The divorced wife

chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Other Woman

Amelia pov

By the time I got to Kingston Group, I'd basically convinced myself I was fine.

The crying stayed home. The wife who got asked for a divorce last night, she stayed home too. The woman who walked out of that elevator on the thirty-second floor was just the Executive Operations Manager. That was the plan anyway.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kingston."

"Morning, Mrs. Kingston."

"Morning."

I smiled at everybody as I walked through, said good morning back, the whole routine. Most of the people in that building didn't even think of me as Chris's wife. To them I was just the woman who answered emails at midnight, remembered whose birthday was coming up, stayed late when some department was drowning and needed help. Arthur used to tell me that a title gets you respect for about a day. Character gets you respect for the rest of your life. I still think about that a lot, actually.

I remember the first day he walked me into this building. He said, "One day people will forget where you came from. They'll only remember how you made them feel." I smiled thinking about that in the elevator. I hope I've made him proud. I really do.

"Mrs. Kingston?"

Lily, my assistant, came rushing over with her tablet.

"Finance moved their meeting up to nine."

"That's fine."

"And the board presentation got pushed to this afternoon."

"Perfect."

She stopped and looked at me a second longer than she needed to.

"You feeling okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You look tired."

I laughed a little. "Didn't sleep much."

She looked like she wanted to push it, but she let it go. "I'll bring you coffee."

"Thanks."

My office felt quiet in a good way for once. First time in weeks I actually wanted the silence instead of dreading it. Work was the one place I always knew exactly who I was. No pretending there. No wondering if somebody loved me back. No lying awake listening for a car in the driveway. Just work. Numbers. Reports. Easier than people, honestly. A spreadsheet never lies to you.

I opened my laptop and just disappeared into it for a while. Two hours went by before I even noticed. My coffee had gone stone cold sitting there.

Knock at the door. Lily again.

"You skipped breakfast, didn't you."

"I had breakfast."

"You had coffee."

"That counts."

"It really doesn't." She set a sandwich down on my desk anyway. "You're going to make yourself sick doing this."

I thanked her even though just the smell of it made something turn over in my stomach. I pushed it to the side and kept working.

A few minutes later the dizziness came back. Grabbed the edge of my desk. Everything went blurry for a second, like somebody smeared vaseline over my eyes.

"Mrs. Kingston?" Lily's voice sounded like it was coming from underwater.

"I'm okay."

"You want me to call the company doctor?"

"No. It's probably just stress." I took a slow breath. She didn't look like she believed me, and honestly I didn't fully believe myself either. But it passed after a minute, the way it had before, so I let it go.

Just as I reached for another file, the door opened again.

Victoria Blake walked in like she'd already been given a key to the place.

White dress, the kind that probably cost more than my whole first paycheck back before Arthur ever found me. Her makeup was perfect. Her smile was perfect. Everything about her looked like it took a team of people three hours to build, and maybe it did.

"Hello, Amelia."

I stood up slowly. "Victoria."

"Hope I'm not interrupting."

"You are."

She laughed, this light little laugh like I'd just told a joke at a dinner party. "I've always liked how honest you are."

I didn't say anything back. I just watched her wander around my office, running her fingers along the shelf where my awards sit, touching the frames on the wall like she was window shopping.

"I've heard a lot about this office."

"It's not a museum."

"I know."

She finally turned to face me straight on.

"I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what."

"For finally letting Chris go."

The room went quiet in this heavy way. I felt my jaw tighten.

"I've waited three years for him," she said, arms crossed now, like she was proud of that. "Guess a few more weeks won't kill me."

I looked her right in the eye. "I hope the wait was worth it."

That threw her off a little. I think she wanted tears out of me. Maybe some yelling. Instead I just went back to the file on my desk.

"Was there something else?"

Her smile dropped just a little at the corners.

"You know he never loved you." She said it soft, almost gentle, which somehow made it worse.

It stung. Not because it was new information. Because it was true, and hearing somebody else say it out loud in my own office made it real in a way I wasn't ready for.

"I know," I said.

That actually got to her. For the first time since she walked in, she looked unsure of herself.

"You... know?"

"I've always known."

"Then why'd you stay?"

I looked down at the ring still on my finger. "Not everything's as simple as it looks from the outside."

Neither of us said anything for a second. Then she grabbed her bag off the chair.

"I'll be seeing a lot more of this building soon."

"Maybe," I said.

She walked toward the door, and right as she passed my shoulder she bumped into me. Not hard. Just enough. Enough to knock me a step sideways.

The room tilted. I grabbed for the edge of my desk and missed it the first time.

Everything went blurry again, but worse this time, way worse. My chest felt tight all of a sudden, like I couldn't get a full breath in.

"Mrs. Kingston!" Lily came running in from the hallway.

"I'm"

I tried to answer her. Nothing came out right.

The room kept spinning. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to settle like it always had before.

It didn't stop this time.