When Love Becomes a Contract

Chapter Four: The Divorce

NEXT MORNING

My eyes sprang open as I rubbed them, yawning quietly. My eyes still felt heavy from not sleeping early enough last night. I couldn’t quite fathom the fact that Cole agreed to sign the divorce papers.

Now it quite seemed like I really didn’t want him to sign those papers. I had really pushed him to the edge of frustration. He must have been fed up with my rash attitude toward him.

I stood up from the bed, taking another long look around the cozy room.

I was still in his room, I thought.

“I guess he wouldn’t mind me taking a shower in his bathroom,” I said before stepping further inside to see what it looked like.

Every inch of his bathroom smelled nice, I thought, observing his bathtub and rubbing my slim fingers against it. I would probably just take a shower rather than drown myself in thoughts of him while lying in here.

After bathing, I realized there were some clean feminine clothes folded on the bathroom counter. He even seemed considerate enough to think that I would need a change of clothes after bathing. I blushed.

After combing my hair and packing it into a messy bun, I headed downstairs. It looked like all the workers were already done with their shifts, and the house was quiet. I guess Cole left early enough.

My eyes drifted to the table at the center of the sitting room, where a paper rested on it. Out of curiosity and fear of what I hoped it wasn’t… I scurried toward the table and picked it up.

And there it was… an already signed copy of our divorce papers, along with the signature I had scribbled out of my own stupid desperation to divorce him.

At that moment, it felt like I should rip the papers to shreds. The whole idea of trying to get evidence of him cheating on me just so I could divorce him came rushing back into my head.

In the end, I was the one who gained nothing.What was I even thinking? Thinking I would divorce him and be compensated with half his wealth?

I must have fed myself with too many lies about him. I stared at the divorce papers, wondering what exactly to do about them.

My phone vibrated in my hand. A call was coming in, it was Cole. And I picked it up immediately.

“I hope you’re awake,” he exhaled over the line. “The court is already working on our divorce.”

“How’s that even possible?” I asked.

“My lawyer already took the original copy of the divorce papers to court.”

“Oh… okay.” I smiled faintly while trying to grip my phone with my sweaty palm.

“You okay?” His voice was calm, filled with concern.

I shook my head, contemplating exactly what to tell him.

“I don’t want a divorce anymore,” I blurted out, embarrassed by my own words.

“Why? I thought that had always been what you wanted for our own peace,” he said, his voice seeming unwavering over the phone.

“I changed my mind.” My voice cracked this time.

Tears threatened to fall from my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away as though someone could see me crying.

There was silence over the line for a few seconds. It made me think Cole had already disconnected the call.

“Quinn. The original copy has been sent to the court, and they’re probably processing the divorce right now… that’s if they haven’t already proceeded with it,” he said.

A little sob escaped my lips, and I knew Cole would have noticed. I tried not to let him hear me cry, knowing fully well that I brought this upon myself. What was done had already been done.

“Try not to cry, Quinn. It was a contract marriage after all,” he said.

“I’ll meet you at six.”

And the line went dead.

I searched for Kira’s number on my phone and dialed it. I wanted to break the news to her. Remembering what I said to Kira yesterday, I doubted she would even pick up my call. But surprisingly enough, the call went through.

“Hey,” I heard her thin voice over the line.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” I said as the tears I had been holding back started falling down my cheeks. I was sobbing loudly and uncontrollably.

“What’s wrong, Quinn? What did Cole say to you this time?” she rushed her questions.

“Cole signed the divorce papers,” I managed to get the words out through my shaking voice.

“Why are you crying then? That’s what you’ve always wanted,” Kira said.

“No, Kira. I’ve been wrong all this while.” I tried wiping away my tears. “Cole has never cheated on me, and he’s the sweetest person I could ever imagine. I just never gave him the chance to express his feelings,” I rushed out my words.

“Whoa, slow down, Quinn. How did he suddenly become the sweetest person you could imagine? I thought you hated him?”

“No… I don’t now.”

“Oh my God, Quinn. I can’t come to Haven right now… I’m out of town, but I’ll come see you as soon as I get back.”

“Why are you out of town? I guess you left because of what I said to you,” I said.

“Yes, Quinn. A girl needs to clear her head,” she said and laughed it off.

“Thanks for always being there for me, Kira. Even when I acted stupid toward you,” I said.

“You don’t have to blame yourself, Quinn. You weren’t thinking straight then,” she said before hanging up.

I knew Kira was hiding how mad she still was at me. I wouldn’t blame her because I would have done the same thing.

Later that evening, Cole got back from work. I didn’t know how I was going to face him, knowing fully well that we would soon be ex-couples. The news would spread like wildfire, even on TV, and I would no longer be Mrs. Vandal. And probably, this home would no longer be my place of rest.

I sat down on the couch carefully, trying not to get too comfortable on it. I didn’t know what Cole would think of me when he walked through that door. He would probably think I had no right to sit comfortably in his home now.

“Quinn,” I heard his thick voice across the room. My attention slowly shifted to where he stood, and our eyes met.

“Hi, Cole,” I quickly replied with a faint smile.

He walked up to me and sat beside me while silence followed.

“Have you been inside all day?” he asked.

I couldn’t look at his face. He was probably looking at me with disgust now.

“Yeah, I was. I was packing my stuff… and I’ll leave after the divorce has been processed,” I said, still trying to avoid his eyes.

“And go where, silly?”

“What?” I said.

“Last I remembered, you have no parents… or do you?” he asked.

“Um… no, I don’t. I’ll probably just stay at a guest hotel,” I said.

“Your stepfather…” he paused and watched as my expression turned into shock. “Do you prefer going back to him? Or your mom?” he asked, his dark eyes fixed on me.

“You knew?” I said quietly, this time trying to meet his eyes.

“I’ve always known,” he said.

He has always known? That explains why he didn’t say anything at the studio when he saw my stepfather, I thought.

I immediately tried to get on my knees and beg with the last strength in me, but he held my arms.

“I’m not stupid, Quinn. I ran a background check on you even before you signed the contract,” he said while I picked at my nails, still trying to avoid his eyes. “I loved the fact that you were good at lying. You were perfect for fooling the country about your wealthy parents. But you got too comfortable living with me,” he concluded.

My head lowered further in shame as different words battled to come out of my mouth.

“I will go freshen up and join you later,” Cole said before walking out of the sitting room.

Ding!

My phone vibrated against my palm.

It was a video from an unknown sender.

I clicked on it only to see Kira and Jayden sitting together in a club.

I thought Kira said she was out of town.

She leaned closer and whispered something into Jayden’s ear, making her smile widely before handing her an envelope that looked stuffed with money.

“What the heck?” My eyes widened in shock.