Chapter 2

Anyta's POV

Everett.... wanted a divorce?

Perhaps I had misheard him. I had to have heard wrongly. Then he added. “I can’t stand this any longer, Grandma.”

My stomach dropped. Grandma Jo was here? She must’ve been waiting up, worried about me. And now she was hearing this. She was hearing him throw me away like yesterday’s garbage.

Slowly, I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. I tiptoed down the corridor and stopped at the very entrance to the adjoining room, where Grandma Jo was with Everett.

“Everett, don’t be ridiculous. Marriage isn’t something you toss aside because you're angry.”

“I’m not joking!" Everett snapped in annoyance. “Look, I’ve had enough of her. You forced me into this marriage with Anyta, and I went along with it because you held the company over my head. But this mess that happened tonight just proves I was right about her all along.”

I pressed my hand over my mouth, and my whole body started to tremble.

Grandma Jo’s cane tapped the floor. “You don’t know what you’re saying. Anyta has been a good wife. She’s done her best to fit in.”

“Fit in?” Everett laughed as loud as a dog. “She’s jealous, controlling and now she’s hurt her sister. She killed Siena’s baby! And you expect me to stay married to her?”

Killed? My knees nearly buckled and I gripped the doorframe to steady myself.

“It wasn’t her fault...” Grandma tried.

“It’s always her fault!” Everett interjected angrily. “And don’t you dare defend her. That baby was Siena’s and my brother’s. Do you hear me? My paralyzed brother’s only child. An heir to this family. And Anyta, your precious pumpkin, snatched it away before it even had a chance to be born. Because she was jealous that she couldn't have her own baby, she had to take her sister's?"

I staggered back into the shadows, and this time I couldn't control the silent tears. He was raging over a child that wasn’t even his. He’d never once gotten that worked up over me. Never once cared enough to fight for me like this.

“Everett.” Grandma Jo’s tone was still patient. “I know you’re grieving. But divorce is not the solution. Don’t say things you’ll regret.”

“I don’t regret it.” Everett chuckled bitterly. “I should’ve ended this joke of a marriage before it started. You only wanted her here because you owed her grandmother, because you wanted to keep her tied to this family.”

“She’s family!” Grandma argued. “She is your wife!"

“No,” Everett countered. “She’s a stranger you forced me to share a bed with. And for what? To give you a grandson you could parade around as the next successor? You used both of us, Grandma. And I’m done with it.”

Grandma’s cane thudded once on the floor. “Even if you divorce her, Everett, where do you expect her to go? She’ll be ruined socially. You think a divorced wife of a billionaire will be welcomed anywhere? She’ll be eaten alive.”

“That’s not my problem!” Everett laughed and I heard the shuffle of feet as he stood up.

“It is your problem,” Grandma countered. Then, after a pause, she added. “Then I’ll arrange it. She’ll go abroad to start a new life, away from all this. That way you’ll never have to see her face again.”

I leaned closer, desperate for him to argue, to refuse and say no, don’t send her away. But all Everett said was "Thank you. Please make the arrangements."

The word shattered me. Just a few words, and everything I’d ever hoped for collapsed.

I walked back to my room and closed my door slowly, like maybe if I moved quiet enough, none of it would be real. My back pressed against the wood and before I even noticed, tears started spilling down my face.

I dragged a sleeve across my cheeks. “He hates me.” I whispered to no one. “He really hates me.”

I stumbled toward my dresser, blinking through the blur of tears. There was a photo frame I hadn't touched for years on the dresser. I picked it up and stared at the wedding picture. Four faces stared back: Everett, me and Everett’s grandmother with her arms around us both.

A lump formed in my throat. My parents had died so young that I barely remembered them. It was my grandma, my mom’s mother, who raised Siena and I. She was tough and brilliant and everything I wanted to be. Until the car accident stole her from us too.

I’d been ten years old, Siena had been twelve, and we had been suddenly alone.

That was when Everett’s grandma took us in and started to call me her “cute pumpkin,” and promised I belonged here. She told me over and over that I was the best fit for Everett, the heir to her empire.

And I believed her.

I’d crushed on him since we were kids. Every time some girl tried to flirt with him, I’d glare like I was guarding treasure. He was mine or at least, he was supposed to be.

Now he was calling me jealous and crazy. Every dream I’d ever held of both of us was a joke.

A knock from the door startled me. I shoved the frame down and swiped furiously at my cheeks, forcing myself to look normal.

Grandma Jo stepped in with Everett’s mother right behind her. "How are you, Pumpkin?"

I forced a tiny smile. “I’m fine.”

Grandma Jo's sharp eyes studied me. She didn’t buy the lie, but it was Everett’s mom who crossed the room first. She reached for my hand. “Pumpkin, you’ve been crying.”

“I’m okay,” I lied again.

“I know this is hard, but Everett and I talked. The divorce… it’s for the best.”

My mouth was suddenly bitter. “Divorce.”

She nodded gently. “You’ve always dreamed of studying art abroad, haven’t you? I’ll arrange everything, don't worry. It will be a fresh start.”

Fresh start. The words should have felt like hope, but they felt like I was being chained down. I didn’t want a new life without Everett. I wanted this life with him. Even if he barely wanted me.

I forced myself to whisper, “Thank you.”

Grandma Jo limped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t need to hurt Siena like this, Pumpkin. She’ll be your sister-in-law forever. The last person you should try to harm is her. She was never your enemy and she was never a danger to your marriage.”

My mouth dropped open and I stared at her in shock. My own grandmother figure, the woman who raised me, actually believed I had pushed Siena.

And the worst part was that she thought Siena wasn’t a threat at all. She didn’t know the truth that Everett had once loved Siena in secret and he probably still did.

Grandma Jo gave my shoulder a squeeze. “When you’ve learned your lesson, I’ll bring you back to this city. Until then, focus on yourself.”

Her cane tapped against the floor as she turned away. Everett’s mom also touched my arm gently before following her out.

I gripped my stomach suddenly as nausea rolled through me. At first, I thought it was just from everything I’d heard. Then the bile rose into my mouth.

I stumbled to the bathroom and barely made it to the sink before the vomit surged up. My knees hit the tile as I heaved everything in my stomach.

When it was over, I clutched the edge of the counter, staring at my pale reflection. My lips were cracked and my hair stuck to my face that was damp with tears.

I had to see a doctor.