Chapter 3

Eunice’s POV

I thought David cared. I really did. After everything we had built together, the dreams we whispered in the dark, the nights we stayed up talking about the future, the promises sealed with kisses. I believed he would always be on my side.

I thought I had married a partner, a friend, someone who would defend me even when I was wrong and protect me when I was hurting.

But I was wrong. Completely wrong.

Lately, it felt like I was sharing a house with a stranger. His eyes no longer lingered on me.

His voice, once soft with affection, had become clipped, impatient. And when I needed him most… tonight, broken and bleeding, trembling from what I had just discovered he looked at me like I was nothing but a disruption in his schedule.

Like I was wasting time he could have spent with her.

I saw it in his eyes. Not even a flicker of concern. Just… cold indifference.

How did we get here? How did the man who used to write love notes on sticky paper now walk past me like a wall?

“I tripped outside… and I ” I tried to explain.

David looked at me like I was wasting his time. No concern. No warmth.

“Do you know what? Just go inside and apologize to Mom and Lizzy,” he said sharply, cutting me off.

Just like that.

He didn’t even let me finish. And I had been about to tell him something important. Something life-changing.

But no… he started his usual attitude. Cold. Bossy. Not listening. Again.

I remembered the first time he ignored my feelings on several occasions, there was a day I spilled juice on his shirt by accident. Instead of laughing it off like I expected, he scolded me in front of the waiter.

It was small, but something in me cracked that day. I convinced myself it was stress. That things would change. That love could cover it. But now I wasn’t so sure anymore. Maybe love wasn’t enough.

My chest felt tight. This wasn’t what I wanted. I couldn’t raise a child in this kind of home. Constant fights. Always feeling alone.

I looked at the floor, then up at David.

“I want a divorce,” I said quietly.

The words felt like glass in my throat. I didn’t want this no woman to end her marriage.

But I also didn’t want to lose myself trying to keep a man who barely saw me anymore. I had cried enough nights alone in our bed, talking to a sleeping man who never really listened, even when awake.

He froze. Like the words hit him in the chest.

Silence filled the room. I could hear the ticking clock behind me.

Finally, he spoke.

“You must be joking. You’ve started this mood again,” he said, shaking his head.

I stood up slowly and faced him squarely. I needed him to hear me. Really hear me.

“David, I said I want a divorce.”

This time, his eyes widened. He was shocked. More than I expected.

He rubbed his head, trying to process my words. “Stop saying that, Eunice. I don’t want to hear it again.”

“I’m serious,” I said firmly. “I’m not changing my mind.”

He sighed. “Don’t act like a child. This has always been your problem,this childish behavior.”

I laughed, bitterly. “Of course. I’m always the immature one, right? And you’re the perfect CEO. Mr. Always Right.”

Just then, his phone rang.

He picked up immediately. “Hello dear… okay, I’ll be there right away.”

I stared at him.

It was Lizzy.

Seriously?

Again?

He turned to me. “Eunice, I have to go. There’s a big contract to sign. Jonathan Thomas and Bill Henry. It’s huge. Millions in profit. We’ll talk later. Please get some rest.”

I watched him walk away.

No apology. No attempt to fix things.

Just business.

Just Lizzy.

Again.

I didn’t stop him. I had heard about the contract at the dinner table. I knew how much it meant to the company. And even though I was hurting, I didn’t want to ruin it for him. Maybe I was foolish… or maybe just tired.

When the door closed behind him, I sighed.

Then I turned to Ruth, one of our maids, and said quietly, “Please give me the key to one of the guest rooms.”

Ruth had worked with us for over two years. She had seen the tension in our home before we admitted it to ourselves.

The way David no longer looked at me during meals. How I stopped laughing at his jokes.

Ruth was discreet, but her eyes always spoke louder than her lips. Tonight, she gave me the key with the kind of quiet sympathy that made me want to cry.

She looked confused but didn’t ask questions. I didn’t want to sleep in our room. Not tonight.

“Sex won’t fix this,” I whispered to myself. “Not this time.”

I packed a few things and went into the guest room. It was quiet, cold. Just like I felt inside.

I sat on the bed, staring at the wall. My phone was silent and there were no calls. No messages.

Later that evening, I heard footsteps in the hallway. Then a voice.

“Where’s Eunice?” someone asked from the living room.I knew that voice. Firm. Familiar. And angry.

David.

He was the one who walked in.

Not Benard. Not Ruth. David.

His footsteps echoed, sharp, deliberate, like someone walking into battle.

I stayed in the guest room, wrapped in silence. There was no music. Just me, my thoughts, and the sound of the ceiling fan spinning above. My hand touched my belly again.

That tiny life growing inside me had no idea what kind of chaos it had been born into. A sudden fear gripped me, what if this child grew up feeling the same cold distance I now felt from David? Would I let history repeat itself?

He didn’t call my name at first. He just stood there, taking in the stillness of the house

Then, his voice broke the silence.

“Where’s Eunice?”

He opened the bedroom door. Slowly. Carefully.

And stopped.

Empty.

The bedsheets are still smooth. Pillows untouched. No sign I had been there at all.

His eyes narrowed. He looked around, confused.

Then louder, more urgent this time:

“Ruth! Where is she?!”

No response.

He stormed out of the room, frustration written all over his face.

He was searching. For me.

But he was already too late.

Because I had made my decision.

And this time, I wasn’t going back.

Not tonight.

Maybe not ever.