Chapter 4

Sonya's POV 

*****

I didn't want to sign the divorce papers at first. I turned to Callum's parents and pleaded with them to help me reason with their son but they mocked me and sided with his actions. 

"Callum did nothing wrong but has managed to give us grandchildren with that girl. Something you couldn't accomplish." His father had spat coldly at me.

"Get out of here and sign those papers! We don't need a barren daughter-in-law." His mother had added, pushing me out of their house. 

I had no choice but to sign the papers and hand them back to Callum a few days later.

"Good job." He remarked when I brought the papers over to him in the house that had once been our marital home. "Now we can finally be free of each other."

Free of each other? 

I NEVER wanted to get rid of him despite all the hardships I endured with him. Despite all the hurtful words and even after I caught him with Amanda.

He and his family had just cast me out without warning or a single ounce of pity or remorse.

Desperate and alone, I went back to my father's house but to my surprise, even he didn't receive me kindly. 

"You are a disgrace to this family!" He had berated me, glaring at me as if I was a curse or something. "I don't want to see you here ever again. You managed to lose a marriage to such a good man after you disgraced us with him all those years ago."

My father had closed the door on me, effectively leaving me all alone from all angles. 

~~~~~

After enduring all that, I moved to a small town far away from the city and decided to start life anew.

I managed to rent a small apartment and after days of wallowing in self-pity, I went job hunting. 

But despite all my attempts, I couldn't find one suitable for my credentials or enough to pay the bills. 

One night, after another exhausting day of aimlessly searching for a job without success, I stepped foot into a bar where I heard music playing. 

The bar wasn't as rowdy as most that I've encountered in the big city and the people seemed tightly knit and drank and laughed with smiles on their faces. 

I seemed to be the only one who was drowning in depression.

My gaze went to the stage where the music was playing, and I realized, to my surprise, that there was no one on the stage and that there was a microphone placed there. 

I clenched my jaw as memories of my life during the past three years flashed through my mind. I had been a successful performer getting close to the pinnacle of my career but I ended up giving that all up after that fateful night.

The night at that party when I had met Callum.

"I regret everything," I mumbled to myself despite the soft music playing in the bar, my eyes stinging with tears but my hands balling into fists with anger. "I regret going to that party. I regret sleeping with Callum under the effects of that aphrodisiac. I regret having to marry him and giving up my career to build a life with him."

A single tear dropped from my left eye but I quickly used the back of my hand to wipe it off, sniffling silently.

However, just when I turned around to get a drink or something, I stumbled into a tall, burly man, causing the drink he was holding to spill on his body.

"What the hell?" He grumbled with shock, raising his head and glaring at me with dimmed eyes. 

My hands went to my mouth as I gasped before staring at him apologetically.

"Oh, my gosh. I– I'm so sorry." I said, bowing my head as my face heated up with embarrassment. "I– I'll pay for your laundry bills. Please, I didn't mean to–"

"Could you 'pay' by taking a job as a singer on that stage?" The man suddenly asked, making me realize something just then. 

He's the bar owner!

Anyway, he sighed as I raised my head to stare at him again. "We could use a little chaos on that stage. That's if you can sing anyway. I'm getting desperate at this point. We haven't had many customers ever since the last singer got sick and left." He lamented.

Meanwhile, my eyes lit up. This was a golden opportunity.

"Actually, sir. I can sing." I remarked, the corner of my lips curling up into a small smile.

After that, I was put to the test and performed that night and it was safe to say that I wowed the audience. I got the job and even though the pay wasn't much, it was still enough to pay the bills. 

Days became weeks and before I knew it, more and more people began trooping into the bar from all over town simply to hear me sing. 

They paid for drinks as they listened to me sing and business boomed for the kind bar owner who gave me the job in the first place, Mr. Silas. 

About two months after I got the job, I was scouted and discovered by a singing agency and ended up signing a deal with them. My career skyrocketed from there, and soon enough, I was able to establish myself as a successful woman.

"I almost can't believe it," I mumbled to myself about one year after my divorce from Callum.

I stepped out of my car in the evening in front of the bar where I had started my path to where I was right now. I still wasn't at the level I was at before meeting Callum but I was getting close. 

Things were turning out for my good and so fast too.

"I wonder how he's doing after all this time." I thought to myself, sighing softly before I began walking into the bar where I was warmly welcomed by my former boss, Mr. Silas.