5

Chapter 5

Audrey Westbrook

~•~

A lawyer?

I stared at Vincent, dumbfounded. What was his lawyer doing at the house? While I was still demanding an explanation, he walked out of the kitchen.

I stood there, frozen. I hoped it wasn’t what I was thinking. No, he wouldn’t do that to me. Not without having a conversation about it with me first.

By the time I had walked to the foyer, the lawyer was already gone and Vincent was holding a brown envelope.

“What is in that envelope?” I asked, staring at it like it was a ticking time bomb.

Vincent didn’t respond. He went over to the living room and settled on the couch. He reached for his glasses on the center table.

After he put them on, he opened the envelope and pulled out a few sheets of paper.

My heart began to race.

“Vincent, I’m talking to you,” I said as I moved closer to him so I could catch a glimpse of what was written on the papers. “Are those divorce papers?” I asked even though I couldn’t see properly.

I just had a weird feeling that they were divorce papers.

He finally looked up at me. “At least, we are finally on the same page.”

A jolt of fear ran through me. “What?”

Vincent set the papers down and slowly adjusted his glasses, looking totally cold and distant. “They are divorce papers, and I’m glad you know already.”

My knees went numb. I thought I might actually fall, so I reached out and gripped the back of the armchair beside me.

Divorce papers.

The words echoed in my head longer than they should have. For a brief second, I convinced myself that I was dreaming. It was just a nightmare.

There was no way he had just implied that we were getting a divorce. Where was that coming from?

“You’re glad?” My voice cracked.

He nodded. “Yes. It means that you’re self-aware and you can finally stop pretending.”

I genuinely couldn’t understand what Vincent was talking about. He had been acting weird, and now he had asked his lawyer to bring the divorce papers, then proceeded to act like everything was my fault.

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves.

“Do you want to get a divorce?” I asked, trying to clarify. Maybe the papers were for someone else. I couldn’t believe that it was for us.

Our marriage had been going great.

Divorce wasn’t something I had ever imagined happening to us. Not after four years of marriage. Not when I still loved him with everything I had.

Vincent stared at me for a moment before nodding casually. “Yes, Audrey. I want a divorce.”

I stared at him, hoping he would tell me that it was just a prank and he didn’t mean it. But his expression was serious. I could tell he meant every single word.

“Why? You want to leave me because of Cierra?” I asked, my chest constricting. “Is that why you’ve been acting strange? Because you want to be with her again?”

He let out a humorless laugh. “Of course, you would think that,” he said quietly.

I took a few steps closer to him. Just as I tried to reach for his hand, he pulled it away.

My eyes darted between him and the neatly stacked papers on the center table.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked. “Vincent, please, just talk to me. If something is wrong, we can work through it. We’ve been married for a long time. You can’t just throw everything away without giving me a reason.”

“Stop acting like you don’t know what you did.”

I froze. “What did I do?”

He looked at me as if he couldn’t believe I had the audacity to ask.

“You’re really going to stand there and pretend you have no idea?” he demanded, giving me an almost disgusted look.

I honestly couldn’t think of anything that I might’ve done to him. Whenever I pissed my husband off, he always pointed it out, and I apologized when I was wrong.

Why were things suddenly different?

Why couldn’t he just communicate?

“Baby, I don’t know what I did. I haven’t done anything to you,” I replied, defending myself.

Vincent scoffed. “Baby?” he mimicked me, shaking his head. “Baby.” He sounded like the word was irritating him.

Before I could say another word, he stood up from the couch and picked up the divorce papers.

My mouth fell open as he walked out on me and made his way to the stairs.

I hurried after him, desperate to finish the conversation and convince him that I hadn’t done anything.

But he wasn’t willing to listen to me. He kept walking until he got to the bedroom. He was about to slam the door but I quickly stuck my hand between the door and the frame, stopping him from closing it.

He sighed and continued walking.

When we were inside, a sharp breath escaped my lips. “What is wrong with you, Vincent? Why are you doing this?”

No matter how hard I forced my voice to sound steady, it still trembled. I couldn’t lose my marriage.

Vincent turned to face me, his expression unreadable. “What do you want me to say, Audrey? You already know what you did. This is the best option for both of us.”

Tears streamed down my face.

“I don’t know. Please tell me…” I cried.

He let out a frustrated sigh and opened the drawer. I stood there while he searched for something before pulling out a pen.

“Vincent, are you even listening to me?” I asked, wiping my cheeks. “I’m your wife. Whatever happened, we should be able to talk about it.”

He ignored me and walked over to the table. He placed the papers on the table and was about to sign them.

I couldn’t let that happen. Not when I didn’t know why he was giving up on our marriage.

“Stop,” I said, grabbing his wrist.

He turned his head to look at me, his eyes so cold that I almost let go of his hand.

“You can’t hold me forever. You know that, right? There’s nothing you can do or say that would stop me from signing these papers.”

I slowly let go of his hand.

I nearly forgot how to breathe.

Was he really going to do that to me?