Chapter 1 The Beginning

Miranda waltzed through the front door sporting one of the newest dresses made by Armani. It was a form fitting knee length red cady draped dress, with a crossover neckline that dipped quite low. The three-quarter length sleeves were flawless, and the garment stopped just above her knees showing off her long-toned legs.

Anthony watched from the couch as she passed by ignoring him completely. They had been married for 4 years now and this was an everyday occurrence. He had been constantly treated like air for the entire marriage and honestly, he was tired of it. Although they live in the same house, they never slept in the same room or together for that matter. They have separate rooms and lead separate lives. He doesn't even stay at the mansion most of the time.

After they wed, he made sure to buy an apartment of his own in a secluded complex with moderate security. Their marital home was bought for Miranda by her parents, and they had refused to even think about putting his name on it. Which was fine with him since the mansion was in an upscale neighborhood and had more rooms than they could possibly need. The interior decorations were gaudy and screamed wealth and upper-class.

Miranda and Anthony were total opposites in personality as well. Where Anthony was a quiet introvert, Miranda was an extreme extrovert. She loved to be the center of attention. That was one of the reasons he was ready to divorce. In two days, it would be their 5-year anniversary and rather than celebrate like others would with a nice dinner out at a restaurant to at least keep up the pretense, she made sure to find a random excuse to be out in the center of high society. Recently, she has started making excuses to go out alone.

He was fine with that though. He had other things he could immerse himself in such as looking for a loophole in the marriage contract he stupidly signed or work.

While he was still sitting on the couch, she came breezing back into the living room.

"Oh, there you are. I'm going out. Make sure you clean up my bedroom, bathroom, and well, you know the drill by now. Just make sure everything is clean. I don't give you a monthly allowance for your good looks. Get off your butt and get to work."

Anthony knew what the answer was going to be before he even asked the question, but he had to ask anyway. "You realize our 5-year anniversary is coming up in two days. Would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

"No. I have a charity banquet to attend for work that day. You can go by yourself."

"That defeats the purpose."

"What! I don't need your sass," she retorted flipping her hair. She turned around and strode toward the large oak front door, her stilettos echoing throughout the large entryway.

BAM!

The sound reverberated through the empty mansion before silence eventually enveloped him. With a heavy sigh, Anthony stood from the couch and exited the cold empty shell of what was supposed to be a home. He climbed into his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, started the engine and drove away.