Hopeless..

~~Scarlette~~

My handbag was still clenched tight in my hand. My fingers were raw from holding the stirring wheel too tightly.

The attention the road required had been the only thing holding me together, and now that I’d somehow, I’d found my way back to the mansion. Its huge imposing structure stared down at me as I drove the vehicle to a halt at the entrance and stepped down barefoot. Somewhere, between the image of my husband’s body tangled with my sister and the long drive back home, I’d flung my heels aside.

The cold bit into my feet as I walked into the place I’d called home for the last five years. It was so familiar, yet so strange. I’d walked through these halls so many times, yet today it felt extremely…lonely.

I slammed the door behind me. Hard.

The sound echoed through the halls, bouncing off the walls.

I had barely taken a step toward the goddamn room I shared with Ethan when Everleigh’s nauseating voice reached me.

"Where the hell are you crawling from at this hour? A married woman like you?"

I turned slowly, my eyes meeting her equally cold ones. She was Ethan’s mother. The woman I’d done everything in my power to please for the past five years, yet nothing I did was ever enough for her.

"Nowhere, Mother," I responded, mentally and physically exhausted, but calmly.

I was trying not to break right there. All I wanted to do was get to my room.

Her face twisted into an ugly scowl. "What? Such disrespect!”

“What do you mean by 'nowhere'? Have you started cheating on my son now? Is that why you’ve stopped wearing your wedding ring?"

She stepped closer and grabbed my arm, her nails biting into my skin.

Pain shot through me. I winced from the sudden pain.

"Listen to me—and listen well.” Her voice turned more sinister, yet the seriousness in it was evident in the way her eyes pinned me down like I was some pathetic little dirt she couldn't wait to get rid of. “If you think you can sneak in here, pregnant with some bastard, and expect my son to raise it as his own—you’re fucking mistaken."

Before I could even react, the front door creaked open behind me.

We both turned just as a head bobbed in. Ethan’s.

The dim corridor light cast a shadow on the tall figure and his smiling face as he turned around to offer a hand to someone behind him.

My stomach dropped. Goosebumps rushed down my back as I felt all the anger I’d suppressed on the drive home return in full glory. How dare he come in here with Emelia?!

My sister had a graceful smile on her face as she intertwined her arm with Ethan’s, and my gaze lingered on their joint arms in pure disbelief.

I wasn't even over them having sex yet and Ethan’s cheating, and yet, here they were displaying their affair in my matrimonial home of all places!

Mother’s fingers unhooked from my arm as she turned to face them fully.

“Ethan… who’s this?” she asked, unusually calm. My heart raced at the unusual excitement beneath her voice.

Ethan’s gaze flickered over to me, then back to his mother, as his smile turned wider.

“Your new daughter-in-law, Mother. The one who will give you a child. An heir.”

I stood there, dazed by the words I’d just heard. What the hell was he even saying?

I didn’t think it was possible, but Everleigh’s face lit up.

“Well, finally. At least you’ve learned something. You’re making the right decision now,” she said, grinning like a devil finally getting what she prayed for.

It felt like someone had taken a hammer to my chest and cracked it open.

Ethan turned to me, and my hands clenched into fists. I had to remind myself to breathe. I could count to ten, and everything would be back to norm—

My mind blanked as Ethan reached for something in his coat and brought out an envelope. He stepped closer and stretched it towards me.

“Here. Take this. Sign it.”

I stared at his hand. My heartbeat paused. The air around me felt heavier. I slowly reached for it, my fingers trembling as I took the papers and scanned them.

“Divorce?” I said aloud, my voice breaking with disbelief. “You’re divorcing me… for her? My own sister?”

My chest tightened. I needed air to fucking breathe!

“It wasn’t enough that you cheated…” I gasped. “…but now you’re handing me divorce papers?”

“I stopped loving you a long time ago, Scarlette. Everything about you disgusts me now. Your body, your voice, your presence. I’ve endured it for too long. And you think you’re the only one who’s suffered? I’ve suffered too.” His voice was harsh and his words brutal to the core.

The mirage of the Young Ethan I’d fallen in love with and married straight out of college fell apart, leaving in its place a cold-hearted stranger.

This man was different from my Ethan. Far too different.

Everything I knew about Ethan. His voice. His appearance. It all changed. Somehow.

“Sign it. Now. And leave this mansion.”

“Ethan, you can’t do this to me…” My voice cracked as the words left my mouth. I didn’t even realize when the tears started falling. I held the divorce papers in my hand knowing this couldn't be the end.

“Please, just tell me where we went wrong,” I said, choking on my own breath. “What happened to us? You used to call me your kitten… You promised you'd love me no matter what…”

I stepped closer to him, grabbing his wrist, but Emelia’s hand was already wrapped around his other arm.

Jealousy and fear clung to me. That sight… it crushed what little hope I was clinging to.

“Tell me.... how long has this been going on?” My voice was shaking now, but I needed to know. “How long have you two been doing this behind my back?!” I screamed.

My entire body was trembling. Anger, betrayal, disbelief—it all hit me at once. The room felt too small to hold the pain in my chest.

“I don’t love you anymore, Scarlette! Isn’t that obvious?” Ethan snapped. His face was cold and scary and I have never seen such a side to him. Like I meant nothing.

I stumbled backward, completely caught off guard as he flung my hand off him, and I hit the ground hard.

The pain didn't register right away. I blinked, stunned, and tried to get up. Crawling toward Emelia, I grabbed the edge of her dress.

“Emelia… what happened?” My voice was more of a whisper, I could barely hear myself as my eyes got even more blurry with tears.

Emelia’s eyes flicked downwards at me. Her lips twitched. Then she kicked her foot free from my grip, and I fell again—this time flat on my back.

“This woman has no shame!” Mother’s voice rang out from behind, her disgust clear in her tone.

I shook my head as she moved to Emelia’s side like they’d always belonged together. How could she see nothing wrong with all these?

I pushed myself up on shaking arms and looked at my sister. “Emelia… I did everything for you. Everything you ever asked for… I was there,” Each word hurt more than the last.

“When Mama and Papa threw you out, I took you in. I got you that apartment. I found you a job... in Ethan’s company. Is that where it started? Was that your plan all along?”

I tried to search her face, hoping for a sign of remorse, but Emelia smirked. “I don’t care what you did for me,” she said, matter-of-factly. “and stop acting like you did it out of kindness. Our parents threw me out because of you. You were the golden child. You married rich, so it was always your responsibility to help me. You owe me that. So stop acting like a goddamn saint.”

I couldn't believe the words I was hearing. Emelia had always been sweet and gentle towards me. This new version of her; the version that was my husband’s mistress, and was standing so shamelessly in my home, was so foreign to me.

My tears kept falling, but she didn’t even flinch.

“Tell me we’ll fix this, Ethan…” My voice was shivering from the tears now. I couldn’t breathe right. “In fact—I’m ready to forget. I’ll forget you cheated. I’ll forget you slept with my sister. I’ll even forget about these divorce papers, Ethan. I swear…”

I was crying, head bowed, tears falling freely. I reached up, cupping his face with both hands—begging, not caring about pride.

That’s when he grabbed my wrists. Hard.

His fingers dug into my skin, crushing bone. I winced from the pain.

“It seems you don’t get it, do you?” His eyes darkened as his voice got louder and harsher.

“I. Don’t. Love. You. Anymore!”