Chapter 2

The house was steeped in a suffocating silence, each shadow elongated and menacing in the dim light. I sat alone in the living room, a solitary figure dwarfed by expensive furniture that felt alien to me. The air was heavy, thick with unspoken words and festering resentment.

Headlights cut through the inky blackness outside, slicing across the large picture window, a momentary flash that announced his arrival. My heart, already a bruised thing, gave a painful lurch.

The front door opened, letting in a gust of cold night air, and Broderick stepped inside. His hand went to the light switch, and the room was instantly flooded with a blinding, indifferent glare. He saw me, sitting there, but his gaze slid away, already focused on the stairs, his intention to disappear upstairs clear.

"Broderick." I spoke his name, a desperate plea in my voice, hoping to tether him to this moment, to me.

He didn't stop. His steps didn't falter, didn' t even slow. He kept moving, a phantom in his own home, leaving me struggling in his wake.

My hands clenched into tight fists, nails digging into my palms, the pain a welcome distraction from the deeper ache. I lifted my head, a fragile, determined smile on my lips.

"I want a divorce."

His steps faltered. He stopped. Slowly, he turned. Backlit by the harsh overhead light, his silhouette was formidable, unyielding. He looked less like a man and more like an imposing, unapproachable statue.

My eyes traced the sharp angles of his face, the strong jawline, the cold, distant eyes. Ten years. Ten years I had loved him, devoted myself to him. Ten years of sacrifice, of hoping for a love that would never bloom. It was time to let go. I shouldn't burden him anymore.

"Is this another one of your games, Celina?" His voice was flat, laced with barely concealed contempt. "Some new tactic to get what you want?"

I pushed myself up from the sofa, moving with a newfound resolve. My hand went to my purse, pulling out the neatly folded divorce papers. My fingers brushed against the familiar shape of the painkiller bottle inside. For a moment, my gaze lingered there, a quiet acknowledgment of the constant battle raging within my body. Then, I closed the purse, placing it deliberately on the coffee table, opting to hide my vulnerability for now.

I walked towards him, the signed document held out like a peace offering, or perhaps a surrender.

"I' m setting you free, Broderick," I said, forcing a light, almost cheerful tone that cracked at the edges. My smile felt brittle, fragile. "I don' t want to hold you back any longer."

A bitter thought flashed through my mind: If only I had known your heart belonged to someone else from the start, I would never have married you.

His eyes flickered to the signature line, then he snatched the papers from my hand. He didn' t read them. Instead, he slapped them against my shoulder, the papers rustling with ironic disdain.

"Trying to get a bigger cut of the assets now, are we?" he sneered, his lips curling in disgust.

I froze, the accusation a fresh wound. "No," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "I don' t want your money."

He said nothing, just stared at me, his gaze cold and disbelieving. The silence stretched, thick with his mistrust.

Three years ago, when his family faced ruin, I had disappeared for a short time, returning with a solution he refused to believe could be innocent. He heard rumors, saw me with another man-Justin Neal-a man whose powerful family could have saved his. He concluded I was a calculating woman, selling myself for wealth.

He remembered how his father had then forced him to marry me, a move he resented deeply, convinced it was my doing. His hatred for me had only festered since.

His eyes were filled with chilling contempt. "Get out, Celina."

I spread my arms, blocking his path. "I' m setting you free, Broderick," I repeated, a desperate sincerity in my voice now. "I don' t want anything. I' ll even sign a prenuptial agreement, if you want. A guarantee."

He looked at me, a strange, almost amused expression on his face. "There' s someone else," he said, his voice soft, almost lyrical, yet each word was an ice shard piercing my heart. "And I intend to marry her, with all the pomp and circumstance she deserves."

My breath hitched. The air left my lungs in a painful rush.

"And I can' t do that," he continued, his voice hardening, "while I' m still entangled with you."

The front door slammed shut, echoing through the hollow house. I heard the shower running in his bathroom, a steady spray of cold water. He was probably trying to wash away the lingering presence of me. His knuckles were white, clenched so tight they looked bloodless. He was hurting, too, in his own way, though I knew it wasn't for me.

I turned, my gaze falling on the divorce papers scattered on the floor. Slowly, I bent down and picked them up, smoothing out the creases. It was done.

My phone rang, a jarring sound in the quiet house. It was my mother. Her voice was frantic, choked with tears. "Your father... he' s ill, Celina! Critically ill!"

I rushed to the hospital. There, the truth hit me with the force of a tidal wave. My family' s business was on the brink of collapse, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Just like Broderick's had been, years ago.

His words, his accusations from earlier, suddenly made a chilling kind of sense. He had known. He had always known.