Reclaiming My Ex Wife

My fingers trembled around my purse as the announcer called out the names of the best employees of the year.

It was my husband Lincoln’s company’s end-of-year party, yet he was nowhere beside me.

Not that I had expected him to be anyway.

No one in the company knew we were married. Our wedding had been done quietly because of his late grandfather.

My parents, now deceased, had been family friends with the old man. After their death when I was still a teenager, he had taken me in and raised me. And when I turned twenty-one, he requested that Lincoln marry me.

Three years ago, I had thought that was the happiest news of my life.

Being engaged to Lincoln had felt like a miracle. I had been in love with him for as long as I could remember, secretly wishing upon stars, praying in silence, hoping that one day he would be mine.

But despite being married to him for three years, he never truly was.

He made sure I never forgot that he had only married me because his grandfather willed it. A truth he never allowed me to escape from.

“The best employee of the year goes to—”

The voice from the microphone snapped me out of my reverie, and I lifted my head in anticipation, my heart pounding as I waited for my name to be called.

I was Lincoln’s secretary in his father’s company, and he had praised my work ethic more times than I could count. Other employees did too, because of how diligent I was, how committed and precise I carried out my duties.

No one knew I was his wife. So their opinions of me weren’t biased nor fueled by favoritism.

It was only natural that I would win the award this year, I told myself.

I hadn’t last year because of company policies, as others were in line for it due to their years of experience. But this year? This year was supposed to be mine.

“Jenna Rivera!”

The name rang through the hall.

For a split second, there was pin-drop silence before the room erupted into claps and murmurs.

I forced myself to swallow the lump rising painfully in my throat as I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.

Jenna Rivera who was Lincoln’s first love.

The woman he had wanted to marry before she left him for abroad to pursue her acting career.

Only because she was gone had he agreed to fulfill his grandfather’s dying wish by marrying me.

She had returned to the country just two months ago, and without wasting time, Lincoln had reconnected with her, even employing her as the company’s ambassador almost immediately.

“Does this mean someone who’s worked here for just two months can now be awarded Best Employee of the Year?” the woman beside me whispered to her friends.

“I heard the manager approved it,” another murmured. “My friend in HR said he even paid her triple the normal ambassador f*e just to bring Miss Jenna on board. Maybe the rumors about them being engaged are true.”

Their whispers continued, talking about how often Lincoln had been seen with Jenna, how perfect they looked together, how well-matched they were.

All while I sat there.

Silent and invisible, unsure of what to do.

I was his legal wife of three years, yet no one knew. And somehow, that made the humiliation sting even deeper.

Jenna walked up to the stage as if she owned it.

With the same proud, graceful confidence she always wore whenever she realized I was watching her.

I hadn’t wanted this to hurt me.

I had wanted to shrug it off. It was just an award, after all. But hearing that Lincoln had been aware of the results and the great lengths he had gone just to have her work at the company, I found myself at a loss for words.

She had only worked at the company for less than two months.

Did that mean he was ready to bend all his company rules just so she could be close to him? When he was legally married to someone else?

When Lincoln was called to the stage to hand over the award to her, he was all smiles.

His gaze was fixed on Jenna, the same way it always had been years ago, back when we were still students and lovers at the university.

He looked so happy.

Happier than I had ever seen him in the three years we had been married. So happy, as if the mere thought of standing close to her felt like winning a jackpot.

“Jenna Rivera deserves this award for all she has done for the company…” he began, handing the plaque to her.

His lips did not hide his praises, listing all she had supposedly done for the company.

All in two months.

I had worked at the company for three years. Since the very moment we got married.

My late father had shares in the company too. I had done everything within my power to help its growth. When Lincoln was blank, when he slept off at home or in his office, drowning himself in alcohol and forgetting his responsibilities, it was me who picked up the slack.

Was it not me who found investors when the company almost hit bankruptcy because of a reckless decision Lincoln had made?

I had done everything.

For him, his company and family.

All so he could accept me. All so he could see me as a part of him.

Yet watching him stand so close to Jenna, smiling like that, I couldn’t bring myself to look away.

I finally got fed up and stood, deciding to walk myself out of the hall.

There was no reason for me to be there.

I had forced myself to attend, thinking that I would finally get the award I had labored so hard for over the past three years. But suddenly, it was as though I didn’t exist at all.

“I feel so bad for her,” a voice whispered behind me.

It was a coworker.

Soon, more voices followed, more trailing whispers filled with pity.

“Jenna is a famous superstar. Come on, even if she worked in the company for just one day, her influence would surpass anyone else’s,” another voice said.

 “Accepting to work for Hayes Conglomerates alone is reason enough to give her any award there is. Stop trying to buffer up the poor assistant.”

Some voices began to agree.

I said nothing as I walked out of the hall, raising my hand to flag down a taxi since I didn’t own a car. Lincoln didn't let me.

That was when Jenna’s brother, Charles, suddenly stopped me.

“What do you want?” I asked coldly, noticing he looked like he was about to leave too.

Charles had bullied me throughout my university days. Seeing him stop me outside the venue, I knew it wouldn’t be for any good reason.

“Finally realized your place, you husband snatcher?”

I ignored him and tried to walk away.

He never meant well.

“Where are you going, Bella?” he continued. “Disappointed that my sister has returned to take back what belongs to her? You know that’s how it goes for gold diggers like you.”

I stiffened.

“If you had minded your business and taken your eyes off what never belonged to you, none of this would have happened. And you wouldn’t have a husband who has never wanted you, not once in the last three years of your so-called marriage.”

I wanted to respond.

Jenna had been the one who left Lincoln when his business began to crumble and investors pulled out. She broke up with him. She rejected his proposal and chose to move abroad for her career.

And now she had returned, only because Hayes Conglomerates was one of the top companies in the country.

Yet her brother stood there, calling me the homewrecker, conveniently forgetting what had happened three years ago.

I bit back my retort.

It wouldn’t mean anything to someone like him.

How could it, when my words had never mattered, not even once, to the very husband I was being accused of stealing?