10

Chapter 10

Valerie Will

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I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing to take Celeste’s offer. But at this point, desperation had taken root in every part of me. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea after all.

“Are you sure that you won't get into trouble?” I asked, trying to make sure she was certain about her decision. “I don’t want to be the reason you get disbarred or anything.”

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. “Have you forgotten who your best friend is?” She asked, raising a brow at me. “I have someone who can help me do it without any trace.”

I let out a wistful sigh, leaning back into the chair. “Okay, fine. Just be careful.” I said, my expression serious. “Thank you once again.”

“Anything for you,” Celeste responded before she excused herself from the room. She went outside to make a call to the person who would help us with what we wanted.

After she left, I pulled out my phone and checked to see if I had gotten any text. But my heart ached when I didn’t see any messages from Patrick.

Was he still sleeping?

Did he even care if I had signed the papers or not? I couldn’t believe what my life had turned into. If someone had told me that Patrick and I would get a divorce, I would have laughed at them.

I hoped it was just a misunderstanding.

I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave him and start over with someone else.

The sound of my buzzing phone snapped me out of my thoughts. I glanced at it and saw my mother’s name flashing across the screen.

It was then it dawned on me that she had called me earlier. Letting out a deep breath, I answered the phone and pressed it against my ear.

“Hey.” My voice was barely above a whisper.

“What happened? Why are you getting divorced?” My mother skipped the part where we were meant to exchange pleasantries and went straight to the point.

My voice was quiet as I asked. “Who told you about it?”

“That isn’t important. You can’t get a divorce. Fix your marriage.” With the way she sounded serious, one would think that her life depended on the success of my marriage.

I couldn’t help but wonder why Patrick went ahead to tell my mother about the divorce without my knowledge. It wasn’t even finalized yet and it wasn’t in his place to break the news to my family.

Had he actually given up on me?

The thought about everything was so suffocating.

“What did Patrick say to you? Did he tell you that the divorce was my fault?” I asked, my voice laced with curiosity.

It would be hurtful to hear that he told her that I cheated on him. I swallowed hard, ignoring the lump that had formed in my throat.

“Patrick didn’t say anything to me.” She exhaled sharply. “It doesn’t matter who told me about it. Just fix your marriage and don’t ruin your reputation.”

If Patrick didn’t tell her about it, how else did she hear about it? The only person who knew about it was him. Or had he already started spreading the news?

“So if my marriage doesn’t work, it means my reputation is ruined?” I narrowed my eyes even though she couldn’t see me. “I’m going through a lot right now and it would be better if you were nicer to me.”

I wasn’t surprised by my mother’s reaction.

I wouldn’t say she was the worst mother on earth. We had our differences and often clashed because of our different choices. But we still found a common ground most times.

But she was always defensive whenever it came to my marriage. Whenever Patrick and I had the slightest issue, she would make it seem like it was my fault.

I always wondered if it was because of his family’s money, or if she just liked him because of his personality. But either way, she acted like Patrick was a saint who would never make any mistake.

I was sick and tired of it.

There was a brief silence.

For a moment, I thought the call had disconnected.

Then she cleared her throat and apologized. “I’m sorry but I’m just looking out for you. You have a big event coming up and I don’t want everyone to focus on the wrong news.”

I sighed as I remembered that I had a movie premiere in a week. Patrick and I always attended the red carpet of these events together.

People were already speculating that something was wrong. His absence at the event would just confirm their suspicions.

The last thing I wanted was for the news of my divorce to be out there. I wanted to deal with it on my own before it would eventually leak to the public.

If I had my way, I wouldn’t want anyone else to know. But even if I tried, it would somehow get to the public. I had no idea who was always behind it, but our business was always in the headlines.

That was one of the downsides of being famous.

“If you want, I can talk to Patrick and ask him to accompany you to the movie premiere even though things aren’t going great between the two of you.” My mother suggested.

I knew she could do something like that because Patrick always listened to her. But since he felt I cheated on him, I wasn’t sure he would be willing to compromise.

From the way she spoke, I could tell that she had no idea why he gave me the divorce papers. I liked it better that way.

I didn’t want anyone to know about it.

I wanted to get to the bottom of it and figure out if my marriage was worth salvaging. I prayed silently, hoping everything would eventually be okay.

“I guess so. Talk to him if you can.”

At least, it would buy me some time to figure out what was going on.