Sign the papers

"I want a divorce." My husband Roman announced.

I froze.

The smile disappeared from my face.

Those four words fell from his mouth as casually as if he were cancelling a business meeting.

I stared at him from across the dining room, almost forgetting I was holding a wineglass.

"Sorry, what?" I whispered, wondering if I had heard him correctly.

"You heard me." Roman Blakewood glanced at his watch, and even after five years of marriage, he could not spare me the decency of looking me in the eyes.

Five years.

For five whole years, I had stayed by his side, been the perfect wife, helped him when his company struggled, sacrificed my own ambitions to support his, and convinced myself it was the right thing to do.

Had I been so stupid?

So foolish?

I tried to swallow the hard lump that had formed in my throat and forced myself to look at my husband.

"Why? Today is our anniversary; I arranged a dinner for us. Just the two of us." I gestured to the table laden with Roman's favourite foods, the burning candles and wine glasses.

Roman rolled his eyes and sighed as if I were the one being difficult.

"Ellena, you and I both know this marriage is not working and has not been for a while."

My mouth fell open.

That was news to me.

Yet he still couldn't look at me.

"Not working? Roman, are you crazy? What has got into you? We have been married for five years; we were planning a life, children together, and now you are asking for a divorce?" I wrinkled my nose and bit back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Children?" He sniggered at the word, then looked at me.

But his eyes were cold. Something flickered across his face, and my heart sank.

What was that?

Disgust?

Before I could respond, the dining room doors swung open and in walked a woman wearing a cream designer dress and heels, her long auburn hair curled perfectly, and a beautiful diamond necklace glittered around her neck,

I recognised that woman at once.

Vanessa Corridan; she was Roman's personal assistant.

I frowned in confusion.

What the hell was she doing in our home at this hour?

My eyes widened further when Roman turned to her, a smile forming on his lips, a twinkle in his eyes as he held out a hand to her.

My gaze dropped to her stomach, and my heart stopped.

"Roman," I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief because there was no way what I was thinking could be real.

Vanessa looked me up and down with her bright blue eyes, then smirked and rubbed her swollen belly.

"Vanessa is pregnant; the baby is mine," Roman admitted shamelessly.

The room spun, and I gripped the edge of the table for support.

"Pregnant with your child?"

Roman looked at me like I was stupid. "Yes, she gave me what you could not."

Vanessa smirked and snuggled into my husband's chest as if she belonged there.

I wanted to scream and throw the wineglass at his head and throw them both out, but I couldn't move.

"How long?" I blurted out.

Vanessa rubbed her belly some more. "I am eight months, and the baby is completely healthy."

Eight months.

So while I waited for my husband to come home, he had been secretly building a family with another woman behind my back.

How the hell could he do this to me?

What happened to our vows, the ones he committed to the day we got married?

"The divorce papers." Roman waved a folder in my face and slammed it down on the table. "My solicitor has already reviewed everything, and you will receive a fair settlement once you have signed the papers."

Settlement.

That was laughable.

"You get the house and the villa, but the company stays mine."

Vanessa sat down on one of my dining chairs and took a bite of the food that I had cooked for my husband. She spat it out and pushed the plate away. "Baby, this food is grim; I want proper food," she whined.

Roman instantly turned to her and agreed.

"Sign the papers, and then I am gone." he threw a pen at me as if I were a dog.

I stared at the folder in front of me and refused to cry. I refused to beg him for another chance. I just sat there still.

"She's not signing." Vanessa continued to whine; she was a spoilt brat, and I could only imagine how irritating she must have been as a child.

Roman's expression hardened. "Don't make this difficult, Ellena. You know you can't win against someone like me. I've been generous enough.

Vanessa laughed out loud as if she had won the jackpot.

I looked at my husband and realised that the last five years had been a lie; he never did love me, and he thought I was nothing without him. My eyes moved over the settlement agreement; I would get the house, the villa and a large sum of money that Roman considered generous. But he excluded me from shares of the company I had helped him build from scratch. Roman thought he owned an empire, but he had no idea how much of that empire belonged to me.

I picked up the pen, and Vanessa leaned forward with a satisfied smile. "Finally, I thought we would be here all night."

I ignored her and, with a steady hand, signed my name at the bottom of the page.

Ellena Blakewood.

Then I shoved the papers toward Roman. "Now you are free." I removed my wedding ring and placed it on top of the documents.

"Can we go now roman, Roman? This place is making my skin itch," she shuddered.

I turned towards Vanessa. "Enjoy your little victory, and remember, getting a man to leave his wife is one thing, but keeping him is another."

Her smile vanished, and she grabbed Roman.

"Where do you think you are going?" Roman demanded when he saw me reach for my handbag and slip on my shoes.

I glanced over my shoulder and smirked. "Somewhere I should have gone five years ago."

As soon as the front door closed behind me, I felt my composure crack; my chest ached, and my tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall. He didn't deserve that from me, but I needed to remember that I was still standing.

I pulled my phone from my handbag and scrolled through my contacts until I stopped at a name I hadn't spoken to in over five years.

The only person I needed to speak to then.

It answered after one ring.

"Ellena? Is it really you?"

"It’s me, yes. Roman and I are finished; the divorce papers are signed. I'm coming home, Dad."