Chapter 2 - No. We’re Doing It My Way.
1175 Words
VALERIE'S POV
It was 2 years ago. I was watching a Chinese soap opera that Saturday evening.
The female lead, Li Xhou, was a young woman in her mid-20s who worked two different jobs to provide for both her and her husband, a drunk who would beat her every day.
In that episode, Li Xhou had just found out her husband had cheated on her and sat in a restaurant with her best friend.
I couldn't remember how the episode ended but I could never forget what she said :
“The worst kind of heartbreak is not watching the person you love walk away from you. It's realizing they were never yours to begin with.”
I had told myself that Alexander would never do this to me despite us being on “an island even when we were close.”
He had assured me that Sonia was just a “colleague” and I had foolishly believed him.
I let out a shaky breath, gripping the edge of the table as I stared at the divorce papers.
Alexander was seated by the dining, looking like a handsome mess. His silver-blonde hair was tousled, he reeked of a perfume that wasn't mine, and his slightly unbuttoned shirt and tie loosened.
He didn't even flinch when he saw me trembling.
“Before I sign this…” I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. “Where were you last night?”
Sonia, who was leaning against the kitchen island while watching the chicken in the microwave, chuckled softly.
I had gotten my answer but I wanted him to say it himself.
“Don't do this, Valerie. I don't have time for this.” Alexander sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“You don't have time for this?” I scoffed. “It's already morning, Alexander. My birthday is over. You promise you'd be there.”
“Let's just say, I got caught up.”
“With Sonia?”
His shoulders tensed, but he didn't turn around.
I exhaled a shaky breath. “Say something, Alexander!”
“What do you want me to say?” he slammed his fist on the table. “Just sign the damn paper.”
“So you spent my birthday night with her?” I clenched my fists.
He exhaled. “Valerie!”
“Just tell me the truth.” I began to beg.
He looked at me for a long time, and then he smiled. Not an apologetic smile or a regretful one but a cold and cruel smirk.
“The truth?” Sonia strolled into the plate of the chicken I had cooked myself. “Well, the truth, Valerie, is that Alexander was with me. Yes. We've been together for a very long time. And now, I don't feel guilty for it at all.”
“You don’t even feel bad?”
Sonia smiled, sitting on Alexander's lap. “Why should I?”
My breath came in short, painful gasps. “I never stopped loving you.”
“That's the problem with you, Valerie.” Alexander laughed. “You love me too much and expect too much.”
I blinked rapidly. “I was your wife. Loving you is my duty!”
“No! Giving me a child was your duty!” Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose. “Maybe, if you had a child, I would've learned to love you but you couldn't even do that right.”
What?
Sonia laughed, still sticking the chicken. Each chuckling sound stabbed my chest like a knife.
“You… Alexander, you think I failed you because I haven't gotten pregnant?”
“You did fail me.” He said. “I needed a child, Valerie. A real family. I tried with you but it's been 5 years. I'm done waiting.”
I had spent years blaming myself, crying in the bathroom every time came back negative and all this time, Alexander was blaming me too.
Tears slipped down my cheeks. “So I can't do that but Sonia can?”
Christopher crossed his arms. “She already has.”
Alexander leaned forward and tapped the divorce paper. “Do yourself a favor and sign this, will you?”
Tears filled my eyes. “And if I don't?”
“Then I'll make sure you regret it.”
For the first time in years, I felt nothing but rage.
I had spent so long being the perfect wife, the devoted woman who endured everything in silence but this? This was too damn much.
“Sign it, Valerie!” Sonia said with a quirked eyebrow.
“Fine!” I hissed.
Alexander chuckled. “Fine?”
“You want this your way?” I dropped the pen and held the paper for him to see, then I ripped it in half. “No. We're doing it my way.”
Alexander jerked forward and Sonia quickly got off his lap. “Valerie!”
“No! Don't you dare mention my name!” I yelled. “You took everything from me! Now? I'll take everything back from you!”
At that moment, I saw something in his eyes that I had never seen before – Fear.
And I liked it.
“What the hell did you just do, you b***h!” Alexander yelled, his voice trembling.
“I am not doing that!” I yelled again. “I'm not signing those damned divorce papers!”
“Don't you talk to Alexander like that, you b***h!” Sonia stepped in.
Sonia. That name sent a ripple of rage through me and I barked in a voice I never knew was mine.
“Get the hell out of my way!” I said.
“No. You get out of our way,” Sonia said, taking a step forward. “You’re not supposed to be here!”
“Likewise you!” I hissed back.
“You slut!” Sonia lunged at me and I dodged just in time.
Suddenly, screams tore through the air. Sonia's screams.
Alexander pushed me out of the way and ran to her side, holding her in his embrace. “Sonia! Sonia! Valerie, what did you do to her?!”
I froze, seeing Sonia clutch her stomach. “I… I didn't push her!”
“So what? She fell on her own?” Alexander yelled. “She's f*****g pregnant, Valerie! What the f**k is wrong with you!”
“I didn't push her! I swear!” I defended myself. I didn't even touch her!”
“You b***h! You tried to kill my baby because you can't have one!” Alexander spat with annoyance.
Yes, I was angry that I couldn't give him a child.
Yes, I was upset about the fact that Alexander's heir wouldn't come from me.
But the last thing I could want to do was commit murder much less harm an Innocent baby.
“Alexander, I…”
“Save it!” Alexander lifted Sonia into his arms. “I'm calling the cops on you.”
“What?”
- Writer
