Let's Get A Divorce.

Maya

The suite was lit by the soft yellow glow of a bedside lamp. There was a champagne bucket by the window, and a pair of heels lay carelessly on the carpet.

Lucas and Lydia were perched on the edge of the bed. They sat so close that there was almost no space between them.

Lucas's shirt was unbuttoned halfway, and the strap of Lydia's dress had slipped off her shoulder. His hand cupped her face, and her eyes were half closed as he leaned in.

Just as expected.

They were both a breath away from kissing when the door's click reached them, and they jerked apart so fast that Lydia nearly fell off the bed.

"Maya?" Lucas called, his voice cracking. "What are you doing here?"

I leaned on the door frame, hands crossed over my chest, and stared at them for a long time, waiting for the hurt of finally seeing them in bed together to settle on my chest, but it didn't come.

Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me and walked close to the window. "Don't stop on my account, please. Continue," I said.

Neither of them moved for a while.

Lydia was the first to break out of whatever trance they were both in. She pulled her strap up and stood, smoothing her dress with trembling hands. "Maya, this isn't what it looks like. It's not what you think," she said.

"Isn't it?" I asked, and she shook her head, looking to Lucas as if hoping he'd step in and explain.

"We were just talking," Lucas said as he quickly buttoned his shirt with clumsy fingers.

He cleared his throat. "There's something we needed to discuss. It's, ermmm… about a gift." He exchanged a brief glance with Lydia. "Lydia was helping me with a gift."

I snorted. "A gift?"

"Yes!" Lydia answered, and my gaze moved to her.

She let out a shaky laugh. "It's for your anniversary. Lucas was kinda nervous, you know how he gets. And I was only comforting him."

Lucas walked over to the wall and flipped the switch. The overhead lights flooded the suite, washing out the soft yellow glow.

These two shithead cheaters couldn't even come up with something better. A gift? In here? The excuse was almost laughable.

"Interesting." I looked around the room.

"Yeah." Lucas scratched the back of his neck. "The hall was too noisy, and we needed the privacy." He tried to look nonchalant.

It seemed they were never going to confess even though I had caught them.

What a fool they must think I am.

I tossed the photo the system had given me on the bed, and it landed face up.

"No need to lie. You're both bad at it anyway."

Lydia's face went completely white as Lucas picked up the photo with shaky fingers, the realisation that their affair had been caught dawning on him.

He was completely silent as he took in the details in the photo, and then his expression shifted. The guilt on his face melted into something sharper.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded.

I scoffed. "Doesn't matter. What matters right now is that you have been cheating on me." I pointed at them with my jaw. "You two disgust me." I scrunched my nose and stared at them like the pile of dirt they were.

"Maya, you don't have to be mean. We can talk about this like adults."

I glared at Lydia. "I never knew you could be so shameless." My words came out cold, just like I intended. "Mean? You were my best friend, and you've been fucking him."

Turning to Lucas, I found him studying me.

Something shifted in the room, and Lucas dropped the photo he was holding to the floor. "Fine. You want the truth?"

"Lucas," Lydia whispered, though she didn't sound like she wanted him to stop.

"Look at yourself, Maya." His eyes slid down my body in disgust. "Do you know how embarrassing it is to walk into a room with you?"

He let out a cold laugh, and my breath caught in my throat.

"Everyone stares at the big, plain wife next to the man who could have any woman. "It's true I loved you once, but that love faded a long time ago, and you knew it." There was a cold edge to his voice.

"But with Lydia, things are different. I love her, and she does too… What's so wrong about that?"

I grabbed a fistful of my dress and forced down the lump that rose to my throat.

I wouldn't let his words about my body get to me.

"He's right," Lydia said softly, finally putting her stupid act away. "I am in love with him, and he loves me too."

She wrapped her hand around his arm. Her lips curled into a cruel smile. "Honestly, we kept it quiet because we pitied you. You are so desperate for love and attention, and we know no one would ever want you. You should be happy that Lucas stayed this long."

I kept my face perfectly still as she spoke.

"And you eat like a pig," Lucas added, his lip curling in disgust. "Gosh, I hate watching you stuff your face with food."

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at them. "Are you guys done?"

Lucas frowned. He seemed to hate the fact that I wasn't already crying at his words.

"What?"

I straightened my shoulders, saying what I should have said a long time ago. "I want a divorce." I kept my voice perfectly measured and firm.

"My lawyers will send the papers tomorrow. For divorce settlement, I want five hundred million dollars wired into my account, and that villa at the south of the city."

Lydia's lips fell open. Lucas narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, about to speak, but I beat him to it.

"And since I'm feeling generous, I'll give you a choice. You can give me what I want, sign the divorce papers quietly, and spare yourself the scandal. Or…" I didn't need to spell out what the other option would be.

"Scandal?" Lucas scoffed. "Are you out of your damn mind?"

"I'm sure your grandmother would love to decide that."

His jaw tightened at the mention of his grandmother.

If this affair got exposed, he had so much to lose, and he knew it. Not just investors and a fall in the stock price, but also his spot as the heir of the Black family.

Lydia seemed to realise what was at stake first. "Your conditions are too unreasonable. Five hundred million is too much."

If only she knew that it wasn't even remotely enough. If I wanted to survive the coming apocalypse, I needed to stockpile everything I would need in large quantities, and that money would not even go halfway.

"You think I'll hand over a villa and five hundred million because of one photo? Your demands are ridiculous, you greedy, ungrateful-"

"Two hours!" I said, cutting him off. "That's all you get before your faces get plastered all over the internet."

My lips curled to the side as I added, "You are in love with Lydia, and you seem to have grown tired of me, so this should be easy. Let's go our separate ways."

The silence was thick.

Lucas's chest rose and fell rapidly. His face went red, then purple, and the vein in his temple throbbed. I watched his gaze drop to the photo on the floor, then to my face.

"Oh, don't think for a second that it's the only photo." I smirked, loving his reaction. "I have more, evidence enough to ruin you."

"You little bitch," he hissed, then moved forward, his hand shot out, and his palm was swinging toward my face.