2. The final Verdict...

“Have you really thought this through?” Roxanne’s question hung in the air, soft and almost hesitant.

Eloise raised her coffee cup to her lips, allowing the rising steam to warm her face before she softly uttered, "Yes, I believe it is time.”

Roxanne Brooke was not just Eloise’s childhood best friend; she was also one of the most esteemed divorce attorneys in the city, and effectively, Eloise's boss.

People from all over the world regularly sought out her expertise for highly complex legal cases.

Sitting across the table, Roxanne studied Eloise closely, her gaze holding a delicate mix of professional pride and worry.

They had grown up dreaming of changing the world together, side by side.

But while Eloise had stumbled blindly into love and heartbreak, Roxanne had climbed unerringly toward her goals, cementing her status as one of the absolute best in her field.

Yet, in this moment, she remained patient and gentle, treating Eloise as if she were still that scared little girl who used to cling to her hand in the schoolyard to avoid the neighborhood bullies.

Setting her cup back down on the table, Eloise reached across the space to take her friend's hand. “Rox, let’s make it happen soon. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Roxanne watched her carefully. A lingering skepticism remained evident in her gaze, a look that inadvertently intensified the rising tide of resentment inside Eloise.

It wasn't Roxanne’s fault, though.

The bitterness was directed inward, a sharp reminder of Eloise's own decision to consistently prioritize Damien over her own wishes, her own happiness, and her own career.

“I see…” Roxanne muttered, her fingers tightening around her best friend's. “I'm always with you. But what about Diego?”

“Don't worry about Diego.” The name slipped from Eloise's lips like a protective charm placed over her aching heart.

“You... sure?” Roxanne still looked quite hesitant, her brow furrowing slightly.

“Yes.” Eloise forced out a small smile, though the sudden tremor in the very center of her being betrayed her words.

Although she spoke with certainty, her heart trembled violently.

Every choice carried consequences, and in her specific case, that consequence was Diego Santos, her five-year-old son.

Roxanne exhaled deeply, a sense of relief finally escaping her lips.

"Honestly, I'm glad you finally made this decision. That moron..." she hissed under her breath, her eyes flashing with anger, "he's been dragging you down for years!”

Roxanne leaned in slightly, her voice laced with protective fury. “I wish I could sue him for every single second he wasted breathing in your presence.”

The sheer force of her friend's venting was comforting to Eloise's heavily wounded soul, and she allowed herself a small, faint laugh.

Inside, however, storms raged.

Walking out of the marriage would ultimately mean leaving Diego behind, when the harsh truth was that she had stayed stuck with Damien for so long mostly because of the boy.

Otherwise, the relationship would have ended at least two years ago when Damien first began insulting both her character and her career.

With time, however, Eloise had painfully realized that Diego had only grown into an exact shadow of his father.

"And," Roxanne glanced up at her again, her tone shifting to a quieter note. "Do your parents know?"

Directly on cue, the familiar, painful twist reappeared in Eloise's chest. She shook her head slowly, looking down at the table.

“No… not yet.”

Roxanne exhaled softly, consciously choosing not to prolong the matter. After all, she knew the intricacies of Eloise's life from scratch.

This decision had not been made hastily, nor was it the result of a single bad day or a difficult month. Years had passed to reach this breaking point.

Leaving Damien had never truly been about Eloise's own comfort; it had always been a battle fought over Diego and the preservation of her family's reputation.

Those two barriers alone had kept her bound to a man who had never truly seen her for who she was.

For five long years, Eloise had silently endured a relentless barrage of insults, negligence, and the cold dismissal of everyone who should have cared for her..

And it had only worsened with the appearance of Selene.

Her husband, who was still actively settling his life around her, had stopped caring for her even at a bare minimum level.

Worse, her own son had quickly followed in his father's footsteps, becoming too intimate with Selene, to the point that there were times the boy would strictly choose to stay with her instead of his own mother.

And her in-laws? To them, Eloise had never mattered even before Selene's arrival into the family.

In fact, she had never truly mattered to her own parents either, as they always openly found Selene to be better than Eloise in every aspect.

The events of last night had simply marked the final conclusion of the tragedy, bringing them a step closer to legal finality.

In reality, the relationship had already died three months ago.

Three months prior, Eloise had come down with a terrible, racking fever that simply wouldn’t go away.

Shivering and weak, she had begged Damien to take her to the hospital, but he had dismissed her entirely, claiming he was always far too busy with his work to deal with it.

When Damien had finally noticed the severity of her fever days later, his eyes hadn't softened with compassion.

Instead, they had narrowed to slits, sharpening with a cold.suspicion rather than a shred of genuine care.

“How can you be so careless?” he had shouted back then.

“Why don't you just leave your damned, useless job and be a proper wife so no such shits would happen again?”

He had looked at her with deep suspicion, his eyes narrowed as if she were somehow fabricated her illness just to ruin his plans.

“Or, is it all just your excuse!?”

Diego, following his father's lead with a sense of misplaced pride, had chimed in, “Mom, you’re too annoying! Aunt Selene was upset about her puppy, so Dad had to go!”

Eloise had swallowed the ache quietly, as she always had, deliberately ignoring the profound anguish of her own heart...

Returning to the present moment in the coffee shop, she looked across at her friend.

“Diego will be fine. I won't be separating him from his ‘favourite mom’,” Eloise spoke softly.

Her voice remained unwavering, despite the fact that her hands were tightly clasped together beneath the edge of the table.

After all, the boy already had all of his favorite people right beside him. After everything she had endured, nothing truly remained for her in that household.

Ice had completely replaced her heart, and tonight, it had finally solidified into something unbreakable.

Roxanne reached across the table, squeezing her hand gently. “No matter what you decide, Eloise, I’m here. Always.”

“I know,” Eloise whispered, allowing her friend's warmth to seep into her battered soul.

She honestly could not remember the last time she had actually relaxed.

More than her actual hours working at the office, she had always been consumed by the endless task of perfecting herself as the woman of the house.

She had spent years performing restless, exhausting chores for her husband and her son.

She had never once complained; she had always done everything for them entirely from the heart, yet they never cared.

Now, she had finally realized how to spend time on herself.

Tonight, in Roxanne's presence, she allowed herself to truly breathe for the first time in five long years...

*****

The next morning, Roxanne laid the printed divorce papers on the desk.

The sight of the documents should have burned down Eloise's soul, yet the cold contempt she felt inside was heavy enough to mend the burning.

“Here it is,” Roxanne said softly, her eyes steady. “Your way to freedom. Sign it, and it’s done.”

“I will,” Eloise replied, her voice rolled out quiet, yet firm.

Roxanne pulled her into a tight hug. “Never hesitate to call me. I’ll always have your back.”

Eloise returned the embrace fully, feeling the strength of her friend's words settle deep into her weary bones.

*****

Once she reached the hospital later that day, she found that the couple was already the talk of the town.

Everyone in the corridors was raving about how incredibly in love Damien and Selene were. The constant whispers followed Eloise through the hallways like suffocating shadows.

“Damien Santos saved her… he shielded her with his own body!” one nurse murmured.

“She’s so lucky! I wish someone looked at me like that!” another whispered as Eloise walked past.

“I've heard he even uttered her name over and over in his unconscious state!”...

Eloise only smirked coldly, unhesitatingly passing right through those shallow whispers as she walked directly into the private VIP ward where the two of them had been shifted.

However, just as she stopped immediately before their closed door, a childish tone rang out from the inside.

The words directly stabbed right into her bleeding soul...

“Auntie Selene, you're so good! Unlike my mom! Mom is annoying!”

A vicious twist of pain coiled tightly in Eloise's chest.

Her own son had become just like the rest of the entire family,.completely oblivious to every single sacrifice she had made for him.

“Baby, don't say that. Your mother will be hurt if she knew,” Selene's gentle words floated through the door.

It was a playful attempt at a scolding, though she was far from actually meaning it.

“No!” Diego’s loud cry rang out again. “Mom is not as pretty as you! I want you as my mother! Can I call you mom?”

Those words from her own child felt like nothing less than the violent strikes of lashes.

Her fingers instinctively tightened around the thick envelope she carried in her hand.

Fine, sweetheart, if that's what you want… she thought, letting the bitter thoughts course through her veins.

“Damien, look what he's saying,” Selene's voice came next, a sweet complaint that was clearly not genuine.

“You should stop him, otherwise... otherwise Eloise will again misunderstand me. She'll think I have returned to steal her life.”

Her tone dropped perfectly, sounding as though she were deeply saddened by the prospect.

Eloise remembered, five years ago, Selene had suddenly left everything behind without giving a single reason.

Back then, Eloise had thought perhaps the woman simply never wanted Damien. But then, six months ago, she had returned out of nowhere.

Worse, absolutely no one in the family had ever asked her for an explanation. They had simply accepted her back with wide, open arms.

Just then, Damien’s chuckle followed from the hospital bed. It was low and somewhat ragged from his recovery, sending a shiver of pure ice straight through Eloise.

So, he was awake as well.

“What did he say wrong?” a sharp, familiar female tone cut through the air.

It was Rebecca Santos, Eloise's mother-in-law.

“You're pretty, educated, perfect! Unlike her, who couldn't even manage to look like a proper woman!”

The venom in Rebecca's tone dripped heavily, making Eloise's lips twitch into a cold smile outside the door.

'Yeah, Mother-in-law,' Eloise thought behind the wood. 'Soon you'll have your absolute favorite woman as your daughter-in-law.'

“See, grandma also agreed!” Diego's childish, cheerful words felt like a silver-wrapped dagger, effortlessly slicing Eloise's soul into even more pieces.

The boy did not even realize the weight of what he was saying.

“Don’t take it to heart,” Damien reiterated from the bed, his tone hoarse yet completely dismissive.

“Children only say what they see.”

“Oh, you’re all going to make me blush…” Selene spoke softly.

Standing in the hallway, Eloise could easily imagine the faint curve of victory playing against Selene's lips.

It was fake. All of it. These people were absolutely perfect for each other. And now, it was finally time to give them exactly what they deserved.

Without wasting another single second, Eloise pushed the door wide open, stepping right into the room with an aura of, quiet authority.

All of them were instantly startled by the sudden intrusion. Their gazes shot up in unison.

Seeing her mother enter, Diego hurriedly shrank back, hiding himself completely behind his grandmother’s waist.

“Don't worry, kid. I'm not here to take you away,” Eloise said, looking directly at him with a calm smile.

The boy's doughy, wide eyes blinked up at her from behind the older woman. “Re-really?”

“Of course,” Eloise replied smoothly.

“Then why are you even here!?” Rebecca hissed out loudly, instinctively shielding Diego further behind her skirt.

“How dare you show up like this, after leaving my son completely alone to fight here?”

Eloise raised a brow. “Alone? How so? I thought—” her calm gaze shifted deliberately, falling squarely onto Selene.

“—he had company, didn't he? The exact company he preferred the most."

The entire room froze instantly. They certainly had not expected her defiance to look like this.

After all, they had never seen her exhibit such behavior a single time over the last five years.

“Eloise,” Damien’s voice came out groggy and thick. His brows drew together tightly. "What do you mean by that? How can you speak to Mom in that manner?”

“Oh?” Eloise smirked. “I thought I was just returning exactly what she sowed. Why? What did I do wrong?”

Damien blinked, looking far too confused and disoriented to find his words.

“Sis, ple-ease…” Selene tried to interject, her face twisted into her usual pitiful, victimized acting.

But Eloise immediately raised a sharp hand, cutting her off instantly. “Oh, you shut up.”

Eloise looked at her, completely bored by the predictable pretenses.

Her sudden command earned a collective round of silent gasps from the room, until Rebecca finally burst out in pure rage.

“How shameless!” the older woman barked, her entire face flushed as fury loomed over her. “Before I take action against you, get lost!”

Rebecca's frantic statements no longer had a single shred of impact on Eloise.

At this point, the woman's shouting seemed nothing more than the indistinct barking of a distant dog. With a calm, unwavering smile, Eloise shook her head slowly.

"Well, I'm not you, so creating a public drama isn't exactly my cup of tea,” Eloise said flatly. She took a step closer to the hospital bed.

“I am simply here to give your son this..."

With an effortless motion, Eloise threw the envelope straight toward Damien.

It sailed through the air and landed heavily over his lap.

Damien’s brows drew together instantly, the confusion deepened across his face as he stared down at it.

“What is this?” he muttered.

Eloise's lips curved to a chilling smile, looking down at the family that had spent five years trying to break her.

“Something that will make me the happiest woman alive…” she chuckled lightly, shrugging her shoulders slowly as she turned toward the exit.

“It's the divorce agreement.”

She looked Damien dead in the eyes, her voice echoed clearly through the quiet hospital room.

“Damien Santos. I'm officially divorcing you...”