CHAPTER FOUR: DIVORCED

SELENA'S POV

"Let's go."

Kelvin didn't wait for my response before turning away, but I didn't bother replying either. Something inside me had already gone quiet, A quietness that comes after the last thread finally snaps. I knew it was over. Completely. The desperate wife of Mr. Hale was gone.

I tossed the car keys toward him. He caught them easily, reflexes sharp as always.

"You can drive. I hate driving," I said coldly, not bothering to look at his reaction. I walked to the passenger side and got in, slamming the door harder than necessary.

Stupid. I had been so stupid to think he still had even a shred of humanity left in him.

Kelvin got in a moment later. I felt his eyes on me briefly, but I kept my gaze fixed straight ahead. Without a word, he started the car. The ride home was silent and suffocating, the kind of silence that pressed against your chest and dared you to breathe too loudly.

When we finally pulled into the driveway, I stepped out without waiting for him. I was no longer the Selena who waited, who hoped, who begged. That version of me had died today at Fountain Valley, standing in front of the man she had loved for years and watching him reach for his phone instead.

I pushed open the front door and froze.

Laughter echoed from the sitting room.

I stepped inside slowly. My mum. My dad. Adriana, my younger sister. And the devil herself, Calista. All of them sitting together like it was some warm family gathering, cups in hand and smiles on their faces.

"I invited them."

Kelvin's voice came from directly behind me.

My throat tightened. So this was his plan. Not just a divorce, a full, orchestrated humiliation.

I lifted my chin and walked forward anyway.

"Hi Mum. Hi Dad," I greeted quietly.

They barely acknowledged me. Their attention shifted immediately to Kelvin the moment he stepped in behind me.

"Kelvin! Son!" My mother stood up to hug him, her whole face lighting up. My father shook his hand with visible pride. Adriana smiled warmly at me, the only one who cares.

Of course. It had always been like this. Kelvin had money, power, and status, and to my parents, that made him more valuable than their own daughter. I had spent years not seeing anything wrong with that, convinced I should feel grateful a man like him had chosen me. Years of being blind, and now I was sitting here wondering how I ever let myself believe that was love.

Calista stood up and walked over to me, her face breaking into that practiced, sugary smile.

"Hi bestie!" She grabbed my hands excitedly.

I forced a small smile back. If I didn't know the truth about her, I would still be falling for the performance. She was that good.

My father's voice cut through the room. "Son, you called us here.. Seems there's good news?"

Kelvin stepped forward calmly. "Selena is pregnant."

My chest tightened.

My mother squealed. "Oh my God!" Dad's face brightened immediately, and then my mother turned to me with a smile that somehow still managed to sting. "You finally did something right, apart from marrying Kelvin."

Her words landed quietly, but they cut deep. My worth had always been measured by him, by his money, his name, his approval. And the naive version of me had spent years not just accepting that, but being grateful for it.

"The child is not mine."

Kelvin's voice sliced through the excitement like a blade.

The room froze. Calista even covered her mouth in perfectly timed shock.

"She cheated," Kelvin continued, his tone flat and surgical. "And I want a divorce."

The next second … SLAP.

My mother's palm struck my face so hard my head snapped to the side. Pain exploded across my cheek, my hair falling across my face as the sting radiated through my skin.

"How could you do that?!" she screamed. "You betrayed your husband! After everything he has done for you… For us! You ungrateful bastard!"

Dad's face had gone dark. Adriana looked horrified.

"Mum, can you stop? Let's hear from Selena—"

"Shut up, Adriana!" Dad barked, then turned his sharp gaze on me. "You will go down on your knees and beg your husband."

Silence settled over the room.

And then, surprising even myself, a dark little chuckle slipped from my lips.

I wasn't going to explain myself. Not to them. They wouldn't listen anyway, they never had.

"Just bring the divorce papers," I said calmly. "Let me sign and end this."

The room went completely still. They stared at me like I had lost my mind, and I understood why. They were expecting the old Selena, the naive one, the soft one, the one who would collapse to her knees and hold onto Kelvin like he was the air she breathed. That was never going to happen again.

"Do you even know what you're saying?" Calista said softly, her voice dripping with manufactured concern. "It's a divorce, Selena."

My eyes moved to her slowly. Cold. Steady.

"I'm not deaf," I said. "You heard me. And if you want him so badly, you can have him."

Her smile stiffened at the edges.

I walked to the table, picked up the divorce papers, and signed my name without a moment's hesitation. The scratch of the pen against paper felt like something unlocking inside me, like a door swinging open onto fresh air.

I set the pen down.

Kelvin was staring at me. He had expected tears, begging, maybe even crawling. His silence told me everything.

"Don't worry about my things," I said as I walked toward the door. "I'll send someone to pack them."

Behind me, my mother's voice rose again into fury, but her words dissolved into background noise before they reached me. I stepped outside and the air hit my face, strangely lighter than it had felt in years.

I pulled out my phone and ordered a cab. I needed somewhere to stay, a hotel for now, an apartment when I was ready. One step at a time.

While I waited, a sudden craving hit me. Coffee. Strong coffee. There was a small shop just down the street, so I walked over and came out a few minutes later with a hot cup warming both hands.

But the moment I stepped outside,

Bam…

I collided with a solid body. The coffee slipped from my grip and splashed directly onto the man's expensive black shoes.

"Damn it," a cold voice snapped. "That shoe costs more than your life."

My temper flared instantly. I lifted my head, already prepared to fire back…And then our eyes met.

My stomach dropped straight to the floor.

Oh no.

Him. The man from last night. His dark gaze locked onto mine, and a slow, knowing look crossed his face.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.