Chapter Four

There was anger on Jason's face when he looked at her across the desk, and beneath the anger was something that looked almost like disbelief, because she had come in here dressed beautifully this morning with her chin lifted and her eyes clear and he had clearly not expected that.

 He had not expected her to bring up the divorce so easily, and the fact that she had rattled something loose in him that he was doing his best to hide.

He stared at the papers and then threw them onto the desk with more force than necessary, and the sharp crack of them hitting the wood made Bella flinch just slightly before she smoothed her expression back into something neutral. 

"Where do you plan on going after this?” His voice was cold.

Bella said nothing. She clicked the pen open and signed the first page.

"Bella." His voice sharpened. "I asked you a question."

She signed the second page. Then the third.

When she finished, she pushed the papers across the desk and raised her eyes to meet his.

Jason recoiled slightly. Her gaze was cold and empty. She had never looked at him like this before. 

Something twisted in his chest.

He thought about her collapsed on the floor the day before. The tears on her face. Maybe she didn't know what to do on her own.

"If you want," he heard himself say, "I can arrange an apartment for you. You don't have to leave right away."

Bella laughed. It was a short, quiet sound with nothing warm in it.

"What do you think I am, Jason?" Her voice was calm but sharp. "Some pathetic wife who will cling to her ex-husband while he loves someone else?"

Jason opened his mouth. No words came out.

"I will not stay here another day," she said. "I would rather have nothing than accept your pity."

"Bella—"

But she was already walking to the door. She paused at the threshold without turning around. "Sign the papers. It's what we both wanted, isn't it?"

Then she was gone.

Jason sat there staring at the empty doorway. The signed divorce papers lay on his desk. All he had to do was pick up the pen.

So why couldn't he move?

Bella closed the bedroom door behind her and leaned against it. The composure she had held together so carefully downstairs came apart all at once.

She gave herself a few minutes. Then she stood up and pulled her suitcase from the closet.

She opened the nightstand drawer and stopped.

There in the corner was a small velvet box. She picked it up with trembling fingers and opened it.

Inside was a ring. A simple silver band with a small blue stone, modest and slightly worn.

Her vision blurred.

She was ten years old again, running after him across the orphanage courtyard, grabbing his sleeve and asking if they would ever see each other again. He had slipped the ring off his finger and pressed it into her palm. He had told her he would come and find her. That he would never marry anyone but her.

She had believed him completely.

Ten years later she saw him again. But he was not alone. He was standing with Natalie, looking at her the way Bella had spent years imagining he might look at her.

When she took the job caring for his mother, she thought she would finally have her chance. Then his mother arranged the marriage and Bella had said yes without thinking.

She wiped her face and placed the ring on the desk beside her wedding band. 

She picked up her suitcase and walked out.

Jason was on the couch with Natalie when she came downstairs. She could feel his eyes on her but she didn't look at him. She walked straight to the front door and pulled her suitcase outside.

She hailed the first cab she saw and got in.

The moment the car started moving, she let go of everything she had been holding.

Her phone rang before they had gone a full block. She looked at the name and answered.

"Bella." Natalie's voice was sweet and practiced. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't playing some kind of game. It took you long enough to finally leave."

"Tired of pretending already, Natalie?"

Natalie laughed, and it was nothing like the gentle laugh she performed for Jason. "Does it matter? Jason loves me. He always has. You were never anything more than something to fill the space until I came back."

Bella kept her voice quiet. "If that is true then you have nothing to worry about, do you."

"Nothing at all. Don't bother thinking about coming back."

Bella was silent for a moment. Then she said softly, "I wonder how Jason would feel if he knew his precious first love wasn't quite what she claims to be.”