Adeline was standing in front of a skyscraper, her chest heaving. Her hands were balled to her sides, her lips thinned as she tried to control her tears from streaming down her face.
She didn't want to believe it.
She was dressed in a casual outfit with an apron on her dress. She'd been in the kitchen, making her husband's favorite meal when she'd suddenly received a text from her husband's secretary—a picture of him sitting half naked in his office.
She'd been too shocked to take off her apron before leaving the house.
The weather was gloomy, the clouds had already swallowed the sun and Adeline stood frozen, unable to move.
'Move,' she forced herself.
But she was scared to see her husband making love to another woman right in his office on his birthday.
Adeline took a deep breath as she cleaned the invisible tears off her face.
She stepped inside the Westwood Corporation.
Without intending to, she ignored all the greetings she received and made her way to the elevator, her heart hammering against her chest.
She reached his office, about to open the door when she suddenly heard a moan.
Her grip tightened on her phone, almost snapping it in half.
With gnashing teeth, she opened the door and found her husband, Theodore right on top of another woman, fucking her on his desk whilst being completely naked.
Adeline choked on her own heart, her lips parting and closing, unable to form words to describe how she was feeling.
"Shit!" Theodore cursed under his breath, immediately pulling away from the woman under him and searching for his clothes as if it would wipe Adeline's memory of what she'd just witnessed. "What are you doing here? Didn't you say that you were baking a cake or something?"
Adeline frowned deeply.
He was more concerned about a cake she was baking for his birthday than what she'd just caught him doing.
"Theodore," she called, her voice barely there.
The man hissed under his breath, running his fingers through his hair.
"Look, this isn't what it looks like, okay?"
Before he could finish that sentence, a hot and deserving slap landed on his face.
The secretary whom he was sleeping with gasped with her hand over her mouth.
"How dare you?! After everything I've done for you?! You dare repay me in such a manner?!" She yelled, the tears she was fighting not to fall found their escape.
Theodore gritted his teeth as he glared at her.
"Adeline, look. Go back home. When I get back, we'll discuss this," he said as calmly as he could.
Adeline, however, couldn't believe her ears. He wasn't even apologizing for cheating on her.
He was talking about discussing it as if she was going to stay with him and listen to his rubbish.
"No! I want a divorce. I'm not going to stay with a man like you. You and your little…" She glanced at the secretary who'd intentionally sent her the picture just to spite her. "…secretary deserve each other."
Adeline was done. The more she spoke, the more it felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest.
She turned to leave but Theodore spoke.
"You must be delusional to think you can divorce me, Adeline."
She halted.
"You must have forgotten that our marriage was an alliance between our families. Do you really think you can divorce me just because I cheated on you? Absolutely delusional," he spat out with so much venom, his words pricked her skin.
Indeed, their marriage had been an alliance between the Donovan and the Westwood family.
The Donovan family has suffered a huge blow after severing all ties with a particular family, forcing them to form a marriage alliance between Adeline and Theodore when she was only eighteen and he was twenty-four.
Her grandfather didn't entirely trust his son, her father, with the business and only gave him a few shares. There was only her and her little sister. He was getting old and needed someone to guide Adeline since she was the only granddaughter who showed any interest in business, and also, she was the only grandchild who wasn't scared of him.
Theodore was smart, so her grandfather
had entrusted her in his care, to teach her how to do business, getting her married when she was only eighteen.
At this point, Adeline felt she wasn't raging enough.
She saw Theodore walk up to her and lifted her chin so painfully hard to force eye contact.
"You are mine, and I'll never let you go. So go back home, and wait for me. Let's talk this out, baby," he said with a grin.
She felt utterly disgusted at how calmly he was speaking to her. This only made her wonder if this was his first time trying to manipulate her. She couldn't remember. Her memory was vague now. And the only thing on her mind was how to bite his fingers off.
The secretary scowled from behind them, disliking Theodore's tone.
'He doesn't want to divorce her?' She thought.
"Fuck you," Adeline cursed and before Theodore could form a reaction, she spat on his face like the dirt he was.
He moved back away from her, allowing her to find her escape.
The rain showered on her body as she found her way to her car. It was chilly and cold but Adeline could barely feel anything.
The perfect marriage she thought was perfect had completely crumbled to the ground. She'd objected to marrying Theodore in the beginning, but she'd managed to find herself loving him.
'Ridiculous,' she thought.
Reaching the mansion, she packed hers and her son's bags who couldn't help but question his mother's actions.
She couldn't tell him now—how his father had betrayed them without thinking of him at all.
With a heavy heart, she drove her car to the Donovan estate, where her grandfather lived.
Her perfect marriage was over and there was no time to be shedding tears and reminiscing old memories.
Once she was given entry, she went inside the mansion where she found her grandfather eating dinner. This reminded her she was still wearing an apron.
The old man with white hair looked up from his food, his cold and distant gaze falling on her with so much weight.
"Well, hello there," his voice echoed in the dining room.