Chapter 1: divorce

Feeling drained from the day’s work, Lisa dropped herself onto the couch in the living room for a quick nap. She has left work 2 hours early to arrange a candlelit dinner to celebrate today being 6 months of her marriage. She was awakened by the sound of the door being opened a few minutes later. 

She immediately sat up upon smelling the familiar scent of her husband’s cologne infiltrating the air. She stood up and straightened her blue-fitted, peplum, knee-length dress and happily walked over to welcome him. 

“How was your day?” She inquired with a smiling face. Yet Trey ignored her and walked past her, taking his seat on the couch. Lisa disregarded his demeanor and the pang of pain in her chest, a pain she’d now become accustomed to. She smiled to lighten up her mood and walked to the living room, stopping right in front of him.

“Are you alright...?” She trailed off when he handed her a brown envelope and then said,

“Sign it.” His voice was deadly; it sent a chill down her spine. He had never spoken to her in such a cold tone, she thought. 

“What is it?” She asked. 

“Divorce papers.” Immediately the word left his mouth, Lisa buckled, taking a step backward. Surprise was evident on her face. 

“What...what?” She stuttered inaudibly. She wasn’t expecting it. Even though their marriage was not the lovey-dovey type, it wasn’t bad enough for her to receive divorce papers from her husband, right? 

"Yes, Lisa, I want a divorce; we never should have gotten married; I’m sick! and tired of you!!.” He yelled angrily, getting up and furiously kicking the center table, making Lisa flinch. His words were like daggers piercing her heart.

She and Trey had been in love with each other since childhood, even though they got separated when her family moved from the city. She never stopped loving him. 

After meeting ten years later, their love rekindled, and they got back together, getting married one month after their reunion, today being six months of their marriage.

"Trey... please,” her voice choked. “I love you; I can’t live without you... This is a prank? Right?” She asked with trembling lips, but with a hint of hope still laced in her voice. “Today is exactly six months of our marriage. I’ve made arrangements to celebrate with you. Please tell me it's all a joke... please!!” She raised her voice, frustrated. She reached out her hands for Trey’s, but he pulled away from her touch.

“I can’t keep lying to myself for your sake; just sign the damn thing to save ourselves from this misery,” Trey said coldly. “I want you out of my life, Lisa!”

"Trey, please, you can’t do this to me; you’re breaking my heart, please! If there’s anything I’m lacking, please tell me, and I will change for you. But please don’t leave me; I love you… so much, please, Trey." Lisa kept pleading with her husband. She initially thought he was joking, but from the look on his face, he was dead serious; he was really asking her for a divorce. 

“But I don’t love you, Lisa; I never did. Even when we had sex, I felt nothing,” he said nonchalantly.

“What? Sex? Trey...? I gave you my first; we made love just two nights ago,” she questioned. Trey closed the gap between them, his blue eyes a shade darker than usual as they pierced directly into Lisa’s brown ones. 

‘Damn! Those fucking alluring eyes—the more he stares at them, the more his hunger for her intensifies. Fuck, I have to let her go; I hate her.’ He thought as he reached his hand to her waist, pulling her closer to his tall and muscular frame. Lisa looked away nervously. But Trey tilted her head to meet his lustful? gaze and slammed his lips against hers in a dominating kiss. 

Lisa stood dazedly at the turn of events. She didn’t respond to it, as the kiss became so intense that she couldn’t breathe. She pushed Trey on the chest since she was running out of breath, but he didn’t waver. She pushed harder with all the strength she could muster, causing him to break the kiss. Finally, Lisa heaves. 

Trey groaned and swallowed, then wiped his lips with his palm fiercely. ‘Damn it! He would have lost it if she hadn’t pushed him. Fuck! He’s spotting a hard-on already; he needs to leave before he totally loses it.’ He thought. 

“Just like now, it was out of convenience.” He said it blankly. But Lisa shook her head, unable to accept what Trey said was true. Grabbing his suit and keys, he said hoarsely, “I’m going to the old mansion; I can’t stay in the same space with you; you disgust me; you should have that...” Trey, pointing to the brown envelope that dropped from Lisa’s hand to the floor due to his intense kiss, added, “Signed, before I come back; you have a week,” he said, turning to leave.

“No! Please.” Lisa kneeled in front of him, wrapped her arms around his knees, and begged. "Please don’t go; I will be a good wife, okay?” He forced himself away from her, making his way out, but paused when she started to speak. 

“I won’t sign it; I will make you change your mind; you love me, Trey; please stay; don’t go.” He chuckled at her words, then walked out the door. 

 

*** 

 

Lisa didn’t know how long she had been kneeling for. But just when she tried to stand up, she felt dizzy all of a sudden and fainted. The last thing she heard was the calling of her name by their househelp.

 

-/Next morning/- 

 

Lisa abruptly sat up in bed, her heart beating faster. She ran a shaking hand through her hair and squeezed her eyes shut, feeling pain from the argument she had with her husband earlier overwhelm her heart. 'I'm going to make him stay. Trey loves me; since I haven’t seen him with any other woman and he didn’t say he’s in love with another, there’s a chance.'

She sat at the edge of the bed, made a call to her workplace, and requested a week off. After the call, she checked the time, and it was 7:30 am. Then, she recalled having fainted last night from crying and kneeling for a long time. 

She went through her morning routines and went down to grab breakfast. Upon reaching down, she saw the maids avoid eye contact with her. ‘They must have witnessed their argument from last night.’ She smiled and sat at the dining table for her breakfast.

Lisa Lynn was the only child of her parents. She lost her parents in a gory accident at the age of six. And was taken into the care of her uncle and his wife. They also had a six-year-old daughter. Life was hell, living with her uncle’s family. Her aunt and cousin did not miss the opportunity to make her life miserable. 

That was how she met Trey. He was a chubby, cute boy who used to follow her around in the neighborhood. She used to avoid him but eventually stopped when she saw Trey being bullied by her cousin for being a fat boy. Lisa and Trey became friends after that, and it led to something more. 

As they grew up, Trey became slimmer, becoming the most handsome and popular boy in school, and Lisa the prettiest girl. But at a point, he started avoiding her; she wanted to ask him why he was doing that, but before she could, her uncle got transferred, and they moved. 

She didn’t see Trey again until they met ten years later at the hospital where she worked when Trey had an accident. But she didn’t see him again after he got discharged. However, a month later, he came and asked her to marry him out of the blue, and she happily agreed. She never imagined he would ask for a divorce after six months of their marriage. 

After having her breakfast, she decided to start her plan to win her husband over. She called her husband's secretary and inquired about his schedule for the day. 

“Hi, Lucy. Good morning,” she greeted.

“Good morning, madam,'' the secretary responded in her professional tone. 

“I want to know your boss's schedule for today.” She requested. 

“Madam, the boss canceled all his appointments till the afternoon to plan a surprise for you at the Leisureq 5-star hotel.”

"Really? Thank you.” She immediately hung up the call, feeling overwhelmed with joy. She knew Trey loved her; he didn’t mean anything he said yesterday. She smiles, quickly making her way to her car to drive to the hotel. 

 

Leisureq Hotel

 

Lisa got out of the car without taking her bag along. She grabbed her phone and slammed the car door hastily. She taps on the screen of her phone to call her husband while walking towards the hotel lobby but stops to dial her husband when she sees him. She hastened her steps to catch up with him but stopped in her tracks when she noticed he was with a lady. 

What caught her attention was how Trey wrapped his arm delicately around her waist with a gentle smile he had never shown her throughout their six months of marriage; not even when they made love did he smile at her like that. Her heart shattered into a million pieces as she watched them enter the elevator. 

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she kept them at bay. ‘No, Trey loves her; she won’t jump to conclusions,’ she consoled herself. ‘Yes, maybe that woman is helping him to plan her surprise. Yes, calm down, Lisa.' She inhaled and exhaled anxiously. She walked over to the receptionist to ask for her husband's room number.

“Hello.” Lisa greeted the receptionist warmly. 

“Hi, how may I help you?” The receptionist asked with a forced smile. 

“May I please know my husband’s room number?” Lisa asked.

“May I know your husband’s name, please?”

“Trey Collins,” Lisa answered. The receptionist did some stuff on her monitor for a few minutes, looked up at Lisa, and did something again before saying.

“I’m sorry, madam, your husband is not booked in our hotel.” The receptionist said. 'She just saw her boss go in with his wife, so who was this imposter?' She thought.

“Oh…? But I just saw him enter the elevator; this is where he’s planning the surprise.” Lisa said. The receptionist became confused at Lisa's words. 'If Lisa is an imposter, how did she know about the surprise?'

“Ma’am, does your husband know you’re coming?” The receptionist asked. Lisa was going to say no but decided against it.

“Yes,” she said, avoiding eye contact with the receptionist. 

“Okay then, the room number is 308, on the ninth floor.” She said, handing her a key card. Lisa thanked her and left. 

 

When she got to the room number stated, she pushed it open without knocking when she saw the door was ajar. The lights were on when she entered, and she wondered why. She thought the lights were usually turned off during surprises. Well, maybe her expectations are high. 

She checked around, but there was nothing. She decided to check the bedroom, but her heart started to beat faster as she approached the door, making her feel nervous out of the blue. She gently twisted the knob and opened the door. 

Her heart shattered at the sight before her. She was in so much pain. Struggling to breathe, she leaned herself against the door frame for support. 

“No! No! Trey...!” Tears started to run down her cheeks. “It can’t be!” she muttered dejectedly, shaking her head at the sight of her husband making out with another woman on the bed, even though they were still in their clothes. Startled by her voice, Trey turned to see Lisa at the door. 

“What the fuck are you doing here!?” Trey asked, yelling at her coldly. 

“What am I doing here?” She repeats his question, her heart unable to contain the hurt she’s feeling. “I should be asking you that. Trey, what are you doing here with another woman? huh!?" She yelled back as she walked closer and slapped him across the face. 

Trey wasn’t expecting Lisa to slap him. He used to go home drunk and would purposely provoke and irritate her to give up and ask for a divorce on her own will, but she never did and would keep quiet through all his tantrums. Her raising her hand on him was quite a shock to him and amusing at the same time.

“How dare you cheat...” Lisa trails off when a familiar voice shouts at her. Even though the last time she heard it was 2 years ago, hearing it again sent chills running down her spine. It’s the voice of the person who turned her life into the worst nightmare since her childhood, her tormentor. 

“How dare you hit him?” She was so focused on Trey that she forgot the woman who was in bed with him. Now, looking at the woman who was lying in bed with her husband, she was shocked, petrified even. Lying in bed with her husband is her cousin Valerie, the girl who used to bully Trey for being too fat and ridiculed him. 'How did they end up here? Trey hated Valerie when they were little.' She was dumbfounded.

“What the hell is going on here!?” Lisa yelled angrily, going towards Valerie and dragging her out of the bed by the hair. ”You slut, how dare you seduce my husband!?” Lisa kept pulling on Valerie's hair as Valerie tried to remove her hair from Lisa’s grip. “Of all the men you can have, why go after my ...?”

 

SLAP! 

 

“What’s wrong with you?" Trey growled, pulling Valerie to his side. Lisa’s hand moves to her cheek upon the impact of the slap, tears dripping down her cheeks. She turned to face her husband, who just slapped her for her cousin’s sake. 

“You... slapped me?” She asked with trembling lips, staring at her husband’s face with a stunned expression. “Because of her?” she asked, unable to accept that Trey slapped her and that too because of Valerie.

“I will fucking do it again if you dare lay your hands on her again.” He said through clenched jaws, towering over her. “You do not want to try me!” He warned pulling Valerie into his arms.

“Are you okay?” He asked Valerie in a gentle voice, the tender expression on his face making Lisa’s heartache.

Valerie took everything she cherished away from her since their childhood, but not this time, not her man; no, she won’t give up without a fight.