chapter2

I Want a Divorce

"Evelyn, wait."

Julian's voice followed me down the hallway.

I kept walking.

For three years, I had stopped whenever he called my name.

Tonight was different.

I reached the living room and picked up my coat from the back of the chair.

"Evelyn."

His footsteps came closer.

I turned around.

Julian stood several feet away, his usually composed expression replaced by irritation.

His tie was slightly loosened, and his face had lost some of its color.

He looked nervous.

For the first time, I realized something important.

He hadn't expected me to hear him.

He had expected the conversation to remain a secret until he was ready to destroy my marriage himself.

"What did you hear?" he asked.

I almost laughed.

Not Are you okay?

Not I'm sorry.

Not even Please forgive me.

His first concern was how much I knew.

"Enough."

His jaw tightened.

"Evelyn, this isn't what you think."

"Really?"

I looked at him.

"I heard you tell Vanessa that you're going to divorce me."

He remained silent.

"And I heard you promise to marry her."

Still nothing.

That silence was my answer.

I nodded slowly.

"So it's true."

Julian sighed.

"I was going to tell you tonight."

"After our anniversary dinner?"

His eyes shifted away.

"I didn't want to ruin tonight."

I stared at him.

"You didn't want to ruin tonight?"

My voice shook, but I refused to let the tears fall.

"You were going to sit across from me, let me smile at you, accept my gift, and then tell me that our marriage was over?"

"I didn't know how to say it."

"You could have started with the truth."

He looked at me.

"I don't love you anymore."

The words hurt.

Of course they did.

But they weren't as painful as they should have been.

Maybe because I had already heard worse.

I had heard him call me temporary.

I had heard him promise another woman a future.

I had heard him describe me as obedient.

So when he finally said he didn't love me, I felt something inside me go completely still.

"When did you stop loving me?" I asked.

Julian hesitated.

"I don't know."

"That's not an answer."

He ran a hand through his hair.

"Evelyn, things between us changed."

"No."

I shook my head.

"You changed."

His expression hardened.

"I've given you a good life."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Is that what you think this was?"

"Aren't you comfortable? Don't you have everything you need?"

I almost smiled.

There it was.

The real Julian.

He thought money could replace everything.

Love.

Loyalty.

Respect.

Years of sacrifice.

"I didn't marry you because I wanted your money."

"I know."

"Then why are you talking to me like I'm something you purchased?"

He didn't answer.

I walked toward the table and picked up the velvet box I had left there earlier.

I held it out to him.

"Here."

He frowned.

"What is that?"

"Your anniversary gift."

He didn't take it.

I opened the box myself.

The expensive watch gleamed beneath the light.

Julian stared at it.

"I spent weeks choosing it."

His expression changed for a second.

Then the softness disappeared.

"I can't accept this."

"Why?"

"Because it's meaningless now."

I closed the box.

"No."

I looked directly into his eyes.

"It's meaningless because you made it meaningless."

He lowered his voice.

"Evelyn, don't make this harder than it has to be."

I laughed quietly.

"Harder?"

I placed the box back on the table.

"You cheated on me. You planned to divorce me. You promised another woman that you would marry her."

My voice became steadier with every word.

"And I'm the one making this difficult?"

Julian's face tightened.

"I didn't cheat on you."

I stared at him.

"You were in the study with her."

"We haven't been together physically."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"So that's your defense?"

He stepped closer.

"Vanessa came back into my life, and I realized that my feelings for her never disappeared."

I nodded.

"Then you should have realized that before marrying me."

His eyes hardened.

"I thought I could move on."

"And you couldn't."

"No."

He looked away.

"I couldn't."

For a moment, I remembered the beginning of our marriage.

Julian had been different then.

He had held my hand in front of everyone.

He had promised that no matter what happened, he would never leave me.

I had believed him.

Maybe that was my biggest mistake.

I took a slow breath.

"Fine."

Julian looked at me.

"Fine?"

"I'll give you the divorce."

He froze.

"What?"

"You wanted a divorce."

I nodded.

"So you'll have one."

He stared at me as if I had spoken another language.

"But just like that?"

"How else should I do it?"

"I thought you'd need time."

"I did."

I looked at him.

"Unfortunately, you already gave me all the time I needed."

He stepped closer.

"Evelyn, don't make a decision tonight because you're angry."

"I'm not angry."

"Then what are you?"

I thought about it.

"Done."

His expression changed.

For the first time that evening, Julian looked genuinely afraid.

"You don't mean that."

"I do."

"You've always loved me."

"I did."

The past tense made him flinch.

He reached for my hand.

I moved away.

"Don't."

"Evelyn—"

"I don't want you to touch me."

He stopped.

The silence between us felt heavier than ever.

Then his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

Vanessa.

I saw her name.

So did he.

He immediately declined the call.

I smiled bitterly.

"She won't like waiting."

"That's not the point."

"It is."

I picked up my coat.

"You've made your choice."

I walked toward the door.

"Evelyn."

I stopped.

Julian's voice was quieter now.

"Are you really going to leave without fighting for us?"

I turned around.

"Which part of 'us' are you asking me to fight for?"

He had no answer.

I opened the door.

Cold air touched my face.

For the first time in three years, I stepped outside that house without waiting for my husband.

I thought I would feel broken.

Instead, I felt strangely free.

My phone vibrated.

A message.

Unknown number.

I opened it.

I'm outside.

My heart skipped.

I looked toward the driveway.

A black car was parked beneath the streetlight.

The windows were tinted.

But I knew who was inside.

Lucian Blackwood.

I stared at the car for several seconds.

Julian appeared behind me.

"Who is outside?"

I locked my phone.

"No one you need to worry about."

His eyes narrowed.

"Evelyn."

I turned toward him.

"Tomorrow, I'll contact the lawyer."

"You already have a lawyer?"

"No."

I smiled faintly.

"But I know who I'm going to call."

Then I walked down the steps.

Behind me, Julian didn't move.

He simply watched his wife leave.

He didn't know where I was going.

He didn't know who was waiting for me.

And most importantly…

he had no idea that the man sitting in that black car was the one person he would never forgive me for choosing.

I reached the car.

The rear door opened.

A man's deep voice came from inside.

"Get in, Evelyn."

I stopped.

It was the first time I heard Lucian Blackwood's voice in person.

And somehow…

it sounded exactly like the voice I had been waiting for all night.