Divorce

Helen's POV

My heart scudded as Fernando marched into the sitting room, an enraged mien mauling his handsome facial features.

What was it again?

Had I done something wrong?

"Welcome home, Fernando," I greeted him, and made to collect his briefcase.

Fernando didn't respond to my greeting, he just eyed me disdainfully like I was a waste of space.

Without uttering a word, he unzipped his briefcase, brought out a large brown envelope and flung it at me.

"Sign it." He barked, before motioning Andrew, his butler over and handing him the briefcase.

"What is it?" I murmured, retracting the paperwork from the envelope.

The words "Divorce Agreement" were written vividly in block letters on the heading.

My legs weakened as a mix of trepidation, befuddlement, and shock engulfed me.

Fernando wanted a divorce which meant that I was now officially doomed.

If he divorced me, I had nowhere to go as my greedy father and evil stepmother had stringently warned me against ever moving back home, on my wedding day.

Three years ago while I was in my third year of college, I had arrived from college to meet Fernando, who was the youngest billionaire and also the most eligible bachelor in the whole of New York City, and his mother sitting in our shack of a sitting room.

My opinion about the whole thing hadn't even been solicited, my father had only introduced them to me as my prospective in-laws who had helped his company, which had been on the brink of bankruptcy.

And just like that, I had been forced to drop out of college to become Fernando's housewife.

"I give you just twenty four hours to sign these documents and get out of my mansion, am I clear?" Fernando's voice broke into my train of thoughts.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked, tears pooling in my eyes. "Whatever it is that I may have done, can you please forgive me and give me another chance to make an atonement?"

"Were you thinking we would be married forever?" Fernando burst into a peal of scornful laughter. "I only married you to save your father's wretched company, nothing more. You are not worthy to be my wife at all. A surrogate, yes. But my life partner, no."

Calmly, I wiped off my tears before I placed the divorce papers on the table and gazed into his grey eyes which bore no warmth whatsoever as they stared back at me.

"Is there someone else?" I asked.

He scoffed. "Who the hell do you think you are to ask me that question?"

"I'm your wife, Fernando," I muttered. "I know you hate me and all, but don't I at least deserve to know why you suddenly want a divorce?"

"Well, if you must know. The love of my life is back in town and I want to marry her soon. And for that to happen, you need to get out of my life." He retorted hotly, to which I nodded.

So he was really discarding me like I was a mere piece of trash after three good years.

After my stupid heart had betrayed me and had fallen for the cruel asshole.

I envied the woman that had somehow managed to capture his heart.

I didn't even know that he had it in him to love someone romantically because I used to think in place of a heart, a small igneous rock was nestled in his chest.

"I will sign them. Congratulations." I uttered, and he muttered something incoherent before storming out of the sitting room.

He was probably going to see her.

I wondered what it was about her that Fernando had been drawn to like a moth to flame, that had made him realize that he could also fall in love.

What was it that the woman had that I didn't have myself?

Was she prettier than me, or was her hair longer than mine?

I knew Fernando had a thing for long hair, because whenever we had sex, he would ensure that my back was facing him, so that he could pull my hair easily as he performed his ministrations.

Fernando was always cold and hostile to me, but he was a generous lover in bed.

That was probably one of the reasons that I had fallen in love with him.

Sighing heavily, I sank onto the couch again and darted a fleeting glance at the divorce papers.

What was I supposed to do with my life now?

Neither did I have the money to start a business nor did I have a college degree.

Fernando had forbidden me from starting a business and also continuing my education when we got married.

He had told me to my face that the only reason he was marrying me was because he needed an heir, and that he would provide all my needs.

Yet I still walked around in public looking tattered because he never gave me money to shop for new clothes, so I was stuck with wearing my old clothes which had faded drastically with time.

When two years passed and I still wasn't pregnant, Fernando's mother had begun to come over to insult me.

She would call me all sorts of names which ranged from; an empty barrel, a dry desert, a fruitless orchard and so on.

On one occasion, she had even blamed my childlessness on a wrongly done abortion, even though Fernando had taken my virginity on our wedding night.

Exhaling heavily, I clasped my hands together as I frantically tapped my feet on the floor, willing a plausible idea on my next line of action to come to mind, but nothing did.

It was then I remembered Lucy, who was my best friend since diapers.

We had met in kindergarten, and had attended the same junior high, middle, and senior high school together.

However, she had moved to Australia after we both graduated senior high school while I had gained a full-ride scholarship to New York State University to earn a degree in accounting.

We had stayed in touch however throughout social media and the likes.

But two weeks had passed since I last spoke to her and I didn't want to come off to her as a burden.

That was the one thing I hated most in my life; having to depend on other people for a living.

"Would you like to have lunch now, madam?" The head maid, Lilian, asked from behind me.

"No, thank you." I croaked, feeling a heavy lump of bitter tears clog my throat.

I swallowed my misery, got up and headed for my bedroom.

Fernando had forbidden me from moving my stuff into his room when I first got here, and had alloted me a room on the servants' wing of the mansion instead.

Now that I thought of it, I wondered why I felt betrayed by the fact that he wanted a divorce.

It's not like he had ever regarded me as his spouse.

Damn, I was pathetic.

As I sat on the bed, a wave of dizziness suddenly enveloped me, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut briefly.

I couldn't afford to come down with a sickness at that moment because I still needed to sort out my unfortunate situation.

Fuck. How did my life get so miserable?

I should have never agreed to this stupid marriage in the first place.

I would have been better off disowned and fending for myself, but at least, I would have graduated college and probably got a well-paying job at a reputable financial firm.

Instead, I allowed my father to manipulate me into getting married to a man who loathed my existence.

A man who would probably throw a party if I suddenly dropped down dead.

Truly, I was an asinine idiot.