Chapter 3 : Losing Harry

Lucia’s POV

Calm down, Lucia.

I repeated the words in my head, forcing myself to breathe as I weighed a million ways I could react without completely losing my mind.

Swallowing the thick knot of humiliation rising in my throat, I withdrew my arm and forced a smile, keeping my expression as steady as I could.

“I made dinner, Harry. You can’t just refuse to eat. Let's eat and talk this out.” My voice was even, though my heart pounded violently against my ribs.

Harry’s expression remained unreadable, his jaw tightening ever so slightly. Then, with a chilling calmness, he said, “What I want is for you to pack your things and leave this house.”

The air in my lungs vanished.

My entire body went rigid.

“W-what?” The tremor in my voice betrayed me, the tears I had been desperately holding back now burning at the edges of my vision.

Harry didn’t falter. His gaze remained cold, detached, completely void of the man I had once known.

“You heard me, Lucia. Your stay in this house and in my life is over. I don’t need you around anymore.”

The finality in his tone felt like a death sentence.

I swallowed hard, but the lump in my throat refused to go away. I turned my gaze toward her, still latched onto his arm like a parasite.

“Is it because of her?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

A low rumble of thunder echoed in the distance, but the storm outside was nothing compared to the one brewing inside me.

Harry’s lips curled slightly, but there was no warmth in his expression. “The woman I truly love and want as my wife is back. So, you’re no longer needed.”

His words sliced through me like a blade.

The first tear slipped down my cheek, hot and unwanted. I wiped it away with the back of my hand, refusing to let it be a sign of surrender.

“No.” My voice was hoarse, but steady. I lifted my chin, setting my jaw with newfound resolve.

Harry’s frown deepened. “No, what?” His voice was sharper now, irritation seeping through his otherwise composed demeanor.

“I’m not going anywhere, Harry.” I took a step closer, my sadness coiling into something stronger. “I don’t care who she is or what she used to be to you, but I’m not leaving my home.”

His eyes darkened, his posture stiffening at my defiance.

“This is not your home,” he bit out, his tone colder than the storm raging outside.

“Yes, it is!” I shot back, my voice cracking under the weight of emotion. “Yes, it is, Harry! Three years of marriage. I have loved you. I love you…” My sobs clogged my throat, but I forced them down and pressed on. “You’re my husband. By our vows, I stand—till death do us part!”

“Are you that pathetic?” Tania sneered, cutting in with a scoff.

“Shut up, you husband thief!” I snapped, my fury momentarily drowning out my pain.

The next thing I knew, Harry’s palm came crashing across my face. The sharp sting knocked me off balance, and I staggered back a step.

Shocked, I raised my trembling hand to my cheek, feeling the heat where his fingers had burned into my skin. My vision blurred as I met his unyielding gaze.

“Y-you slapped me?” My voice came out in a whisper, thick with disbelief.

“Don’t you ever insult Tania in front of me,” he said, his voice as cold as the wind whistling through the cracks of my breaking heart.

I stared at him, my breath coming in shuddering gasps. “What are you doing, Harry? Why are you throwing away something great? Why?” My words came out broken, wrapped in agony.

“Something great?” A bitter laugh rumbled from his chest, and Tania joined in, their amusement twisting like a knife in my gut.

“The only good thing here is Tania,” he said, his tone dripping with disdain. “Look, Lucia, I need you to understand something—I never loved you. I only married you as a substitute when she was away. But now that she’s back, I have no use for you.”

I staggered under the weight of his confession, my stomach twisting painfully.

“I—I was a substitute?” My voice trembled, each word slicing through the raw, bleeding remains of my heart.

I felt like I was suffocating, drowning in the overwhelming agony of his betrayal. My chest heaved, a loud sob finally breaking free.

“Enough with the theatrics, Lucia,” he said, unimpressed. “I only married you because I was trying to move on from her. But since she is back in my life, I have no need for you anymore.”

That was when I saw them, divorce papers lying in the middle of the beautifully arranged dinner table, nestled between the polished silverware and untouched plates of food I had so lovingly prepared.

“Here’s the paperwork,” he continued, pointing to the documents. “I’ve already signed them. You just need to add your signature, and we’ll be officially and legally done.”

I shook my head violently. “No.” My voice was barely above a whisper, but the defiance was there. I took a step back, refusing to touch the papers. “I won’t sign it. I’m not leaving this marriage.”

Thunder clapped loudly outside.

“Yes, you will,” Harry said, his patience wearing thin. He snatched a pen from the table and hurled it at me. “Now sign.”

I let it fall to the floor, wrapping my arms around myself as my body shook from more than just the cold. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I could barely breathe through the weight of my grief. “You can’t make me. We are about to—”

“We are about to be nothing,” he growled, cutting me off before I could even say it.

Before I could tell him I was carrying his child.

He didn’t give me a chance to speak.

Instead, he grabbed my wrist, prying my fingers open as I struggled against him. He forced the pen between them, his grip like steel, and dragged my hand over the paper. My tears blurred the ink, but he didn’t care. He just wanted me gone.

I fought. I cried. But in the end, he won.

The moment the signature was down, he yanked me away from the table and started dragging me toward the entrance. “You!” He barked at one of the maids. “Get her things and have them thrown out. Now.”

“Stop this, Harry! You’re embarrassing me!” I gasped, twisting against his iron grip, but he didn’t care.

His hold on my arm tightened as he pulled me through the house, through the grand foyer where we had once shared stolen kisses and whispered dreams of forever.

He didn’t stop until we reached the front doors.

“Come get her,” he ordered the guards.

Two of them stepped forward and seized me by the arms. I screamed and kicked, struggling as they dragged me toward the gate. My sobs came in ragged bursts, my voice raw from begging.

“Please, Harry!” I wailed. “I don’t know what I did wrong, but whatever it is, I’m sorry! Just tell me what I did! Please!”

“Just go, lady,” Tania said, her voice laced with amusement. “Stop making a fool of yourself.”

I turned my head and met her smug, satisfied smirk. Fury surged through me, cutting through my despair.

“Stay away from my husband, you bitch!” I shrieked.

Harry’s voice thundered over mine. “Shut up, Lucia! Leave my house! I don’t want you anymore!”

“Yes, leave us.” Tania’s smile widened as she leaned into Harry’s side, her fingers trailing over his chest. “This is my home now.”

I collapsed to my knees just as the guards shoved me out the gate.

The heavens seemed to cry with me as rain pelted my body, soaking through my clothes in seconds. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering as I looked up at the locked gate, at the man I had given my heart to.

“Please, Harry,” I whispered, my voice barely carrying over the storm. “It’s raining… Please don’t leave me out here.”

But he didn’t move.

Neither did she.

They just stood there, watching me suffer.

Then, as if to twist the knife deeper, Harry smirked. “Thanks for keeping my bed warm for three years.”

Tania giggled beside him, her voice sickeningly sweet. “Yes. That’s all you ever were—a placeholder for me. What a darling.”

A shuddering breath escaped me, my chest caving under the crushing weight of betrayal. The last fragile piece of my heart shattered, lost in the downpour.

A maid appeared with my belongings, her expression unreadable as the guards snatched the bags from her hands and hurled them at my feet. My clothes spilled onto the wet pavement, soaking instantly in the relentless rain.

I shivered violently, my tears indistinguishable from the storm washing over me. “Harry… please.” My voice cracked, barely louder than a whisper.

He didn’t even look at me.

“Let’s go inside, baby,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to Tania’s forehead before turning away.

I took a desperate step forward. “Harry!” I screamed, my voice raw with anguish.

But he was already gone.

My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the cold, rain-slicked ground. My hands clutched my stomach as sobs wracked my body, the storm drowning out the sound of my breaking soul.