Chapter 2

Derek stepped out of the conference room, exhausted from the three-hour meeting he had just had.

Even though he was tired, there was a smile playing on his lips. He'd succeeded in closing yet another deal again.

He was on the winning side as always.

His phone buzzed in his pocket as he made his way out of the new company he'd just acquired.

Burying his hand in his pocket, he pulled out his phone to check the text message he'd just received.

He frowned when he saw that the notification was from his wife back home.

He opened his phone about to read it but he was swiftly interrupted by small hands rounding his waist.

“Alyssa,” he murmured before turning around to see her.

A smile spread across the blonde woman's face.

“How did it go?” She asked, her soft and breathy voice, washing over him like a calming balm.

“Guess,” Derek smirked.

“You got the deal?” 

“Yes,”

He nodded. 

Alyssa hugged him and then kissed him on his cheek. “I'm so proud of you.”

“Why, thank you,”

He said, forgetting all about the text message he'd received from his wife.

“I'll take you out to celebrate. My treat,”

“Later. Right now, I need a hot shower and then a nap.”

“How about one drink before we go back?”

Derek thought about it and then nodded. 

Back at his hotel, Derek brought out his phone, but it was already dead.

He plugged it and then took a long nap. By the time he came up to it to check his phone, he'd forgotten all about his wife's text message. 

Moreover, the message was now buried under dozens of work emails and messages.

SARA'S POV

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes filled with calm determination and resolve.

I was getting a divorce. The words sounded foreign in my head. I had been fed up with this marriage for a long time and should have left long ago, but I never wanted to tear my family apart.

Last night made me realize that I wasn't the one tearing my family apart.

Derek was. And I was done playing nice.

The sound of Danielle crying through the baby monitor startled me. I was about to run out when I heard the nanny, Mrs Rodriguez’s Voice. 

“Hey little princess, why are we crying?” Aya, the nanny coed.

“I want Daddy.” She said and my heart broke a little.

“Awww, You poor thing. Daddy is on his way, okay? He's going to get you chocolate and dolls and everything nice, alright?”

I couldn't see my daughter through the baby monitor but I could tell she was nodding judging by the silence that followed.

“Do you think Alyssa will come too?” she asked.

Mrs Rodriguez was quiet for an awkward amount of time before speaking again.

“I am sure she will.”

“Okay. I miss her. She promised me a doll last time, the new one.”

“Well, I'm sure she'll get it for you.”

I sighed. Last night was heart-wrenching enough. But having to listen to my daughter ask for her father and his mistress every day was going to be the death of me.

I reassured myself that I would never regret my decision to ask for a divorce from Derek since I did it already, even though he was yet to reply.

However, I kept struggling over whether I should fight for custody of Danielle.

After overhearing that, I figured there was no need to keep wrestling with it. I didn't want to tear Danielle away from her father. They were a dynamic duo, and I hated to be the woman to cause a rift.

I stepped out of the corridor I had been hiding in, and Mrs Rodriguez noticed me.

“Ah, Mrs Marshall, good morning.”

She said in her usual thick accent.

“Good morning, Mrs Rodriguez. Thank you for getting Danielle. Is she all set for the day?”

I asked.

“Not yet, but I'll make sure she is.”

“You're a lifesaver,”

Danielle didn’t say anything to me, she didn’t cry about her dad or Alyssa to me. I watched her as she stood very close to Mrs. Rodriguez not acknowledging my presence.

I smiled sweetly at her and asked, “Danielle, what can I buy for you when I return?” 

Danielle didn’t respond to me, instead, she pretended to be busy with the coloring book in her hands.

“A doll, perhaps?” I asked again.

And yet again, she ignored me like I wasn’t even speaking to her.

Mrs. Rodriguez nudged her and muttered, “Hey Dannie, your mom is talking to you”

I was going to tell Mrs. Rodriguez to let her be when she yelled at the top of her voice, “I don’t want anything! Leave me alone!” 

I watched as she ran away from the living room towards her room.

I gave Mrs. Rodriguez a weak smile and she struggled to return it. I made my way to work.

I was quitting my job once and for all. It had been a mistake anyway.

The only reason I worked there was because Derek's grandparents had suggested it. They believed it would tighten the bond that we shared. And funny thing was… I believed it too. 

Giving up my fashion design pursuit to work at Derek's company. That was immediately after we got married. I shouldn't have. But I wanted ‘us’ to work.

At that time I was in love and stupid and had decided that working as one of his administrative staff was the best thing. After all, I'd be close to him.

What a fucking dumb mistake.

Finally, in my office, I plopped down on the chair behind my desk and checked my messages. Derek still hadn't texted.

Why hasn’t he responded yet? This is supposed to be good news for him. 

Is he that busy? 

I glared at his name on my screen and tapped on it. The phone rang. He picked on the second ring.

“Hello Derek…”

“Not right now, Sara. I'm about to go in for an important meeting.”

“But…”

He hung up before I could get another word in but not before I heard Alyssa laughing in the background.

My hand clenched around my phone.

A memory from last here suddenly appeared.

It was my birthday party. Derek had come late as always, making an excuse that he'd been working.

I had barely blown out my candles before Alyssa called.

He'd left immediately, saying the power in Alyssa's home had gone off and he needed to help her.

I’ve long gotten used to it. No matter how important something is to me, it never matters as much as a casual request from her.

With a sigh, I made my way to the office kitchen to make myself a coffee. 

“Oh my God. They look so cute together,” I overheard someone say in the lunch room as I got myself a cup of coffee.

“I know. Alyssa Ford is so elegant and she is with Derek. They would make such a perfect couple ” Another blonde-haired woman that worked in accounting said.

I tried not to show any reaction but it was hard.

“You do realize he is married,” Anna from marketing spoke.

“Is he really?” The blonde said.

They suddenly stopped as I walked in.

“Oh, Sara. You are here! Did you come here? Have you seen the latest tabloid about Alyssa Ford?” She asked

“Oh, not yet.” I lied. 

“Look”. She put up the tablet where Alyssa and Derek were pasted, having dinner together and looking a little too intimate.

“Aren't they cute?”

“I guess,” I shrugged with a smile. I didn't wait to be embarrassed further. I left with my steaming mug of coffee.

My phone rang just as I was about to start writing my resignation letter.

Thinking it was Derek, I picked up my phone but it was a text from Rina.

I blinked at Rina’s message. My best friend and classmate back in college. A very excellent designer. Unlike me, she stayed back in the field even when I left to take care of my family.

“You won’t believe who’s partnering with my studio. Alaric Lennox. Yes, that Alaric Lennox! He asked about you.”

My stomach clenched as she read the message. Alaric Lennox. 

That name rang more than just a bell because he happens to be a popular businessman who found my work rather than just good but excellent. He hadn’t stopped praising my work and even when I had left, Rina couldn’t have enough of it as well. 

“I told him you quit design, but he said he always knew you'd come back. I'm trying to get us into the international Design Expo. Can you come with me?”

My breath caught. An expo? It felt like a door I had shut just cracked open again. 

I stared down at the resignation letter and felt like I had just made the right decision. 

Picking up my phone, I typed a simple yet well thought text,

“I'm in.”