Chapter four
1095 Words
The morning light filtered weakly through the curtains, tracing pale lines across the bed sheets.
Jane reached out instinctively, her hand brushing against the cold, empty side of the bed.
He was gone.
No note.
No goodbye.
Just silence.
Her chest ached as she sat up slowly, her body heavy from a sleepless night. The house felt hollow—his shoes were gone from the hallway, the faint scent of his cologne already fading from the air. Everything about it screamed final.
She pressed a trembling hand against her forehead. He really left.
The envelope still sat on the nightstand, just where she’d dropped it after he’d handed it to her. She couldn’t bring herself to touch it again. She had spent the whole night staring at it, as if hoping it would disappear if she ignored it long enough.
But it didn’t.
Neither did the ache in her chest.
Her reflection in the mirror looked like someone she didn’t recognize,pale, hollow-eyed, stripped of every illusion she had clung to. But somewhere deep inside her, a small spark of defiance burned. If Francis wanted to throw her away like she was nothing, she would at least look him in the eye when he did it.
She showered, dressed, and pulled her hair into a tight bun. Her hands shook as she buttoned her white blouse. She didn’t bother with makeup. Not today.
Today, she just wanted answers.
The drive to Reece Corporation felt longer than usual. The streets blurred past her windshield, gray and dull, much like her mood. By the time she reached the towering glass building, her stomach was knotted with nerves. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The receptionist greeted her with a hesitant smile,too polite, too careful. Jane caught the flicker of surprise in the woman’s eyes but ignored it.
She headed straight to Francis’s office.
When she reached the glass door, she stopped cold.
There, sitting behind her desk,her assistant’s desk,was a woman she didn’t recognize at first glance. Long blond hair, red lips, perfectly pressed dress. Then recognition hit her like a punch.
Vanessa.
The woman who had been whispering at parties, laughing too loudly around Francis, showing up at company dinners with flimsy excuses.
Jane blinked, her voice trembling but controlled. “What are you doing here?”
Vanessa looked up with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Oh, Mrs. Reece..well, I suppose not for long now. Mr. Reece asked me to fill in for a while. He’s in a meeting.”
The words landed like a slap.
Jane stared at her, throat tightening. “You’re lying.”
Before Vanessa could respond, Francis’s office door opened. He stepped out, his expression smooth and unreadable as always.
“Jane.” His voice was calm,too calm. “You shouldn’t be here.”
She clenched her fists. “You gave me divorce papers on our anniversary and left without a word. You don’t get to tell me where I should or shouldn’t be.”
A few heads turned from nearby desks. Employees pretended not to listen, but their curiosity was palpable.
Francis’s jaw tightened. “Let’s not do this here.”
“No,” she said, her voice breaking. “We will do this here. You humiliated me once already,might as well finish the job, right?”
Vanessa crossed her arms, enjoying every second. “Maybe you should calm down, Mrs. Reece..”
“Don’t,” Jane snapped, glaring at her. “Don’t you dare talk to me.”
Francis exhaled sharply and gestured toward his office. “Five minutes. Then you leave.”
Jane followed him in, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
He shut the door behind them and turned, his eyes cold. “I told you last night,it’s over. You’re only making this harder.”
Her voice cracked. “Harder for who, Francis? For you? Or for the woman waiting outside?”
He didn’t flinch. “Don’t make this ugly.”
“It already is ugly!” she cried. “You made sure of that when you brought her here.”
He walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out another copy of the papers. He placed them neatly before her. “Sign fast and move out. I’ll have the legal team handle the rest.”
Her lips parted in disbelief. “You’re not even pretending to care, are you?”
Francis looked at her like a man discussing business,detached, efficient. “This is what’s best for both of us.”
For a moment, the world tilted. Her chest constricted so tight she could barely breathe.
She took one shaky step back, eyes glistening. “I hope she’s worth it,” she whispered. “I really do.”
He didn’t reply.
That silence,his silence,was the loudest thing in the room.
She turned and left before the tears could spill. Every gaze followed her as she walked out, head held high, though her heart was in pieces.
Vanessa smirked as Jane passed. “Tough day?”
Jane didn’t respond. She just kept walking, out of the building, out of the world she had once built beside him.
The moment she got into her car, the tears finally came. They blurred her vision, hot and unrelenting. She didn’t know where she was driving,just away. Away from the lies, the whispers, the pity.
Her fingers gripped the steering wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. How could he?
Her chest heaved as memories flooded in,every promise, every shared laugh, every night she waited for him to come home. And now it was all gone.
The road curved sharply. She didn’t see the car pulling out from the intersection until it was too late.
A blaring horn. Screeching tires.
Then..impact.
The world spun. The seatbelt locked across her chest. Her head hit the window, glass shattering somewhere near her left side.
Then,silence.
Everything went black.
- Writer
