Chapter 2

Clara POV

“Please Bruno, we can talk about this.”

The words came swiftly out of my mouth before I could even stop them. My voice cracked, my hands shaking as though I had just gotten the biggest shock of my life and maybe, it was.

“We don’t have to do this. Please, we can talk about it. We can fix this. We’ve juggled this for five years, Bruno, don’t just throw it away like it’s nothing.

His eyes cut into me, sharp and merciful. “This…was never what I wanted. This marriage was your idea and my grandfather’s manipulation. You bewitched him didn’t you? You and your desperate little dreams” he continued.

“You stole my life, Clara.” he went on, his voice rising. “Because of you, I couldn’t be with the woman I actually loved. And now that he’s dead, now that the old man isn’t here to hold this miserable piece together, it’s time to end it. To put things back in their rightful place.”

Before I could say anything, the front door slid open again. I blinked, confused. We weren’t expecting anyone, especially not by this time of the day.

The sound of heels echoed into the living room like sounds of a talking drum.Then, a woman appeared, pulling a suitcase behind her and a child in her arms.

I froze.

She wasn’t a stranger to him, her confident stride, the way her eyes softened the second they landed on Bruno, told me everything I didn’t want to know. She was probably the woman he mentioned times without number, that he wanted to be with.

“Babe,” she said, her voice lilting, casual, as if she owned the air in my house. “What’s going on? You said you’d sort everything out before we arrived”

Arrived?

I stared at them in confusion, my heart pounding, my breath strangled in my throat.

Then I looked at her again.

A tiny girl, no older than three, clutched the woman’s hand. Her round eyes darted around the room before she let go and bolted forward, running towards Bruno.

“Daddy!”

She ran straight into Bruno’s arms.

My knees nearly gave way.

Bruno bent over and took her up in his arms like she was the most precious treasure in the world. His face softened instantly, softer than I’d ever seen in five years of being his wife. It was the first time I was seeing his face light up that much.

“I missed you, daddy,” the little girl said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He kissed her cheeks, once, twice, over and over, as if he’d been starving for her touch. “I missed you more, princess.” He told her, in-front of me.

My throat closed, my pride was hurt.

Daddy.

The word echoed in my skull like a cruel joke.

“Bruno,” my voice was barely a whisper. “Who is she?”

The woman. She was tall, elegant, and all, stepped forward. She smiled at me like I was a minor inconvenience, like my heartbreak was beneath her.

“Linda,” she said, brushing past me as if she owned the room. “The woman he was supposed to be with. The woman you stole him from.”

My stomach burned.

Bruno stood, still carrying the little girl. He didn’t even look at me as he kissed Linda’s temple, his free hand sliding around her waist.

“Go upstairs, sweetheart,” he murmured to the child. “Mom and Dad need to talk.”

“Bruno, you told me you didn’t want children. You made me believe that you didn’t want kids.” My words dissolved in my throat.

“Even when I got pregnant for you, you told me to abort it. You made me choose between you or the baby! But you went ahead to have a child with someone else?!” Tears rolled down my cheeks at this point.

“That was my little baby gone! I killed my child to save my marriage for you Bruno!” I yelled and grabbed him by the shit.

“Get off me” he yanked my hand away, causing me to land with my butt on the ground and immediately I got up again.

I turned, this time facing his mistress, tears streaming down my face. “So this is why? This is why you pushed me away all these years? Because you already had them?”

He finally met my eyes. Cold. Unflinching. “Yes.”

Linda laughed mockingly, the sound sharp and poisonous. “Darling, look at the atmosphere. You should know you’re done here. You’ve already gotten too much explanation.”

I ignored her, my body shaking as I faced him. “How long, Bruno? How long have you had her? The child looks three… so that’s how long you’ve been betraying me?”

“Don’t twist it,” he said with irritation. “I told you I couldn’t do this, Clara. You refused to listen. I’m done. I’m done pretending. I’m done with you. It was never you, this marriage was against my own will and I am only trying to take things back to how it’s supposed to be.”

“And for your baby, that was the best thing you ever did for me! I mean, I knew a day like this would come and I don’t want anything that might tie me down” he said flatly, no remorse, no guilt.

I couldn’t even breathe. That was the moment it dung at me, I was just a pawn in his game.

My hands held the divorce papers, squeezing it in anger and pain.

With the last strength in me, I turned away, grabbing nothing but the envelope. No clothes. No money. No memories. Just the single piece of paper that told me my life was over.