THE PRICE OF SEPERATION

Tears filled her eyes as she scanned through the documents in her hands.

“Alex…” she muttered through tears.

“Don’t make this harder than it should be, Vivienne. You have 24 hours to ensure the signed copy gets back to me.” That was all I had to say.

She was an entirely different person than the woman I thought I married.

“Alex, I’m sorry,” she screamed, falling to her knees.

Her nose was runny, her eyes already swollen.

“I love you”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have a strange man in our bed,” and with that, I turned my back on her, on this chapter of my life, and walked out.

11:00 pm

It had been five hours since I left Vivienne at home.

I hadn’t even gone anywhere; I just kept driving in circles.

I had lost track of time and apparently everything else, cause I was out of gas, but luckily for me, there was a gas station nearby.

50 missed calls

75 messages

I expected Vivienne to blow up my phone, but not Sebastian.

“What’s good, bro?” I said into the phone as he answered.

“Mom and Dad are here, bro...” he replied.

“Is there a reason you’re not answering my calls?” my mother yelled at me through the phone.

“No ma” I rolled my eyes.

The last thing I needed right now was scolding from my parents.

“Meet us at the family house”

“But my…”

She cut me off before I could argue. “Remember, your father doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” She said sternly and hung up.

This could only mean one thing.

Vivienne.

Why was she trying to make this harder than it already was?

The ride to the family house sucked.

I was filled with so much anger at Vivienne and my parents.

All she had to do was sign the papers and not involve my parents.

I wanted to be the one to break the news to them myself.

The Vale family house was filled with a lot of cars as usual, but a few stood out to me.

I spotted Vivienne's Range Rover and Sebastian's Escalade, which meant he was with the kids.

However, two cars stood out to me as unfamiliar.

The maids ushered me to my father's study, where my parents, Vivienne, Sebastian, and Vivienne's parents were seated, waiting for me.

“Hello, Mom and Dad,” I greeted.

The room was very tense.

Sebastian offered me a little smile, while Stacy excused herself out of the room.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair.” From the look of things, this meeting was called about the divorce papers I had issued Vivienne.

She sat in the arms of her parents, sobbing very loudly.

Last time I heard her make a sound this loud was when she was moaning to a strange man's dick.

“Sit, Alex,” my mother instructed, motioning for her to sit beside her.

She was blonde, petite, and blue-eyed, but beneath the cute exterior was a woman not to be joked with.

“We called this meeting to discuss these,” Mason, Vivienne's father, snarled, lifting the divorce papers I had issued earlier.

“Mr. and Mrs. Vane, why does your son want to bring disrespect to my family after all that we have done for your family?” He was yelling, which only made me angrier.

“You have nobody but your whore of a daughter to blame for that” I responded immediately.

How dare he speak to my family in that manner?

I was furious.

My mother gasped, and the Sinclairs widened their eyes in shock.

Of course she didn’t tell them.

She ran to the first so she could control the narrative.

“How dare you call my daughter a whore?” Mason, Vivienne's father, yelled, pointing an accusing finger at me.

With a few taps, my phone connected to the television in the office, and the video began to play.

“I’ve been a bad girl, Daddy, Daddy; punish me.” Vivienne’s voice filled the room from the speakers, silencing everyone.

Everyone watched as she desperately slipped the strange man's dick back into her when it slipped out.

My point had been made.

I couldn’t bring myself to watch the rest, so I turned the TV off.

To stay ahead, I made sure to d******d the CCTV footage from our room on the night of the incident.

Embarrassment was all over Vivienne's face.

Her father, who had been yelling at the top of his voice moments ago, was seated quietly.

“We understand how this must look,” Mason started, explaining, “we’re not bigger than mistakes, and we are willing to offer compensation of any sort.” His eye remained on my father.

He couldn’t possibly be serious.

“The perfect compensation would be the signed document.” I was tired of him addressing my parents like I wasn’t in the room.

“I understand you feel that way,” he continued.

“Do you?” I asked, yelling now, “Do you know what it is like to return home and find your wife with another man”

I was inches away from his face, hoping he’d say something stupid so I could unleash my anger on his face.

My parents remained speechless, too stunned to speak.

I couldn’t even blame them; I couldn’t speak when I watched them either.

“However, when you got married, the contract clearly stated that a dissolution of your marriage meant automatic forgoing of your company,” he finished.

What?

“That’s not right,” Sebastian butted in.

He had been quiet through the day's events; I had almost forgotten he was in the room.

“We knew you would say that. We brought a copy of the contracts.” he placed the documents on the table, and Sebastian, my father, and I picked a copy each.

There it was, clearly written.

Should the marriage be dissolved by divorce, the party who initiates the divorce shall relinquish and forfeit all rights, title, and interest in the business, which shall remain the sole property of the non-initiating spouse, to the extent permitted by law.