My Possesive Ex-Husband

CRACK! ​The sound shattered the heavy, suffocating silence. Upon the marble tabletop, Madam Viola slammed a sheet of paper down with violent force. ​"Get a divorce. There is no point in the two of you staying together anymore!" she declared, her tone final and absolute. ​Evelyn gripped her skirt so hard her knuckles turned white. Her heart hammered against her ribs, as if trying to claw its way out of her chest. This wasn't the first time her mother-in-law had spat those words. For years, the "failure to provide an heir" had been the bullet repeatedly fired at her. But through it all, Alex had always been her shield. He had always fought for her. He was the only reason Evelyn still found the strength to stand tall in this house. ​But today... why was her husband standing there, frozen like a statue? ​"Divorce? You make it sound so easy, Mother. We are still—" Evelyn tried to defend herself, but her voice hitched in her throat. ​"Fine. You want us to divorce, Mother? Is that it?" ​Evelyn gasped, her eyes widening in sheer horror as those words tumbled from her husband’s own mouth. The world seemed to grind to a halt. Alex, are you serious?! You really want to divorce me?! her mind screamed. She stared at him, her gaze fractured by disbelief. ​"Alex, don't you dare do something you'll regret!" ​Madam Viola curled her lips into a satisfied smirk. Her eyes gleamed with a predatory triumph. It was clear now; Alex wouldn't dare defy her orders to discard his wife any longer. ​"The only thing he’d regret is keeping you!" Madam Viola snapped venomously. "You’re just a barren woman who can’t even produce a single heir. Alex is the only son of the Archer family. Why should he waste his life with a woman who can’t even fulfill the most basic duty of a wife?!" ​"Alex! Are you serious about this? You’ll regret it, Alex!" Evelyn ignored her mother-in-law, her eyes demanding an answer from the man she loved most. ​"Regret what?" the older woman interjected again, her voice dripping with disdain. "Don't you worry. We’ll provide a fair settlement for you. Just as long as you get far away from my son." ​"ALEX! LOOK AT ME!" Evelyn shrieked, her composure breaking into a sob as the weight of his indifference crushed her. ​Her voice trembled violently. Hadn't they shared the same warmth just last night? Hadn't they been tangled in each other's arms only hours ago, making love as if the rest of the world didn't exist? How could it all end so abruptly this afternoon, dictated by a mere piece of paper? ​Alex remained motionless. He couldn't—or perhaps, he didn't dare—meet the eyes of the woman who had walked beside him for five years. Love? Of course, he still loved her desperately. But his mother’s pressure had backed him into a corner. The threat to harm Evelyn if he stayed had paralyzed his courage. He chose to be a coward for the sake of what he called "Evelyn’s safety." ​"I'll see you in court, Evelyn," Alex said coldly, though his voice wavered ever so slightly. ​Evelyn froze. Those words felt sharper than a razor’s edge. Standing before her, Alex was no longer her protector; he was a stranger who had surrendered before the war had even begun. ​The silence that followed was deafening. Alex’s voice sounded alien—cold and lifeless. Five years of marriage seemed to evaporate into nothingness within a single, short sentence. ​"I'll see you in court, Evelyn." ​Evelyn let out a hollow, jarring laugh that broke through the tears suffocating her chest. "Five years, Alex. Five years I endured your mother’s insults because I believed you were my home. But it turns out... you’re just a coward hiding behind your mother’s skirts." ​"Watch your tongue, Evelyn!" Madam Viola barked, her eyes flashing with victory. "Leave now! Take your things. This house has no room for a parasite like you." ​Evelyn didn't even spare the old woman a glance. Her eyes remained fixed on Alex, searching for a trace of the man who had whispered sweet promises into her ear last night. But Alex kept his head bowed, his fists clenched so tightly at his sides that his skin strained against the bone. ​Alex was at war with himself, but to Evelyn, his silence was the ultimate betrayal. ​"Fine," Evelyn said softly, her voice now hauntingly calm and sharp. She wiped her tears away with a rough hand. "I’ll go. And mark my words, Alex. The moment my feet step out of this house, I am no longer the Evelyn who will beg for your love. Don’t you ever dare come looking for me again." ​She turned on her heel and walked away without a single backward glance. ​Only when the sound of Evelyn’s retreating footsteps faded did Alex finally dare to lift his gaze. He watched her small silhouette disappear through the door. His chest felt tight, as if the oxygen was being forcibly sucked out of the room. ​Don’t regret this, Alex, her voice echoed in his mind. ​"Forget it, Alex. I’ve already prepared someone much better for you," Madam Viola consoled, patting her son’s shoulder. ​Alex didn't answer. He walked toward the window, watching Evelyn drag her small suitcase across the yard. Under the dim glow of the streetlights, she looked fragile, yet strangely... she looked composed. There were no hysterical screams, no over-the-top drama. ​A sudden flare of possessive resentment burned through Alex’s ego. Why is she so calm? Has she been waiting for this moment to leave me? ​"She thinks she can just be free?" Alex murmured so softly it was almost a devil’s whisper. ​His thoughts began to run wild. He might not be able to keep her as his legal wife for now, but the thought of Evelyn belonging to another man? Imagining the lips he had kissed just last night whispering another man's name? ​No. Never. ​Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He opened a tracking app he had secretly installed on Evelyn’s phone a long time ago. The small red dot began to move away from the house. ​"You can leave this house, Evelyn. But you will never escape my sight," he thought. A faint, chilling smile flickered across his pale face. "Let’s see how long you can survive out there all alone without me." ​Madness. Yes, Alex knew he was losing his mind. ​He clearly still loved his wife, yet he was cowardly enough to obey his mother’s wish for a divorce. His mind drifted back to the sweet promises they had exchanged under the dim light of their bedroom. ​We’ll stay together forever, right? That’s what you promised, Evelyn, his heart lamented, even though his mouth had just driven her away. ​"Stop staring at her!" Madam Viola snapped, shattering his trance. "I’ve already picked out several candidates who will suit you. Besides, I never approved of that woman. She’s clever, I’ll give her that, but she was never our equal." ​Alex remained silent, his jaw tightening. ​"Furthermore, she had absolutely no respect for me!" his mother continued, piling on the insults. ​"She’s beautiful," Alex muttered curtly. ​"What?" Madam Viola frowned, unsure if she had heard him correctly ​"The reason I married Evelyn... the reason I was so obsessed with her... it’s because she is breathtakingly beautiful, Mother," Alex said coldly. ​He turned around, meeting his mother’s gaze with a hollow, unreadable expression. "If you want to find someone to replace her, find a woman who is more beautiful than she is." ​Without waiting for a reply, Alex walked away, his hands shoved deep into his pockets to hide the way they trembled with suppressed emotion. ​"A beautiful woman? You want a beauty? I’ll find you one!" Madam Viola shouted from the living room, convinced the challenge was a simple one. ​But deep down, Alex knew it was impossible. To him, no one could ever rival Evelyn’s beauty—a beauty he had just discarded with his own hands, and a beauty that would soon begin to haunt his every waking night.