The Woman He Created

Chapter 4

EVELYN

“What… what do you mean?” Alex retorted.

“In plain words, Alex, I’m divorcing you," I replied.

“Why? What are your grounds for divorce?” He asked.

I didn't say anything. Just kept eating.

I could see the confusion on his face.

It made me smile

“I’m not signing this,” he objected.

I pushed my chair back and got up.

“Of course, you will. You have one week to sign the papers, Alex, or else this is going to be very messy,” I said my piece and left the dining room.

*************

I sat in the living room waiting for my Dad. I hadn't seen him in 3 years and now I was here, wanting him to accept me back.

“Well, look who it is,” I heard a familiar female voice behind me.

I froze.

I turned back and saw Dad and Stephanie, my stepmom, coming down the stairs.

I got up and tried to face them fully.

“Hi Dad, Stephanie” I said, with a shaky voice.

“What are you doing here? Who even let you in?” Stephanie asked.

She has never liked me and neither have I.

“This is still my father's house,” I reminded her.

Stephanie sneered.

“Oh, so now you know it's your father's house, huh?”

Tears were starting to gather in my eyes. I ignored her and turned to look at my dad, who wasn't saying anything.

“Dad,” I said.

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

My heart ached as my eyes found their way to the floor.

“I… I came to see you, dad,” I replied.

“Oh, and your “husband” let you come and see me?” Dad asked sarcastically.

The room was silent for a while before I replied.

“He’s no longer my husband. We're getting a divorce, dad,” I replied.

Silence again.

He walked towards the living room and sat in one of the couches with Stephanie by his side.

“And what is he divorcing you for?” Dad asked.

“Actually, I am the one divorcing him. I… I found out he was cheating on me,” I replied, feeling a mixture of rage and sadness.

I looked up to see Dad's reaction. He looked really mad.

“I told you that guy was no good, Liz. But you didn't listen. Now look what happened,” dad replied.

The tears finally let loose and flowed down my eyes without permission.

“I'm sorry dad. I should have listened to you. I should have listened to Juliet. I'm so sorry,” I said, my voice breaking as I spoke.

“You need to leave,” Dad said as he got up to leave the room.

I grabbed his hand and fell on my knees.

“Please Dad, take me back. I'm willing to do anything to earn your forgiveness,” I cried.

Dad stopped.

“I can't take you back in just like that, Liz. You hurt this family. You need to prove that you're ready to become a part of us again,” he said.

I sniffed.

“I'm ready,” I said.

Getting up on my feet, I repeated again.

“I'm ready to prove that I want to be a part of this family again. I'll do anything.”

He turned to face me, an expressionless look on his face.

“To prove your worth to this family, you need to work your way back in.”

He paused for a second before he continued.

“You can prove your worth to this family by working in one of the companies - not as an executive but as a secretary. Are you ready to do that?”

I thought about it. If this was all I needed to do to win back my father's trust, then I had to.

“I'll give you time to…”

“I'll do it,” I stopped him midway.

He turned to me. He didn't smile but his expression had softened.

“You start tomorrow,” he said and walked out of the room.

Josephine gave me a snide look before walking off.

The following morning, I was at the office, met with the HR and after a few minutes of interview, I was shown my office.

Everyone was staring and gossiping when they saw me but didn't pay them any mind. I was too focused on picking up the pieces of my broken life and starting over since life was giving me another chance.

It's been a week since I started working at the company and everything seemed to be going fine.

Until it wasn't.

I was at the office one afternoon when the door suddenly opened and there she was, with a smirk on her face.

“Look who we have here,” she said.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“Good to see you too, Riley,” I said, faking a smile.

“I didn't say it was good to see you,” she said.

This time, I rolled my eyes.

“Anyways, I just got back from representing Dad in a business meeting in Chicago, you know, since he's been training me to take over the company and guess my shock when mum told me that you came crawling back to us,” she said.

I bowed my head, feeling embarrassed because I remembered her words when I was about to get married to Alex.

“How dare you choose a man over your own family? No worries, you'll come crawling back to us very soon,” she had said.

“What do you want, Riley?” I asked.

She shrugged.

“Nothing, just wanted to come see you in your shame,” she said.

I swallowed hard, biting down my tongue to retort back.

“If you don't mind, I was working,” I said.

“Okay, I'll be in my office then,” she smiled and walked out of the room.

The moment she walked out, I let out a frustrated breath that I didn't know I was holding. Only then did I also notice that my fingers had been in fists all along.

I can't believe Dad is making her take over the company. That was my dream.

Or maybe it can still be.

I just need to prove my worth.