Chapter 7: Divorce
'Wow, he's even taking her side. Amazing.'
"Is she your mistress? Did she seduce you? Just say it if you want to marry someone else. Don't ruin my image like this as if I have wronged you!"
'What am I even saying? I never doubted his fidelity.'
Loreen didn't mean those words.
But she was very emotional and such a thought crossed her mind out of jealousy and anger after he defended her greatest bully.
Likewise, after saying it, she realized that there was indeed a possibility that Edric could have had found someone else.
Loreen realized that he might be taking her out of the picture so he could marry his new woman.
After all, they could not have a child after years of trying. What if he sought it from someone else?
These kinds of thoughts finally crossed Loreen's mind even though it did not in the past years.
It made her heart hurt even more and she was overcome with jealousy and rage. She didn't want anyone else to have Edric.
He was her husband. He was supposed to be hers.
"Damn it! Now you're making up stories. I don't have a mistress. Don't make it look like I did something I never did," Edric snarled at her and grabbed her wrist too tightly, it hurt.
She glanced at her wrist.
This was her man? The man she had sworn to love and be with for the rest of her life?
The pain on her wrist resonated with the hurt in her heart. He could do this to her now.
"Edric, my arm!" Loreen voiced out when she could no longer take the pain.
"Don't fucking say my name!" Edric's other hand approached her.
Loreen was wide-eyed when she realized it looked dangerous.
He was going to hurt her!
She closed her eyes and braced for it.
But the pain did not come.
Loreen opened her eyes and saw Edric's hand just a few inches from her throat. He was about to strangle her but stopped midair.
'He could be this violent?!!' Loreen was shocked to the point her body trembled in fear.
He almost choked her.
Edric was wide-eyed as well.
He seemed to have just realized what he was about to do which was why he stopped.
"Fuck! Damn it!" He finally let go of her wrists and walked out immediately. He banged the door shut behind him.
Shaken, Loreen could not talk nor run after him. And she no longer felt like she should after she realized he almost strangled her.
Her beloved husband, Edric Doyle Harvey almost strangled her.
If he hadn't come to his senses, what if it did not end with just choking her, but with the end of her life?
Her blood ran cold from the realization.
Loreen glanced at her wrist. It had turned red and swollen from the tightness of his grip from earlier.
She barely heard their maids as she touched her throat. Then her wrist. She winced at the pain but savored it.
It was just her wrist this time. What about the next time they had a heated argument? He would strangle her until she begs him to stop?
Loreen felt like buckets of cold water was poured over her. She finally felt awake as if she snapped from a long dream. It felt like the fog cleared up and she could finally think straight and see clearly.
'Ah, I see. He no longer had feelings for me. How could he do this if he still loved me?' Loreen concluded as her tears continued to fall.
But did he need to make all this drama?
He could have just told her straight out that he wanted divorce because he did not love, nor want her anymore, instead of making her a liar with all this mess.
'Huh?!'
Loreen gasped when her legs suddenly gave way and she almost fell to the floor. Their maids caught her and seated her on the sofa.
She realized her whole body was trembling. It must be due to shock and the storm of emotions she had to go through in a matter of a few minutes.
She was excited about their anniversary and seeing him again just a few minutes ago but now, everything turned out this way. Even their maids looked disappointed.
One of the maids offered her a glass of water.
"Thank you," Loreen accepted it and tried to calm down as the cold water washed over her throat.
She regulated her breathing and tried to control her emotions until her body finally stopped trembling.
But the divorce papers on the table reminded her of a decision she had to make.
No, just like the way she was married, she also had no choice but to accept this divorce.
It was so unfair.
Edric was the one who decided they should get married, yet he was also the one who decided they should divorce.
'I was an idiot for trying to make him change his mind. He no longer loved me. There was no reason to stay,' Loreen concluded.
She had advocated for things like this when she was younger. To set each other free when one had lost the feelings. To not keep them trapped in something they no longer wanted.
But when she was the one in the situation, she tried to insist on staying.
'He was right. How much lower should I stoop? Regardless of the reason, I should set him free since he no longer wanted to be married with me.'
For the first time in years, Loreen was relieved that they did not have a child. If they did, how would she explain this situation?
Loreen glanced at the divorce papers that her husband left on the table.
She rose and picked up the folder.
"Madam, please wait until Master calms down. He seems to be furious now, but he would surely change his mind once he had calmed down," one of the maids said.
"That won't happen. You heard what he told me. You saw how he almost strangled me.
"How would he change his mind when no longer sees me as someone he could cherish?
"He had already signed these before he even arrived here. He had contemplated about this."
Loreen dried her tears and began reviewing the documents with shaky hands.
Just a few minutes ago she was excitedly waiting for him to come home so they could celebrate their third wedding anniversary.
Yet here she was having to sign divorce papers.
Loreen's only saving grace was the guests for the celebration had not arrived yet since the schedule of the event was in the evening.
If it had been now, she would have been divorced in front of everyone.
How would she even explain to the guests that the event would be cancelled?
"I need some time to be alone," Loreen took the documents with her and headed upstairs to their bedroom.
She read the documents in detail.
She closed her eyes and took deep breaths before beginning to sign it. Her hands shook.
But the more pages she signed, the calmer she felt as she internalized the truth of the words she said to their maids.
'That's right. He won't change his mind. I have no more reason to stay either.'
Why did she even stay in this marriage again in the first place? She never dreamed of marrying before she finished her doctorate. She never even thought she could be a housewife.
What she wanted was to keep pursuing her studies. Build her career. Help where she could. Save up. And build her own business.
Marriage was not yet a part of her plans back then. But she stayed in one for three years and thought it would be forever.
It was so ironic.
'Did I simply go with the flow and lost myself?'
Ah, she fell in love with Edric.
But since he no longer loved her, there was indeed no reason to stay.
Loreen knew she should not insist on staying in a relationship where she was no longer wanted or cherished.
'Yes, I should set him free.'
It hurt terribly to the point like she felt her heart became hollow. But with her feelings for Edric, she was willing to let him go and not keep him tied if he was no longer happy with her.
She loved him that much so she would set him free.
Hopefully, the one who would replace her could give him what he wanted and make him happy.
As for her, she prayed she would be able to move on from him.
'It had been a peaceful three years,' she thought again.
At the last pages, Loreen's hands were no longer shaking as she signed the divorce papers.
As Edric mentioned, there was an alimony. It was on separate documents.
"What?!" Loreen frowned upon reading it.
He was giving her not only half of all the assets he gained within the three years they were married but of all his assets in general except for his inheritance.
It was such a hefty amount that she would not need to work her whole life if she accepted it.
But wouldn't that mean she was living off him?
Wouldn't he call her a gold digger even more?