The Ring
1279 Words
They were waiting for her in the living room.
Vivienne sat on the white sofa with her legs crossed, sipping tea as if this were a normal Sunday morning. The two lawyers stood beside her. Lucas stood by the fireplace with his back to the room.
He hadn't changed his clothes. His shirt from last night was creased, and there was a small stain on the sleeve.
Celeste's makeup, Aria realized.
"Sit down, Aria," Vivienne said.
"I'll stand."
Vivienne smiled thinly. "Suit yourself."
The older lawyer cleared his throat and opened his briefcase. "Mrs. Thorne, I'll be direct. Last night, a police complaint was filed against you for assaulting a pregnant woman."
Aria's heart dropped. "A police complaint? By who?"
"By me," Vivienne said calmly.
"With the video and the messages now public," the lawyer continued, "the police will treat this as planned. Intent to harm an unborn child. That is very serious. You could go to prison."
Prison.
The word hit Aria like cold water.
The lawyer placed a thick document on the coffee table.
Aria looked down at it.
DIVORCE AGREEMENT.
Her name was already typed at the bottom.
For a moment, the words swam in front of her eyes.
"Lucas?" Her voice came out with stutter. "Lucas, what... what is this?"
He didn't turn around.
"Lucas, please. What's happening? I don't... I don't understand." She was stammering now, and she hated it. "We've been married five years. Five years! And you won't even look at me?"
Lucas lowered his head. His shoulders were stiff, like a man carrying something too heavy to hold.
But he said nothing.
Vivienne set her teacup down very slowly.
"What's happening?" she repeated. "I'll tell you what's happening, since my son is too kind to say it."
She stood up. "Last night, you tried to kill the Thorne heir. In my house. In front of a hundred guests." Her voice rose with every word. "That child is my blood, Aria. My grandchild. And you, the girl from nowhere that my son dragged in off the street, you thought you could destroy him because you couldn't give him one yourself?"
Aria flinched as if she had been hit.
"I didn't—"
"Five years!" Vivienne snapped. "Five years I watched you sit at my table, eat my food, wear my family's name. I told Lucas from the first day you were trouble. And now the whole city knows I was right."
She leaned closer.
"You will be punished for what you did. Either you go to prison like the criminal you are, or you leave my son. Today. Those are your only choices."
Aria stared at her.
And somewhere under the shock, she saw it.
Vivienne wasn't angry. Not really.
Vivienne was enjoying this.
The older lawyer cleared his throat. "Mrs. Thorne, the terms are simple. You sign the divorce today. You leave the house today, with your personal belongings only. You make no public statements about the family. In return, the complaint is withdrawn."
Personal belongings only.
Aria almost laughed.
Did they really think that was what she cared about? The cars? The house? She had married Lucas when he was just a boy with a crooked smile and his first job. She had never wanted their money.
She only wanted her husband to look at her.
"Lucas," she said quietly. "Look at me."
He didn't move.
"Lucas."
Slowly, he turned around.
His eyes were red. His face was gray, like he hadn't slept at all. For a second, she thought she saw something there. Pain. Fear. Something that looked almost like the man under the mango tree.
"Do you believe I did it?" she asked.
Lucas opened his mouth.
"Aria, I—"
"Lucas." Vivienne's voice was soft, but it cut like a knife.
He stopped.
He looked down at the floor, and he said nothing.
Nothing at all.
That was her answer.
Vivienne picked up a pen and slid it across the table.
"Sign it," she said. "You were never worth more than this."
* * *
The room was very quiet.
Aria could hear the clock on the wall. She could hear her own heartbeat. She could hear the rain starting outside, light at first, tapping on the big glass windows.
Last night, she had cried on the floor until she could not breathe.
She was not going to cry now.
Not in front of them.
She picked up the pen.
Her hand wanted to shake. She didn't let it.
She signed her name on the first page. Then the second. Then the last. Her signature was neat and steady, the same way she had signed the marriage certificate five years ago.
Then she looked down at her left hand.
The ring was simple. A thin gold band with one small diamond. Lucas had bought it with his first salary, before his family's money had touched anything between them.
She slid it off her finger.
It came off easily. Maybe it had always been loose.
Aria placed the ring on top of the signed papers. Then she looked up at her husband and smiled.
"Five years ago, you said you would always choose me," she said softly. "I guess you finally made your choice."
Lucas flinched as if she had slapped him.
Aria turned and walked out of the room.
She didn't look back.
* * *
She left with one bag.
Some clothes. Her phone charger. Her late father's old watch. The things she had brought into this house five years ago, she carried out of it.
The guard at the gate didn't offer her an umbrella.
By the time she reached the main road, the rain was pouring. Her hair was soaked. Her shoes were filling with water.
She waved down a taxi. The driver slowed down, looked at her face through the window, and frowned.
"Aren't you the woman from the video?"
Before she could answer, he drove off.
Aria stood there in the rain, watching his red lights disappear.
She tried to call Tasha. No answer. Tasha worked night shifts on weekends. She would be asleep with her phone on silent.
Her battery said three percent.
Then two.
Then the screen went black.
Aria walked.
She didn't know where she was going. She just knew she couldn't stand still, because if she stood still, she would fall apart again.
She walked for hours. Under the heavy rain, the sky grew dark early.
The rich streets with their tall gates turned into busy roads. The busy roads turned into small streets with old shops and broken streetlights.
Everything was closed.
Except one place.
At the end of the street, a single light was still on. A small shop with a faded sign above the door.
COLE PRINTS.
Through the window, she could see a man working at a big machine, stacking fresh paper. His sleeves were rolled up, and his hands were stained with black ink.
Aria didn't know why she knocked. Maybe because she was cold. Maybe because it was the only light left in the whole city.
The man opened the door.
He was tall, with broad shoulders and tired, kind eyes. He looked at her. Her wet hair. Her bag. Her face.
And she saw it. The second he recognized her.
Aria's stomach turned. She stepped back, ready to leave before he could say it.
'Here it comes,' she thought. 'New labels to my name.'
But surprisingly he didn't close the door.
He just looked at her for a long moment. Then he spoke, his voice low and calm.
"I saw the video," he said. "I don't think you pushed her.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD