You want a divorce?" Louis’s voice was cold, unreadable. "Yes," I typed on my iPad. "And this time, I won’t beg." For five years, I was nothing more than a ghost in my own marriage. A substitute bride, a deaf and mute wife who meant nothing to him. Louis never looked at me, never touched me. He paraded his mistresses in front of me, making sure I knew my place, nowhere. But I had secrets of my own. I wasn’t deaf. And I wasn’t weak. When I was kidnapped, I expected Louis to come for me. He didn’t. His indifference shattered me, but it also set me free. I made a deal with the devil, a dangerous man who helped me blackmail my own husband. If Louis wouldn’t let me go, I would destroy him. But things spiraled out of control. Now, I’m trapped. Not just between two dangerous men but between my heart and my freedom. Because despite everything… I think I still love him.
View MoreEvelyn's POV
"I want a divorce!"
I typed the words quickly on my iPad, holding it up for him to see. As someone who could hear but couldn't speak, my iPad had become my voice—my lifeline.
Louis barely glanced at the screen before scoffing, his eyes filled with indifference.
"You're not serious," he said, his tone dripping with arrogance.
"I'm damn serious!" I typed again, my hands trembling as I clenched the device. My heart pounded in my chest, anger bubbling inside me.
My grip tightened around the crumpled pieces of paper in my other hand—the divorce papers. Five years. Five years of a marriage that never should have happened. I was never supposed to be his wife. I was just a substitute, a stand-in for my sister, who had been betrothed to him since birth.
I still remembered my mother’s harsh voice ringing in my ears.
"You have to marry him, Evelyn. Now that your sister is gone, you must take her place!"
My father, who had never seen me as anything more than an illegitimate burden, decided to erase my past and mold me into my sister’s image. No one had ever seen her before, so they hid her death and forced me into her name—Evelyn. But my real name was Nana.
The secret funeral had barely ended when I first met Louis. And despite the circumstances, I fell for him instantly. Love at first sight.
But he was different.
"Why didn’t you tell me your daughter couldn’t speak?!" he had roared when he found out about my disability.
My mother had pleaded with him. "She can hear! She’ll be a good wife, please, just marry her!"
Reluctantly, he agreed.
That night, after we signed the marriage papers, I had tried to reach out to him. I had walked toward him, my fingers trembling as I attempted to remove his jacket. But before I could, his strong grip caught my wrist.
"Don’t ever touch me!" he spat, his cold blue eyes filled with disgust. "You're like glass—fragile, useless. Listen carefully. I don’t want you near me. And don’t ever fall in love with me, because it will only end badly for you. You’re not my type."
And just like that, he walked away, leaving me alone on our wedding night.
Now, standing in front of him, I shoved the iPad toward his face again, my message clear.
"Take these papers and sign them now!"
Instead of complying, he stepped closer. Instinctively, I took a step back. My breath hitched. He was so close, and even after everything, my heart still raced. How could I still love him after all he had done?
I wanted to scream at him, to throw every ounce of pain back in his face, but I couldn’t. He didn’t even understand sign language, the one way I could communicate freely.
Just last night, I had seen him with another woman. Their moans had echoed through our house, piercing my heart like a thousand knives. He hadn’t even tried to hide it.
And now, he had the audacity to say—
"I won’t divorce you."
His voice was firm, his fingers brushing against my hair. I slapped his hand away, my blood boiling.
"Don’t you dare touch me, you flirt!" I typed furiously, shoving the screen at him.
He let out a low chuckle, biting his lip. "I admit I’m a flirt," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "But I will never let you divorce me. Never."
I typed aggressively, my fingers jabbing at the screen.
"Why?! Why can’t you just let me go? Let me live my life!"
For the first time, he hesitated. His silence made my stomach twist. For a split second, I wondered—could he have developed feelings for me over the years?
But then he spoke, shattering that thought instantly.
"I have an upcoming election at the office. A divorce would be bad for my image," he said coldly.
Of course. It was never about me.
My hands shook with fury as I typed my response. "I don’t care! Sign the damn papers and let me go!"
I shoved the divorce papers into his hands along with a pen. My heart pounded as I watched him stare at them. But then, in one swift motion, he tore them into shreds.
I gasped, my eyes widening in shock.
"How dare you?!" I signed furiously, my hands moving aggressively in front of his face. "You evil, selfish man! You think just because you’re handsome, I won’t leave you? If you don’t divorce me, I swear I’ll chop off the balls you use to cheat on me!"
Louis frowned, staring at my hands in confusion. "Whatever you just said, I didn’t understand. Type it out." His smirk returned. "I bet you just cursed me, didn’t you?"
I gritted my teeth, rage consuming me.
Before I could type anything, his phone rang. He answered it with a smirk.
"Hello, babe," he said smoothly. His eyes flickered to mine, enjoying my reaction. "Yeah, I enjoyed every second of last night. Can’t wait to do it again tonight."
I didn’t think. My body moved before I could stop it.
SMACK!
My palm collided with his cheek so hard that my own hand stung.
For a moment, there was only silence. Even I was shocked by what I had done. His head slowly turned back to me, his jaw clenching. His eyes darkened with fury.
"You hit me?" he said, his voice dangerously low.
My breath caught in my throat. Before he could react, I spun around and ran. I didn’t know where I was going—I just needed to get away. My whole body trembled as I walked aimlessly through the streets.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. Then, messages started flooding in.
Mom: "Your husband called! He said you ran away! What is wrong with you? Go back home now!"
I stopped walking, my knees giving out as I collapsed onto the cold pavement. My fingers trembled as I turned off my phone, shutting out the world.
Tears blurred my vision.
Why was my life like this? Why did I always have to suffer?
I buried my face in my hands, letting out a silent sob.
Then, suddenly, a shadow loomed over me.
Before I could react, a hand clamped over my mouth.
They immediately pulled me to the van, throwing me in like I was some kind of dirt.Louis' POVPlease come quickly. Please... please come quickly...The words stuttered out of my mouth, barely audible, like a dying engine trying to run on empty. My chest… it was caving in. Each breath was a fight, each step down the stairs like a punishment. My knees shook under me, legs stiff and numb, and the air, it felt like poison. My heart wasn't just aching; it was rebelling. Pounding. Breaking.I kept walking. Downward. Just walking. My mind blank, my soul fraying at the edges.I don’t remember missing a step, but suddenly I was falling. My body gave out before my voice could even scream. Just as the ground was about to crush me, arms grabbed me. I didn’t even lift my head to see who it was. Cause I already knew who it was. Dave ofcource."How... how did you find me?" I gasped, my voice hoarse, fading. "How?""I have your location."I barely nodded. Of course. Why did I even ask?"What happened? Did you see her?"Too many questions. Too many words. My heart was unraveling, an
Louis POV "You owe me the truth. Tell me now! Have you been the one blackmailing me? Have you been pretending all this time?!"My voice cracked as the words left my throat. I didn’t plan to yell. I didn’t plan to break like that. But I did.And then, she broke too.Tears.Tears spilled from her eyes in a flood that caught me off guard. No sound. No wailing. Just silent, steady weeping, like a river that had broken through a dam. She didn’t make a sound. Not even a sniffle. Just tears. Pure and heartbreaking.Her body shook like she had been holding it all in for years. And when she moved her hands, it wasn’t to cover her face. It was like she was trying to reach for something, me?, and then she just let her arms fall.It felt like I was watching a child whose favorite toy had just been yanked out of her hands and thrown into a fire. She mouthed something. Her lips trembled, parting to form silent words I couldn’t read. But her eyes screamed, I didn’t mean to. Again and again. Her eye
Louis' POV“Are you alright, sir?” someone asked. Their faces blurred, voices buzzed around me like background static in a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to. I didn’t have it in me. I pushed past the crowd, past the noise and questions, past the well-meaning hands trying to offer comfort or concern, whatever it was. I was already in the news for something I didn’t want to remember. Something I hadn’t come to terms with. And now, this? It was too much. Too damn much. All I could think about was how the headlines would twist it again, drag my name through the mud one more time. And worst of all, I couldn’t blame them.So I ran. I got into the car, slammed the door shut, and just drove. I didn’t think. I didn’t even blink. My foot hit the accelerator so hard I nearly tore the engine out of the damn car. The streets blurred. All I saw was red.I drove straight to the house. Through the underground route. The one no one ever entered without permission.
Louis' POVI yanked my clothes on with trembling hands, my chest tight with nerves I couldn’t name. My heart thudded hard, pounding against my ribs like it was trying to talk me out of this madness. I shouldn’t be doing this. I knew it. Every bone in my body screamed that this was reckless, stupid, even. But I couldn’t stop.There were reporters crawling outside the gates like ants. If I stepped out the front door, I’d be swarmed and questioned. So I slipped through the hidden corridor at the side of the mansion, a secret path that only a few of us knew about. I wrapped my scarf around my face, pulled the hoodie low over my head, and ducked into the shadows. I had to be invisible.What kind of man meets a stranger, an anonymous caller, who claims to have information about his wife? What kind of fool does that? Me. I was that fool. But desperation does that to you. It makes you believe that maybe, just maybe, truth can be found in the unlikeliest places. And right now, truth was all I
Louis' POVI yanked my clothes on with trembling hands, my chest tight with nerves I couldn’t name. My heart thudded hard, pounding against my ribs like it was trying to talk me out of this madness. I shouldn’t be doing this. I knew it. Every bone in my body screamed that this was reckless, stupid, even. But I couldn’t stop.There were reporters crawling outside the gates like ants. If I stepped out the front door, I’d be swarmed and questioned. So I slipped through the hidden corridor at the side of the mansion, a secret path that only a few of us knew about. I wrapped my scarf around my face, pulled the hoodie low over my head, and ducked into the shadows. I had to be invisible.What kind of man meets a stranger, an anonymous caller, who claims to have information about his wife? What kind of fool does that? Me. I was that fool. But desperation does that to you. It makes you believe that maybe, just maybe, truth can be found in the unlikeliest places. And right now, truth was all I
Louis’ POVI hadn’t caught her yet, but something inside me already knew.That gut feeling… it wasn’t going away.It had started out as a quiet whisper. A flicker in the shadows. A strange tension in the air whenever she passed by.But now… now it was a roar in my head, pounding against my skull like a war drum.I couldn’t ignore it anymore.I knew it was her.My wife. Evelyn.The one person I had sworn to protect. The woman I built this entire world around.She was the one blackmailing me.Why?Why would she do this to me?I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, my fists clenched, eyes scanning the sea of flashing cameras and shouting reporters below. My pulse was out of rhythm, thumping in a strange staccato against my ribs. I paced the length of the room, back and forth, my footsteps tapping like clock hands counting down to something I couldn’t stop.Where did she go?How the hell did she even leave the house?I turned and stormed down the hallway, my footsteps quick and
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