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Chapter 3

Valerie Will

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I didn’t have time to respond to Patrick’s text, but throughout my time on set, my mind kept drifting back to what he had said to me.

Apparently, he was giving me the silent treatment because I had done something. But I had no idea what I had done recently that would make him behave differently towards me.

Why didn’t he just communicate with me instead of shutting me out? I looked forward to the end of the day because I wanted to go back home and talk to him in person.

That was if he would even be at the house.

He had been staying away from the house recently, just to avoid me. I was wondering what the reason was, but now I understand everything.

But I was still lost about what I had done.

“You keep forgetting your lines, you have to keep your head in the game,” Jamal whispered to me after we had tried shooting a scene for the third time.

He was right. I was being distracted.

The next few hours were hectic, I tried my best to stay focused until the end of the day. By the time we were done, I let out a relieved sigh.

“Are you ready to talk about it?” Jamal asked as he walked me to my car. “Something is bothering you, and you need to let it out.”

I sighed, leaning my back against the car door. “I’m having trouble in my marriage. Patrick is upset at me because I did something, but he wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

Jamal raised a concerned brow at me. “What did you do?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “He didn’t say anything yet. I can’t remember doing anything, but I’m about to find out.” The thought of everything made me a little bit nervous.

Jamal let out a wistful sigh. “Everything will be okay. Just talk to him.” He pulled me into a warm hug before heading back to his car.

Just as I drove out to the streets, my phone started ringing. My expression soured at the sight of her name on the screen.

Why was my sister calling me?

We weren’t exactly best friends, and most of our conversations often ended in disagreements.

Jessica wasn’t my biggest fan, and she made it clear to me. I had no choice but to keep her in my life because she was the only sibling I had.

Our parents had always encouraged me to be a bigger person and tolerate her even though she was very annoying most of the time.

I hesitated for a while, wondering what she wanted this time. I already had a lot going on, and I wasn’t prepared for her drama.

I decided to ignore the call and reach out to her later, but she was persistent. She didn’t stop calling. Letting out a deep sigh, I answered the phone and put it on speaker.

“I’m driving. I was going to call you back.” I explained before she got the chance to say anything. “Why are you blowing up my phone?” I asked with a hint of curiosity in my voice.

“I just wanted to check up on you.”

That was clearly a lie.

“Okay, if you say so.” I didn’t want to press further and ask her about her true intentions. “Thank you for checking up on me. I’m doing well.”

There was a brief silence, and for a second, I thought the line had disconnected. Suddenly, Jessica cleared her throat and continued.

“Are you sure that everything is okay?”

“What?” I asked, taken aback by her question. “Why are you asking me weird questions? Isn’t everything meant to be okay?”

She responded with an awkward laugh. “I’m sorry.” She tendered a lame apology. “I actually called you to help me do something.”

My interest was piqued. “And what is that?”

Jessica exhaled sharply. “I’ve been thinking about a business plan, and I wanted you to help me set up a meeting with your husband. I want him to be an investor.”

“You know you could have reached out to him and asked for a meeting by yourself.”

“I know, but I just want you to do it. I mean, he loves you and would agree faster if you ask him on my behalf.” Jessica replied.

I held back a scoff and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Fine, I’ll talk to him.”

Without giving her a chance to respond, I ended the call and focused on driving back to the house. Jessica was sneaky, and I didn’t trust her.

But I didn’t mind talking to Patrick about her business deal. Maybe she would finally have something for herself and stop being bankrolled by our parents.

Soon enough, I arrived at the house.

Patrick’s car was parked in the garage, so I figured he was already at the house. I took a deep breath as I stepped out of the car and made my way into the house.

“I made dinner already, should I set the table?” The maid asked as I was about to climb the stairs.

I nodded. “Sure, I’ll be having dinner with my husband.”

We hadn’t had dinner together in almost a week. But this time around, we would eat and talk about everything, even if I had to force it.

We needed to address our problems and stop living like we were strangers. I was tired of the silence and needed an explanation.

As I got upstairs to our room, I saw Patrick sitting in front of the desk. He didn’t even turn around to look at me or acknowledge my presence.

I clenched my jaw in frustration. “Patrick Banks! I’m tired of living like this. You have to tell me what is going on right now. What did I do?” I asked, breathing heavily.

He turned around to look at me, his eyes filled with disappointment. “There’s no point in talking to you about it. Let’s get a divorce.”

Before I could say anything, he opened the drawer and brought out a brown envelope.

My eyes grew wide in shock as I realized that he already had the divorce papers prepared without my consent. How did we get to this point?