[Vivienne]

“Shh,” he hushes me, sucking my nipple harshly in his mouth. “Let’s just get over with it.”

I gasp loudly as he bites down hard, making my whole body jerk with the sharp ache. I try to push him away, but it proves nothing in front of the force he is. He’s far stronger than me, far more persistent.

“Stop resisting!” He snaps, yanking my hand away from his shoulder and pins it down above my head. “Isn’t this why you kept calling and texting me all day, wanting me to give you my attention? Isn’t this why you wore that sexy red gown tonight?”

He grinds down his erection on my thigh, making me aware of the fact how hard he is right now.

Is it because of the time he spent with Sasha or because of me? I can’t even tell anymore.

“You never came!” I bite down a moan and glare up at him. “You promised to come home early today, Caden. It’s our anniversary!”

He looks at me as if I had grown another head, tipping his face to the side, his dark eyes glinting in the moonlight pouring through the windows. “You think I can ever forget that?”

I don’t know what to say to that. Is he being sarcastic or serious? It’s so hard to get a read on him sometimes.

“How do I know? You never showed up. Instead, you were busy attending afterparties with your slutty assistant. Why can’t you see that she’s—”

“Not another word, Vivienne.” He grunts, resuming his ministrations, dropping his face in the crook of my neck and kissing everywhere. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He unbuckles his seat belt with his free hand and throws it away. I shiver under his gaze as he pulls his cock out and starts pumping it in his fist.

“Fuck, I need to be inside you right now,” he murmurs to himself.

I watch with my mouth agape as he brings my left leg up and slides two fingers inside me. My whole body trembles at the intrusion. I wince when he adds a third finger. I can feel the stretch of my walls as he pushes them further, the slight sting that comes with it.

It hurts, but the pleasure outweighs the pain.

When he deems me wet enough, he grabs a packet of condom from his pant pocket, rips it open with his teeth and sheaths it over his length.

My frustration once again bubbles to the surface. Why does he always need to use protection? He knows I want to get pregnant, yet he doesn’t even give me a chance to make that happen.

“Caden, please—” I beg, trying to touch him, but he grabs my wrists and pins it down again.

“Please, what?” He asks, rolling the condom down his length. I stare at the thing and almost curse it to hell.

“Please, fuck me bare,” I say, hoping to change his mind. “I want to get pregnant. You know that.”

His eyes darken at my words.

For a second, I think I succeeded in changing his mind when he stops midway, but then he shakes his head and grips my hips hard.

“No.”

“But Caden—” I try again, but he cuts me off.

“No means no, Vivienne. Now stop talking and take what I give you.”

I blink back the tears as he once again kicks my legs apart and lines his cock up with my entrance. “I hate you,” I say, as he starts pushing his cock inside my pussy.

He grunts, bottoming out. “No, you don’t. You love me, and that’s your biggest problem.”

———

An hour later, I watch him getting dressed in the bathroom, putting on his clothes like nothing happened.

I cover my naked body with the sheet and try to hide my tears.

When he finally returns to the bed, I know he wants to say something. I wait for him to say what he needs to say.

But instead of saying anything, he simply picks up his wallet from the nightstand and leaves without sparing me a glance.

I feel numb.

But before the numbness spreads like wildfire and consumes my heart completely, I wrap the sheet around myself and follow him.

I find him downstairs in the living room, picking up his keys from the drawer.

He finally looks at me, and I feel like a knife is piercing my heart.

“Where are you going?” I ask, wanting to cry.

He looks at me like I’m an unwanted pest that he wants to get rid of. “None of your business.”

I clench my fists, swallowing the hurt. “Are you going to see Sasha again? Aren’t you done romancing her in front of the whole world? Aren’t you done embarrassing me? When will you grow tired of humiliating me, Caden? Just when?!”

He closes the drawer and walks past me like I said nothing.

I follow after him.

“You can’t keep doing this to me, Caden. It’s unfair. You’re my husband, you can’t keep humiliating me in front of everyone. It hurts me so much. I—”

“What do you want me to do then?” He asks, stopping abruptly in his tracks, and turns to face me.

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I don’t know what to say.

He laughs bitterly, “That’s what I thought. Go to sleep, Vivienne. And stop texting me all day long. I don’t know what you want from me, but whatever it is, I can’t give it to you.”

And with that, he readies himself to leave once again.

But I’m so done with this man, so damn done, that when he turns his back to me, I scream at the top of my lungs.

“Fine. Let’s get divorced then!”

He pauses, as if my words have taken him off-guard. But then his shoulders relax a little and his head tips to the side. “Is that what you want?”

I almost choke on my tears, but somehow manage to speak again.

I have to do this. There’s no other choice. I’m so tired of this toxic cycle. So fucking exhausted.

“Yes, that’s what I want. I want to divorce you. I can’t stand you anymore. I hate you. I want to be free from you. So, yeah, let’s get this fucking divorce, and go our separate ways.”

This time he turns to me and gives me a look that makes me feel like the most worthless thing in the whole world.

He rolls his cold eyes. “Fine, whatever. Send me the divorce papers tomorrow. I’ll sign them immediately.”

With that, he walks out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

[Vivienne]

It takes me a minute to process what just happened. I don’t know why I said those words. I don’t want a divorce. I love Caden. I want to be with him forever. I want to have kids with him. I want to build a family with him.

But he’s so done with me, that he didn’t even hesitate to agree to my demand.

Tears spring to my eyes, and for the first time in a long time, I feel broken.

I slump to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest.

I cry until I feel numb.

I cry until I feel empty.

I cry until I feel nothing.

And then when I can’t cry anymore, I pick myself up and head back to my room.

There’s no point in staying back anymore. Caden doesn’t want me.

It’s more obvious than ever.

I pack my stuff and get ready to leave.

When I’m done packing, I call someone I haven’t contacted in a while.

He picks up in the second ring, and even though I try to keep the hurt at bay, it still shines through my voice.

“Hey, Viv. What’s up?”

I take a deep breath, not knowing how to say what I need to say. So I just go with the flow. “I want to divorce Caden. Can you help me?”

A pause. And then, “I’m sorry, what?”

I swallow the lump in my throat, and repeat myself, “I want to divorce Caden. Please help me with it. I don’t want to stay in this marriage anymore.”

“Viv…what happened…where are you right now?”

I sniff, wiping my tears away. “I’m in Caden’s house. But I want to leave as soon as possible. Just tell me if you can help me or not. I’m done repeating myself to anyone who asks me the same question.”

I hear him sigh, and for a moment, I think he would refuse to help me. I don’t know why I called him instead of my best friend, but I needed someone to help me right now and he’s the only lawyer I know.

“Of course. I’ll help you. Just tell me where you are right now. I’ll come to get you.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief and tell him the address.

“Alright, I’ll be there in 20 minutes. Stay put, okay?”

I nod and hang up.

I go to the bathroom to freshen myself up, and try to get rid of the puffy red eyes. I know I look like a mess, but I don’t care about it right now.

All I want to do is get out of this house and never return to it ever again.

True to his words, Elijah shows up at the house twenty minutes later.

To my huge surprise, he looks far more handsome than he looked the last time we met three years ago. He’s wearing a sharp suit and looks much more professional than he ever did. Perhaps it’s the seriousness he had garnered in his deep eyes, or the way his chin is peppered with a faint beard, he looks different somehow. Different but handsome.

But that’s only a brief thought that crosses my mind, because the moment he steps inside the house, I throw my arms around him, not able to stop the hurt from leaking through my eyes.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Hey.” He says soothingly, running a hand down my spine. “Enough. No more crying, alright? Let’s get you out of here. I’ll take you to my place. We can talk about everything when you feel better, okay?”

I nod, wiping my tears away. “Okay. Just give me five minutes. I need to grab a few things.”

He nods. “Sure. I’ll wait in the car.”

I grab my purse and suitcase, and head to the door. But before I get the chance to leave, my phone rings again. Caden’s name flashes on the screen.

I debate for a moment if I should answer it or not, but eventually press the green button and put the phone against my ear.

He doesn’t even wait for me to say hello.

“I just called to let you know that I’m leaving for Washington tonight. I don’t know when I’ll be back so don’t wait up.”

I clench my jaw, gripping the handle of my suitcase tighter. Has he already forgotten that I asked him for a divorce? That I don’t want to have anything with him anymore? Does he take me so lightly that he thinks our argument over the divorce isn’t even worth his concern?

I’m so mad at him and I’m about to say something when he hangs up without giving me the chance to speak.

I stare at my phone for a moment, gritting my teeth, feeling angry and disappointed at myself. How could I marry such an insensitive asshole? How could I give my heart to someone who doesn’t even care about it? How? How could I be so blind and an idiot?

I don’t know how long I stand there staring at the screen of my phone, but when I look up, I find Elijah leaning against the side of his car, watching me quietly.

I can’t decipher what he’s thinking, but the frown on his face tells me that he wants to ask me if I’m alright.

I give him a smile I know he knows is fake and head towards him.

“Ready?” He asks, opening the trunk of his car and helping me load my suitcase in it.

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Good. Let’s go then.”

[Vivienne]

During the entire drive to Elijah’s place, I keep my gaze out and thought to myself.

Elijah tries to break the silence a few times, but I only have a word or two for him in response. I’m just not in the mood for a conversation. All I want is some space and quiet, so I can finally come to terms with what I’m about to do.

Once we reach his place, he comes around to open the door, and it’s only then I realize that we have reached.

“I’m sorry, I kind of faded away,” I mumble apologetically, but he only rolls his eyes.

“Don’t be,” he says and I like the way he’s not making a big deal of anything. He behaves like he always does, always cool in the head. “You know I’m glad to be of help. You wouldn’t have called if you didn’t already know.”

He’s right. I do know. When I left my home for Caden, Elijah was the only one who came to tell me that he had always had my back. That no matter the circumstances, he would never disappoint me.

I nod and that’s where we leave the conversation.

He leads the way to his apartment on the twentieth floor of this high-class complex and I do my best to keep my emotions in check.

“Now, tell me everything there’s for me to know,” he says when we are finally settled at his place and I have spent a good amount of minutes under the shower, rubbing off all the filth Caden left on and inside me.

I look up from the tea in my hand and sigh. “I can’t do this anymore.”

He doesn’t interrupt and I continue.

“Caden…I always thought I would be able to change his mind, that he would change his ways once he realized that…that no one can give him what I can. I tried so hard, Elijah,” tears burn my eyes, but I shove them away, angry that I’m still crying for that man.

“I tried so hard to make him love me. I waited and waited and waited, but he never showed me even a minute of affection. I feel so stupid now. So damn stupid. I don’t know why I even thought I could make him fall in love with me, that just because he agreed to the marriage, he would eventually grow to love me. I should have known better, right? I should have known he would never see me as someone he could trust, that he would always compare me with Astrid and find me lacking, that he would never see me as his wife, but as a piece of furniture he could use whenever he felt like it. I should have known. But I was stupid. I was so stupid that I got blinded by my own love for that man and willingly walked into my doom.”

Elijah curses under his breath. I know he hates Caden with all his heart, but he stays silent, listening to my rant patiently.

I look down at the cold tea and speak again, my voice hollow. “But I can’t do this anymore. I’m so tired, you know? So damn tired of everything. I don’t know how much longer I can tolerate his ignorance. I don’t know how much longer I can tolerate Caden humiliating me every single day. I just can’t do this anymore. I want out. I just want this pain to end.”

Elijah doesn’t reach for me or try to calm me down. He sits there, across the desk, as if he’s not a friend right now, but a professional who’s only doing his job.

“Alright,” he says then, leaning forward, hands on the desk. “I heard it all. But let me ask you again: are you sure about this?"

Am I?

If a month ago someone had asked me the same question, my answer would have been different.

But not anymore.

“Yes," I say and inhale a deep, confident breath. "I’ve made up my mind.”

Elijah nods, looking pleased with my response.

“Alright, I’ll prepare the papers tomorrow morning and have them sent to Caden. If he signs them, then this marriage will be officially over by this time next month. But if he doesn’t—”

I cut him off. “He will. I know he will. He’s been telling me to leave him since the day we got married. Trust me, he’ll hold a grand celebration when he sees my sign on the divorce papers. I’ll be surprised if he hadn’t brought his mistress home by now.”

I may be a fool in Caden’s eyes, but I’m not that stupid. I know that deep down, he wants this marriage to end as well and so does his assistant/mistress.

They probably want it more than me.

“Okay, then let’s hope for the best. I’ll have everything prepared by tomorrow and I’ll tell you once Caden gives us his signature.”

When I’m finally alone in my room, I scroll through whatever handful of pictures I have of Caden on my phone. They all give me the same kind of pain he does in person. I squeeze out whatever tears I have left in my eyes and suck in a deep breath.

Then I select all pictures of him and press delete.

When I wake up the next morning, the first thing I hear is my cell phone screaming next to my head. I grab it as I sit up and without even looking at the screen, swipe my thumb to answer.

“It’s good to know you finally came to your senses.”