Chapter 1

“What can I get for you, ma'am?”

Emily simply waved her hand and responded with a polite smile. “Just water. I'll order later.”

The waiter nodded, scribbled something on his clipboard and walked away. A glass of water sat on her table a few seconds later. She took a sip even though she wasn't thirsty.

Today was Valentine's Day. Who else could Emily think of spending it with except her husband, Xavier Sterling? She smiled to herself as she looked at the document placed in her lap. She had a surprise for him. She adjusted the neckline of her peach satin dress and glanced at her phone screen for the time.

He was thirty minutes late. They had planned to have dinner at the exquisite restaurant in Ranch city. Xavier had never been good with time. Emily had learned that early in their marriage so she didn't think much of it. She guessed he had been caught up in traffic or in a board meeting, or his phone had probably died.

But no matter how much she tried to act unbothered, something still unsettled her. She had heard the maids gossiping the other day about her husband having other mistresses. It had sent a cold shiver down her spine that day, but she hadn't confronted them. She hadn't confronted Xavier either.

Their marriage was an arranged marriage to save her family's company which was drowning in debt. Emily loved Xavier. She wanted to believe that he loved her too. Although, there were a lot of times he never stood up for her throughout the five years that his family called her barren and unable to bear a child.

The thought of that was enough to dampen her spirit. She noticed a man at the corner staring at her. He wasn't staring at her face. She followed his gaze and caught him looking at the top part of her exposed cleavage. She flashed her wedding ring at him and pulled her cloth to cover what she could.

“Oh my God. Where is Xavier?” She said softly and glanced at the door for the umpteenth time. No one had walked through that door. She was the only person seated alone at her table. Almost forty-five minutes had gone by now.

She raised the document that was on her lap and kept it on the table. She was looking at her phone and didn't notice that someone had walked towards her. It was a man, but it wasn't Xavier. He wore a black suit that looked a bit oversized. He had glasses framing his face and he held a black suitcase in one hand.

“Mr. Callister, what are you doing here?” Emily asked.

She recognized him. He was the Sterling family lawyer. She simply guessed it was a plain coincidence that he was in the same restaurant as her, but she was about to find out that it was something deeper than that.

“Mrs. Sterling. It is a pleasure meeting you. Do you mind if I sit? There is something I would love to discuss.”

Emily nodded.

Callister sat down and placed his suitcase on his lap. He opened it and brought out some papers. He adjusted his glasses and rubbed his palms together. Emily noticed the wrinkles forming on his forehead and could tell he was nervous. What did he have to say? She knew him well because he was the Sterling family lawyer and she had worked with him in the Sterling company since she got married.

“Mr. Xavier sent me here,” the lawyer broke the awkward silence that sat between them.

Emily's interest was piqued. “He sent you to me? Isn't he coming?”

She noticed Callister exhale deeply, then he nodded. “He sent me to give you this.”

He fumbled with the papers in his hands, his hands trembled slightly as he gave it to her. It wasn't easy to hand it to her as he had known her all these years.

Her eyes noticed the first word on the top of the paper—Divorce. She frowned and froze.

She tried to say something but found herself stuttering.

“No,”

She looked up at Callister with trembling hands, “This can't be mine,”

She stuttered again. “ These papers aren't for me. You've made a mistake.”

Callister looked away. He couldn't bear to look into the young madam's eyes. His silence gave Emily all the answers she needed.

“Look, Mr. Xavier has promised a lot of things. He wants to give you half of his assets as a divorce settlement and even the house on the country road.”

Emily felt her eyes sting and a tear rolled down her eyes as the lawyer handed her a pen. She ran her eyes briefly over the divorce agreement. Then, she clenched both hands by the sides.

“I'm not signing this. Put Xavier on the phone right now. I need to know where this is coming from.” Her voice was broken as it was teary, but she spoke regardless. “We slept in the same bed yesterday. He made love to me. He can't just wake up and divorce me on a valentine's day evening.” She blinked, but the tears fell regardless.

“Miss, I know you feel emotional, but the young master had told me that he doesn't want to speak to you. I'd be…”

“God damnit!” Emily yelled as she slammed the table.

The people at the other tables turned towards her. Their stares only lasted a few seconds before they looked away. She wiped the tears off her face. Had the lawyer referred to her as ‘miss’ because he was ready to see her divorced.

“Put him on the phone right now. There has to be a misunderstanding.”

“Ma'am I assure you, he…”

“Right now!” Emily screamed and people turned towards them again.

She held the papers in one hand. “Call him right now if you don't want me tearing these papers this instant.”

Callister looked worried. He tried to say something but seeing the young woman in tears, he felt broken. This was the same woman he had sat in board meetings with, pulling business strategies, and now he was forced to do this. He had delivered countless legal documents in his career, but none had ever weighed this heavily on his conscience.

“Fine.” Callister said finally. He slowly unlocked his phone. Emily's heart pounded so violently she could hear it in her ears. After three rings, the call connected.