Chapter 4

CORA

Barely twenty-four hours after our wedding, my husband was already requesting a divorce.

The fact that he got it drafted so quickly was baffling. My eyes darted between him and the papers again, trying to confirm I wasn't in some sort of trance or something.

I looked down at the papers again, and then a fit of laughter escaped my mouth.

"This is a joke, right? Are you trying to shoot some sort of content?"

His face hardened. "This is serious."

I chuckled. "I'm not going to fall for your prank. When did you start taking your social media seriously?"

"This is not some prank, Cora. We are getting a divorce," he replied sternly.

I laughed. "I won't become your road to going viral," I replied, taking my seat on the edge of the bed.

"I've filed it already."

My head snapped back. "What did you just say?"

"I filed the divorce already," he repeated, his expression remaining stoic.

My pulse had started quickening. I could feel my heart racing fast already. This had better be a prank.

"You're trying to piss me off, right?"

"I don't care about that anymore. Sign the damn papers."

My nerves fired all at once, and I jumped to my feet.

"What the hell are you saying, Leon? You disappeared since morning, and now you come back with divorce papers barely 24 hours after our wedding?"

"It was a hard decision," he retorted.

I squeezed the papers. "This was hard?" I let out a scoff in disbelief. "You filed it, Leon ?

You haven't even given me a chance to sign. You didn't even talk to me about it!"

"There's nothing to talk about," he replied sharply.

My heart clenched. "I don't know what happened over there, but you can't just come back with divorce papers. We were fine, Leon. We've always been fine."

"Until you cheated on me," he snapped, his eyes piercing my body.

I froze.

"What...what did you just say?"

"You couldn't even keep your damn body for a night. You had to bring a man to the hotel. Is that why you insisted on having the hang party separately?"

"You insisted, not me," I shot back. Left to me, I wanted us to hold the parties together. People do that these days. But he had insisted on doing it the normal way and giving each other the deserved freedom.

"Yet you still found a way to bring your lover."

Bile rose in my throat. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never cheated on you, Leon. I don't know where you got that from, but you need to trust me. I'll never do that to you."

He scoffed. "She told me you would lie."

My gut did a slow flip. "She? Candice?" I blinked. "Was that the emergency she called for you?"

"Isn't that an emergency?"

My fingers curled around the papers.

"And you believe her over me?"

"It was clear, Cora. The evidence was clear," he spat.

"What evidence are you talking about? Are you seriously going to take Candice's words over mine? Over your wife?"

"You're no longer my wife," he said through gritted teeth.

My heart dropped.

"And I trust Candice. She has never lied to me."

My fingers tightened. He trusted Candice? He believed her?

"And..." I swallowed hard. "You don't think she's trying to ruin our relationship?"

He huffed. "Why would she?"

"Because she's jealous," I snapped.

He raised his palms. "I don't want to hear any more of your nonsense. Sign the papers and show up in court." He grabbed his box. "Your things will be waiting for you at my door. It would be better if you sent a pick-up truck because I don't want to ever see you again."

I stared at him in disbelief. My lips parted, but no words came out.

"Leon, I didn't cheat on you. You're making a hasty decision here."

He headed to the door. "I don't care, Cora. I've had enough." He faced me. "And you know what?"

My grip tightened on the papers. This was a dream.

"I've come to realise you're just the same as every other girl. Candice is the only one who cares about me. She's the only one I can trust not to ever betray me. And you? You disgust me, Cora."

And with that, he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. I remained rooted to my spot. I don't know how long I stood there, but I just stared at the papers, waiting for the door to open and Leon would come back to apologise for playing such a dangerous game with me.

But he never did.

I stumbled on the bed, and the envelope slipped from my hand, emptying all its contents on the floor.

And that was when I saw it.

A picture of me and that man in my bed.

The stranger who had suddenly appeared in my hotel room.

My eyes widened as I picked them up. There were several of them in different angles. We weren't just sleeping in bed. We looked intimate.

I had my hand on his bare chest in one picture.

We were in bed in another one, half-naked. Our lips were touching in another. We were in different compromising positions. One that could definitely confuse Leon.

My heart hammered in my chest as I checked the pictures again.

No, This can't be. Nothing like this happened. That man confirmed it. Even though I was drunk that night, I could remember everything that happened.

Before the wedding started, I remembered everything. Candice had taken me to the room that night. She had left immediately after that.

I knew when the man arrived in my room. I could remember that he wasn't drunk. I got flashes of him just slipping into the space beside me.

I'd drifted back to sleep after that, but I could confirm that I didn't make any mistakes that night. I would know if something actually happened. Even the man had confirmed it.

Did Candice plan it? She wasn’t even supposed to be there. She showed up uninvited. She pushed me to drink.

And that man... He had apologised before leaving. At the time, it made no sense. Now, it wouldn’t leave my head.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Was it because of this?

Or guilt?