After The Divorce

Arianna

Checking myself in the mirror one last time to make sure that nothing was out of place and applying a little more red lipstick a couple of months into our marriage, I discovered that red was his favorite color. Tonight I'm wearing it to say goodbye to the man and the color. Going downstairs, the smell of the food hits my nose and makes my mouth watery; I spend half of the day preparing for tonight's dinner cause I want everything to go softly. Checking my watch, I see that he should've been here already, if Jacob isn't anything but punctual that he is, which is weird that he is not here yet, picking up the phone to give him a call when suddenly I heard the door open for him to walk in "What's all this? Was the first word that came out of his mouth, letting it roll off my shoulder.

"It's our anniversary dinner, what do you think?" I told him while I approached him with a glass of wine, forcing a smile on my face.

" Do we have to indulge in this nonsense every year?" he grimly said, like our anniversary was not an essential matter to him.

" Yes you do, Jacob it's our four years anniversary, it's the least you could do," I told him before I took my seat at the table, waiting for him to do the same, not that I cared much about what he does tonight I just need the plan to go well and all of this nonsense will be over. We spend the next couple of minutes lost in the food that I spend the day cooking and making sure everything was good just the way he likes it, taking a bit out of my shrimp when Jacob goes "What are you up to tonight?" like I'm always up to something.

Smiling " Do I need to be up to something in order for a wife to have dinner with her husband on their wedding anniversary?"

" Don't play innocent Arianna; I know what kind of woman you are, so whatever game you are playing ends it," he said a bit forcibly.

Still smiling, I picked up my glass of wine and took a sip; putting it down, I looked at my dear husband. "Okay, you got me, I do have a surprise for you, and it'll have to wait until later," pointing at his plate "Eat up, honey, we have all night."

" ARIANNA!" he yelled.

Raising my eyebrow at him, " What? You don't like surprises?"

"I don't like the game you are playing; if you have something in your mind, let it out," he said with no emotion behind his words, showing me that he didn't care.

Honestly, I'm used to this kind of treatment from him. That's why no matter how he acts tonight, nothing will stop me from doing what I plan on doing. " Alright, alright, since you insist on knowing what's going on, let's go upstairs, shall we?" I walk around the table and take his hand in mine, we walk up the stairs in silence, both of us lost in our own worlds, not knowing how the night will go, only one of us knows tonight will be a shock for the other. Once we got in the bedroom, I didn't waste any time pushing him onto the bed and straddling him, not giving him a chance to say anything. I brought down my lips to him in a soft kiss, tasting the water to see how he would react. When he didn't push me away, I nipped at the side of his lips before pushing my tongue inside his mouth, making both of us moan out of pleasure. It felt like just the first time we met.

Pushing my luck, I started to unbutton the shirt before tracing my fingers down those lovely abs that I knew were hiding underneath those layers, I was lost in what I was doing, I didn't expect him to flip us with me at the bottom and him on top while holding my hands over my head.

Smiling, "I knew you wanted to play," and biting my lips invitingly, yes our marriage is not the conventional one, but still, it's a marriage nonetheless, at the beginning, we used to go at it like wild cats, but now we are strangers with paper that said we are married.

" I don't like the game you are playing tonight. Whatever is in your mind, let it out and get it over with," he repeated with urgency.

Pushing him off of me, I got off the bed. "I am not your wife?" I found myself asking him, I couldn't help it.

" AAAh damn woman, I'm tired of your annoying games, since when did you care whether or not we have s*x or not, " he said with so much frustration that I thought the veins that showed up in his forehead would pop at any moment.

Right, he is an impatient man, something that used to work well in our marriage but not right now; walking towards him, "Is that how you want to treat your wife on the night of our anniversary?" leaning on the dresser, I cross my arm under my breast and watching him trying to figure out what I'm up too. All I wanted to do was laugh in his face, but in this situation, I couldn't laugh and had to keep a serious face.

" Want me to treat you like my wife every time this ridiculous time comes around? Then You should have acted like a goddamn wife," he spat in my face.

Taking a deep breath, I lean closer to him and say, " I didn't have a husband for me to be a wife to" I know this argument is pointless, but I can't help but speak what's on my mind tonight, if making himself believing that I was a bad wife so he could

sleep at night, so be it, I'm just not going to let him forget that he was as bad as I was in this so-called marriage.

Pushing away from him, I went to one of the drawers. I pulled out an envelope that I'd been holding on to for the past few weeks, debating on whether or not I should give it to him, but two days ago someone made my decision very easy for me with the information that they couldn't help but share with me.

Walking back to where he was standing, I handed the envelope to him. "This is your surprise," I forced a big smile on my face. "Let's get a divorce" The minute those words came out of my mouth, I knew I was making the right decision.

Before I could walk out of the room, he grabbed my wrist " Is this more of your game?"

Shaking my head, "No, I think it's time we go our separate ways, no more games, " pulling my hand away from him.

" Is it money that you want? You, that's not an issue for me if you want money" I walked out of the room without giving him a response.

Jacob

Divorce? Divorce? I kept repeating in my head that I couldn't bring myself to believe what I was hearing. No, there was no way that she would want to walk away from this glamorous life that she had wanted from the beginning. Shaking my head, I followed her downstairs to find out what her end game was because I couldn't believe that woman would want a divorce.

" What's the game, Arianna? Is it money you want?" I found myself asking her because I was fighting the urge to come to terms with what was on these pieces of paper. With her back towards me, she said, " I don't want your money; all I need is a divorce.", she looked over her shoulder at me and said, "Is that so hard to believe? That I just need a divorce?" she asked me with a look of disbelief on her face.

I don't want to admit it but yes, it is hard to believe that she just wants a clean divorce I can't wrap my head around what she is saying because this woman standing in front of me is cunning and vicious. I can't believe that she would want to walk away from this marriage without getting any money from me. There is a reason why she is doing this. Whatever game she is playing, I know it was big for her to tell me, "Okay, if you don't have money, what do you want?" I asked her again, I was getting frustrated with this guessing game, she is a woman that I could never know what was on her mind, I just had to wait and see what she was up to.

The next day I was still thinking about last night when my lawyer walked Into my office with a yellow envelope that had the divorce papers in it. Ugh, isn't it too early for this crap, guess not cause the man took a seat in front of me and started pulling paper out of the envelope like I didn't already know what was in there.

" Arianna moved out this morning, after reading these papers, she doesn't want anything from you, not even the vacation home" he reminds me that I kept asking her if this is about money, but now he mentions this, it reminds me that she won't be going back to her parents, so where exactly is she going to stay.

" Is there anything else that she wants? Or doesn't want " Her decision still shuffled me, her decision is a big question mark to me.

" No, Sir, I will say this is the cleanest divorce that I have ever seen," he told me with a shake of his head, he looked more amused than anything.

Yeah, to me, it's not about having the cleanest divorce, it's finding out what game is this woman playing. She went into so much trouble to have me marry her, and she wants a divorce now with no money. I'm not buying it. She's up to something, and I know I won't like whatever she is cooking, whatever she has up her sleeves, I need to be prepared for it. One thing I know for sure she is not going to catch me off guard again.

"Sir, do you want to sign them now?" the lawyer asked.

" Leave them here," I told him before I turned to look out of the window, trying to come up with a reason why she would want a divorce, the better question should be, why are you questioning her motive, Jacob Milian? You wanted, and you are getting out, so be happy, not looking for a reason as to why you are getting this vicious woman out of your life. Despises what I told myself, I spent the whole day stressing about what to do with Arianna, I haven't told my family about her decision even though I know they would all be happy that she wants out of the marriage, From the find out about how she forced herself into the family none of them wanted to be near her or let her into the company for fear that she would do something.

"Man, I thought I just saw your wife at that Italian restaurant, you know I love you so much," my best friend says when he walks into the office, looking like he hasn't slept in days.

I'm not surprised that he is not sure that he saw Arianna because we didn't do much together, the times that my friends met her was the day of the wedding and when she threw me a birthday party, all of these happened in the very first year of our wedding. Pretty much after that, we came to the conclusion there was no need for us to pretend to be a happy couple since I found out about her lies to get into my family, I didn't have the energy to entertain this vicious woman who called herself my wife.

I still couldn't help but ask, " Was she with anyone?"

" Yeah, with another woman, " he said absently.

Uhmm, probably her best friend, she's the only one that I saw at the wedding, her family didn't show, which was a good thing cause if they did, I'm sure her lies would've shown themselves earlier than later. Grabbing my jacket, I put it on before walking out of the office, knowing that Aiden would follow me.

" Where are we going, man ?" he asked once we got in the elevator.

" Did you forget we have to go check on the design for the shoot today?" I gave him a once over, he was the one in charge of that, but I wanted out of the office, so here I am going to do his job for him. I honestly don't understand how he still has a job, his mind always seems to be anywhere but at work, even though he doesn't think about work much, but once he puts his head to it, you lose him for days in that office.

" Right, right," he said while he pushed for the lobby in the elevator. Once we got outside the building, I went straight for my car. I didn't have time to waste, the shoot should be starting in one hour, and I plan to get there in thirty if traffic would allow it. It didn't take us long to get to the shooting site, since traffic was very light, it made it easier to get there. Once we arrived, I parked the car and went straight for where the models and the photographer would be for the shot. What I wasn't expecting was to find Arianna and one of the models going at it neck to neck.

" Oh man, I definitely saw her, at the restaurant," Aiden whispered behind me, leaving him standing there, I walked towards them just in time to hear Lisa, one of the models, say, " You mad that he doesn't want you no more or are you mad that he and I are going to have a family?" she said proudly.

Standing behind Lisa, "Surprise to see you here, Arianna" I asked.

" Why? You've been avoiding my calls and texts; all I need you to do is sign those papers'' crossed her arms in front of her "It should be an easy thing to do, don't you think?" From her tone, I can tell that she was challenging me, but I'm not going to rise to her level and play her game.

Turning to Lisa I could hear Arianna walking away, grabbing Lisa's arms. I say, "What the hell is this thing about us having a family?" It was the first time I heard about it, I always seemed to get trapped in some drama with those women.

" Oh, right," she looks nervous, not looking at me but at the floor. "I was going to tell you I'm pregnant," she said with a big smile on her face.

It was like she threw an ice bucket of water at me, making me freeze for a moment before looking down at her and saying, "No." without thinking, I walked away, leaving her standing there with a look of horror on her face.

Arianna

I thought he would jump at this chance to sign the paper and get it over with, but now the man seems to be dragging this thing along. It's been four days since I've been calling and texting him to find out when he is going to sign the paper so I can move on. The paper doesn't stop me from doing my thing, but I want to know that I put that part of my life behind me and leave that life behind me.

Divorce wasn't my first option, but when that low down of a woman came to me to glow about being in a relationship with my husband, that was the end for me. I know the way that I force myself into the Milan family, in their eyes, I deceive them, and that's okay because I was in a moment of distress, and Jacob was the only one that could help me at the time, to say I'm not ashamed of my decision would be a lie because every night I lay next to him, I would think if I made the right decision. My best friend Lucia walked into the room and she held a bag that I'm sure had some drinks for us to get ourselves lost in tonight. I have no problem with that choice tonight "Girl, did you get to talk to that husband of yours?" she asks.

" He is not picking up my calls, but he is reading my text," taking a shot of my drink. "I don't understand why he is dragging his feet like that." you'll think his family would be happy to have me out of their life.

" You give him a pass by not asking him for half of his money, he should be grateful for that," she keeps pointing out, poking me in the side "You should've asked for money and at least two houses," she keeps on reminding me.

Laughing, "Girl, he kept asking if it was money that I wanted" lost in my thought for a moment, "I couldn't bring myself to say yes because I don't want to take his money," I didn't marry him so I could steal from him even though, I did marry him to help me out of a situation, but I wanted out scott free and nothing more.

" why not, you guys were married while he was making that money, and now that cheap a** woman is going to replace you, oh hell no!" she is angrier about the divorce than I am.

When Lisa came to me with her information about her being pregnant and all, I didn't want to believe it, but I knew deep down there would be another woman who was as cunning as I was; I was staring out of the window thinking about how I have come to meet Jacob that night I was lucky because since I was working as a waitress in one of those fancy restaurants I happened to wait on his table that night, honestly had no idea that my plan was going to work after the phone call that I got from my father telling me that he got the family into debt, deep debt and if I don't come up with the money somehow he was going to sell me to some people so he could make up for that. I knew my father didn't care about me but only himself, I wasn't going to let him destroy my life along with his, so I had to come up with a plan fast. The idea was for me to get a loan somewhere, but when I saw Jacob Milan walk in, in his expensive suit and his expensive friends, I decided that would be my ticket to a big payout. So I put my plan in motion which ended with me being in a hotel room with Jacob, I'm not going to lie we had a fantastic night, but a few months later, I found out I was pregnant, which is something that I was going to use to get him to marry me, but I didn't expect to get pregnant for real, but now that happened there was no turning back, it was the type of situation where it's either you sink or swim so I decided to swim. My punishment for my wrongdoing came down three months later after our wedding when I had a miscarriage that no one in the Milan family believed.

"Are you even listening to me?" Lucia was shaking my shoulder, bringing me back to the present. "You need to get back on your feet and show him that you were someone before he met you since you don't have his money," she was right before I married I was a fantastic designer, and once my Father got into debt that's when I lost my passion for it, so I could save myself from my father.

" You sure you don't want his money, I mean, he could set you up for life, girl," she was saying, I know she was tipsy already the way she swung left to right.

Smiling, I thought to myself, "Well, it wouldn't hurt to be set for life without doing any work, but you know I'm not that type of person, so yeah, I don't need his money; I'll make my own." I say with hope.

" Ight girl, whatever you say, you can stay here with me until you get back on your feet" She got off the sofa before she reached her room, she looked over her shoulder and say, "You want me to put you in touch with my boss, maybe he'll give you position in the company." she offered me.

"Thanks, I like that," I told her, that could be the new beginning, I was thinking.

" Good night chica!" she yelled before walking into her room and leaving me with the rest of the drinks. Picking up my phone, I give Jacob one more call, and as I expected, he didn't answer, ugh the man is getting on my last nerve as to why he is making my life difficult right now; I throw the phone on the couch, and lay beside it I can't wrap my head around it why he is not making a move is he afraid of something? Closing my eyes, I thought about that night; I couldn't come up with any reason as to why he was delaying this divorce. Did he say something that I forgot about, or did he at least say something meaningful? I was just about to close my eyes when something came to mind.

Jumping up to my feet I remember him keep asking me what kind of game I'm playing, is that why he hasn't signed the papers because he believes that I'm playing a game with him? Oh damn, does he really think I'm playing tricks on him this time? That can't be it? Can it? I keep asking myself those questions over and over but I can't come up with any other explanation, that's what I get for playing games in the first place "Ugh," I say before dropping myself onto the couch undefeated because I don't know what else to do, to get him to sign that paper, if he is set in his way, there's no way I can change his mind.

Putting the small pillow under my head, I thought, guess the difficult marriage wasn't enough for him, he had to make the divorce a rollercoaster war doesn't he? With one thought in mind that tomorrow is a new day, and with that, I will start a new life fresh with no Jacob Milan in it; with a smile, I close my eyes and let the darkness take over.