CHAPTER 4: A divorce

*ALORA*

       “You punk!” Javier Torres roared as he punched Gael on the face.

  Javier was his father.

The three of us had gotten home and Gael had just informed his family about Camila.

         “How could you do this to Alora? You’re so shameless!”His mother, Julieta spat.

        “I don’t love her! Why should I keep being forced to be with someone I don’t love?” Gael shot back.

         “And you think this skank is a better replacement? If she could be with her best friend’s man, that alone should tell you that she isn’t a good person!”

Camila burst into tears after those words.

I sat there quietly watching the show.

This was like a bigger eye opener for me, making me understand that Gael and I really needed a divorce.

  How can I continue to stay married to a man who didn’t want me at all?

Now with a child in the question, though I was badly hurt, I do not want to be the reason why a child cannot have a complete family.

       “Camila is better than anyone in this room!”Gael declared.

          “How did I give birth to a son like you? We wanted you home because your cousin was coming home as well, you know nothing about the family business, you need to learn some things from him as he has successfully ran his family business for ten years! Not to mention, your father’s election is around the corner, do you know the kind of scandal this would create?!”

       “Mom…”

         “What if a reporter had seen you at the airport? We need a perfect public image during this period!”His mother yelled.

         “I want a divorce!”Gael pressed on.

Javier moved closer to him.”I can see that you do not care about this family’s reputation. So go ahead. Go file for a divorce, get married to this lady and when it gets out in public, prepare to have your name erased from this family. I will not put up with your madness anymore. The moment you get a divorce, you’ll cease to be a Torres.”

I personally felt that was a harsh judgement, a divorce was what Gael and I needed right now.

I didn’t want to continue staying here knowing another woman was carrying his child.

    But I couldn’t speak up.

I didn’t know how they’d react to knowing that I wanted a divorce too.

  

          “As for you, Camila, did you think getting pregnant for Gael would automatically make you a part of this family? You will never be accepted into this family and that child will never be recognized as a Torres!” Julieta declared.

    “Mom!” Gael barked.

   Camila cried even harder.

I had to admit, this was fun to watch.

This clearly didn’t go the way they had expected.

I held back against laughing.

   

        Javier moved closer to his son and grabbed his collars.”If word gets out about your affair and this pregnancy, don’t bother coming back to this house.”

        “Get her out of my sight.”Julieta added.

  Gael held Camila in his arms, he turned and glared at me before walking out.

I frowned.

What did I do?

*********

       I had just gotten out of the shower that night when a knock sounded on my door.

    I walked up to it and opened.

It was Gael’s Grandmother.

       “Grandma, what are you doing here? You should be asleep.”I let out.

      “Can I have a word with you?”

I nodded and led her in.

    

   We sat on the edge of the bed and she held my hands.

         “This must be a very hard time for you.”

I suppressed my lips in a tight line.

           “No woman deserves to be betrayed like this. I know this is incredibly selfish for me to say but you can’t give up on him. We both know that woman isn’t good for him. Soon, she’s going to show him her true colors.”

Am I supposed to be waiting for that to happen?

And after it does, should I welcome Gael with open arms and forget how he hurt me?

  That felt too demeaning to do.

    She cupped my cheek.”Since you were small, I knew you were the best woman for my Gael, he’s only confused right now. He’d come back to you soon.”

Three years was a long time to be confused.

I knew they really wanted me to be Gael’s wife, I also wanted to be.

But thinking back now, I felt I had done the wrong thing forcing him to marry me.

I should’ve let him be.

I should’ve tried to move on from him even if it hurt.

I had wasted three years of my life waiting for him.

     After Grandma left, I leaned against the door and sighed.

The election was around the corner, I believe I shouldn’t do anything scandalous that could ruin Javier’s chances.

I will wait after the election and then inform the Torres that I wanted a divorce.

They might get pissed but they had to understand, I didn’t want to be with Gael anymore.

He had hurt me too much.

  Just then, my cellphone rang out.

  I walked up to the bedside table and stared at the caller’s ID.

It was a number that wasn’t saved on my phone.

  I answered the call. “Hello.”

I waited for a response but none came.

Frowning, I stared at the phone’s screen, it was still connected.

            “Hello?”

Still no response, losing my patience, I made to hang up but then a deep voice sounded.

       “Hello, Alora.”

        “Who’s this?”

         “You’ve forgotten about me already? I’m Enzo, the guy you paid for wasting his time.”

My eyes dilated.

I don’t remember exchanging contacts with him.

      “How did you get my number?”

       “A secret. So you’re a married woman?”

This was unnerving.

Why did he do a background check on me?

We had only met once, tonight.

Nothing happened.

Did I just get myself involved with a crazy stalker?