Chapter Two

The night’s air was cool but Renee’s blood wasn’t. She sat motionless in her office seat, her eyes bloodshot with tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably.

The weight of what she had just witnessed crushed her. The scene was still fresh in her mind no matter how much she tried to forget it. She could still see her husband and sister tangled up in her sheets.

‘That woman is nothing but bad news.’ Those words haunted her and drove her to insanity.

Her jaw clenched and her throat tightened. With one sniff, she stopped the tears and used the back of her hand to clean them off. She wasn’t going to cry anymore.

Not for him…not for Chloe.

Her doors flung open and her best friend and assistant came running in. She ended the call immediately after she heard those words from Renee and made her way to the office.

When she entered, the look on her face told Renee that she was ready to kill.

“Ree! What was that you said over the phone? You’re getting a divorce? Why? What did that son of a bitch do? I swear to God if he hurt you, I’m cutting off his balls right this minute!” She rapped with a deadly look on her face.

Seeing Priya threatened to kill Daniel brought a smile to Renee’s face. At least there was someone who cared about her. The scary part was that Priya wasn’t joking. If she was given the opportunity, Renee knew that she would kill Daniel.

Sitting on the desk before Renee, Priya said. “Start talking, Ree. What’d that man do?”

Taking a deep breath, Renee blinked the fresh tears away and cleared her throat. “Daniel is cheating on me.” She said calmly and Priya’s eyes widened so much, Renee thought they were going to pop out.

“Ree…”

“With Chloe,” Renee added before she could even recover and that left Priya’s mouth hanging.

“What the actual fuck?” She covered her mouth and looked at her friend in shock.

“I saw them, Priya. I saw them on our matrimonial bed an hour ago. Hell! They might still be there right now.” With every word Renee spoke, she reminded herself of her resolve to not cry but it seemed harder at every word.

“Oh my God, Ree. I’m so sorry that you had to see that.” Priya wrapped her arms around Renee and held her tightly, keeping her friend warm in her embrace.

“You’re right for wanting a divorce. If this is how that asshole repays you for everything you’ve done for him over the years then he doesn’t deserve to be with you. As for Chloe, she deserves every bit of karma that’s coming for her.” She said, still holding Renee who was now sniffing at this point, almost losing the battle to the tears

Knowing how much Renee loved Daniel, Priya knew that she was fighting back her tears with everything in her. She could feel her friend’s broken heart and that made her want to get her revenge on Daniel badly.

Not that she ever liked him. She always felt that there was something off about him but, as long as her friend was happy, she was happy.

“Let it out, Ree. Let the tears out today. You’re not going to be crying after this so let it all out.” She said and Renee listened, giving in to the tears that had now clouded her vision.

“Why, Priya? Why me?” She cried bitterly. “I have done nothing but love Daniel. I did my best to be the perfect wife for him even with my busy schedule. Was I not good enough?” Her tears flowed nonstop, wetting Priya’s chiffon top.

“I loved him. H-he said he loved me so why? What was I doing wrong?”

“Shhh.” Priya calmed her, caressing her back slowly. “It’s not your fault and you were the perfect wife. You are enough and you weren’t doing anything wrong. He is the asshole for not valuing you as trust me, Ree, he’s going to pay for it.”

For the next hour, Renee stayed in Priya’s arms, shedding her final tears and when she was sure she had no more tears to cry, she returned to the house.

She opened the doors and met Daniel sitting on the couch with a wine glass in one hand and his phone in another, acting like he had not just slept with her sister on their matrimonial bed.

She paused for a minute to stare at him. It marveled her at how one could look so innocent but be a devil underneath.

If she hadn’t caught him herself, she would never have believed that a man like Daniel could cheat in such a gruesome manner.

With a dirty brown hair that framed his face nicely and the perfect set of teeth that made him look angelic when he smiled a sharp jawline, and charming brown eyes. He looked like the perfect husband.

But, he was far from it.

Sensing her presence, he looked up.

“You’re later than usual today, babe.” He smiled sweetly. It was the same smile that usually melted Renee’s heart but for the first time since she met him, she felt nothing.

“I had work to do.” She replied coldly, coming out of her daze and making her way up the stairs, ignoring the dinner table that had been set up.

Confusion spread across Daniel’s face as he watched her walk away. She had been ecstatic about their anniversary in the morning and had promised a celebration at night but, she was now acting differently.

He knew that she was always the most excited about their anniversary and she had never failed to gift him massively every year. This year, he had asked- no, outright demanded- a vacation house in Brooklyn Street. He had no doubt she would get it for him, just like she always did.

“Is there a problem?” He asked and hurried to catch up with her then, he wrapped his hands around her waist.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about our anniversary dinner already.” He said with a fake pout that almost made her gag.

Renee wiggled out of his hold and forced a smile. “I’m sorry, babe. We’ll have to cancel. I’m not feeling so well.” She said and walked away before he could stop her.

She entered the room, freshened up, and got ready for bed, knowing that her life was about to take a big turn. Just before she closed her eyes, her phone dinged. It was a text from Priya.

Priya: [I have started the processing for the divorce papers. They’ll be delivered to you soon.]

Renee stared at the message, her grip tightening around the phone.

“The beginning of an end.”