CHAPTER 1

Elena’s POV

“Are you absolutely sure I shouldn't put the food away in the fridge, ma'am?” my housekeeper asked, looking at me with deep pity. I was sitting quietly at the grand dining table, still waiting for my husband to walk through the front door.

I kept staring at the ticking wall clock as I answered her. “Don't worry about it, he should be home any minute now.” It was already past eleven at night, and I had been sitting there waiting for him since nine o’clock.

“You've given me that exact answer for the last three nights, ma'am,” Martha gently reminded me, her tone heavy with sympathy. Her words stung deeply, but it was the plain truth. I couldn't even bring myself to get angry at her honesty. She was just genuinely worried about my well-being.

I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath, trying to steady my shaky lungs.

Before looking up to answer, I said, “You can head upstairs to bed, Martha. He promised he would make it home for dinner tonight,” I told her, my voice trembling just a bit. “I'll stay up and wait a little while longer.”

“Alright, ma'am.”

With a soft nod, she walked away to her private quarters, leaving me completely isolated with a massive spread of beautiful food that we had spent the entire afternoon cooking.

Raven and I never shared a fairytale romance. We didn't get married out of love; it was purely a business arrangement set up by our wealthy families.

Yet, throughout our four years of living together, he always treated me with respect. Because of that, I had slowly fallen completely in love with him, even though he never felt the same spark for me. He was truly a decent man. He was incredibly handsome and attentive. It would have been strange if I hadn't fallen for him.

Another major reason he had agreed to marry me was to secure an heir for his family empire. But as the years dragged on, I simply couldn't get pregnant.

We traveled to the top fertility experts in New York and even flew overseas to find out what was wrong with us. But every single doctor insisted there was absolutely nothing wrong with our bodies; they just told us to remain patient. However, the heavy pressure from his family never stopped.

They made my life completely miserable, and his mother never missed a chance to remind me of what a massive disappointment I was simply because I hadn't given birth to a baby after four years of marriage to her son.

My eyes drifted back to the wall clock, and I realized it was now midnight. This marked the fifth consecutive night that Raven had completely missed our evening meal.

We always made it a point to eat dinner together, but everything suddenly shifted a few days ago. He kept claiming he was overwhelmed with office work, but when I called his executive assistant one afternoon to check on him, they told me he had actually left the building hours ago.

He was keeping secrets from me, and I had absolutely no clue what it could be. I could only pray it was a passing phase and that our life would return to normal very soon.

Feeling completely drained, I stood up from my chair and began packing up the untouched food, carrying the heavy dishes over to the refrigerator. Once everything was put away, I walked upstairs to my dark bedroom and cried myself to sleep.

The sharp sound of the bedroom door opening woke me up early the next morning. I opened my eyes to see Raven walking into the room, and I quickly sat up straight under the covers.

“You stayed out all night long?” I asked him, looking completely bewildered. He had been skipping our dinners lately, but he had never completely stayed away for an entire night before.

Raven didn't utter a single word to me. He simply walked straight over to the walk-in closet and began loosening his tie. I silently watched him undress, shedding his expensive business suit.

He was just as breathtakingly handsome as the very first day I laid eyes on him. His intense dark eyes and slightly messy brown hair always made me feel incredibly drawn to him.

Suddenly, a thick manila envelope landed heavily on the mattress right next to my leg, shocking me out of my thoughts.

“What exactly is this?” I asked, slowly reaching out my hand to touch the heavy package on the bed. “Raven?” I urged when he continued to stay completely silent.

“I can't go on pretending and lying to you anymore. Tracy has come back into my life.” He turned around fully to face me. “I've already put my signature on the divorce settlement. Only your signature is left to make it official.”

Divorce settlement papers? My heart instantly dropped into my stomach, and a suffocating lump formed in my throat. I had never actually met Tracy in person, but I knew all about her history. She was engaged to Raven before I ever entered the picture, but they had ended up breaking things off for reasons he never shared.

I always knew he loved her deeply. I just never imagined she would actually return one day and completely destroy our marriage.

I had no idea why their wedding plans had fallen apart back then, and Raven always managed to change the subject whenever I tried to ask about it. After a while, I completely stopped trying to uncover the truth about why they parted ways.

And now she was back, and he wanted to throw our marriage away. “Raven, please, you have to think about what you are doing. You can't just divorce me like this,” I begged, my voice breaking down.

Raven let out a heavy sigh and looked directly into my eyes. “We both knew from the very start that this wasn't a marriage built on romance,” he began, but I cut him off before he could finish.

“But I grew to love you! I still love you with all my heart,” I cried out, throwing the covers off and stepping out of bed. “Please, you don't have to do this to us.”

He cleared his throat, his tone turning incredibly cold, firm, and flat. “Elena, I have treated you with absolute respect all these years, even though my heart belonged to someone else. You knew the terms before you agreed to marry me.” My chest felt incredibly tight as he spoke. “Let's just sign the agreement and walk away from each other without making a scene.”

He was completely right. He had always been respectful, but I never truly believed we would end up parting ways. I had always held onto the hope that he would eventually fall in love with me over time. I had planned out my entire future with him. I was completely satisfied with the quiet life we shared, even if I secretly wished for more.

But I guess all of my dreams were completely shattered now as I stared down at the envelope he had tossed at me.

Heavy tears poured down my cheeks as I imagined what my life would look like without him by my side. “No, I absolutely refuse to sign this. I am not signing it!” I shouted, turning around and running out of the bedroom.

Raven followed right behind me. “The woman I actually love is back, and she didn't come back alone,she brought my child with her.” I completely froze in my tracks, spinning around to face him the moment those words left his mouth. “I have absolutely no need for you anymore! Just sign the damn paperwork so we can both move on.”

My legs gave out, and I dropped straight to the hard floor, pulling my knees to my chest as tears streamed down my face. It felt like a brutal slap in the face, a harsh reminder that I had failed to give him a baby.

What did he mean by Tracy returning with his child? He had never mentioned a single thing about him and Tracy ever having a baby together.

It felt like my entire world was collapsing right in front of me, and I was completely powerless to stop it. Raven walked right back into the bedroom and walked out a few moments later holding the paperwork and a black pen.

“No amount of crying is going to make me change my mind about this.” He threw the envelope and the pen right onto my lap. “Sign the papers and let's get this over with.”

It was as if he had completely transformed into a totally different human being overnight. I couldn't even recognize him. The decent man I thought I knew was entirely gone, replaced by a cold stranger who possessed absolutely no empathy.