Master Of My Own Destiny

2

The echo of my words still hung in the heavy air of the living room, but Alexander did not back down.

There was not a moment of hesitation nor a crack of regret in his features.

Instead, he took two slow steps toward me, closing the distance with a predatory calm.

The fabric of his shirt stretched across his shoulders as he loomed over me from his imposing height, his eyes narrowed into two slits of gray ice.

"Divorce papers, Sienna?" he asked, lowering his voice to a raspy, dangerous whisper that sent the blood freezing in my veins. "Do you really have the audacity to come into my home, looking like a total mess, and threaten me with such stupidity?"

"It's not a threat, Alexander," I held his gaze, tightening my fist around the handle of my metallic cane, even as the burn on my leg throbbed with a savage heat. "It's a decision. I am not going to keep playing a part in this farce."

A short, contemptuous laugh escaped his lips.

Diana, who remained seated on the stool, took a sip from her glass of wine with insulting tranquility.

"Please, Sienna, don't be so dramatic," Diana chimed in, adjusting the garment over her bare shoulders with false modesty. "We were just reviewing the documents for the new commercial alliance in a private setting. The air conditioning in the main office broke down and we made ourselves comfortable. There is nothing wrong with that."

"You were in bathrobes in his private office when the fire started!" I raised my voice, feeling rage threatening to shatter my composure. "And you carried her out in your arms while I was left trapped under the rubble!"

Alexander let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head as if he were dealing with a capricious child.

"Enough of your insufferable hysteria!" he spat, closing the last meter separating us. "You show up here with a controlling attitude, questioning my integrity and destroying the peace of this home. Whatever I do or don't do in my strategic meetings with Diana is strictly a matter of my professional life. You have no right to judge me or demand explanations."

"I went to that office to look for you," I said, feeling a bitter knot tightening in my throat. "I risked my life and almost lost my leg for you."

"Don't be so dramatic!" he shot back with a coldness that chilled me to the bone. "You are perfectly fine and you can walk."

His gray gaze drifted toward the side table in the foyer, where the home's first-aid kit remained half-open since the morning, with a couple of gauze pads sitting outside their packaging.

"Look at this," Alexander continued, pointing an accusing finger at the box. "This morning I specifically asked you to leave the sterile supply kit organized before leaving. You left the tweezers out of their case and the antiseptics scattered. You are irresponsible. If you can't even handle such a basic task in this house, you have no moral authority to question my behavior."

Gina, who was watching the scene with crossed arms beside the sofa, let out a mocking laugh.

"I told you, Alex," his sister added venomously. "This penniless nobody can't even keep the house clean."

Diana slid off the stool with soft steps and walked toward the table.

With a serene smile, she picked up the bottle of antiseptic and put it back inside the plastic case, snapping the latch shut with an impeccable click.

"It was me who touched the first-aid kit, Alex," Diana said in a sweet voice, looking at my husband with devotion. "I was looking for a painkiller for my headache before Sienna arrived. Forgive me if I left a mess."

Alexander's harsh, ruthless expression softened instantly.

He turned his head toward Diana and offered her a warm look, filled with a consideration he had never, in three years of marriage, shown toward me.

"Don't worry about it, Diana," he spoke in a soft, protective tone. "You just saved the financial future of Megg Collection. You have done my company an immense service today. A small oversight with a medicine box doesn't matter in the slightest coming from you."

I clenched my teeth until I felt a painful click in my jaw.

Every word and every shift in attitude laid bare the rot of my marriage.

For three years I gave up my family's empire, enduring the humiliations from his mother and Gina, adapting to his demands in silence to support his career.

"You are a hypocrite," I blurted out, feeling my hands turn cold as the pain in my leg worsened. "You enforce strict rules on me and you forgive her everything in a split second."

Alexander took an aggressive step toward me. His face lost every trace of cordiality, transforming into a mask of absolute cruelty.

"You want the truth, Sienna? I'm going to give it to you so you drop this ridiculous scene once and for all," he said, dropping his voice to a raspy, direct tone. "I didn't marry you for love."

I stood frozen, locking my eyes on the hard lines of his face.

"I am a businessman born into an elite family," he continued, raising his eyebrows with superiority. "If I had married a woman from my own social circle, the press and the public would have labeled me an arrogant aristocrat. I needed to balance my image in the eyes of the media."

Alexander gestured contemptuously at my soot-stained coat and the thick bandage covering my cut trousers.

"Your profession and your appearance as a girl without resources gave my career the credibility and closeness to the people that money couldn't buy," he said, leaning slightly toward me. "You sold the public the story of a wealthy, virtuous man committed to society."

"You used me..." I whispered, feeling the air thicken in my lungs.

"I gave you a life of luxury in this residence," he answered without blinking. "I gave you my last name and economic stability in exchange for your image. This marriage was always a mutually beneficial contract. You only had to play your part: be the silent wife, take care of the house, and not cause public trouble. You are not my equal, Sienna. You are the accessory I chose to build my reputation. So stop acting like you have the right to demand explanations."

A heavy silence fell over the living room.

Diana watched from the bar, taking a small sip from her glass of wine without making a single sound.

I looked Alexander directly in the eye. The pain in my burned leg faded into the background, replaced by an icy, absolute calm that surged down my spine.

Three years of sacrifices and nights waiting up for him vanished from my mind in a single second. I planted my cane firmly on the floor, straightened my back, and raised my chin.

"I understand completely," I said, my voice serene and free of any tremor. "If that is the case, let's sign the divorce papers first thing tomorrow."

The air was sucked out of the room. Before I could react, Alexander's right hand shot forward, and the hard palm of his fingers slapped directly against my left cheek.

The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the room like the crack of a whip. The impact snapped my head to the right.

I felt a searing burn spread from my cheekbone to my jaw, while the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth from a cut on my lower lip.

"Don't you dare ever mention that word in this house again!" Alexander growled, taking a violent step toward me, his chest heaving and his fists clenched at his sides.

Diana reacted immediately. She slid off the stool with fake tears brimming in her eyes and rushed to the sofa to grab her purse.

"Stop..." Diana whispered, looking at Alexander with feigned anguish. "Alex, please... don't keep fighting because of me. I don't want to be the reason your home breaks apart. If my presence here is causing this, I'll go to a hotel right now."

Alexander walked quickly over to her, gently took her arm, and forced her to stay by his side.

"You're not going anywhere, Diana," he declared firmly, turning back to me with a hardened face. "This house is in my name. If anyone is extra here and needs to walk out that door immediately, it's you."

"I feel sorry for your mediocre mindset," I said, wiping the drop of blood from my lip with the back of my hand. "You think you're taking something away from me, but I'm the one winning by getting rid of a pair of vipers like you. Sometimes losing is winning. I leave you your business partner and your company, Alexander. No returns accepted."

I squeezed the small pregnancy test inside my coat pocket.

You will never know this child exists.

You don't even deserve to wear my mourning.

I pulled my wedding ring off my right hand and let it drop onto the marble table with a sharp thud.

At that exact moment, the cell phone in my coat pocket began to vibrate. I pulled it out, glanced at the encrypted screen, and brought it to my ear.

"Miss Mcgregor," echoed the respectful, firm voice of my father's personal assistant. "Your private jet has just landed in the executive hangar. The driver is waiting downstairs to take you straight to Villa Mcgregor. Your father has already been informed of everything."

"Understood. I'm heading down," I replied with absolute coldness.

I hung up the call.

I looked at Alexander, his sister, and Diana one last time, flashing a bitter, distant smile that completely wiped the smugness off their faces.

Without uttering another word, I turned around and crossed the threshold of the Megg mansion, leaving the door wide open behind me.