Chapter 2 A Night with a Stranger

His silence was an answer.

"You're a coward," she hissed.

David's eyes snapped to hers, cold and sharp. "Watch your mouth."

"No, I won't. Not anymore. I watched myself for three years. I stayed quiet, obeyed, smiled at everything while you ignored me. I gave everything I had to a marriage you were already halfway out the door from."

"You're overreacting."

That was the final straw.

Alina picked up the divorce papers and threw them back at his chest. "You don't get to gaslight me after destroying my heart."

"They're already signed. Just sign yours and file them."

She stared at him in disbelief. "You already signed them?"

His shrug was casual, heartless. "It's just a formality now."

That's when her voice broke. "Did you ever love me, David?"

A pause. Then:

"I think I loved the idea of you. But you're not her, you could never fill the void she left."

Alina recoiled like he had slapped her.

Her throat dried and closed. Her heart shattered into a billion pieces.

There it was.

The truth, the truth she had always turned away from.

He never loved her. Not really.

She couldn't stay in that room another second.

"Go to hell!," she yelled. "And take your lies with you."

He said nothing and did nothing.

Just stood there like she was no longer his problem.

Her heels clicked like gunshots across the marble floor as she grabbed her coat, her bag, and her pride.

Then she slammed the door behind her shaking the very walls of the mansion she once called home.

...

The cold air slapped her face as she stepped outside, but it couldn't numb the burn inside her chest.

Alina walked blindly, the chill eating deep into her bones, but she didn't care. She needed to breathe, needed to feel something other than betrayal or heartbreak.

The glittering nightlife of downtown buzzed in her ears like static. Neon lights flickered on wet pavement, and loud music throbbed from the line of clubs that pulsed with bodies escaping their own realities.

That's exactly what she needed.

She didn't remember hailing the cab.

Didn't remember what she said when the driver asked, "Where to?"

But she remembered walking into Club Halo, the blur of light, sound, and heat swallowing her whole.

The bass thundered like a second heartbeat as Alina pushed past the crowd. Inside, bodies moved like smoke. No one looked. No one asked questions. It was the perfect place to disappear.

She ordered something strong and unfamiliar at the bar, downed it too fast, then asked for another. The burn didn't stop the ache in her chest but it blurred the edges. Just enough.

She was on her third drink when a deep voice broke through the haze.

"You look like you're trying to forget something."

Alina turned slowly, glass in hand.

He stood tall, dressed in black, with eyes like storm clouds, calm, but dangerous. His presence wrapped around her like heat, slow and deliberate. Not the kind of man you meet by accident.

"And what if I am?" she said, her voice hoarse.

He gave a ghost of a smile. "Then maybe I can help."

Alina studied him. He wasn't flirty. Wasn't pushy. Just... still.

A man used to being obeyed. But not tonight.

Tonight, she didn't want control.

She wanted escape.

From David, from the lies, from herself.

She tipped her head. "Then help me forget."

The man held out his hand. She didn't even ask his name and he didn't ask hers.

They left together, past the flashing lights, past the stares, past the judgment.

...

The Morning After

Sunlight leaked in through the sheer curtains.

Alina's head pounded and her throat was dry. Her limbs were tangled in silk sheets that didn't belong to her.

She blinked blearily, sitting up slowly.

This isn't my bed. She looked around.

It was a luxury suite, one that screamed wealth and power. There were fresh lilies in a vase by the bed, a tray of breakfast untouched on the table, and a folded robe on the nearby chair.

The man... was gone.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Hello?" she called.

But she was met with silence.

She scrambled out of bed, wrapped herself in the robe, and searched the suite. No note. No number. Nothing.

Her stomach twisted as she spotted her dress neatly folded, her heels set beside it.

Was this planned?

She rushed to the front desk on shaky legs, the receptionist smiling politely as she approached.

"Excuse me... who paid for the room?"

The woman tapped on the computer. "It was prepaid by Mr. Black."

"Mr. Black?" Alina echoed. "No first name?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am. That's all we have on file."

Alina stepped back, the nausea rising.

Who was he?

She left the hotel still dazed. She couldn't really remember a lot from yesterday as she was far gone but his voice, something about his voice felt tender yet cold and it kept replaying as she made her way to her room.

She didn't even know his name.

...

Home was no longer home

She slipped into the house like a thief, half-hoping David wouldn't be there.

But he was. He stood in the living room, hands in his pockets, jaw clenched. "Where the hell were you?"

Alina stood still.

"You don't get to ask me that," she said tightly.

"I'm still your husband."

Alina rolled her eyes and scoffed, "my husband? You stopped being that a long time ago".

His eyes narrowed. "You spent the night with someone."

She didn't answer. That silence was her rebellion, her only power.

David stepped closer, furious. "Who was he?"

she spat,"Isn't that poetic? You destroy our marriage and l find comfort in somebody else."

"It's a win win for everyone"

"You're unbelievable," he growled.

"No," she snapped. "I just finally stopped being your doormat."

He took a step back, like her words slapped him.

She didn't wait for a fight. She walked past him, head high, even though her heart was in ruins.

...

The most unthinkable thing happened

It's been two weeks since that night.

The nausea at it again.

Alina dropped the brush she was holding and bolted for the bathroom.

Not again...no no no.

She stared at the test on the counter, her hands trembling.

Positive.

Her world tilted.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no..."

She stumbled to her feet, staring at her reflection.

Tears rolled silently.

She was pregnant.

Not with David child. They haven't been intimate for a year.

But for the stranger. For a man she didn't know. A man who had vanished.

Her lips trembled and her chest ached.

This was the last thing she ever expected.

But the tiny spark growing inside her, this was real.

And it was hers.

No matter what David said, no matter what the world thought.

She pressed her hand to her stomach, breath shaky.

Everything was about to change.

That night she made her choice. She packed everything that belonged to her.

Took the divorce papers, signed it. After signing it, threw it on the bed.

David wasn't home that night.

"He must be wrapped around his mistress," she said with disgust.

It was the perfect escape.