Get out.

Mirellas POV

“Please, Nikolai…don’t do this, we can still fix this okay, I can forgive you and then we can go back to how it always was,” I whispered.

“She’s pregnant Mirella,” he admits, not a morsel of guilt in his eyes, no warmth.

The room went silent.

Candlelight flickered between us, catching the reflection of my trembling hands. I opened my mouth but no sound came out. My heart pounded so loudly I could barely hear my own thoughts.

“She’s what?” I finally whispered.

“I’m pretty sure you heard me the first time.”

Each word hit like a million arrows.

My stomach twisted, my heart in practical pieces. “No, you, that can’t,“ I let out a shaky laugh. “Nikolai, we’ve, we’ve been trying for years..you said we’d go to the clinic again next month, you.. You promised me Nikolai.”

His jaw clenched. “Exactly, we’ve been trying for years, enough is enough woman, this isn’t about that.”

“Then what is it about?” I demanded, my voice breaking. “You promised me. You said we were in this together. You,“

“Things happen Mirella,” he says sharply, as if he’s grown tired of this conversation.

“Things?!” My voice rose.

 “You slept with her!”

Ignoring my outburst, he simply states, “I’ve already filed the papers, all I need is your signature.”

The sound that left my throat wasn’t human. Everything I’d planned, the dinner, the reveal, the stupid silk dress. Everything was all for nothing.

“I gave up everything, I gave up everything for you,” I whispered.

He just watched me fall apart.

I pressed a trembling hand to my abdomen ,as if by instinct, to shield the secret I hadn’t even shared yet.

“I was going to tell you something tonight,” I whispered, tears spilling down my cheeks as I furiously wiped them away. “I had a surprise for you.”

He looked away as though even hearing my voice hurt. “It doesn’t matter now, I don’t need to hear it”

“It does,” I cried. “It matters to me! You can’t just,“

“Mirella please!” He snapped, slamming his palm against the table. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

My breath hitched. “Harder for whom? For you?”

His shoulders stiffened. 

“You’ll be taken care of. The lawyers have instructions. You’ll get the apartment downtown, a settlement.“

I laughed bitterly, cutting him off. “Oh, how generous. You’re giving me hush money while you play happy family with her, right? I don’t want your money. Do you love her?”

Silence.

Something inside me cracked further. I stared at the man that I built my entire life around, the man I shared vows with in front of God and man, the man who claimed to have loved me. And all I saw was a stranger.

A cold, unreachable stranger.

“Was any of it real?” My voice broke on the last question.

“Yes, once.”

I laughed humorlessly, “Once…, perfect.”

He reached into his jacket and got his phone, not even looking at me as he said, “I’ll have the rest of your things sent to the Verano estate. You can stay there until you figure things out. Liora will be moving in tomorrow, so please, get out of my house before then.

“It’s raining right now, Nikolai, it’s the middle of the night, even if I was to leave, where would I go right now?”

“Then figure it out, because you’re not staying here.”

I stared at him, unable to move. “You’re really doing this.”

He knew I couldn’t go back to the verano estate. My mother was a soul-sucking leech, she would never accept me. I had nowhere to go.

“Sign them Goddamit, Mirella,” he says. “It’s better this way.”

My hands shook so hard I could barely grip the pen. I wanted to scream I was pregnant, that there was still something worth saving, but the words choked in my throat.

"If you don't, you'd hate what I'd do to you, this is me trying to help you, so just take the easy way out while I'm still being fucking nice."

His phone rang, he slowly turned as he fished his phone out of his pocket, a smirk gracing his lips as he saw the name on there.

Every ounce of my being knew it was her, he didn't even have the decency to wait until I actually signed.

“Hey baby,” he greets her, a smile decorating his lips, his eyes lighting up at the sound of her voice. I didn’t think my heart would shatter further, but it did.

It’s been a while he’s even looked at me as warmly as he is right now, listening to her voice.

“Yes I’ve told her, infact she’s about to sign, your things will be arriving here tomorrow as planned” he droned on in a gentle warm voice as he walked out of the room.

I shakily signed on the dotted line. Officially ending my marriage with Nikolai Marceli.

I wiped my face, straightened my dress, and walked to the bedroom.

The closet doors stood open, my clothes already neatly packed on the bed.

He’d been planning this. For weeks. Maybe months. Who knows how long they’ve been sleeping together.

A hollow laugh escaped me. 

“You always did love efficiency.”

I pulled a small suitcase from the closet. Moving like a ghost of myself. My hands trembled as I packed, not clothes nor jewelry, just essentials.

The engagement photo on the nightstand caught my eye. I stared at it for too long before turning it face down.

I glance around one last time, in the room where I once lived, where I believed love lived…

I made my way to the front door.

My hand drifted to my stomach again. What am I going to do? Where do I go from here? Multiple questions rang in my head.

I looked up at the thundering sky as the rain poured untamed. Then gazed down at my stomach.

He didn’t know. He didn’t deserve to.