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.

Scarlet POV

“Won't you take over your father's company yet, Scarlet? Trump asked, staring intently at his granddaughter. It was obvious that she had gotten so lean and had traces of wrinkles on her face.

“You should go to a spa, Scarlet. I'll arrange one for you. You need a nice body treatment. He said, sighing heavily.

“Alright grandpa.” Scarlet said, looking straight ahead at the space in front of her. Her mind went to Lucas. How was he faring? What was he doing?

“Do you want to go to Texas? I can arrange a flight for you.”

“No grandpa, I'm okay here. I just need some time to relax then get to work. Do you think I'm not fine?” Scarlet asked as she stared at him.

“I believe you need a vacay to ease the burdens off your mind. I know how hard you loved Lucas and how you struggled to give your best. You did just the right thing my dear.”

Scarlet's eyes welled up with tears. She had given her all to Lucas who in turn chose his mistress over her. He never reciprocated her love and never even touched her after their marriage. She was attractive enough - Tall, slim, curvy, she had all a man could ever desire in a woman but still, he never looked at her side. This further hurt her heart as she felt she was not sexually attractive to Lucas enough.

“I tried my best grandpa, I tried. I gave my all. I gave up my job, my life, my family, everything yet I got treated like trash.” Scarlet cried out, crashing on the floor.

Trump hated seeing his granddaughter in such a pitiful state. He left the room quietly, closing the door gently behind him.

Scarlet clutched her chest as she sobbed loudly. She hated the fact that she had made a nuisance of herself before Lucas and his family.

“Oh no no, common Scarlet. You don't have to cry.” Lyssa rushed in. Trump has told her to check on her sister, which got her racing to the room.

“Where did I go wrong?” Scarlet screamed as her sister held her tight.

“Let out the pain, Scarlet. Let it all out. You've been such a strong lady. It is his own loss for not treating you right and letting you go.” Lyssa wiped off the tears from her face, giving her a hug.

“He chose Maria over me, over his own wife. I felt so hopeless, helpless, dejected, I felt so abandoned.” Scarlet screamed, talking incoherently.

Lyssa had never seen Scarlet in such pain before. She hugged her tighter this time around, patting her back gently.

“Get over it Scarlet. You have me, you have grandpa and Uncle Thomas. You are the heiress of a multi billionaire company, the heiress to the wealth and assets of our father. You should not be sad. That bingo is going to regret ever treating you like you didn't matter.”

“He'll pay for everything, everything he did to me.” Scarlet said between clenched teeth.

“Everything will be fine.” Lyssa said, as she sat on the wooden chair beside her sister.

“So tell me Lyssa, about the company. I'd like to know what has been happening, how it has been going?” Scarlet asked excitedly.

Lyssa was happy Scarlet was already picking and showing interest in the company. That was all that was needed for her to bounce back and regain herself.

Lyssa saw this as an opportunity to talk about the new worker at the company who was so good looking and charming.

“He's tall, well built, muscular, he has such a nice voice. You need to see the way he runs the company's affairs…..” Lyssa kept on being a chatterbox.

“I asked about the company Lyssa, not the workers. I told you, I am not interested in any man for now. My love life has gone on a break.

Lyssa laughed heartily. Her sister's words sounded funny and her expression was more funny.

“Oh common Scarlet. Your love life can't go on a break. A beautiful, young, elegant lady like you can not be single. But then sis, tell me about uhmmmm his mistress.”

“Lyssa”, Scarlet scorned and looked angrily at her sister, “You don't have to remind me about her, common. Don't do that.”

“I'm sorry, I'm just curious. Like just wanna know about her.”

“She's pretty though, tall, slim, and brunette. She has these lovely eyes. Maybe that was what got Lucas attracted to her. They have been friends since childhood anyways.”

“I see! Friends then lovers huh.” Lyssa scoffed with disgust on her face.

“I don't wanna speak about this Lyssa. Just let it go, please. I need to get some rest. We'll talk later. Shoo bye!” Scarlet said, pushing lyssa out of her room gently.

As Lyssa had gone out, Scarlet took a mirror out to look at her face. She traced her fingers down on her face, checking out all the contours of her facial features. Maria was never prettier than she was, Lucas was only a scumbag.

She looked at her body, twisting and turning as the large mirror in front of her showed her reflection. She had nice curves and elegant body features and wondered why she was never enough for Lucas.

“I took great care of myself. I did all I could as a good wife should, I endured all the pains and hurt his family put me through just for him to love me but still, it was Maria. It has always been Maria and it will always be her.” Scarlet cried out.

“You know things happen for a reason, you never can tell. He was never the perfect person for you. So don't beat yourself up.”

Scarlet looked up to see who was talking. She was taken aback. An elegant handsome looking young man was standing right before her, in her room.

“Who are you and how did you get in here?”