Death

“Olivia, be reasonable. What did you mean by wanting a divorce? Divorce who? Me? You must have seriously lost it, we should visit the hospital," he barked but my expression didn't change and my decision was even firmer. Grounded.

Of course. To him, this was absurd.

  'Olivia, it's enough. Time to return to where you truly belonged,’ I remembered myself and tried to clear my head.

  

   "Nothing's wrong with me, Harvey, I just realize that I can't cope anymore. No one will survive what you call “marriage” without breaking,” I said, the calmness in my voice surprised even me.

   I've imagined asking for a divorce in the past; when his mother came to mock me for being barren, when his siblings would insult me and destroy the house on a whim, and when he'd leave the house for days without telling me where he went, I had imagined asking him for a divorce when he returns but I never dared to go through with it.

   "Abuse? What abuse have I ever put you through?” His voice pitched even higher and he yelled at me like he could snap my head off if I said one more word. "My family loved you and I've always done my best as your husband, what else do you want?”

He really believed that. Or worse, he had never cared.

   "Are you hiding something, Harvey?" I asked and he immediately kept quiet. “You fell in love with Tori and want to be there for her. I don't want to be the third wheel in your happiness, so instead of shifting aside, I want to go." 

  

  "You can't divorce me, Olivia, that's impo-”

"Who's getting a divorce?" The small silver door to the rooftop twitched open and Tori came into view.

Of course. Right on time.

  In a pink jumpsuit, black ruched knee-high boots, and a small clutched bag on her shoulder, she looked like she was heading to a party.

   A party? Oh, it's Friday night.

“Thank goodness you're here, Tori baby, talk some sense into your friend,” Harvey immediately ran to her and held her hand. 

   The sudden sparkle in his eyes, the small smile tugging at his cheeks, and the gentle caress he rubbed on her hand: none failed to go within my notice.

 That softness… I had never heard it directed at me.

 “What happened?" Tori asked, instinctively handing her clutch bag to him and he took it as if it was an unspoken agreement between them.

   “Since she knew about… us, I mean, our relationship… She has been acting weird, and now, she wants a divorce," Harvey explained his own side of the story, cutting out my lines as a producer would do to a boring character.

   “Did you explain to her well? I mean…. she shouldn't have…” Tori leaned closer to him, their hair brushing each other as they whispered.

   I stood close to the guardrails, quietly watching as my husband and my best friend bantered on how to convince me to leave my home.

    I didn't hear much of their whispers but my hearing definitely caught it when she said, “Let her go if she wants to, why are you begging her?" 

   Immediately, my patience snapped. I shouted, loud enough to disrupt their private meeting where they obviously forgot I existed. “I heard it!”

   They both turned to me, as if they just remembered I was standing there all along.

  "I heard everything and I was really glad you said it, Tori,” I said, dropping the dress that I clutched so hard. "Since you're here, let's finalize everything, you can have Harvey. You can have the unfaithful, dishonest, and the dirt that remained of him. I'm done pretending he was ever mine.”

   "Olivia, it's not like that. Harvey and I-” 

"Please, don't insult me twice in a day,” I cut her off, and warned her with my finger pointed at her. She tried walking toward me with that pathetic look on her face, and I immediately quipped, “I'd suggest you stay where you are, and this will not end in violence." 

If they wanted war… fine.

   I turned to Harvey, who still held Tori's clutch bag like the handsome diva he was. “Harvey, don't think you can insult and go scot-free. I'll show you what “the fallen Mays'" can still do,” I made air quotes with my fingers.

   “Is that a threat, Olivia? Why are you so selfish?" Tori glared at me and I guessed I had bitten her final straw.

   “You spoke out of turn, trashcan. I was speaking to "my husband,” okay?” I glared at her in return. She shrieked and folded her fist with annoyance.

   I turned back to Harvey, and the steady look on my face returned. "You might not know but the Mays' have an advantage you can never rival, and I will use that to destroy you.”

  "What could you possibly have? Your family has crumbled, you're nothing now,” Harvey laughed with a quick second of doubt in his eyes and a tighter grip on Tori's bag.

   “The Mays' international media, have you forgotten that we own the largest media industry in the world?” I narrowed my gaze and watched his face turn all sorts of colors, he bit his lips exasperatedly.

   "Olivia, you can't do that. You know not to do that," he shot daggers at me with his eyes but I mainly laughed, like the villain they forced me to be.

   “Imagine you wake up to the headline tomorrow morning, "The young CEO of Fontaine Global, Harvey Fontaine, betrayed his wife who built everything with him for three years, for her rising celebrity best friend, Tori Finley," both your lives and career are OVER,” I made grand gestures in the air with my hand and watched their faces twist in horror.

   “Olivia, can't we just talk this out?” Tori especially, became panicked, she rubbed her palms together nervously.

   Harvey walked to me and held my hand in desperation, "Olivia, this is a family matter, we don't have to involve the media.”

 I yanked his disgusting hand away from me and cleaned my hands on my dress, while shooting him a murderous glare.

   Tori also walked to me with tears already running down her cheeks. She really deserved to be an actress, the tears looked so convincing.

  “Excuse me, both of you, I have somewhere to be," I rolled my eyes at the two pathetic couples and tried to walk away but they suddenly grabbed my arms and pressed my back against the guardrails.

   Instant panic immediately flushed my face, and my eyes widened as if my eyeballs would roll out of my sockets. “What are you doing?" I yelled, trying to intimidate them with my loud voice when I was practically afraid for my life.

   People do the most unthinkable things when they're forced into desperation.

   “Change your mind now and we'll let you go," Harvey said, his voice trembling as his hot breath hit my face.

   “I won't, you can't threaten me!" My breathing came in ragged gasps as I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat.

Their grip tightened. Too tight. This wasn’t about convincing me anymore.

“Let go. This isn’t necessary,” I lowered my voice, trying to ease the situation as cold sweats fogged my forehead. 

   “I know how stubborn you are, Olivia, you won't listen,” his voice wasn’t steady anymore and his hands were trembling.

  No… it shouldn't be what I'm thinking.

Out of nowhere, a hand shoved my shoulder. Too hard. Too sudden.

Fear gripped me and my eyes widened. "No…” I yelled as my body slipped over the guardrail.

   I didn't know what was going through my head anymore, the air was passing through my body and I couldn't get a hold of my gravity.

  Harvey's hand was on my left arm the entire time, which means… Tori pushed me!

   I was falling, staring at the bright moon and shimmering stars, Tori and Harvey's faces grew farther away from me and their voices became smaller.

   Before I knew it, my body hit the ground with so much force that I think I shattered my head, and my bones were completely fractured. 

   For a moment, it didn't hurt but then a shearing pain spread through my body. I wanted to scream in agony but it felt like my voice was taken away, I couldn't make a sound.

  I lay sprawled on the cold street sidewalk, trembling as a dark pool of blood spread beneath me like a blooming crimson flower. The blood rushed from the back of my head, and fresh blood spilled from my mouth, the metallic taste flooded my throat.

   The last thing I saw was Tori and Harvey arguing as the world slowly faded from the corners of my eyes until it completely turned black.

   Even at my last breath, they weren't looking at me. They were arguing.