Chapter 1: Shattered Vows
(Elara's POV)
“Oh f**k, James! Yes! Just like that!” She screamed with a ragged voice.
“You like that, you dirty girl?” He grunted, his voice thick with a lust I had not felt in years.
He pulled his hips back almost fully and I saw it. The thick glistening length of him, slick with her arousal. “You want all of it?” he asked, pulling her hair.
“Yes, daddy... yes, please. I need it. Fill me up.”
He drove forward, burying himself inside her in one brutal stroke. Mel’s back arched violently off the bed.
Screams tore from her throat. Her hands, which had been clutching the sheets, flew to his head. Her fingers tangled in his hair.
“I’m close. I am about to c*m. Do not stop, please!” she yelled with her eyes rolling back. “Make me c*m. Make me squirt all over your c**k, baby.”
The words hit me like a blow. Squirt. It was something James always begged me for. A point of intimacy I never reached.
“Do it,” he commanded, his voice raw.
Mel’s body went stiff. A sound ripped from her p***y that was pure pleasure. Her thighs clamped around his hips and James gave one final deep thrust. I saw it.
A gush of clear fluid erupted from where they were joined. It soaked his lower abdomen and the sheets beneath them.
In that exact moment, the world stopped.
My throat caught and the word stuck in my chest. “James!”
He did not turn immediately. Every second dragged longer, then slowly, he turned. His eyes, shadowed and unreadable, met mine with coldness.
A jagged smirk curled his lips like he owned the moment.
“Elara,” he said low and unkind. “You are early.”
Mel arched her back with a stretch. Her eyes gleamed wickedly.
She glanced at me carelessly, eyes narrowing with a cruel smile. “Oops,” she said softly, voice dripping with mockery. “Looks like we got caught, huh?”
The room spun. My knees wobbled as if the ground gave way. My fingertips scraped the paint on the doorframe. I grasped it, trying to stop the chaos inside me.
My lungs tightened. A burning ache spread from my chest. The air between us grew thick. I could not breathe.
The silence was heavy and choking. Memories slammed into my chest with brutal force.
James at his cluttered desk. Hands trembling as he traced blueprints on crumpled napkins. His tiny apartment with shadows flickering from a streetlamp.
I was exhausted and dragging myself home after long days at Voss Properties. Heat prickled my skin. The clink of cutlery and the sizzle of steak on the stove blurred in my mind.
Night after night, my fingers typed business plans, fought zoning rules, called contacts. I hoped and dreamed. I loved him foolishly and fiercely.
Then there was the weight of the inheritance. The empire of billions passing through my hands. I remembered sitting at the lawyer’s table, trembling as I signed everything away. The ink smudged and tears blurred my view.
“It is yours,” I whispered. “Build it. For us.”
His tears mixed with mine as he held me like I was fragile. I loved him with all I had. It hurt so much.
But his towers rose on the ruins of my sacrifices. My friends faded. My dreams were buried under luxury. My body felt battered and worn.
Still, I held on. Without him, I was lost.
Now, standing here, the weight of the past pressed on me hard enough to drown me.
Mel lay there, glowing skin and triumphant eyes. James relaxed, leaning back without a care.
“James...” I trembled and my voice cracked. “What the hell are you doing? How can you treat me like this after everything?”
He sighed, unimpressed, as if I was a nuisance. “Spare me,” he said lazily. “You bore me, Elara.”
Mel’s smile grew cruel. Her fingers traced his bare chest. Her voice was soft but sharp. “Big sis, always so perfect. Look where it got you. Nowhere.”
My stomach clenched. My fists curled by instinct. A spark of rage burst but pain of shame was sharper. I stepped forward, fists tight, nails biting my palms. My vision narrowed to her smug grin and his bored look.
“Shut up,” I muttered, voice full of anger. “You both think this is funny? I built you. I gave you everything, James. What more do you want?”
Mel’s laughter echoed hollow. She leaned into him, smiling wickedly. “You are yesterday’s news. James needed someone who makes him feel alive. Not some boring housewife.”
James waved my words away. “She is right. You have been out of it lately. It is sad. Maybe it is time to let go.”
Each word struck me like an arrow. The fire inside flared bright. I clenched my fists until they trembled. Anger wanted to break loose but underneath, cold numbness crept in.
Tears came without warning. Hot and out of control. They burned as they rolled down my face. My knees buckled. My voice broke into a whisper. “James...” It was a raw, hollow plea.
He stretched upright and reached into the nightstand. He pulled an envelope and threw it on the floor.
The thud echoed in the silence. I stared, trembling, at the words “divorce papers.” My body jerked and I collapsed to my knees. The cold paper pressed hard against my palms.
My fingers shook as they reached for it. I clutched the edge like it was the only thing stopping me from breaking.
I looked up at him with a fragile voice. “Divorce?”
He snorted, arms crossed lazily. Mel smirked from the bed.
My legs shook. I could not breathe. Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to look away. “You are divorcing me? After everything?”
He tilted his head as if I was an annoyance. “Just sign the papers, Elara,” he said coldly. “Let’s skip the drama.”
The world tilted. I clenched my fists so tight my nails pierced my palms. The paper shook in my hands. Tears stained the ink, while I sank to the floor, clutching the edge, desperate and silent.
“Please,” I whispered with thick voice. Tears streamed down. “Do not do this. You cannot. You cannot leave me.”
I reached out trembling and grabbed his ankle. Clutching with all I had. “James... do not... please...” My voice cracked as sobs took over. Ugly and relentless. My body shook with despair.