chapter 3

Sonia

I remained on the edge of the bed until morning.

When the first light entered through the curtains, I finally stood.

I walked toward the mirror. My eyes were swollen. My face looked exhausted. My heart felt empty.

For a moment, I barely recognized the woman staring back at me.

I had abandoned the woman I used to be because I believed my marriage was more important.

Maybe it was time to find her again.

I opened the closet and began packing.

I took a few clothes, my important documents and my laptop.

I zipped the suitcase. Before I walked out, I looked around the house one last time.

Nathan had taken everything he could legally claim. The house. The company. The cars. The money.

Even the life I had built beside him.

But there was one thing he had forgotten.

My mind, my knowledge, my talent. My ability to start again.

I wiped the last tear from my cheek.

“You took everything from me, Nathan.” I looked at the closed front door. “I promised to make you pay for this. I will take back every single things you took from me.”

I picked up my suitcase. And I walked away.

I walked out of Nathan's house with one suitcase in my hand and no idea where I was going.

The front door closed behind me.

I stood on the pavement for several seconds, staring at the enormous house that had once felt like my home.

I almost laughed at the thought.

The house was still beautiful in the morning light. The flowers I had personally chosen for the garden were blooming. The fountain was running. The expensive cars were parked in the driveway.

Everything looked exactly the same.

Only I was different.

Eight years ago, I had walked through that same door wearing a wedding dress and believing I was stepping into the rest of my life.

Now I was leaving with a suitcase.

Alone.

I turned away before the tears could fall again.

I started walking. I didn't know where I was going.

That was the worst part.

I had spent eight years planning everything around Nathan. Even my friendships had slowly disappeared because Nathan never liked me spending time with people he considered unnecessary.

At first, I thought it was love.

He would say, “I just want you to spend more time with me.”

Then it became, “Why do you need to go out with them?”

Then, “Those people don't understand our life.”

Eventually, I stopped calling anyone.

I stopped meeting anyone. I stopped having anyone.

Now I understood what I had done.

I had built my entire world around one person.

And that person had just walked away.

Now I was standing on a busy street with a suitcase, watching strangers hurry past me while realizing that I had never been more alone in my life.

A taxi slowed beside me. “Madam, do you need a ride?”

I almost said no.

Then I remembered that I had nowhere to go.

“Yes.”

The driver helped me put my suitcase inside the trunk.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

Where was I going?

I had no answer.

“Just drive,” I finally whispered.

The driver looked at me through the mirror.

“Where should I drive to?”

I stared out the window. “Anywhere.”

He looked confused.

I gave him an address to a small hotel I remembered seeing near the business district.

It was not expensive. At least, I hoped it wasn't.

The taxi pulled away and I watched my old life disappear behind me with tears falling down my cheeks.

I cried silently as the city moved around me.Then I remembered something.

I quickly reached into my handbag and pulled out my phone.

I opened my banking application. My hands trembled as I entered my password.

There was another account.

My old personal account. The account Nathan had told me to close years ago.

Back when we were still building the company, he had convinced me that we didn't need separate finances.

“We're one family now,” he had said.

“We're building this together. There is no reason for you to keep money in a separate account.”

I had listened.

I transferred almost everything into the account connected to our company.

Almost everything.

But I had forgotten about the old account.

I had completely forgotten it existed.

I opened it. The balance appeared on my screen.

I stared at the number. It wasn't much. Not enough to rebuild my life. Not enough to feel secure.

But enough to survive for a little while.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

At least I wasn't completely penniless.

I checked the other account it was frozen. Just as I expected.

Everything Nathan and I had shared was inaccessible to me.

I looked at the balance in my old account again.

“If I am careful,” I whispered, “I can survive for a few weeks.”

A few weeks.

That was all I had.

I locked my phone.

The taxi stopped in front of the hotel.

The building was small and plain compared to the mansion I had just left.

The receptionist handed me a key.

“One night?” she asked.

“Yes.”

I paid.

Then I carried my suitcase upstairs.

The room was tiny. There was a small bed, a narrow wardrobe, a television mounted on the wall, and a bathroom barely large enough to turn around in.

I stood in the doorway.

For some reason, tears filled my eyes again.

This little room was nothing compared to the bedroom I had shared with Nathan.

I placed my suitcase beside the bed. Then I sat down.

Silence filled the room as I stared at the wall.

“What am I going to do?”

Nobody answered.

I pulled out my phone and searched for apartments.

After several minutes, I called an estate agent.

“Hello. I need a small apartment.”

“What area?”

“Anywhere affordable.”

The agent laughed softly. “Madam, what is your budget?”

I told him. There was a pause.

“That will be difficult.”

“I don't need anything big.”

“How many bedrooms?” he asked.

“One.” I replied with a sigh.

“Do you need furnished?”

“No.”

“Okay. Let me see what I can find.”

“Please.”

“I'll call you tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

I ended the call. Then I lay down. I thought I would sleep but I didn't.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Nathan.

"Had he ever loved me?" I asked myself, "Or had he simply been waiting for a better woman to come along?"

I didn't have answers to the questions. And I was beginning to understand that maybe I never would.

Around two in the morning, my phone vibrated.

I reached for it. A news notification had appeared on my screen.

I almost ignored it. Then I saw Nathan's name.

My heart stopped.

I opened it. The headline was everywhere.

Billionaire Entrepreneur Nathan Bennett Proposes to Longtime Girlfriend Annabelle Reed.

I stared at the screen.

No.

My fingers began to tremble. I opened the article and I saw Nathan and Annabelle, standing together at some expensive restaurant.

She was smiling as he held her hand. And on her finger was a diamond ring.

The article said the proposal had happened that evening.

He couldn't even wait for twenty four hours after our divorce before he proposed to his mistress.

I stared at the photograph until my vision blurred.

People were congratulating them, calling them a beautiful couple.

I locked my phone and put it away. Then I pulled the blanket over my head and I cried.

Eventually, exhaustion dragged me into sleep.