Chapter 3

The next day, Scarlet was nursing the wounds she had sustained the night before when she heard footsteps approaching. Loud chaotic noises accompanied the footsteps.

“The Bloody idiot, where the hell is she? I know you are in there, you evil witch.”

Scarlet recognized her mother-in-law's voice. She struggled to get up in a bit to lock her door but she was not so fast. Her mother-in-law was in her room already.

Turning to face her, she watched as Rachel strode over to her, glaring at her, in a deadly way.

“You are so evil. What has the poor child done to you.”

“I did nothing to her. She started the trouble after I saw her in Lucas' bed.” Scarlet said weakly.

“She can't stoop so low to fight you, Scarlet. Maria is not a lowlife like you. You are just jealous of her because Lucas loves and prefers her to a scumbag like you.”

Scarlet knew no amount of explanation was going to exonerate her. She stood there, dejected and overwhelmed with nothing to prove her innocence.

The door flung open to reveal Lucas. His eyes were filled with fury. He looked very upset. Scarlet held his hand, hoping he would be on her side this time.

“Lucas, please believe me. She started all these. I didn't hurt her.” Lucas shoved her aside. She cowered as he did that. The images of Maria's hands on his waist from the previous night flooded her mind. She felt used, like a fool. She felt she had gone far asking him to believe her since Maria was involved. He was never going to be on her side.

He finally spoke, his voice grumpy, he looked at her coldly devoid of any emotions. He felt spiteful towards her.

“Enough Scarlet. You talk too much. Your wrongdoings can not and will not be tolerated anymore in this house. Maria is hurt. And I don't want to see her sad.”

“Exactly, you need to rectify your wrongdoings this minute.”

Scarlet gave Lucas a puzzled look, her mouth slightly open in disbelief.

Was Lucas trying to hurt her feelings the more?

“You need to apologize to her now.”

Scarlet tried explaining the situation to Lucas but no words came out. She stood in his front as if in a trance.

“Take her to my room now.”

Scarlet tried pushing the bodyguards but she was already overpowered.

“You'll pay for this Lucas.” She shouted as the bodyguards dragged her to Lucas' room.

She wished the floor could rise up and swallow her or vanish into thin air, as she stood face to face with Maria, who was seated on the bed, grinning.

“On your knees.” Rachel shouted as she kicked her and forced her to kneel.

Scarlet was hopeless. She looked at Lucas and shook her head. Tears had welled up in her eyes. Hey eyelids twitched furiously as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. She was not willing to cry in the presence of all of them.

All the feelings, respect and love she had for Lucas died on the spot. She looked at him with disdain. She had been so blind, living in her utopia thinking Lucas will one day love her and discard Maria but she was wrong. He never loved her and he will never love her.

A surge of energy rushed through her. She stood up immediately.

“You want me to apologize to her right?” She shouted. “You want me to apologize to your mistress Lucas?” She asked, then suddenly ran out of the room.

“Follow her.” Lucas thundered.

The bodyguards charged after her. She ran straight to her room and grabbed her cell phone. She had just remembered she was trying to make a video on that night before Maria came into her room. Her phone captured everything.

The bodyguards came into her room trying to grab her.

“Don't you dare touch me.” She said, adjusting her pajamas. She went back to Lucas' room, her heart racing.

“You want an apology right? Here, see this and tell me who needs an apology.” She handed the phone over to Lucas.

Maria and Rachel looked at each other.

“Go on, play it.” Scarlet said.

Lucas pressed the play button. He looked at Maria and back to Scarlet.

“Lucas, get this lady out of here. She might hurt me again…...” Maria blubbered, drawing the bed sheet over her body.

“Hurt you? I thought you wanted an apology.” Scarlet rushed at her and dragged the bedsheet off her body.

Lucas was not ready for any fight, he held scarlet's hand.

“Enough Scarlet. Let it go.” He growled.

“Enough, you said. Now that you've known the truth you still want to be on her side? You can't tell her she is wrong now? I do not deserve an apology from her or you or even your mother?”

Scarlet was furious. She pulled her hand away and dashed towards Maria who cringed in fear. She gave her a slap and dragged her, making her sit on the floor.

Thud!

She fell, banging her head on the side of the bedpost.

Lucas had never seen Scarlet so angry before. He knew Maria wanted her out and would do anything to make him throw her out of the house.

Maria tried fighting back. Lucas was mad at her for lying to him. She wouldn't have been able to fight back if she was really weak like she had claimed.

“The truth is obvious now, Scarlet. You should let this go already.”

“You amaze me Lucas. You know the truth yet you are still fighting for your cheap side chick. Lucas, I'm your wife for God sake.” Scarlet cried out.

“I will compensate you. What do you want? A trip to Miami, shopping fee, dollars, just name it. That should do.”

Scarlet pinched the bridge of her nose, smiling painfully. She looked at the man standing before her, the man she had given up everything for and loved sincerely. She felt nothing this time as she looked at him.

She didn't need his compensation as it meant nothing to her. Not after all the troubles she had gone through all for his sake.

“I'll send the divorce papers. Sign them. I'm leaving.”

Lucas was too stunned to speak. He thought she was only trying to play a prank on him just to see his reaction. He gazed at her as she strode out of the room.

At this point, he wished he had the power to read people's minds.

Scarlet packed just a few of her clothes and took a long look at the room. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She picked her phone and dialed a number. She went out of the room, dragging her bag behind her. Lucas, Maria and Claire all stood on the staircase watching her leave.

She walked with all the strength left in her. She was drained after the event that transpired between her and Maria.

“You'll come back crawling. Begging us to take you back.” Claire shouted after her.

As soon as she stepped out, a breath of fresh air hit her face. She swallowed hard and took a deep breathe in. A luxurious car soon pulled up in front of her.

“Grandpa……” she muttered, falling into his arms

Chapter 4

Lucas glared at Maria grudgingly. The atmosphere was tense. Claire immediately excused herself and ran straight to her room. She knew how angry Lucas can get and she was not ready for it.

“What was that all about ?” Lucas asked Maria.

“Wh what what?” She stammered.

“Why were you causing problems?” He shouted, banging the wall with his fist.

Maria was scared. She knows lying was not going to help her get out of the situation.

“I only wanted to have a discussion with her. I didn't mean to cause any trouble.” her forehead glistened with sweat.

The disappointment written all over his face was glaring. “I didn't expect this from you.”

“But I thought you didn't love her, I thought you wanted her out.”

“I never told you to cause her any trouble.” He roared.

“I'm so sorry Lucas”

“Enough! Just let it go.”

“Scarlet sure has the nerves. How could she pronounce divorce? Good riddance anyways. I'm glad she's gone already. You and I can finally have our marriage. Right Lucas?” She said,flirting with him.

“I don't want to talk about this.” He said with an air of indifference.

Maria was mute.

Lucas went to his room and fell on his chair. He was in deep thoughts. He hadn't expected Scarlet to mention divorce. He never wanted to divorce her either even though she was brought in and married to him by his uncle.

Lucas had always wanted a girl he could control easily, lonely, dejected with no family and Scarlet was just the perfect choice.

She was submissive and humble, a good cook too. The image of her wearing lingerie the other night when she saw him and Maria came to his head. She had full, succulent boobs, the lingerie hugged her body which further enhanced her curves.

With a wave of his hand, he told his secretary to find out where she had gone.

“Make sure to lead her back to this house, unharmed. I need her back by tomorrow.”

His secretary looked at him with an uneasy look on his face.

“But but sir….”

“Speak up!” Lucas said impatiently.

“I saw her leave with an old man in a black limousine earlier.” he said in a low voice, scared of things getting out of control.

“What did you just say?” Lucas banged his fist on the walls and turned his table upside down, all its content came crashing on the floor. “Bring her back by any means.”

Scarlet felt she was dreaming. Her fingers caressing the soft fabric she was laying on. Her nostril picked up a familiar scent. She opened her eyes at once.

“Finally, you are awake.” a husky voice said.

Recognizing the voice, Scarlet sat up on the bed immediately.

“Grandpa…” she called out, “Will you ever forgive me for what I did?” She cried.

“Well, you were only in love. I mean why else would a young beautiful lady like you let go of all your riches and assets just to be with a man that has no value for you.”

“I was stupid grandpa. I'm sorry.” She said as she hugged him tight.

Mr Trump, a retired psychologist, with a smile on his face, hugged his granddaughter. He was happy she was back, to where she truly belongs.

“He will pay for this” he said, petting his granddaughter's back who could do nothing but to only sob.

Scarlet buried herself in her grandpa's arms, crying. She was releasing all the emotions she had buried deep inside of her all these while.

Trump brushed her hair slightly with his fingers. “You are the only heir I have remaining, do not cause any more trouble, please. you are really precious to me and I can't afford to not have you be under my watch again.”

Scarlet felt her body get lighter. Her cheeks flushed as she received the love and care Lucas never gave to her all these while.

A figure suddenly rushed in and crashed on Scarlet.

“Scarlet! Oh my goodness, you are finally back. I have missed you so much.”

Scarlet hugged her sister so tight. “Lyssa! Oh my goodness. I've missed you.”

Lyssa Andy, Scarlet's sister, wrapped her hands around her neck tightly, snuggling deep into her arms.

“Grandpa called me, he told me you were back. I came rushing immediately.”

Scarlet's eyes filled with tears. She hugged her sister tight again.

“I'm sorry I left you all alone Lyssa. I'm sorry. I was just being foolish. Living with Lucas has been hell. It was hell.

Just because of Lucas, she had given up her identity, her wealth, her luxurious life and worst of it all, her precious family.

Lyssa hated to see her sister cry. She wiped the tears off her face and pecked her cheek. She felt instant disgust for Lucas.

“We warned you, Scarlet. He was no good for you. He doesn't even match up to your taste. I'm gonna punch him in the face, like this.” She made a fist and threw punches in the air, three times. “ Pow! Pow!”

Scarlet laughed at her sister's silliness. She drew her close and rubbed her hair. “You are so silly, Lyssa.”

“But Scarlet, how did he allow you to leave the house?” Lyssa asked, looking at the bag her sister had brought her clothes in.

“I asked for a divorce. I'm divorcing him. I don't need a lowlife like him. Not anymore.”

“Yes.”, Lyssa leapt up in joy, “This is what you should have done since. Give him back all the ill treatment he gave you. I'm glad you made that decision. You can now have a bunch of men lining up to have you. Oh my goodness.”

Lyssa picked up Scarlet's phone just to open a dating app for her.

“No no Lyssa, stop that. I don't think what I need right now is a man. I need to take over my company back. I need to be the high-class woman I was before.”

Scarlet trembled slightly. Her mind was still filled with the horrible treatments Lucas meted out on her. She was not ready to go through such a situation again.

“Okay then. I'll speak to Grandpa and Uncle Thomas to arrange something. The President is back.” She said, throwing her arms up in the air.

“No Scarlet. I don't want that.”

“But why?”

“I'm okay with being just the vice president. I can still work for the company effortlessly in that position. Moreover, I do not want to be in the spotlight yet, let's make it low-key.” Scarlet said in a hushed tone.

“So you are not willing to take over our father's company yet?”

“No, I want to start from somewhere and find my way to the top. I want to know I got to the top position by merit." Her level of confidence was obvious.

Lyssa smiled. She was glad a different Scarlet is back now. Confident, bold and assertive.

“I know you will do just fine. You were born just for this. Your talent is topnotch, out of this world. And after all this, Lucas will come crawling at your feet, begging.”

Scarlet chuckled hearing her sister's words. “Lucas! We are over. I don't want to ever set my eyes on him or have anything to do with him. Our path ends here.” She said with an air of indifference.

“That's the Scarlet I know.” Lyssa said joyfully.

“I'll speak with Uncle Thomas myself, I'll let him know how I plan on coming back to the company.”

“But will you be fine? I mean, trying to come back to the company and at the same time handling a divorce proceedings? I bet Lucas is already thinking you want his money when you can buy his company over and throw him out of it.”

“I'll be fine, trust me and I don't need to buy his company over. I don't want to have anything to do with that family anymore.”

“But what if he comes back for you? What if he wants you back?” Lyssa asked, looking at Scarlet.

Scarlet felt her heart sting. She doesn't think Lucas can ever come back for her. He treated her like trash and it was obvious he could not wait to discard her. “But what if Lyssa is right?” She tried not to get her hopes high. Lucas had never cared about her, not for once, so what will make him do that this time?

“He won't come back.” Scarlet said gazing at the ceiling, her head propped up against the wall.

For the past one year of their marriage, she had been a submissive wife. She cared for him and honored him. But he rubbed it in her face by always choosing Maria over her. “Well let's see how he comes with Maria.” Scarlet thought to herself.

Lyssa looked at her and noticed she had gone dark. The suffering she endured had taken a huge toll on her once beautiful skin. Her face had eyebags and her cheekbones were so evident.

“Were you not feeding well too? You look so sick..” Lyssa said, gazing at her sister.

Scarlet looked at the divorce papers placed on her desk. She looked at it and grabbed a pen. Her hands trembled as she held the paper in her hands. She wished she didn't have to do this but she was not willing to allow Lucas and his family to cause her more pain.

She appended her signature on the divorce papers.

“Get the secretary to send this to his office. I need his signature on it.” Scarlet said to Lyssa.

Chapter 5

Lucas POV

Maria and Lucas were arguing inside his office.

“I needed to get some designer clothes for myself and I tried to use your credit card but it declined. The pin was incorrect. When did you change your pin and why?” She asked Lucas.

Lucas was scribbling on his notepad trying to complete the work for the day. Without looking up, he said, “You spend recklessly, I sweat myself out to make money yet you squander it as you like. Scarlet doesn't do this. She doesn't.”

Maria scoffed, her voice was filled with fury, “You dare compare me with Scarlet now? She wanted a divorce and she left, you don't have to beat yourself up over it, transferring your aggression to me. I bet she can't even survive out there. She'll surely come back when she has nothing else to feed on after the money she stole is exhausted.”

“Enough, Scarlet never stole from me. She doesn't steal.”, He glared at her, his eyes red, “She's still my wife and you've got no right to talk about her in such a manner.”

“Wife you said!” Maria jeered, “She's just a pest. She won't go ahead with the divorce proceedings. A parasitic human like her will always leech on you to milk money off you. How else can she sponsor her luxurious painful lifestyle.”

“Go out, right now.” Lucas couldn't stand Maria's harsh words anymore. His mind was filled with thoughts and he needed a clear head to think which obviously Maria wasn't giving him.

“Lucas!” Maria looked at him in disbelief.

Lucas shut the door immediately she went out. He texted his secretary to not allow anyone into his office for the day except it was business related.

He took out a file that had been sent to his office a few hours ago. It was from Scarlet. She had signed the divorce papers and returned all his credit cards.

“Is she really serious with this? She doesn't even want my money?” Lucas stared at the paper in disbelief.

A message popped up on his phone screen, it was from Maria and it read, “I'm sorry Lucas, I didn't mean to offend you.”

Maria sure knows how to be sweet atimes but she was no match for Scarlet. Her body, smell, and girly attributes couldn't be compared to Scarlet's.

He buried his face in his palms as the thoughts of Scarlet flooded his mind. This time around, Maria sent more messages bombarding his phone. Lucas was getting angry. He angrily put her number on the blacklist.

The chaos in his head made him unsettled. He picked up his phone and texted Scarlet, “Are you really serious about the divorce? We can talk about this over a cup of tea if you don't mind. I'll send my driver over to pick you up. Where are you at the moment?”. He tapped his pen on his desk noisily, nervously waiting for a reply from her, hoping she wouldn't turn down his request.

His phone buzzed with a message. He hurriedly picked it up. “I'm certain you saw the divorce papers. They already have my signature on it, put yours so we can start the divorce proceedings early.”

Bang!

Lucas hit his fist on the desk after reading her reply to his message. He was furious. He picked up his phone and dialed her number.

“Are you really serious, Scarlet?” Lucas asked on the other end, his voice filled with rage. He hated the newly found confidence Scarlet had.

“Does it look like I'm joking? Just sign the papers so we can both be finally free.”

“Are you saying this to me?” He asked in a low tone.

“You've got Maria, sign the papers and live your life with her, forever.”

The call was disconnected. Lucas, out of anger, turned his desk upside down. He destroyed the things in his office.

“She can't do this.” He muttered.

He dialed her number again and when she picked, he bellowed, “Why are you doing this Scarlet? Is it because of Maria? We can settle this amicably, there's no need for a divorce.” Lucas was already getting mad at himself for sounding this way towards her. He felt like his pride was being hurt and trampled upon by Scarlet.

“You and Maria disgust me. I need a divorce.” Lucas was angry, no lady had ever dared talk to him like this before. He was more hurt because Scarlet had always feared him and spoke to him with humility.

“Alright then, as you wish. I hope you don't come back begging because it will be too late.” He said.

“We'll see about that, Lucas.” She hung up the phone

Lucas hesitated for a while before appending his signature.

The days went by so fast which made the divorce proceedings to be fast-tracked. Lucas hadn't expected everything to go so smoothly. He had thought maybe Scarlet was still joking, trying to scare him and pay him for all that he had done.

The last day before the divorce proceedings were finalized came and Lucas prayed silently in his mind that Scarlet put a stop to it. Lucas felt hurt because he thought Scarlet was treating him like a piece of trash she couldn't wait to discard. He had never seen her so confident and stubborn before.

He phoned her one last time, this time with a subtle trace of pleading. “You still want to go ahead with this?”

“Yes Lucas, this is what I want. You don't have to worry about me taking half of your wealth, on the contrary, I don't need it. I only want to be able to breathe and be fine without having you or your mistress cause me any more problems.”

Lucas knew she was hurt. He cursed himself under his breath. What will people think about him? This will cause a huge blow to his respect. He can't stand getting divorced. If there's anyone to ask for a divorce, it should be him.

The divorce proceedings were finalized and the marriage was terminated. Lucas finally accepted his fate and moved on with his life but he couldn't get the thoughts of Scarlet off his mind.