FYI, Mr. Ex, I'm The Heiress of A Billionaire

Leora PoV

"You're trying to poison me!"

I stared at the salad bowl that Lizzy was pointing at, wondering why there was peanut sauce in the bowl.

"I didn't do it, Lizzy. I just added Thousand Island dressing to the salad," I argued in a shaky voice.

Lizzy cried as her face started to swell. Peter looked at me angrily and rushed to pick up Lizzy, who immediately hugged her by the neck.

"Are you crazy, Leora?" snapped Moira, my mother-in-law. "You must have done it on purpose, right? You're jealous of Lizzy, right?"

"No!" I argued desperately. "She added the peanut butter herself to slander me!"

Slap!!!

My cheeks were hot and my head was banging, when Moira slapped my cheek hard. She put her hands on her hips with a bright red face, while next to her Eva laughed sarcastically at me.

"You are so mean," cursed Moira loudly. "You should be grateful that my son still recognizes you as his wife, even though you are completely useless. You can't even give him a child!"

My tongue is numb. I really wanted to say a lot of things that I had kept in my heart, but my subconscious mind forbade me. I'm sure it won't end here.

"Tell Peter to divorce her, Mom," Eva said to her mother. "If Lizzy were Peter's wife, we would live happily. She is rich and royal, different from this poor and orphaned woman!"

My heart was cut when I heard Eva's cruel words. All they had been talking about was Lizzy. They never considered my feelings at all.

Moira stood up and pushed me hard. "Go to your room and don't dare come out until Peter comes home! If anything happens to Lizzy, I will personally take you to the police station on charges of attempted murder!"

Like criminals, Moira and Eva locked me in the room. I sat on the bed for the past six months I had mostly slept alone, because Peter preferred to sleep in another room or in Lizzy's apartment.

The woman was Eva's friend. She and Peter had liked each other in high school, but then Lizzy moved to Canada with her parents and soon there was news that she had married a rich businessman.

I thought Peter had gotten over his heartbreak with Lizzy by the time we met.

Our chance meeting at a bazaar where I helped my younger siblings at an orphanage sell, made me fall in love with him.

Peter proposed to me just eight months after we started dating and from the start of the marriage, Moira and Eva never liked me. They regretted why Peter married the poor and orphaned me.

One year of our marriage went well. Peter loved me and always tried to make me happy, even though at that time our situation was ordinary.

Then, when Peter was accepted to work at a multinational company. With his intelligence and skills, his career rose quickly.

From an ordinary employee, in one year he had become a successful deputy director of marketing. He was liked by company officials because he was considered to have succeeded in many large projects.

Peter bought a bigger house and decided to bring Moira and Eva to live with us. Since then, my life, which was originally calm, began to turn into war.

Moira and Eva always tried to slander me in Peter's eyes and like he was blind, Peter trusted his mother and sister more. Then, Lizzy's arrival back to the Riviera, made my battlefield a real hell.

Peter seemed to be crazy about his old love and supported by Moira and Eva, he started treating me like trash.

He never touched me again and started being rude more often. Slaps, kicks and punches have become daily food for me. Plus the insults and anger from Moira and Eva, I can no longer count how many millions of liters of tears I have shed in the last two years.

I wiped away my tears and took a letter that I had hidden in the dresser drawer, read it carefully and put it back. I'll give it to Peter when he gets home.

Without realizing it I fell asleep. I saw a figure dressed in white in my sleep, apparently a white-haired man, waving at me.

When I was trying to reach the man's hand, suddenly a stinging pain in my head made me open my eyes in panic.

I held my hair that I thought was going to fall off my scalp and looked at Peter who was pulling hard.

He grabbed me by the hair from the bed and threw me on the floor.

"Damn woman!" shouted Peter with a bright red face. "You almost killed Lizzy!"

He crouched down next to me, still with my hair in his hands. My tears flowed, not only because of physical pain but also mental pain.

"I didn't do that, Peter," I said with a lump in my throat. "I never even buy peanut butter!"

Peter let go of my hair and threw my head back. "You're so mean, Leora! And the only thing Lizzy asked about when she woke up was you! She was worried you'd feel guilty and said it wasn't your fault. She said she shouldn't have eaten the salad because she already suspected you put nuts jam in it."

I know that this was all planned by Lizzy. Maybe helped by Moira and Eva. Peter was so blind to believe those women.

"Why don't you believe me, Peter? Why don't you try to investigate first before believing what your mother, Eva, and Lizzy say?" I asked while wiping away the tears that continued to flow.

Peter raised his hand and I reflexively raised my arm to protect my face from his slap.

He snorted harshly. "Don't bring my mother into this! You should be aware of yourself. You are nothing compared to Lizzy. I should have divorced you a long time ago!"

I lowered my hands and looked at him with misty eyes. I think I've had enough of all this humiliation.

"Then let's get a divorce!" I said firmly.

"What can you do without me?" Peter taunted while poking my head. "You're just a poor, orphaned woman. Where are you going? An orphanage? A homeless shelter?"

I walked past him, took a suitcase from the corner of the cupboard and put it open on the bed.

"That's none of your business, Peter!" I said curtly. "You don't need to bother thinking about where I'm going. I can take care of myself!"

Peter laughed sarcastically. "You won't get anything from this divorce, Leora. Don't ever expect me to give you a penny!"

I threw some of the clothes I'd had into the suitcase and my important papers, including a piece of paper I'd hidden in the dresser drawer.

The letter was very valuable and although I had originally wanted to show it to Peter, I didn't anymore. I'll just save it as a surprise for him later.

"I don't expect your money, Peter. You don't need to worry, just save all your money for Lizzy and the child she will give birth to in a few months," I said calmly.

Peter's face looked shocked. He probably didn't think that I knew about Lizzy's pregnancy.

"Good," said Peter in a low tone. "That means you know yourself. You are a barren woman and can't give me children, so it's only natural that I have them from another woman."

"Sure, Peter. It's up to you!"

I closed the suitcase and walked past him. "Just give me the divorce papers. I know you have them ready. It's in your desk drawer. I'll sign the papers right now."

"You dismantled my desk?" Peter asked angrily.

"Your sister accidentally showed me the letter," I replied sarcastically. "She must be hard pressed to have her rich friend as a sister-in-law."

I dragged the suitcase into the dining room and sat on a chair without moving. Moira looked at me with a frown.

"What are you doing, sitting like a statue there," Moira snapped. "Get your ass over here and get cooking. Me and my kids need to eat!"

I turned to her and shrugged my shoulders. "Why don't you tell Lizzy to cook when she comes home from the hospital?"

"What do you mean by that, Leora? Are you mocking me?" Moira shouted, slamming the pan in her hand.

She walked over to me and her hand flew to slap me, but I swiftly caught her hand and pushed her a little. Not hardly, but she fell dramatically on the floor and started crying.

Peter and Eva ran into the dining room. Eva quickly helped her mother, helping her up. She looked at me vehemently.

"Bad woman! Not only are you trying to poison Lizzy, now you're also pushing my mother?"

"There's no need to be so dramatic, Eva. I just dodged her slap and pushed her gently. Your mother is old, so she fell as if she had been hit by a storm like that!"

"ENOUGH, LEORA!" Peter snapped. He shoved a piece of paper in my face. "Just sign and get out of here. You've gone too far and I can't take it anymore."

"You divorced that cruel woman, son?" Moira asked enthusiastically. "You should have done it a long time ago."

I grabbed the paper offered by Peter and read it. It was a statement of divorce suit. My heart is broken, but I am determined to finish my feelings of love for Peter here.

I signed the letter and handed it to Peter with my chin up, then grabbed my suitcase and walked out without looking back.

"Poor, arrogant woman," cried Eva. "What's in your suitcase? Did you steal my brother's valuables in it?"

"Peter, why don't you check the contents of the suitcase? Who knows if she might be carrying your valuables?" said Moira.

"Just leave her alone, Mom," said Peter. "She will soon be homeless on the streets. Even if she takes any of my things, consider it charity for her."

I called a taxi and called Cathy, my best friend, on the way.

"Leo? I was just about to call you," said Cathy. "Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to your house," I said hoarsely. "I am hungry."

"Oh my God," exclaimed Cathy. "You okay? Who did you go with?"

"No, I'm not fine," I said sadly. I laughed a little, half cried too. "I have signed the divorce papers."

Silence. I think Chaty is digesting what I said. Not long afterward he spoke again. "I'll cook for you. Be careful on the road."

I ended the conversation and put the phone in my bag.

The journey to Chaty's house was only half an hour, but I felt like it would never end.

The taxi driver gave me a sympathetic look as his car pulled up in front of Cathy's house and I held out my card to pay.

Cathy didn't say anything as she opened the door and grabbed the handle of my suitcase. She just put her arm around my shoulder and took me into the living room of her house.

The fragrant aroma of garlic makes my stomach growl.

"Let's eat," said Cathy. "I made salmon steaks with sautéed green beans and minced garlic."

I ate heartily. My stomach hasn't been filled with anything all day. Lizzy's arrival two days ago really made my appetite disappear. Moira and Eva treated her like a queen and made me a servant instead.

Lizzy can't eat this, Lizzy can't eat that, Lizzy this, Lizzy that. I'm really fed up.

Peter suddenly seemed to have glue on his body and continued to stick to Lizzy. They were like a pair of newlyweds who were inseparable, even when night fell, I knew that Eva moved the bed to Moira's room so that Peter, who initially pretended to sleep on the sofa, could move to Eva's room where Lizzy was sleeping.

"So, you and that bastard are finally getting a divorce?" Chaty asked. "That's great! You should have done it a long time ago."

"That's the same comment Moira and Eva made to Peter," I said, feeling sad.

"Those two cunning female snakes! I'll poke their eyes out when they meet," said Chaty angrily.

I couldn't help but laugh at Chaty's words. She reached out from across the table and patted my hand gently.

"Stay here for a while, until all the divorce matters are finished, after that let's think about the next step. I will contact Mr. Declan and ask him if there is any work for you," said Cathy.

Mr. Declan is Cathy's boss at the printing company. He was a kind-hearted middle-aged man and was a regular donor at the orphanage where Cathy and I used to live.

Cathy works as a nurse in a health clinic for employees at the company.

When I had just finished eating, my phone rang, indicating an incoming message.

I opened the messaging app and saw the message was sent by Peter.

"Where should I send the divorce papers? Give me your address and I'll send it right away!"

God, it's only been an hour since I left that damned house!

I entered the VIP room of the restaurant where Peter was waiting for me. Chaty took me to the front of the restaurant and insisted on taking me inside, but I refused.

"No, Cathy, let me finish everything myself. I don't want to involve you any further," I said firmly. "Just you being kind enough to accommodate me in your house makes me feel bad."

Cathy pouted. "I don't like what you said. We've always been together to overcome problems since we were living in the orphanage, so now it's no different."

I hugged Chaty tightly before entering the restaurant. A manager guided me to the VIP room.

Peter looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I came in and sat down in the chair across from him. He handed me the menu.

I just looked at the menu book without touching it. "Can we just speed up the process without further ado?" I asked flatly.

"Tsk! Just eat first," said Peter scornfully. "I'm kind enough to invite you to eat at this luxurious restaurant because this will be your last chance. After we part, just smelling the aroma of the food here must be difficult for you."

I stared at him blankly. After almost two years of receiving harsh remarks and insults, I think I have finally become numb.

"I'm not hungry and I don't think this is the most expensive restaurant in town either. You don't need to brag as long as you can't pay for other people at the most expensive restaurant in town," I said flatly. "Where's the lawyer?"

Peter's face clouded. "Your mouth is very poisonous, Leora. You are also ungrateful and arrogant. What do you think you will get from this divorce, huh?"

"I want nothing from you, Peter. I would rather live on the streets than continue to be a slave to you and those two evil women in your house," I said calmly.

Peter slammed his fist on the table and pointed a finger at me. "Don't talk carelessly, Leora. You're talking about my mother and my sister, right?"

I just snorted. I know that all this time they have been my biggest enemies and I think it's useless to fight them, because basically they are evil from the bottom of their hearts. Even towards Lizzy, whom they adore, they only act fake for their own interests.

"You will go back to being a poor orphan woman, Leora. I will make sure you don't get a penny of my money and you know I can do it," sneered Peter arrogantly.

"I know about that, Peter, you don't need to keep repeating it. I just want a divorce from you," I said calmly.

Peter's eyes narrowed and his gaze was full of suspicion. "Why are you so adamant about wanting a divorce from me? Are you cheating on me behind my back and your boyfriend is waiting for you to divorce me?"

I laughed sarcastically. "Isn't that a speech to yourself?"

Peter snorted harshly and took his phone out of his jacket pocket. "Come in now!"

Two minutes later, there was a knock on the VIP room door and two well-dressed men in suits and shaggy hair came in and bowed towards Peter respectfully, then sat down in their chairs.

Both of them were Peter's lawyers and they formally introduced themselves to me. I just stared straight at Peter without paying attention to them.

"Mrs. Leora, if you want a division of assets, then we suggest--"

"Just give me all the documents that I need to sign. I don't want anything from the honorable Mr. Peter, except complete freedom from him!" I said firmly, cutting off one of the lawyers.

"Tsk!" Peter chuckled impatiently. "Just give that arrogant woman what she wants. Luckily there are no children between us, so there's no need to worry about any alimony. I think your infertility has finally benefited me, Leora."

I gripped my thighs tightly to stop myself from throwing the chair at Peter. He always insulted me as barren, because I couldn't give him offspring. Not to mention Moira and Eva's teasing, it all broke my heart.

The two lawyers took out several files and I read them all carefully. Even though I don't want anything from Peter, I have to stay alert, in case he uses my name for things I don't expect later.

After everything felt safe, without hesitation I put my signature on the files.

"We will process all these files to the court and we make sure you will get the files within one week from now. We will give you further news," said one of the lawyers.

I looked at him and nodded with my lips pressed tightly. The man stared at me for a moment and I thought I saw sympathy in his eyes, but I looked away and stood up.

"Goodbye, Peter!" I said coldly.

Peter stood up from his chair and ran after me. He grabbed my hand when I was about to open the door handle.

"Hey, Leora, why are you so rude?" Peter asked sarcastically. His grip was so hard that it made me wince in pain.

"Let me go!" I said angrily.

Instead of letting go of my hand he twisted my hand. "You blamed Lizzy for making her sick, at least apologize to her!"

My eyes widened at his words. He must be crazy. He even dared to hurt me after things were like this.

"NO! I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT GUILTY!" I shouted loudly. "I WILL NEVER APOLOGIZE TO DEVIL LIKE YOU ALL!"

Peter raised his hand, but a strong hand held him back. One of his lawyers grabbed Peter's hand and pressed his other hand that was gripping mine.

"You must not be violent towards Mrs. Leora, sir, or you will be punished," said the lawyer. "You pay us handsomely, but we are bound by a professional oath to tell the truth, so please let go of your hands so we don't have to defend you in court for cases of violence too."

Peter looked at the lawyer and saw the seriousness in his eyes, he let go of my hand and turned away angrily.

The lawyer opened the door for me and escorted me out of the VIP room.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" he asked softly. "You can press charges against Mr. Peter if you want."

I shook my head. "I don't want anything to do with that b*stard anymore," I said firmly. "You don't need to take me, Mr. Lawyer."

"Noah Ken Ryler," he said. "That's my name. I wanted to give you a business card but I left it in the bag. I will contact you when the file is ready, but you can contact me for any legal matters. I will send my telephone number to yours."

I felt a little relieved because it seemed that this lawyer named Noah was an honest and professional person.

I called a taxi and he took me to sit in the taxi. He nodded politely when I had closed the door and brought his face closer to me and whispered.

"You should have divorced a bastard like Peter a long time ago, ma'am."