Alex

Alexander's POV

The house was calm and empty the moment I stepped inside with my mother and a few friends I had invited over for dinner.

Lavina used to work as my secretary at the office, but for days she had stopped coming in, citing some ridiculous illness or clumsy excuse. I had tolerated her little acts of defiance because she was usually quiet and predictable, always waiting in the shadows to serve me the moment I walked through the door.

I walked straight toward the dining area, anticipating the warm scent of cooked meals and the usual sight of her fussing over the table setting.

Instead, the place felt cold and empty. The lights were off, and the kitchen was pitch-black and dead quiet. There was no soup simmering on the stove, no fresh bread, not even a glass of water laid out.

My mother scoffed behind me, adjusting her designer coat with an annoyed sigh.

"Is this how your wife entertains guests, Alexander?" she sneered, her heels clicking loudly against the marble floor. "She couldn't even bother to turn on the lights? So arrogant."

Irritation flashed through me.

I stepped deeper into the dining room and flicked on the chandelier switch. Warm light flooded the dark room, illuminating the pristine, untouched mahogany dining table.

And then I spotted it.

Sitting carefully in the exact center of the polished wood was my diamond wedding ring, gleaming under the light. Right beneath it lay a crisp, white sheet of official document paper, marked with bold black print.

What is Lavina playing at this time? Is she jealous of me and Stephanie again? I thought, keeping the words to myself so no one else would hear.

I stepped closer, my brows furrowing as I pulled the paper out from under the ring. My eyes scanned the top line: DEED OF LEGAL SEVERANCE AND DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

At first, I nearly laughed.

A quiet, breathless chuckle escaped my lips, quickly turning into a loud, mocking laugh that echoed off the high ceilings of the empty villa.

My friends chuckled along, misinterpreting my reaction as amused entertainment.

"Look at this," I said, shaking my head as I held up the paper for my mother to see. "She actually drew up some useless severance papers. The girl thinks she's making a grand statement."

My mother let out a sharp, mocking laugh, fanning herself with her manicured hand. "A countryside stray trying to play hardball? Where does she think she's going to go? She doesn't have a penny to her name that didn't come from your pocket."

"Exactly," I said, my voice dripping with supreme, untouchable arrogance. "She's throwing a pathetic temper tantrum because I refused to waste money taking her to a clinic for a simple stomach ache. She thinks hiding in some cheap motel for a night will make me come running after her."

The stomach ache was a constant issue between us. I never wanted her to conceive for me, hence the reason I fed her contraceptive pills. Most times, I put them in her drinks and food, telling her they were for her health, and she never thought twice before swallowing them.

I only wanted Stephanie to be the mother of my kids. Lavina was full of emotions, but Steph was so adorable and didn't always complain, even when she was ill and had only a few years left.

I needed to make Steph feel loved rather than have her tossed into a marriage with a stupid, dying man.

I tossed the paper back onto the table beside the glittering ring, entirely unfazed. Lavina was a weak, dependent woman who had clung to me for three years like a leech. She had no family support, no career of her own, and no spine. She was probably sitting in some cold, miserable coffee shop right now, staring at her phone, waiting for me to panic and beg her to come back home.

"Let her play her little game," I told my friends, waving my hand dismissively as I led them toward the living room bar. "She'll realize how freezing and expensive the real world is by midnight. When her little savings run dry, she'll be back on her knees, crying and crawling at the front gate, begging me to let her in."

I pulled my smartphone from my coat pocket, my thumbs flying across the screen as a cold, cruel smirk touched my lips. I typed out a single message and hit send:

[ALEXANDER: Enjoy sleeping on the street. Don't bother begging me to let you back in when you freeze tonight. Who knows which man you'll open your legs for this time for shelter.]

I locked the screen and tossed the phone onto the sofa, completely satisfied.

I breathed in and out, and all I could think about was my date with Steph at an ice cream shop.

The way she painted my whole face with that vanilla ice cream and licked it off my nose was fascinating. I could still smell her sweet caramel perfume, the thing I liked most about her. I smiled at the thought of it all.

I didn't care that the kitchen was cold. I didn't care that she was gone. Let her suffer in the chill for a few hours. It would teach her the ultimate lesson in obedience.

I had no idea that the severance paper on the table was already legally binding. I had no idea that my message was landing on a muted screen in a rented warehouse, or that the wife I thought I owned had just erased her name from my world forever.