Divorce.

Chapter 1: Divorce 

Mirellas POV

“You’re home early” I smiled, setting the wine table, “perfect, I have a surprise for you.”

The penthouse glowed with soft candlelight. The scent of rosemary and butter floated through the air, I’d even put on his favorite silk dress.

Tonight was supposed to be our night, 

After years of heartbreak, failed tests, and hospital visits.

Tonight was the night I’d tell him I was pregnant.

I’d imagined it so many times, his shocked grin, the way he’d pull me into his arms and kiss me, the laughter and brainstorming of baby names. I wanted to see him cry, just once, with joy instead of frustration.

But the moment Nikolai stepped into the doorway, something felt off. His cologne filled the room, He dropped his keys into the silver dish by the door his movements sharp. He didn’t take off his jacket. He didn’t smile. Didn’t even glance at the dinner table or the silk dress I’d chosen.

He looked….tired. His eyes, that I loved, didn’t soften when they met mine.

“I didn’t know you were cooking” he said flatly. Those words dropped between us like stones.

“I wanted to surprise you,” I said forcing a light laugh. “You’ve been so busy lately, I thought we could have a quiet night together, just us.”

He didn’t answer.

He set his briefcase down, tugged at his tie,and glanced down towards the dinner table.

“Is everything..okay?” I asked.

“Fine.” His voice was clipped.

I wiped my palms on my dress, laughing softly. “Good, I was worried when you didn’t answer my call earlier. I thought maybe the board meeting“

“Mirella” 

My stomach drops, squeezing.

Just my name, flat and final. 

“What’s wrong?” 

His voice low and detached. “We need to talk.”

A thousand little alarms went off in my head, my smile faltered, as I nervously fiddled with my fingers. “O-okay. Sure.”

He didn’t sit, instead, he reached into his briefcase, and pulled out a plain brown envelope.

I blinked, confused. “What’s that?”

He placed it on the table, right next to the folded rose napkins and wine glasses I had spent all afternoon making with care.

He slid it towards me. “You should read it.” 

I stared at the envelope. My hands wouldn’t move. “You’re scaring me Nikolai, what is it?” My fingers had begun trembling, dreading the next words that would leave his lips.

He exhaled slowly, like he’d been rehearsing this. “Divorce papers”.

For a heartbeat, I thought I’d misheard him, no I prayed I did. Blood ringing in my ears, my eyes falling closed as I trembled silently.

The word didn’t even make sense in my head. Divorce?

I laughed softly, the sound high and brittle. “That’s not funny Nikolai.”

“I’m not joking” he said, no ounce of jest to be found in his voice. His tone didn’t waver, he stood there like a statue carved out of ice, while I stood there trying to piece what the hell I had just heard.

I shook my head, as I kept trembling slightly, silent tears slipping down my eyes. “Nikolai what, what are you talking about?, why wou, why would you“ my hands roughly going through my hair.

He cut me off, his voice sharp. “Liora’s back.”

For a second the name didn’t register. Then it did, my stomach twisted.

Liora hale. His college sweetheart, His first love.

“What, what do you mean she’s back?, back as in, back in belgrave?, or what” My voice cracked, trying to steady my laboured breathing, and bring the ringing in my head to stop, more tears streaming down my cheeks without permission. A stinging feeling of betrayal blossoming in my chest.

“she reached out a few months ago.” He rubbed his temple. “We’ve been…talking.”

My throat went dry. “Talking,” I repeated.

“Mirella,,“

“Are you sleeping with her?”

He hesitated, and that hesitation was more shattering than an answer, i stepped back, the air around us thickened, pressing against my chest. 

I dropped to my knees, the ringing pain in my head intensified, my heart wrenching at the weight of the betrayal, my sweaty palms coursing through my hair in frustration. “You’re joking, you’re lying. You wouldn’t do that to me”

His expression didn’t change.

I wanted him to deny it, to reach for me, to say something, anything. That would undo the horror he was causing me.

He looked almost pained. “I didn’t plan this Mirella, but when I saw her again, I just, it felt like I could breathe for the first time in Goddamn years” 

My vision blurred. “What about me, what about us Nikolai!?” I screamed as a heart wrenching sob leaves me, the pain spread across my chest. 

His jaw clenched. “I tried, mirella. It’s not working out, it hasn’t been working for a while now.”

I felt sick. “so what are you saying?”

He reached into the envelope and pulled out papers, thick, white, neatly stapled.

“I want a divorce.”