2. Propose

2

Layla Patel 

~•~

My breathing became labored as I opened the envelope to see what it contained. “No, no, no,” I muttered to myself as I finally saw what it contained. 

“Sign it and leave it on the dining table when you’re done.” 

Lucas didn’t have any empathy in his voice. How long has he had the divorce papers with him? I knew he didn’t love me but I had no idea he was thinking about ending the marriage. 

“Lucas, please don’t do this to me,” I begged, my voice cracking slightly. “You can’t just come back one morning and serve me divorce papers!” 

“I’ve been wanting to do it for a while now, but I didn’t want you to feel bad. You know I don’t love you, but you keep on bothering me.” 

I was aware that he didn’t love me but hearing him say it out loud was like a slap in the face. I felt so terrible but I would feel worse if I signed the divorce papers. 

Lucas was the only family I had. He couldn’t leave me. No, it wasn’t possible. 

“What don’t you like about me? I’ll change. We can work this out. We don’t have to end our marriage. I’ll leave the room if that’s what you want.” I pleaded, my eyes mirroring my desperation. 

Lucas stared at me, his expression unreadable. “I’m sure you know the actual reason why I’m divorcing you. You’ve seen it on the news but you’ve been choosing to ignore it. I’ve been waiting for you to confront me but you’ve stayed quiet.” 

I clutched my heart in shock because he was right. I had seen it on the news weeks ago. My best friend had even sent it to me, but I chose to ignore it. 

Maybe if I acted like I didn’t see it, it would mean it wasn’t happening. Ignoring it didn’t make any difference, it even made it worse. 

“I spent the night with her. I’ve been spending a lot of nights with her. And I think I’m going to propose to her.” A small smile crept to his lips as he talked about Sophia. 

It was the first time he had smiled since he walked into the room. 

Sophia was his ex-girlfriend. It was as though I was always living in her shadow because ever since we got married, people didn’t stop comparing me to his ex-girlfriend. 

I had no idea why they broke up, but I knew that he didn’t stop loving her. Sophia moved out of New York to pursue her acting career, but now she was back. 

I hated the fact that she was back. 

The news of her arrival was all over the internet. I didn’t want to read the comments or even look at them because I already knew what people were going to say. 

Even after three years, most of them didn’t stop comparing me to Sophia. Some of them even hated me for ruining a perfect love story. 

I allowed their words to get through to me but as time went by, I learned to grow a thick skin when it came to what strangers on the internet had to say about me. 

Plus, I still had some people who were on my side. I felt better when some people supported my marriage and claimed I was perfect for Lucas. 

But Lucas didn’t see me as perfect. 

Lucas saw me as the helpless orphan who didn’t have any choice but to agree to his family’s demands. In another life, I wouldn’t have gotten married to someone who didn’t love me. 

In another life, I wouldn’t be abandoned by my birth parents and my foster parents. It only made sense to agree to get married to Lucas when I got the offer. 

I didn’t have to worry about my financial problems anymore. However, my financial problems were replaced with depression and mental problems. 

I had known Lucas and his family for a while because of my foster parents. Shit, I even had a crush on him and imagined us being together. 

I was the happiest person when his grandmother asked me to marry him. Even if I knew he didn’t love me, I always held on to the hope that he would grow to love me. 

But I was wrong. 

Lucas was never going to love me. His heart belonged to someone else. I wasn’t even sure he liked me as a person. I had always been unhappy in our marriage. 

But still, I couldn’t let go. 

I had nowhere else to go. My foster parents made it clear that they didn’t want anything to do with me. I had no idea if my birth parents were alive or dead. 

Lucas was the only family I had. 

I couldn’t sign his divorce papers. I needed to think of something. Anything that would make him change his mind. I just couldn’t let him end the marriage. 

“Layla!” Lucas’s voice interrupted me from my thoughts and I snapped back to reality. “Sign the papers and stop staring at me.” 

I let out a deep breath and squeezed the papers into a ball. “No.” I shook my head. “I’m not signing the papers. I can’t sign the papers.” 

Lucas had a puzzled expression registered on his face. “Did you miss the part where I mentioned that I have been seeing Sophia for a while now?” He asked. 

I didn’t care if he was seeing his ex-girlfriend. I wasn’t ready to leave him. “I heard you. You can continue seeing her while we are still married.” 

Lucas’s eyes grew wide in disbelief and he let out a dry chuckle. “You might be okay with sharing but Sophia isn’t okay with sharing me with another woman.” His expression became sharp. 

My eyes glistened with tears and I trembled in my spot. “Please, Lucas,” I begged. “I have no one else. I have nowhere else to go.” 

Lucas scoffed. “You can move in with your best friend. You can rent a new apartment. I’ll give you all the money you need. Just sign the damn papers!” He continued, his voice rising in anger. 

I wiped off the tears that were threatening to fall with the back of my hands. My best friend wouldn’t mind having me at her house but I didn’t want to inconvenience her. 

I wasn’t ready to give up on my marriage either. 

I still wanted to be Lucas’s wife. 

I was determined to fight for us. 

Lucas didn’t know what he was doing. Maybe he needed some space and time to think. I wasn’t going to sign the papers. 

As soon as he picked up the papers I had squeezed, I turned around and left the room. Maybe if I ignored him and refused to sign the papers, he would change his mind.