Chapter Two: Blood On The Gravestone

“Do you have anything to say for the cameras, Miss Hayes!?”

I gave a cold smile at the crowd of reporters, hiding my broken heart behind it.

“I don't, at all,” I said. “Eden has made his decision, and there's nothing that can be done.”

The reporters were a bit put out when they didn't get the reaction that they had been expecting. They probably wanted me to burst into tears, to beg for Eden to return. They would be disappointed.

I tried to push past them, but another reporter shoved a camera in front of my face.

“The way you say that Mr. Cole made his decision, does that mean you don't agree with it?”

Before I could say anything, I heard a voice behind me.

“Of course she does.”

I froze as Eden’s warm palm landed on my shoulder. I glanced at him to see a smile plastered on his face, wide and bright but obviously fake. Chloe was on his other side, scowling at me.

“Our parting was amicable, I assure you,” he said, then looked down at me with a slight sneer. “Miss Hayes just disagreed with some of the fine print on the Prenuptials. You know how all these gold-digging women are. I forgive her, of course.”

“What?” I gasped. I couldn't believe my ears. “Gold dig…that's my inheritance, Eden!”

Eden ignored me, still smiling for the cameras.

“Honestly, while I would forever regret that our marriage came to this, I feel like it's for the best. I do have to protect my integrity.”

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. I could not believe the things I was hearing — but I supposed I should have expected it. It was nothing compared to the other things he had spoken of since we'd been married after all, even before my father's death. So, I shouldn't be surprised.

I opened my eyes, forced a smile, and brushed his hand from my shoulder. I could see his own expression twist into anger at that for a moment, before smoothing over. He had to look good for the cameras, after all.

With that, I shoved through the crowd of reporters, ignoring the questions, cameras and microphones shoved into my face.

“Miss Hayes!”

“Miss Hayes!”

“Miss Hayes!”

Their voices faded into a chorus of noise, and they followed me all the way into my car. I pushed into the vehicle, finally enjoying a moment of silence.

The reporters gathered around my windows, but I couldn't hear them. I was focused on keeping my composure. I felt a sting in my eyes; I couldn't cry here. Not now.

‘Ding!’

The sound of a phone's notification drew my attention. I pulled out my device, and frowned at the message I’d received.

‘Mother is holding an engagement party for Chloe and I. She wants you there, so don't be late.’

I laughed.

Even after our divorce, Eden still felt like he could boss me around with that callous disregard of his?

I don't think so.

Flinging the phone to the dashboard, I started my car and drove off, heedless of the reporters gathered around it. My heart was heavy, and my eyes burned with unshed tears, but there was only one place I felt comfortable with being vulnerable.

My father's graveyard.

The place didn't have a name that I knew of, but it was well taken care of. As my car pulled into the driveway, I could see the rows of dark basalt headstones stretch into the distance.

I climbed out of the car, and walked towards where I knew my father's stone was.

The yellowing grass of autumn swayed lightly in the wind, low enough that they only brushed against the stone.

When I reached father's stone, I sat down on the grass, staining my expensive designer dress, and leaned against it.

And then the tears came.

“I'm sorry, dad,” I whispered hoarsely. “I tried. I tried so hard…I thought I did the right thing when I married him, but I was so stupid!”

So, so stupid.

I was raised as a sheltered child. The only child, and a daughter besides, of the old Hayes family, I hadn't had much time to socialise beyond rare public appearances.

The first time I'd met Eden in a party, he had been so handsome, so charming that I was like a fly that got stuck on his web. I'd fallen in love with him so hard that it had taken my breath away.

When Grover Hayes, my father, had gotten terminally ill and placed that condition in his will, that I wouldn't be able to access my inheritance unless I was married, it was so easy to pick my choice. Eden Cole has been my first and only love, my first kiss, my first time, my first…everything.

It helped that his family was rich, even if they were only new money.

The first year has been magical.

The subsequent years were varying levels of Hell on Earth, with things getting worse each year that went by.

And now, here I was — without a husband, and without my inheritance.

I had nothing.

As I cried my heart out in the silence of the graveyard, a sound suddenly drew my attention.

Leaves were crinkling, as if something was stepping on them.

I opened my eyes, and I saw a man’s shoes.

I followed the shoes, looking up to see well pressed trousers, a white dress shirt stretched over a built, broad shouldered chest, and a face I recognised all too well.

Mavros Blackwood. Eden's estranged Step-Brother.

“What are you doing here, Cole?”

His cold, emotionless voice shot ice into my veins, making me shiver as I rushed to my feet.

“W-What?”

Mavros Blackwood's face was stiff and inscrutable, but no less spellbinding. His glossy black hair caught the light of the sun as he tilted his head at me, looking down at me from his six feet three inches of height.

“I said, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your husband and the other Coles?”

I swallowed, fighting the urge to burst into laughter. Or tears.

“Former husband,” I corrected. “The divorce concluded today.”

He didn't say anything for a long moment. Then his lips began to stretch into a smile.

Just when it looked like he was about to laugh…

‘BANG!’

Blood sprayed in the air.