The Billionaire's Vengeful Bride

I looked out the car window, watching as the cityscape passed by me in a blur. After being away for three months, I embraced the welcoming view. I looked forward to a warm, relaxing bath, a hearty dinner accompanied by a glass of wine and most of all, spending quality time with my husband. I had missed him dearly, a fact that was made more evident by our infrequent communication this past few weeks. We only had the time for brief texts and short calls, but I chalked it up to both of us being busy. The cab pulled up to the apartment building where I lived with my husband, Darren. He and I had been married for about a year and a half, and things were going very smoothly for us. We were the envy of everyone, the rich young wife and the successful businessman husband. I paid the cab driver and carried my luggage into the building, nodding at the man seated in the lobby as I headed to the elevator that would take me up to my floor. I counted the floors as the elevator ascended, eager to meet my husband. The ding of the elevator signaled that I had reached my floor, and I opened the doors and headed to one of the two doors on the floor. I opened the apartment door and walked in, finding it empty at first glance. “Hello, anyone home? Darren, honey, I'm back!” I called out, heading deeper into the apartment. “Astoria, is that you?” My husband's voice rang out from the balcony terrace. “Yes dear,” I rushed towards the direction of his voice, my face breaking into a wide smile at the sight of the him. “I've missed you so much!” “Yes, I'm aware. How was your trip?” He asked, gently pushing me off as I tried to hug him. “It was fine, thanks for asking.” I replied, wondering why he was acting so cold towards me. “Is anything the matter, darling?” I asked him. “Now that you mentioned it, we do have something to discuss.” Darren said, slipping his hands into his pockets. “You might want to sit down though,” he added as an afterthought. “What's going on, Darren?” I asked, my heart racing as I felt the subtle shift in the air. The atmosphere wasn't welcoming any longer, rather it started to feel suffocating. “We had a wonderful run, you and I, but I think it's time we put an end to our story,” he began. “End? I don't understand, Darren. What are you saying?” I asked, a note of panic evident in my voice. I hoped he wasn't talking about what I was thinking, oh my god… “I want a divorce.” He announced. I felt my heart drop to unimaginable depths. A divorce? But we didn't have any issues in our marriage that I knew of. We were happy, and loved one another. But it seemed like things weren't as perfect as I thought. “B…but, Darren, I don't u…understand. Why are we getting a divorce?” I asked, my voice cracking as unshed tears lined my eyelids. “You see, Astoria dear, you're so beautifully naive,” he began, a cruel smile forming on his face, “you never even noticed that I've never loved you.” I gasped, a sound punctuated by surprise and hurt, the tears flowing freely down my cheeks now. “I had just had to make do with you, you see. You're the successful one, the richer one. You were nothing but a vital part of my plan,” he continued. “What plan?” I sobbed, “Why are you doing this to me?” “You're not only naive, but stupid, I see. I wonder how on earth I remained married to you for almost two years. But my time has come,” he said, sounding victorious before tossing a file towards me, “now sign those divorce papers.” “I'm not signing anything until you explain what's going on here, Darren.” I refused to even look at the file. “You want an explanation? Fine, you'll get one. You sign the papers, our marriage gets dissolved, leaving me with the freedom to marry the true love of my life.” He announced, causing pain to radiate through my soul once again. “Another woman, Darren? That's why you're doing this?” I asked him, agony evident in my voice. “Not just any other woman, dear Astoria, but me.” A female voice, one that I recognised like the back of my hand replied me. I turned back to see my twin sister, Aeris walk onto the balcony, looking at me from my head to my toes before wrapping her arms around my husband's neck. I could only look on as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her into his body, right before they shared a deep, passionate kiss right in front of me. If I thought I had know despair before, nothing compared the agony of what I was feeling now. Hot tears ran down my face as I asked them, “How long?” “About two years. Hurry up and sign, dear sister. The sooner you divorce him, the earlier we can tie our own knot,” My sister said, placing her hand on his chest to show me the huge diamond ring on her finger, “we're already engaged, as you can see.” My feelings settled into a solid weight at the bottom of my gut as I picked up the file. Defeated, I signed the divorce papers. I didn't even read through the clauses, not caringe about anything in that moment. As I signed, I wondered how my life took such a drastic turn. Where did it all go wrong? And how did I miss this scandalous affair as it went on right under my nose? “Oh, and darling, one more thing,” my husband smirked. “you really should have read those clauses.” “Why? Haven't you ruined me enough already?” “All of your assets now belong to me, as we didn't sign a prenup before we got married.” He said triumphantly. “So that's what you truly wanted, huh?” I asked. “Yes. Since the person I'm truly in love with is your sister.” He replied, turning to kiss Aeris again. I couldn't take it anymore, so I ran out of the apartment and went down the elevator, not even pausing to pay attention to anyone. I pulled my phone out of my pocket with shaky hands, dialling my dad immediately. “Hi dad,” I sobbed, “something terrible just happened.” “I've heard. How could you be so dumb?” My dad chastised me. “I didn't know, daddy! Darren used me.” I cried. “I'm sorry, sweetheart. But you're on your own.” My dad said and hung up on me. I didn't understand. How did my life turn so chaotic all of a sudden? In just one day, I discovered that my husband had been cheating on me with my twin sister, I got divorced, I lost all my assets and my fathers credibility. Could the day get any worse? I didn't notice that I had reached the exterior of the building, lost in my haze of despair. I just walked around aimlessly, not even minding where I was going. My life had become a total mess, and I didn't know where to begin picking up the pieces. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realise I had walked into the center of the road. A loud sound of a car horn pulled me out of my thoughts, but it was already too late. I could only stand there in shock and watch the black SUV come closer and closer. All my muscles froze at the impact, right before pain exploded throughout my entire right side, sending me crashing to the floor. I vaguely remembered sounds of shouting, right before my head hit the pavement and my world went black.