Chapter 3: Broken Promises
739 Words
Maya sat in the car for a while before driving home. Her hands shook on the steering wheel. She could not believe what she had seen. All she could visualize was Lucas with this little girl, Evelyn smiling at him, the girl calling him Daddy.
Her chest hurt by the time she pulled into the driveway. She did not want to enter, nearly. But she had no choice. This was her house too.
She opened the front door and entered. The living room lights were lit. Lucas was home. He was sitting on the couch in front of his open laptop, as if everything was okay.
"Lucas." She spoke, her voice cracking as she let fall her bag.
He glanced up, calm as usual. "You're home. Did you eat?"
Maya glared at him, her wrath seething. "Don't act like nothing happened. I saw it."
He raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play it coy" she growled. "I went to your office. They said you'd left. I tracked you down, Lucas. I saw you go into that apartment. With her. With Evelyn. And the baby."
For a moment, his face was blank. Then he closed his laptop with care. "So you know.".
Her knees were weak. "That's it? That's all you say? I know? You've lied to me for years. You have a daughter with her!"
Lucas rubbed his forehead and let out a deep sigh. "Maya, stop. This isn't the moment for hysterics."
"Hysterics?" Her voice increased. "I've been sitting at a restaurant with our anniversary present while you're with her—your mistress and your daughter! And you tell me to calm down?"
He stood up and strode towards her, his tone curt. "Listen. I didn't say because I was protecting you. I didn't want you to get hurt."
Maya's eyes filled with tears. "Protect me? By keeping a whole family from me behind my back? By making me look like a fool for a decade?"
He shrugged. "It was better this way. You're always too sensitive. You would not have handled it."
Her mouth dropped open. "Too sensitive? You lied to me, Lucas! You broke our vows!'
"Stop acting dramatic," he snapped. "You and I both know you couldn't provide what I needed. I needed a child. You couldn't give me that. Evelyn gave me what you couldn't."
Maya stumbled back, as if he had hit her. "Don't ever say that.".
"It's the truth," he answered coldly. "We tried for years. Nothing came of it. What kind of man would I be if I gave up on having a child? Evelyn gave me Sophie. She gave me a real family."
Maya shook her head. "I am your family. I've been with you all these years."
"And I'm grateful," Lucas answered brutally. "But things change. Don't make this harder than it has to be.
Maya's chest seared. "You're unbelievable. Do you even know what you're talking about? You're discarding ten years of marriage as if it meant nothing!"
Lucas walked over and opened his briefcase, pulling out a folder. He laid it in front of her.
"What's this?" she demanded, looking at it.
"Divorce papers," he said matter-of-factly. "I've already signed. All you need to do is sign as well. We can get this done quietly.
Maya's hands trembled as she opened the folder. "You schemed this. You schemed all of this while I was still fixing dinner and waiting for you to return home."
He didn't answer. He simply rearranged his tie.
Her voice broke. "Do I mean anything to you, Lucas? Did I ever?"
"You mean something," he said without looking. "Just… not the way you'd hope. This is in both of our best interests."
Her phone buzzed on the table. She answered it reflexively, rather than look at him.
It was a news alert.
She opened it—her blood ran cold.
Businessman Lucas Vale Announces Divorce: Wife Struggles with "Emotional Instability."
There was even a photo of Lucas smiling at some gala, Evelyn at his side. The article had her sounding like some delicate, unstable thing who couldn't handle being a wife.
Maya's eyes went dim. "You. you already told the media?"
Lucas regarded her with no guilt. "It was the easiest way out. People needed to be told the truth."
"The truth?" she gasped. "Your lies."
He said nothing.
Maya's phone dropped from her hand and clattered on the floor.
- Writer
