The Hundredth Divorce

Sebastian King

Amelia's POV

I couldn't stop thinking about what Sebastian had said, my mother came to him seven years ago.

Seven years, the same year she died.

I stood in the middle of the studio, staring at him as if he had suddenly become a stranger.

"What did my mother tell you?"

Sebastian didn't answer immediately.

He walked toward the old piano and ran his fingers across its dusty surface.

"She told me she was working on something important."

"Project A?"

He nodded.

"She believed it could change the way musicians worked with record companies."

I looked at the files scattered across my mother's desk.

"Then why have I never heard about it?"

"Because your mother didn't want you involved."

I frowned.

"Why?"

"She wanted you to have a normal life."

I almost laughed.

"Well, that didn't exactly happen."

Sebastian looked at me.

"No, it didn't."

There was something in his eyes that made me uncomfortable, it was not pity, it was something deeper, something I couldn't quite understand.

I walked over to the desk and picked up the flash drive.

"My mother left this for me."

"I know."

I looked up sharply.

"You knew?"

"Not about the flash drive."

He paused.

"But I knew she had hidden something for you."

My fingers tightened around it.

"How?"

"Because she told me."

I stared at him.

"What exactly did she say?"

Sebastian was silent for a few seconds.

Then he looked at me.

"She said that if anything happened to her, you would eventually find your way back to her work."

My eyes immediately filled with tears, my mother had known.

Somehow, she had known that one day I would come looking for this.

I looked away quickly, I didn't want Sebastian to see me cry again, but unfortunately, he already had.

He didn't say anything, he simply stood there.

That was something I wasn't used to.

Alexander always had something to say whenever I cried.

Stop crying.

You're being dramatic.

You're trying to make me feel guilty.

Sebastian said nothing.

He just let me cry.

And somehow, that made the tears come even harder.

I wiped my face.

Sebastian had always been there, even before Alexander, but I had been foolish enough to think Sebastian was boring, and Alexander fun. You, know, I even used to fear him, he was always serious, no time for jokes, and his voice, even though many girls loved it then, I feared it.

"I want to finish it."

He nodded.

"I know."

"I don't care how difficult it is."

"I know."

"I want to build what my mother couldn't finish."

He looked at me for a moment.

"Then do it."

I blinked.

"What?"

Did he say do it? Did he even know how much it will cost me? Do i even have that amount of money?

"Do it." He added as he walked toward the desk and picked up one of the documents.

"I'll invest in the project."

My eyes widened.

"You will?"

"Yes."

I stared at him.

"But you don't even know if it will work."

"I trust Victoria's judgment."

He placed the document back down.

"And I trust yours."

I didn't know what to say, nobody had trusted my judgment in years. Especially not my soon to be ex-husband Alexander.

I looked down at my trembling hand.

"But there is something you need to understand."

He looked at me.

"I'm not giving you money so you can depend on me."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're going to lead the project."

I stared at him.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"But I've never run a project like this."

"You know music."

"My mother knew music."

"And you learned from her."

I remained silent. Alexander had always told me I suck at music.

Sebastian continued.

"You have her talent. You have her determination. You just stopped believing in yourself."

His words hit me harder than I expected, he looked at my hand.

"You stopped because someone convinced you that you weren't good enough."

I swallowed hard.

Alexander's voice suddenly echoed in my head.

'You call that music?'

'You should leave this to professionals.'

'Why do you keep taking pictures?'

'You're my wife. You don't need all this.'

For seven years, I had listened, and maybe that was my biggest mistake.

I looked at Sebastian.

"What if I fail?"

"Then you fail."

I blinked, then he smiled slightly. Something he hardly do

"And then you try again."

I stared at him.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

He shrugged.

"I'm not looking for someone perfect, Amelia. I'm looking for someone willing to fight for what she believes in."

My eyes became hot again.

I quickly looked away.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because your mother believed in you."

I looked back at him.

"Only because of my mother?"

Now there was silence.

For the first time, Sebastian looked slightly uncomfortable.

I noticed, but he looked away.

"That isn't the only reason."

My heart skipped, I didn't ask him to explain, maybe I was afraid of the answer. Really, I've always been afraid of what he would say.

Instead, I nodded.

"I'll do it."

He smiled.

"Good."

I looked at the files again, and for the first time in years, I felt excited about something that had nothing to do with Alexander.

I was going to build something, something that belonged to me, that belonged to my mother.

Then I remembered something again

"Sebastian."

He turned.

"How long have you known me?"

He didn't answer.

I narrowed my eyes.

"You said you have always trusted me."

He remained silent.

"How long?"

"Longer than you think."

I laughed nervously.

"That's not an answer."

He smiled.

"I knew you before Alexander married you. Before you stopped believing in yourself."

My smile disappeared.

"How?"

"I saw you at one of your mother's music events."

I tried to remember but i couldnt remember which, there had been so many.

"You were seventeen."

I stared at him.

"You remember that?"

"I remember."

"Why?"

He looked at me.

"Because you were standing in the corner with a camera, taking pictures of everyone while everyone else was trying to get your mother's attention."

I couldn't help laughing.

"That sounds like me."

"It was."

He smiled.

"You looked happy."

The smile slowly disappeared from my face, I remembered that girl.

She was happy, she had dreams.

"I watched from a distance for years," Sebastian continued. "But I never interfered."

"Why?"

"Because you loved Alexander."

I became quiet.

"You knew?"

"Everyone who knew you could see it."

He paused.

"And I wasn't going to become the man who stood between you and the person you had chosen."

I stared at him.

"You waited?"

"Yes."

"For seven years?"

He looked directly into my eyes.

"Yes."

My heart started beating faster.

I didn't know what to say.

Seven years.

While I was busy begging Alexander to love me, another man had been quietly watching from a distance.

And all these while, I had thought he wanted to marry me just because ut felt continental for him, i never knew he had been waiting.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

He picked up his coat.

"I should leave."

I nodded.

He walked toward the door, but before leaving, he stopped.

"Amelia."

I looked at him.

"Five days isn't very long."

I frowned.

"For what?"

A small smile appeared on his lips.

"For me to become your husband."

My heart stopped, I just remembered that I had called him earlier and agreed to marry him.

He opened the door and walked away.

I remained standing there, completely frozen,and for the first time, I wasn't thinking about Alexander, wasn't thinking about the divorce, not even thinking about my mother's project.

I was thinking about Sebastian and suddenly, the marriage I had offered him in desperation didn't feel like a deal anymore.

It felt like something much more dangerous, something I might actually want.