From Doormat To Queendom: Rebirth of the Country's Princess

“Harvey, you're so heartless," Tears rolled down my cheeks as I clutched my dress like it was the only thing that could anchor me in the middle of the storm raging in my head.

  “What did I do that's so unbearable? Just shift aside for a while, move to the penthouse… or something, I'm sure you'll be fine. Just let me enjoy a few days in peace with Tori," Harvey said to me, completely unbothered by the tears that already made my lashes wet.

It took a second for his words to settle. Shift aside?

   It's one thing that he didn't care about me but he didn't even realize he was wrong.

  “First, you made me apologize to that slut you sneaked into our home, then, you made it mandatory for her to come over every Friday night, and now? I should shift aside for her to completely take my place?” I asked even when I clearly understood what he meant.

   "Quick recap, Olivia, you might have forgotten. She's your best friend, not a slut, and I didn't sneak her in, we fell in love,” he pointed his index finger at my face, with his eyes closed as if I should know the gravity of my words.

There it was. No guilt on his face. No hesitation. Just… justification.

  The moon cast a brilliant light upon the rooftop as the stars shimmered and remained scattered across the sky. I glanced through the panoramic city view below, and the small lights that brightened every household.

 The city looked warm. Whole. Like nothing in my life had just broken.

   I turned back to Harvey, and he was staring at me with those eyes that still demanded my apology, one that I'll never give.

  How did it take me three years to realize how nonchalant and unfaithful Harvey had always been? Especially toward me, his devoted and “obedient" wife. 

  No, this wasn't new. I had just refused to see it.

   "Not only did you sleep with her, but you forgot my birthday a week after, and didn't bother to attend my father's memorial,” I bit my lips, as more tears rushed down my cheeks. “You chose her over me. Again and again." 

 Something cracked in me, quiet and final, scattered all inside my chest.

  "Just when will you stop involving Tori in our lives!" I yelled, still holding my dress. “All the time, Tori this, Tori that, do you even remember you have a wife?" 

   “Tori needs me, Olivia, try to be understanding," he opened his palms in desperation, his eyes widening with every word. “Tori is an orphan with no relatives, she has always lived in darkness and finally found ME! I am-”

And just like that, I understood. It was never me.

  "-the light she needs to walk down the dangerous path,” I let out a soft chuckle that soon dissolved into mocking laughter. "I can't count how many times you've said this to me, is Tori on a mission to fly around the moon?”

  "Three years…I gave you everything, and it still wasn’t enough,” My voice cracked and my laughter grew even louder as if it shouldn't be me in this kind of situation.

 I still remember how dashing he looked when he came to visit my late grandparents; his brown, tousled hair, his grey eyes, and his inviting smile were all what made me risk everything. I begged to marry him. God, I begged.

   “What exactly did you have, Olivia? I've had enough of this," he quipped. His raised pitch sent a shocking jolt through my system and I flinched, my eyebrows narrowed.

That… hurt more than everything else.

  This is new. Not that he never raised his voice at me, but it was never about my sacrifice in marrying him.

   "You're just the granddaughter of the Mays' family and now? Even the Mays' had fallen, they've been forgotten by the world,” he scoffed and I didn't fail to notice the smug satisfaction he had in that. "What you gave me back then was not even up to twenty million dollars, did you seriously think I built the Fontaine Global from that insignificant amount?"

Something inside me went quiet. He dismissed my sacrifice, as if I were the stupid one. My efforts, nights of pleading to my mother and my late grandparents on my knees, and countless jabs from my friends back then: he summed it up to an insignificant amount? 

  “What did you call me again? Just the granddaughter of the Mays'? You mean the same Mays' that you repeatedly pleaded for their favor and they wouldn't have accepted if not because I was willing to marry you?” I seethed, and let loose of my anger.

   No, this can't be happening. This wasn't the Harvey Fontaine I married.

But like my mother always says, ‘A man's heart is as fickle as the changing sky.’ I guess Harvey was never an exception.

It's never too late to get off the wrong train, they say? But is there a chance for me to turn back? Harvey was my past and future, the only destination I had always been sure about.

 I stood quietly, and closed my eyes, letting the gentle breeze drift through me, even though it couldn't calm the fire in my heart.

   If I leave Harvey now, what’s left of me?

    The screeches of tires, the sounds of cars moving up and down, the loud horns, and the dramatic yells of drivers cussing each other made their way into my ears and for a while, the busy night made me forget I'm still standing before the man I used to think I'll spend the rest of my life with.

   “Accept Tori, Olivia." Harvey's now-disgusting voice dragged me back to reality and I opened my eyes.

   "She's still your best friend regardless. We'll cohabit just fine but please, give me a few days alone with Tori. People will love us, Olivia, and you'll be seen as a selfless happy wife. They'll even be jealous of you…”

   I couldn't listen to the nonsense anymore. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I want a divorce." For the first time, my voice didn’t shake.

   He fell silent and something flashed through his eyes for a quick second. Disbelief or confusion? I didn't get what it was before it disappeared, like it was never there.

    "You sure know how to joke, Olivia, I almost believed you,” he chuckled, waving his hand in dismissal.

   He didn't even take my choice seriously. No, he has never taken me seriously.

  "I'll call Tori over and we'll-" 

 “Harvey, are you deaf?" I cut him off and that caught him off guard.

   “What?" He looked at me, seriously this time.

“I want a divorce."