CHAPTER 1

Bella’s pov

“I want a divorce.” Here are the divorce papers. “We are done!”

The silent mansion echoes with thunderous rage. Lucas stood there, calm and cold.

My hands were shaking terribly, barely able to hold the stack of papers he thrust into my hand after saying those words.

I read through the pages quickly in disbelief. It was really a divorce paper.

“You can’t just ask me to leave. I am your wife!!… You can’t just bring up a divorce paper out of nowhere.” I choked out, my voice rising in fear.

“Wife?” He said as he let out a loud, sharp, bitter laughter. He smirked and moved closer to me until we were almost sharing the same breath. His eyes flared with cruelty I hadn’t seen before.

“You’re not in any level close to that. You are just a mere gold digger!"—a convenient deal my father made, but he was just too blind to see the kind of person you truly are.”

My chest tightened. I could barely breathe as I stared at him, disbelief flooding my veins. This wasn’t the man I’d married—or at least, I had hoped he wasn’t.

“But you….” These were the only words I could mutter before he cut me off.

“Do you even know why I agreed to this shitty marriage?” His voice was blunt, emotionless, as if I were just an object he was trying to get rid of, nothing more; he moved away from me and buttoned his shirt up.

“It was all because of my father’s conditions; I either get married to you or I lose the inheritance—Anton agency.”

“Unfortunately for you, my father is dead, and I got what was mine all along. There is no need for us to keep pretending and living under the same roof like I care about us.”

“I’ll give you 6 million dollars to compensate you for the years wasted, and you can use that to start a new life,” he added casually, like it was nothing.

“Make sure you drop the signed papers at the office before the end of the day.” He said as he walked out of the room without letting me say a word.

I wasn’t able to say anything anyway; my eyes were filled with tears as I stood still, my vision became blurry, and my legs and body were shaking with shock from the weight of the words I just heard.

Lucas’s words echoed in my mind, each one stabbing a dagger to my heart. The cruelty, the coldness—it was almost too much to bear.

Even though I got married to this man without my consent and in a rush, I never knew it would be this bad, and I will never wish such treatments I’ve gotten from him in the past years on anyone, not even my enemy.

I’ve endured so much disappointment and a lot of disrespect, all in the name of respecting my dead father’s last wish for me to secure a better life by marrying into a wealthy family. And now, here I am—discarded, humiliated, utterly alone, and abandoned like a worthless pawn.

The thought of my father’s death and how I got married to Lucas Fernandez within a month of his death flashed back into my mind; my chest tightened and I was unable to breathe; my throat became dry, and the tears I was trying hard to hold back dropped as I sat down on the bed close to me.

My father’s death was a life-changing experience, and I found out after a month of his death that he signed a contract with Lucas father.

A famous billionaire, Antony Fernandez, who owns multiple businesses around the world, but his modeling agency was the best out of all his businesses.

At first, I thought the contract was for my future as a model, for the career I had always dreamed of. But it wasn’t. It was for a marriage—a life I never chose.

A sudden sob tore through me as the memories of my rushed wedding day flooded back. The day I lost control over my own destiny.

I cried out loudly as tears gushed down my eyes.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand close to me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I picked up the phone as I quickly cleaned up my tears and cleared my throat before answering.

“Hello,” I said in a shaky yet calm voice.

“Hi, Mrs. Fernandez,” came a soft, professional voice. “This is the doctor from the hospital you visited a week ago.” A woman responded.

“Oh…..” I stuttered, suddenly remembering.

“Yeah, are the results of the test ready?”

"Yes, it’s ready; please come by today and pick it up.” The doctor said.

"Alright, ma’am, I will be there by noon.” I said and hung up after a few seconds.

I hung up, staring blankly at the phone in my hand. The divorce papers sat beside me like a heavy reminder of everything I was losing. Everything I never really had.

I sighed, tears threatening to fall again. “Where will I go after this?” I whispered to myself. “I have no one.”

The mansion around me felt colder and emptier as I stepped out of the room. I thought about what Lucas had said.

And yet, as much as I hated him, I couldn’t ignore the truth—part of me still wanted him. I still wanted to believe there was something that made him react this way and want a divorce.

But deep down, I knew better. Lucas was a poison, and staying with him would only destroy me further.

The only thing I had now was the test results. Another reality to face.

************

I arrived at the hospital before noon, my mind filled with emotions. Lucas’s words are still replaying in my head, pressing down on my chest. The unsigned divorce papers inside my bag felt like a ticking time bomb about to explode in a few hours.

But for now, I have another weight to carry—the test results I wasn’t ready for and don’t know what they might contain.

The sterile smell of the hospital greeted me as I walked in, and the cool air made my body shiver with anxiety as I approached the reception desk.

“Good day, Bella Fernandez; I’m here to pick up my test results.” I said, in a formal and low voice.

The receptionist smiled and pressed her keyboard as she fixed her eyes on the computer screen. “The doctor will be here shortly; please have your seat, ma’am.”

I nodded, retreating to one of the chairs in the waiting room. My fingers tapped nervously on the leather of my bag as I looked at the clock, counting the seconds. My mind wandered back to Lucas, the divorce papers, and the result I’m about to receive in a few minutes.

“How could I ever believe there was a decent man inside him?”

I closed my eyes, trying to focus, but the image of him handing me those papers burned into my mind. I wanted to scream—to shout to the world to see the kind of pains I am going through. But it is of no use.

“Mrs Fernandez?” The doctor’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Yes doc.” I stood up quickly, and I followed her into the consolation room. The air was heavy with anticipations of what she was about to say.

“Please, have a seat.” She gestured at the chair in front of me, her face calm but quite serious.

I swallowed hard, taking a seat as she sat across from me, holding a folder with my results. My heart pounded as I waited patiently for her to speak.

She opened the folder, her eyes scanning through the papers before meeting mine. “Mrs. Fernandez, congratulations; this is good news.” She said as she smiled brightly.

My breath caught in my throat. “What is it?” I managed to ask.

The doctor’s expression softened. “You’re pregnant.”