Awakening
1131 Words
I let out a shaky breath, gripping the edge of the table as I stared at the divorce papers.
Tristan was seated by the dinning, looking like a handsome mess. His red hair was tousled, he reeked of a perfume that wasn't mine and his slightly unbuttoned shirt and tie loosened. He didn't even bat an eye when he saw me trembling.
“Before I sign this…” I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. “Where were you last night?”
Eloise, 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.
“I don't have time for this. Sign the damn papers and give them to me!” Tristan snapped, running a hand through his hair.
“You don't have time for this?” I scoffed. “It's our anniversary dinner. You promise you'd be there.”
“Let's just say, I got caught up.”
“With her? Your secretary?”
His shoulders tensed, but he didn't turn around.
I exhaled a shaky breath. “Say something!”
“What do you want me to say?” he slammed his fist on the table. “Just sign the damn paper.”
“So you spent our anniversary night with her?” I clenched my fists.
He exhaled. “Hyacinth!”
“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?” Eloise strolled into the plate of the chicken I had cooked myself. “Well, the truth, Hyacinth, is that Tristan was with me, and yes, we've been together for a very long time.”
“You don’t even feel bad about ruining someone's marriage?”
Eloise smiled, sitting on Tristan's lap. “Why should I?”
“That's the problem with you, Diana.” Tristan laughed. “You love me too much and expect too much.”
I blinked rapidly. “I was your wife. Loving you was my duty!”
“No! Serving me was your duty.” Tristan said coldly. “I never saw you as a wife, much less a mate. You didn't earn the right for me to love you.”
What?
Eloise laughed, still sticking the chicken. Each chuckling sound stabbing my chest like a knife.
“You… never saw me as your mate?”
“No,” he said. “I married you because my father told me to. Now, he's no more. I see no need to keep you around.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
I had spent years loving Tristan, being there for him whenever and wherever he needed me. At our Mating Ceremony, he'd told me he couldn't live without me. On the day I gave birth to little Tim, Tristan had told me he loved me. For five years, I had believed him. All of it, those precious memories were all lies.
Tristan leaned forward and tapped the divorce paper. “Do yourself a favour and sign this.”
“And if I don't?” I lifted my chin.
“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, Diana!” Eloise snapped.
“No! Who's gonna take care of Tim? I'm his mother! I can't just leave him!” I hissed.
“Eloise will take care of him. You have no place here.” Tristan grinned as if to challenge me.
I clenched my jaws. “That's not possible. Another woman can't be the mother to my own child!”
Eloise grinned. “Watch me.”
Just then, little footsteps patted against the polished wooden floor and my heart rate skipped a beat. Tim? He was awake this whole time? Did he overhear us?
His brown hair was bedraggled and his flannel pajamas rumpled from sleep. My five year old stifled a yawn and looked at me.
My eyes filled and I opened my arms. “Come to mommy, baby.”
Tim looked between me and Eloise. I paused. Why was he hesitating? What was wrong? Had all the time he spent with Tristan brainwashed him that he can't even recognize his own mom.
“Sweetie?” I called out to him.
This time he didn't answer me like usual. He ran towards Eloise and threw his arms around her waist.
“Mommy!” Those words left my five-year-old’s mouth like a slap of cold water.
I froze. The purse in my hand hovered mid-air before clattering to the ground with a loud clang. No one noticed or maybe they did and just didn't care.
“Aww, aren't you just the cutest little thing, Tim?” Eloise sitting beside cooed, ruffling Tim’s hair like she was his mother and for reasons beyond me, he thought so too.
“Will you be my mommy, Eloise? I don't like mine.”
My breath caught.
Eloise giggled and whisked him into her arms. “Aww. Anything for you, my little dove.”
I stared at the scene : the three of them, laughing and talking like I wasn't even there. Like I didn't even exist.
I stared at her, my hands trembling.
She wasn't supposed to be here.
It was our anniversary dinner. She was just the secretary yet, she was here, playing the role of dutiful wife and Luna. A role that was supposed to be mine.
I should've known better.
I watched in silence as they led Tim to the dining table where dinner had been prepared — our anniversary dinner.
Eloise sat in one of the chairs, sipping wine like she was filming a commercial. Her blonde curls bounced as she laughed at something Tristan said while I stood frozen in my spot, my eyes stinging with tears.
Tim got off his chair and showed her his game on his tablet. “I can't seem to get past this level.”
“Let's see,” She took the tablet, her fingers brushing across the screen as she played. Then she smiled. “Done.”
“Woah. You did it!” Tim squealed. His face lit up when she ruffled his hair and said. “You're so smart, mommy!”
My heart tightened in my chest. He used to say that about me.
I turned my back to them, my eyes art not taking it anymore.
My own husband doesn't want me anymore and neither does my own son.
- Writer
