[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
[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.
[Vivienne]“It’s good to know you finally came to your senses.”To say I know the voice of the woman on the line would be an understatement.“What’s the point of calling me right now, Sasha?” I say and suppress a yawn. This is the worst thing to wake up to. To hear the sound of the woman behind my failed marriage. Well, one of the reasons.She laughs, sounding more excited than I want to know.“Just making sure it’s not one of your stunts to get Caden’s attention. We both know you’ll do anything for that man, even fake a divorce request to get him running to you.”I grit my teeth, my hands turning white around the phone. I can feel my temper rising, but I control it somehow.“Trust me, Sasha, you haven’t seen half of what I can do to get Caden’s attention.”She laughs, mocking me. I try not to lose my temper.“I don’t doubt it, Vivienne. But you should know by now that Caden wants nothing to do with you. You were just a replacement, remember? Your marriage has been a farce since day o
[Vivienne]“Stop watching that!” Elijah yanks the remote from my hand and turns off the TV.“Hey,” I try to stop him, but the screen is already black.“This is not moving on, Viv. You should know that better than anyone.”He’s right. I shouldn’t care about what happens in Caden’s life anymore. If the world thinks he’s a cheater and a manwhore, then maybe they are right. And that maybe is a good thing because now I have one more reason to divorce him.A few hours ago, when he texted me and I told him what the media was calling him, he didn’t even care to deny their claim. He just stopped texting altogether, leaving me like he always did whenever he was done with me.I was so mad at him that I instantly blocked him and his assistant.I know it’s childish, but that’s all I could think of at that moment. I just wanted to do something to release this pain in my heart. And it helped. Somewhat.“You’re right,” I say and get up. “I should stop wasting my time. Are the papers ready?”He nods,
[Vivienne]Without waiting for my response, he grabs my wrist and pulls me with him.I stumble a little, but somehow manage to keep my balance.But Caden doesn’t slow down, not even for a second.He drags me with him until we reach the end of the corridor and enter his office.When the door shuts close behind us, he throws me into the room and I stumble on my heels, crashing against his desk. For a second, something passes his face, his features soften, but by the time I blink, that expression is gone and he’s back to scowling.He walks around the desk and takes a seat, his gaze never leaving mine.“Why are you here?” He asks, his voice calm but I can hear the rage underneath.“I came to give you this.” I take
[Vivienne]I look to my left and find Caden standing next to me.His jaw is clenched and he looks furious.He turns to face Sasha and I can see her flinching under his gaze.“Caden, I don’t know why she hit me—”“You don’t know?” Caden asks, tipping his head to the side. “I believe you must have said something to my wife, didn’t you?”He lets go of her then and she instantly retreats, looking shocked by his behaviour, holding her hand to her chest.Then, he looks at me and I have to take a step back.I have nothing to fear him, but I still do. There’s something about the way he’s looking at me as if he’s pissed off beyond any explanation.He grabs my arm and drags me towards the elevator.“What are you doing? Let go of me.” I try to yank my arm away from him, but his hold only tightens.He doesn’t say anything.I look at the guards following us. They seem unfazed by the whole scene.When the elevator doors open, Caden pushes me inside and then signals the guards to stay put.I’m confus
[Vivienne]Caden looks as if he has seen a ghost, but then his expression changes, and his gaze hardens.“What the hell does that mean?”“It means that my client wants a divorce, and as her lawyer, I suggest you think twice before you say or do anything from this moment onwards. Otherwise, a divorce won’t be your only problem. We will also file a case against you for physical assault and mental harassment. So, if I were you, I would cooperate and make this easy for everyone involved. Think wisely, Mr. Lawrence. Sign the divorce papers, and no one gets hurt.”I’ve never been more thankful to Elijah than I am at this moment. He stands there, calm and composed, while Caden fumes, his jaw clenched.“Are you trying to threaten me?”I tense at his tone, suddenly scared of Caden’s reaction. But Elijah only straightens up and looks him in the eye.“I’m just doing my job.”Caden stares at him for a few seconds, and I swear I think he will attack Elijah, but then he looks at me, and a look of d
[Vivienne]The dinner at the table turned cold an hour ago but no sign of Caden.I check the time on the wall clock for the hundredth time perhaps, and try to suppress the hurt that once again rises to the surface like an angry volcano beneath my chest.It’s our third anniversary, and it’s almost midnight now, but like every single day in the past three years, he’s late as usual.I don’t know why I even try. My husband has dismissed me, rejected my efforts, and broken my heart so many times in the past, one would think I would have learned my lesson.But unfortunately, I have been cursed to be always hopeful.“Madam, should I reheat the dinner?” The head maid asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.I suck in the hurt and wipe away the tears from my eyes, not wanting to look as devastated as I feel.I smile at her like I always do.“No. That won’t be necessary,” I say and get up from the chair, pretending to yawn, hoping to look tired. “I think Caden got caught up in the meeting again,” b