about to let her sit there and play the fucking victim.
I pulled my chair out and sat, my movements slow, controlled. “So, this is her,” I said, voice dripping with fake sweetness. “The whore who had a whole baby with my husband”
Xalori stiffened beside Eason.
Eason’s jaw clenched. “Watch your fucking mouth, Sayani.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I cooed, tilting my head. “Should I be more respectful to the woman who’s keeping a father from his son?”
Xalori’s eyes flashed with something dark, but before she could say anything, Prime leaned forward, smirking.
“She didn’t tell you, huh?” he drawled, looking directly at Eason. “How she kept Nas from me? How she played in my face for months, making me think I wasn’t his father, just so she could keep me out of his life?”
Xalori’s breath hitched. “That’s a fucking lie.”
“You a real mother, huh?” Prime spat. “Let’s not act like you ain’t bury one kid and then use the other like a bargaining chip.”
Eason moved so fast, his chair didn’t stand a chance. He lunged forward and grabbed Prime by the collar, yanking him halfway across the table.
“You real bold coming in my parents’ house,” Eason growled. “Talking reckless about my woman.”
Prime chuckled, lowly and bitterly. “Hit me, nigga. Make it easier for me to bury you legally.”
“Eason,” Xalori said, her voice soft and begging. But Eason was locked in.
“You ever touch her again,” he whispered, “I’ll make sure your funeral closed casket.”
Then he let go, shoving Prime back like he wasn’t even worth the effort.
The room stayed frozen. Because everybody knew, this wasn’t over. Not even close.
I stood, fury burning up my spine. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Eason didn’t even flinch. “Lower your voice before I make you.”
I laughed. “Big and bad now, huh? Thought it was family over everything, but here you are defending some hoe that—”
CRACK.
Eason punched Prime so hard the sound echoed.
“You done?” he asked, flexing his knuckles. “You really sitting here letting this snake-ass nigga lie to you? Wanna be a dummy? Cool. Just know I got time, energy, and hands, so keep disrespecting what’s mine, Sayani.”
I blinked as I folded my arms. “Lie? About what? You are fucking his ex, aren’t you?”
Eason dragged his tongue over his teeth, shaking his head. Disgusted. “Nah, I’m fucking my woman. Any more questions?”
“You out here claiming a bottom feeder with baggage while this nigga has been killing himself trying to do right by his son—”
“His son?” Eason’s voice dropped to something dangerous. “That nigga hasn’t done shit for Nas but traumatized him. And you wanna sit up here defending him? For what?”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Eason wasn’t done.
He leaned forward, his voice dropping low. “You ain’t got the full story, and you don’t wanna get it. Because if you did, you’d have to admit that the nigga you married is a piece of shit.”
I swallowed hard. Eason’s words clung to the air, thick and unshakable. Every eye in the room was on me, but it wasn’t embarrassment burning my skin, it was something worse. It was shame.
Because deep down, in places I didn’t want to look, I knew he was right.
Prime stood beside me, straightening his jacket like the blood in his mouth didn’t taste like karma. He wasn’t even mad. Just smirking. Like this was all part of his plan. Like he wanted me to be humiliated in front of my family.
And I let him.
“I’m gonna go freshen up,” I said, voice clipped as I pushed back from the table.
“Sayani,” my mother’s voice called after me, low and cautious, like she didn’t know which version of her daughter she was speaking to. “You alright?”
I smiled tightly, not even looking back. “I’m fine, Mama.”
But I wasn’t. I was far from fucking fine.
The second I stepped into the powder room down the hall, I locked the door, bracing my palms on the cool marble sink. My reflection stared back at me—lip gloss perfect, lashes curled, posture proud. But behind the glam was a woman unraveling.
A wife. A sister. A fool.
I closed my eyes, letting the silence crash into me. For a second, I let it hurt. Let it crack. Let it sting. Because no matter how many times Prime whispered apologies into my skin…
No matter how many gifts he bought…
No matter how many nights he held me like he gave a fuck, he didn’t tell me the truth.
He let me marry him and hid an entire life from me.
I swallowed hard, grabbing a paper towel and dabbing under my eyes before my mascara betrayed me. I didn’t cry. Not yet. Not here.
I knew Prime wasn’t perfect. I knew he had his flaws. But I had spent a year building my life around him. Letting him lead. And now Eason was trying to tear that down.
I wasn’t about to let that happen. I had one call to make. One person who could shake all this shit up. I didn’t care what Eason thought he had going with this Xalori chick, I was about to make sure it ended. For good.