Chapter 1 1

Claire's POV

It was supposed to be a night of celebration. A night where I could rekindle the faint flicker of hope I still harbored for our marriage. Our wedding anniversary. The date had loomed in my mind for weeks, a bittersweet reminder of what we once had, or perhaps what I thought we had.

The silver tray holding my carefully prepared dinner sat on the dining table, mocking me with its untouched perfection. Candles flickered softly, their warm glow casting long shadows on the walls of our cold, cavernous home. The clock ticked relentlessly, each passing second amplifying the ache in my chest. Where was he?

I sat at the head of the table, phone in hand, refreshing my messages even though I knew he wouldn't text. He used to but he stopped and never explained why whenever I confronted him. As I scrolled through my phone for a while, a notification popped up. I quickly clicked on it and a banner headline appeared with the photograph of my husband and a slender blond lady. My hands shook as I dropped my phone. According to the details, she was going to be a mother soon and myhusband-Xandro was planning on marrying her. I gripped the table cloth and screamed as tears tripped. Of all nights, he had to choose today, to break the news to the world without thinking of what it would mean to me. How it would affect me!

Was he so callous? I rose as my hands shook badly. There was only one way to put an end to this humiliation and embarrassment he had thrown at me for years.

As I opened the drawer, a masculine voice stopped me. I breathed slowly as I tried to steady my shaky fingers and body.

"You're still awake," he said casually, brushing off his sleeves. Not a hint of guilt, not even a shadow of remorse.

"It's our anniversary," I replied, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. "Did you forget?"

"Of course not," he said, his tone dismissive. "But I didn't think it required a grand celebration."

"A grand celebration," I echoed, bitterness coating my words. "No, you were too busy celebrating with her, weren't you?" I held up my phone, the incriminating photos glaring from the screen.

He stared at the phone for a moment and shrugged but didn't say anything.

I snapped, stepping closer. "Are you seriously going to stand there and keep quiet? How many times do you expect me to look the other way? To pretend this marriage isn't a complete farce? Is bringing them home not enough? Now, you decided you were going to marry one of those whores because she claims to be carrying your child! How could you do this to us, to me?"

He glared at me. "Be careful with your words, Claire. That woman isn't a whore but the mother of my child!

I shook my head as I laughed. "Wow, you defend her with so much love unlike me. That's cute, Xander. You know what? I'm going to give you that freedom you want so bad, so that you can do whatever you like and not account it for granted."

He moved closer and gritted. "What do you mean by that statement?"

I turned and brought out the divorce papers I had worked on with my best friend weeks ago. When I noticed the marriage was becoming a burden and affecting my sanity, I had finally listened to her and crafted the papers.

"Here are the divorce papers. I have signed my part, so, do so with yours. My lawyer would reach out during the week to discuss other details. Thank you for everything, Xander."I sniffed as he reluctantly collected the papers.

He scanned the papers and shook his head. "No, this isn't right. You're not the one who ended this marriage but me."

I chuckled harshly as I glanced around the room. "What marriage? The one where you brought different women into our home, paraded them in social events while I waited for you at nights to return home? The one where you killed my self esteem and made me beg for your love? Or is it the marriage where you impregnated one of your women and defended her on the night of our anniversary? Huh, tell me!" I yelled, breathing hard. "This marriage was a facade and I'm leaving tonight. Enough of everything!"

"Enough, Claire! You can't end the marriage just because I got another lady pregnant. I decide what happens to you and not you. You stay until I have no use of you anymore." he hissed and flung the papers across the room.

"Stay? You don't own me, Xander. I am leaving and that's final!" My voice trembled but I continued. "I won't stay here and continue to be the dutiful, dumb wife. I won't."

He scoffed and glared coldly at me. "So, you think, you can just walk away from everything without any consequence? Oh, interesting but sorry to break it to you, this marriage isn't coming to an end because you said so. You aren't leaving and that's final!"

I flinched as his cold glare rooted me to the floor but that didn't stop me from talking. "What are you going to do if I leave, huh? Chain me to the bed? Lock me in a room? I have a right to walk out from a broken and deceitful home, Xander and I'm doing that tonight."

He moved closer and towered over me. "You shouldn't push me, Claire."

I shook my head as I glared at him boldly. "Tell me one good reason why I should stay. Just one good reason and I will tear the papers immediately."

He balled his fists, his expression unreadable and turned to the door.

I yelled as he opened the door. "As expected. You are running again. You can even be a man and tell your wife the truth. Classic Xander."

He turned and a flicker of regret or hope passed through his eyes and before I could decipher what it was exactly, his expression turned stony. "Go ahead, leave! You have no one to help you anyway. When you are done fooling yourself around, you will return here and then, you will realize why you should never have left."

As I was about to speak, he slammed the door behind him. My heart thumped faster asI picked the divorce papers and left them on the table. He might be right about me not having anyone but I wasn't going to return to this house.

As I climbed the staircase slowly, my phone lit up with another notification. I clicked on it and regretted it immediately. It was another picture of Xander proposing to the lady. He didn't take much time to hurt me again.