He Divorced Me— Now He's Begging For My Love

The ballroom was packed. Many people filled the grand hall of the Meridian Hotel. There were cameras near the stage, men in suits holding glasses of champagne, women in expensive dresses laughing at things that were not funny. The ceiling was lit with warm gold light. Everything looked perfect. Evelyn stood near the back and smiled. She had worn the blue dress. The one Aidan loved. She had done her hair up the way he liked, with a few strands loose at the sides. She had even worn the small diamond earrings he had given her on their first anniversary — back when they had nothing but each other and it had felt like enough. Tonight was his night. The IPO announcement. The moment everything they had worked for would finally mean something. She could not wait to see his face when it all came together. She was still smiling when she saw that woman. The woman was standing near the stage, close to where Aidan would speak. She was tall, with long red hair and a silver dress. Her name was Jane Winters. Evelyn had seen her many times. People talked about them at Aidan's office. She had asked Aidan about her once, three months ago. He had said, "She's just someone from work, Honey. Plus her father is supporting the company so stop imagining things." Now Jade was standing in the front row of his IPO event, laughing at something his business partner Marcus had said, touching Aidan's arm like she had every right to. Evelyn's smile faded. That was supposed to be her spot. She started walking toward him. She needed to talk to him before things started. She needed him to see her. As she proceeded, Marcus immediately walked up to her and stopped her. He stepped in front of her like he had been waiting. "Evelyn," he said. His voice was too smooth. "Marcus, not now." She tried to step around him. "I need to find Aidan." "He already found what he needed to know, Evelyn." he said as if her name was derogatory. She stopped. "What do you mean?" Marcus reached into his jacket and held out a phone. On the screen was a photograph. The first photo he showed , it was Evelyn at a restaurant with Damien Holt; a man connected to her father's old business rivals. In the next photo, they were entering a hotel room together, Damien's hand at her back. They were leaning close. She was laughing. But everything in the photo was not true. They never went to a hotel room, just the restaurant. It was fake. "Where did you get this? This is not true, i-its fake and you know it. Where did you get this, Marcus?" she said. Her voice was low. "The question," Marcus said, "is why you were there at all." Evelyn scoffed. "Marcus, he reached out about my father's case. He said he had evidence to prove that my dad is innocent. You know my dad was accused wrong. I was just trying to- We never went to the hotel." "You should have thought about that before you sat down with the man trying to kill Aidan's deal." He took the phone back. "Aidan's seen it. He's seen all of them." The room suddenly felt very hot She moved passed Marcus and when Evelyn walked up, he turned around. And she knew immediately from his eyes — that flat, cold look she had never seen directed at her before — that whatever was going to happen was already decided. "Aidan." She touched his arm. "Can we talk? Somewhere private?" "There's nothing to talk about in private that can't be said here." He stepped back. Away from her touch. One of the investors shifted uncomfortably. The others went quiet. "Aidan, please," she whispered. "Whatever Marcus showed you, it isn't what it looks like. It's not true. I can explain everything if you just give me five minutes —" "Five minutes." He smiled. But it wasn't warm. "You want five minutes to explain why you've been meeting with Damien Holt behind my back? While I've been building something that affects both of us?" "It was about my father's case. That's all it was." "And the hotel? Was that about your father's case too?" The investors gasped. "That photo is staged. Someone set this up. Please just listen to me —" Jane laughed. It was a small sound, light and casual, like Evelyn had said something mildly amusing at a dinner party. Jane looked at her with a smile and said, "Oh, Evelyn, you really thought you could cheat on Aidan and get away with it?" "Jane please-" Jane immediately spilled her glass of wine on Evelyn. This drew everyone's attention. Evelyn was in shock. "Oops", Jane smirked. Evelyn looked at her, fighting back tears now. Then she looked at Aidan. He said nothing. He just looked at her with that cold face and He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a folded envelope and held it out to her. "Sign them," he said. "My lawyer will contact yours." Evelyn was taken aback. She did not take the envelope. "Aidan —" He dropped it. Right there in front of everyone, he dropped the divorce papers at her feet. They landed on the floor of the ballroom with a soft sound that nobody missed. The investors went still. People gasped. Jane took a slow sip of her drink and said, loud enough for the farthest tables to hear, "I always knew she was trash. I don't know why it took you this long to realize. Let it be known that Evelyn tried to leech off on two men. She IS A CHEAT!!" Evelyn couldn't hold the tears back in now. "Aidan, those photos are fake," her voice trembled. "Are you really," she sniffed, "going to believe them over me?" "Yes, Evelyn. I no longer want anything to do with you. Sign these papers and leave!" At this moment, she confirmed it. Her heart broke. The love of her life had already made his decision, so quickly, you'd think they'd never shared anything together. Evelyn looked down at the envelope on the floor. She felt pairs of eyes on her back. She felt the heat of the cameras. She felt her own heartbeat, loud and slow. She bent down and picked up the envelope. She straightened up. She looked at him one last time. She thought about telling him. The words were right there: Aidan, I'm pregnant. I found out last week. I've been trying to find the right moment and this is the worst possible one but you need to know. She looked at his face. She looked at Jane standing beside him, smiling. She looked at the room full of people watching her. And she thought: no. If she said it now, it would be used against her. People would say she was desperate. They would say she was making it up. He would say she was making it up. Her baby deserved better than to be born into this moment. So she held the envelope. She lifted her chin. And she walked out of the ballroom with slow, steady steps, past the tables and the cameras and the people staring. She did not run. She would not give them that. Outside, in the cold air of the parking lot, she finally stopped walking. She stood between two parked cars where nobody could see her, and she pressed her hand over her stomach and breathed. "It's okay," she whispered. She did not know if she was talking to herself or to the small life she was carrying. "It's okay. We don't need him." She stayed there, sobbing badly for a while, her hands on her stomach. "Aidan Smith, I'm never going to forgive you!" she swore under her breath. Then she got into a taxi, gave the driver an address in another part of the city. She never looked back.