The Fierce Ex Wife

**Four years ago

CELESTE POV

Our marriage was only two years old, with a daughter who was barely six months old.

It all started when he came back home from work with the fragrance of a perfume that didn't exist in our home. It was feminine, and sharp, and filled the large living room whenever he walked in.

Some days, there was a lip gloss dent.

I could see stains on the collar of his white and colored shirt.

While this happened, I asked, all the time, with hopes that it would end, but it didn't.

Damien did not stop, he didn't want to stop. I could tell the evening he brought a woman to the house, for the first time since we got married.

"Who is she?"

I knew. How could I not?

The perfume fragrance was familiar.

Like the one he came home with long before now. And the gloss on her lips, they looked like the same ones I had seen on his collar.

"This is Tamara, Celeste."

"Who is Tamara?" My voice was lost but I found it as I adjusted on the dining chair where I sat.

"Is Tamara your sister or a distant relative?"

A painful smile came alive on my countenance. "How come you didn't tell me we were having a guest, Damien? I should have cooked a meal."

My husband chuckled.

The woman he came home with did the same.

They walked towards the stairs, like I didn't exist, as if I didn't speak a while ago.

Without hesitation, I was on my feet.

"Damien!"

I didn't know what happened, but I lost my patience. "You don't walk out on me without giving me an explanation. What's going on here?!"

"Don't embarrass me in front of my guest."

"What guest?!" I shouted.

The yarn and pin I had in my hand, fell to the ground. One part of me was ready to deal with Damien, although I didn't know how. "You bring a woman into our home, my home, and you expect me to keep calm without an explanation."

"I told you already. This is Tamara."

"Who is Tamara?!"

"My girlfriend!"

There was no shame in the way he spoke. There was no remorse, no act of repentance.

"Tamara is my girlfriend."

I was too stunned to speak. Too weak to react. Something moved inside of me, my chest.

It was hate.

The love I knew I had for Damien had gone into the dust. The only thing I wanted to do at this point was make him regret what he had done.

He didn't say any more words.

Rather, he turned to face Tamara. "Let's go."

I was shocked that they were on their way to our bedroom, my matrimonial bedroom. In this same shock, I walked closer. "You can't take a woman I don't know into my room, Damien."

"This is my house, Celeste."

"It's our home!"

"And I have a right to it, don't I?"

He turned to look at me. "What is wrong with you? You and I know I don't owe you any explanation. Allow me to serve my visitor-" He looked at Tamara then me. "We have unfinished business and we don't want you interfering."

This was the height of it.

I would have taken it over and over again if Damien came home with fragrance and lip gloss dent. But not this-this was extreme.

He had lost his respect for me.

What exactly happened?

What did I do wrong?

Tears fell down my face. I looked up-they were close to the door of our bedroom.

"I want a divorce."

Once again, he stopped to look at me.

For the first time since he brought this woman home, he had a look of shock on his face.

"What did you say?"

"You've heard me correctly, Damien. I want a divorce and I want it as soon as possible."

It was the first time I would have such thoughts and the first time I would let my words out without thinking about it twice or even thrice.

But I didn't care.

I was tired at this point and would love to leave this marriage. Damien had done enough.

"You want a divorce-"

His next words cut short my thoughts, and then what he said next threw me off balance.

"Tell me, what's stopping you from getting the papers? Let me know when they're ready. I'll be ready to sign them as soon as they are."

I didn't expect that, but it was a good thing.

Where I would go, I didn't know.

It was for this same man I abandoned my family two years ago. How was I supposed to know they were right about their assumption? How would I have known choosing Damien Blackwood over them would be the worst mistake of my life?

As Damien walked with Tamara to the door of our bedroom, he scoffed. "I wonder where you'll go. You don't have a family the last time I checked. I also hope you don't come back after three days."

Those words pierced my heart.

More tears ran down my cheeks.

I didn't know what to do. Maybe I knew what to do, but I didn't know how to go about it.

As I took a seat on the couch, I made up my mind to end this marriage. There was no need to stay back and condole his acts. He wouldn't do the same for me if the tables were turned.

Days after that evening, I walked back home. There was an envelope in my hand.

The time was now.

I caught up with the guest room, my current space as I could not stay in my matrimonial bedroom any longer-not when it had been defiled.

Sophia lay in her cot.

She deserved nothing but a father who would love her fiercely, a man who would fight for her, even protect her, and Damien was meant to be that man-but he'd already chosen someone else.

By the time I was done packing my bags and boxes, I strapped my daughter to myself.

One by one, I dragged the boxes and bags down the stairs and when I was done, I caught up with the living room where Damien was seated.

"Sign the papers."

For the first time in my life, I spoke with so much boldness. I didn't know where that came from but I loved it more than anything else.

"What's this about?"

He looked up to meet my gaze.

"This is our divorce agreement. You're to sign."

"Oh!" He scoffed and picked it up. "I should be sure you're not about to rip me off before I sign." He laughed as he scrolled through each paper, putting his signature on them without any hesitation-a smile on his countenance.

This was what he always wanted.

He never said so but it was obvious.

When he was done, he dropped the file back on the table. "I'm letting you go. It's what you want, after all. But I hope you don't come running back to me when you don't find a place to stay."

That wasn't going to happen.

I wasn't going to come back to this life.

Not now or ever.

"You wish-" it was a stutter.

I reached the stairs where my bags and boxes existed so that I could continue my dragging, this time to the entrance of the mansion.

"You know what?" Damien got up.

"I think you should keep the baby. It's you who wanted a baby, now you have it."

"It's in the contract already, Damien." I looked around the living room before I stepped out. "You have no right to come closer to her anymore."

He chuckled. "Good for me."

Without saying a word, I turned around and walked away, my daughter safe with me.

I didn't look back. I didn't need to.