Chapter 5

Amanda watched Jacob closely. He normally deferred to her in everything and rarely even raised his voice. Now, however, he looked like a beast cornered at the edge of a cliff, ready to turn and tear into anyone who came near.

The sight left Amanda shaken.

"You... What are you trying to do?" Amanda's voice trembled.

Jacob smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "What am I trying to do? I'm trying to wake you the hell up!

"Do you really think Dorian is some kind of good man? He's a hypocrite through and through, a complete snake in the grass!

"At the party, he leaned in and whispered in my ear. He told me not to let my mother die too soon. He cursed my mother first. That's why I hit him. Do you understand?

"Every time he acts weak in front of me or says nice things about me in front of you, he does it to make you feel sorrier for him and hate me even more!

"You think he's some kind of gentleman? He's a snake who schemes behind people's backs! Everything he did today was a performance for your benefit! And you, you fool, actually believed every bit of it!"

Jacob might as well lay everything bare today. More than anything, he wished he could crack open Amanda's skull and force her to see Dorian's true, hypocritical face.

Unfortunately, she disappointed him once again.

After a brief flash of shock, Amanda's expression hardened into even deeper disappointment and contempt.

Her voice turned just as cold. "Jacob, I truly never imagined you'd sink this low. To clear your own name, you'd actually make up such a vicious lie to smear Dorian? What did he ever do to you that you'd slander him like this?

"He cursed your mother? Do you really think I'd believe that? I know exactly what kind of person Dorian is, better than you do! He'd feel sorry for a stray cat. You expect me to believe he'd curse a sick old woman in a hospital bed?"

Her words sent a sharp pain through Jacob's chest. Was this really the woman he had loved for five years? She did not trust him at all.

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to walk away from Amanda forever.

Yet some stubborn part of him still refused to let go. He still wanted to save what they had. A relationship like theirs had not come easily, and he could not bring himself to abandon it without one final attempt.

He wanted to try one last time.

Jacob took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Amanda, I'm not against you repaying your debt. There are plenty of ways to do that.

"But Dorian doesn't need to keep showing up in every corner of our lives. He's already done serious damage to our marriage. Haven't you noticed?"

Jacob paused before he continued, "Get Dorian out of your company. Cut all contact with him, and let's put this behind us. Let's go back to how things used to be. Can we do that?"

Amanda let out a cold laugh. "Jacob, was I wrong when I called you insecure and twisted? I'm not firing Dorian. That's not going to happen."

She spoke with absolute finality, without the slightest hesitation.

Then she shook her head as if she could hardly believe how unreasonable he was. "Do you really expect me to fire the man who saved my life just to satisfy your pride and jealousy? Do you want me to become someone who betrays the people who've helped her, someone with no gratitude at all?

"Besides, I have no reason to fire him. Jacob, can you try to be a little more mature? Is your world really this small?

"You're becoming more and more unreasonable!"

'Unreasonable, huh? So be it. What is the point of arguing with someone who refuses to see the truth?' he thought.

Amanda did not believe him. She would never believe him. In her heart, Dorian was a perfect man, while Jacob was nothing more than a jealous, twisted, violent brute.

He had had enough. This marriage, this relationship, had become unrecognizable, tainted beyond repair. There was no point in trying to save it anymore.

Jacob stepped back and put some distance between them. He looked at the woman before him, someone both intimately familiar and utterly strange, and a faint sense of relief washed over him.

There was nothing left to say.

He took a deep breath. When he spoke again, his voice held a calmness Amanda had never heard from him before.

His words came slowly and evenly. "Amanda, since you think I ruined his whole life, and since you think I'm the one being unreasonable, there's nothing left between us worth holding on to.

"I'll clear the way for you and Dorian. Then the two of you can be together out in the open, and you won't have to keep using your debt of gratitude as an excuse.

"Let's... get a divorce."

Amanda's head jerked up. Her pupils contracted as she stared at Jacob in disbelief.

Divorce? He was actually asking her for a divorce?

In five years of marriage, Jacob had never once uttered the words breakup or divorce.

For a moment, an unexpected wave of terror swept through Amanda. Her entire body went numb, and her mind went blank.

Then the terror gave way to a surge of fury.

Who was she? She was Amanda Guldner, the high and mighty CEO of the Guldner Group, a goddess pursued by countless men!

And Jacob? He was a man she supported, a kept man who depended on her.

Yet now he wanted to divorce her? What right did he have? What gave him the nerve to even mention divorce? Had she spoiled him rotten? Or did he think he could threaten her with divorce?

Amanda finally snapped back to her senses and screamed, "Jacob, have you lost your damn mind?! You just hit me, and now you want a divorce? Do you even know what you're saying?!"

Jacob gave a cold laugh. "Of course I know what I'm saying. I'm doing you a favor. Now you can have your precious savior, Dorian.

"Since he matters more to you than your own husband, I'll get out of the way and make room for the two of you. Isn't that exactly what you want?"

His words only fueled Amanda's fury. "What are you even talking about? There is nothing improper between Dorian and me! I treat him well because I owe him a debt! Why do you have to twist it into something so filthy?"

Jacob sneered, "A debt? Amanda, stop fooling yourself. Put your hand on your heart and ask yourself this: Is what you feel for him really as simple as gratitude?

"You don't give a damn about my feelings, all in the name of repaying some debt?

"Don't forget. I am your husband."

Every word from Jacob struck Amanda like a knife to the heart.

Her face alternated between red and pale as her anger mounted.

Even so, the pride ingrained in her bones would not allow her to lower her head and admit that she was wrong.

"I... I didn't! I love you, darling." Then Amanda softened her tone. "Darling, haven't you had enough yet? Can you please stop being so unreasonable?"

Jacob no longer had the strength to argue. He was tired, exhausted to his very bones.

"Call it unreasonable if you want. Let's get a divorce. It'll set us both free."

With that, he turned and walked into the bedroom.

A short while later, he returned with a document and placed it on the coffee table. "This is the divorce agreement. I'll walk away with nothing. I don't want a single thing from you. Sign it, and we'll go to the courthouse tomorrow and make it official."