Chapter 1

Olivia ~•~ I was used to checking the news because of the kind of man I married, but for the past week, I’d been avoiding every news outlet. My name was trending and so was my husband’s. To outsiders, it was a good thing but they didn’t know exactly what was going on inside. Ever the perfect wife, I stayed downstairs, waiting for my husband to return as I tried my best to ignore the voices in my head, telling me that my marriage was crumbling. I wanted to save it but I didn’t know how. We both forgot about our anniversary which was a few days ago. Alex was trending because of an expensive necklace he bought at an auction. They all thought it was for me and were waiting to see it on my neck, but our anniversary had passed and he still hadn’t given it to me. It had to be for her. I hated that this was what we had turned into and most especially, I hated that I couldn’t do anything about it. I’d gone shopping earlier today and gotten some random gifts, hoping to salvage it, but I knew we still had a lot of talking to do, which was why I was still up, waiting for him to return. I sat on the couch and waited for a few more minutes before I heard the familiar sound of his car pulling up in the driveway. I stood up at once and met him at the door. He seemed surprised to see me, but that emotion only lasted a second. “You’re still awake.” I smiled tightly. “I was waiting for you.” He nodded and handed me his suit jacket when I reached for it, not saying anything else. “I just microwaved your food. Come eat.” “It’s fine. I’ve had dinner already.” “Oh.” I closed my eyes briefly. Trailing quietly behind him, I followed him up to our room and stood by the side as he took off his tie and unbuttoned his white shirt. He noticed me idling by the corner and paused. “Is something wrong?” I blinked at the question. He was asking me if something was wrong like our whole marriage wasn’t wrong. The media painted us as a perfect couple; they painted me as a woman who got spoiled by her husband, who got showered with gifts from her husband when we couldn’t even remember something as important as our anniversary. I couldn’t even blame him for not remembering because I also forgot, but how could he think nothing was wrong when we couldn’t even have a regular conversation like other married couples did? “I got you something.” For the first time since he arrived tonight, he looked interested in what I had to say. “You got me something?” I nodded. “Wait here.” I dashed into the closet and brought out the perfectly wrapped presents. Maybe he was waiting for me to give him his present before he gave me mine. Alex could be a petty man sometimes. He seemed surprised when I handed the box to him. “Happy anniversary.” His eyebrows shot up but he said nothing and I watched eagerly as he unwrapped the box. I wanted to see his reaction. The box revealed an expensive watch and his favorite cologne. His gaze traveled to my face to see me watching him. He cleared his throat and took a step back. My face fell. “You don’t like the gifts?” “I don’t like this cologne.” I wasn’t expecting that. I bought it every time for him and he appreciated it. Was he mad that the gifts came late? In my defense, he hadn’t given me anything as well so I also had a right to be mad at him yet I wasn’t. “I’m sorry they came late, but–“ “That’s not the reason.” “Then what is it?” “I prefer silver watches.” He said, staring at the gold watch I’d gotten him. “And this cologne makes me sick.” My eyebrows furrowed. “You said you like it.” “That’s because I didn’t have the energy to argue with you and I didn’t want to make you feel bad.” I let out a bitter laugh. So he didn’t care about making me feel bad now? His actions were confirming my suspicions but I still didn’t want to believe it was because of her. If he had told me from the start that he hated it, I would have found something else for him. This was exactly the problem between us. We barely communicated and it wasn’t because I didn’t want to. He never had the time to sit down and have a real talk. He was always busy at the office and these days, he was even busier. “We need to talk, don’t we?” I chuckled humorlessly, wrapping my arms around myself. If we didn’t want to go on like this, we needed to talk about it and fix our marriage. “Yeah, we do.” He agreed. Well, at least, I thought he was agreeing with me. He placed the worthless presents on the bed and opened his bag to retrieve a file. I frowned when he handed it to me. He never told me about anything going on in his office so why was he giving me a file now? Was he trying to be a better husband by letting me in his life? Still wary of his intention, I took the file and brought out the paper in it. It took me less than a second to know what was going on. After all, the words were written boldly at the heading. “Alex, you can’t be serious.” Unfortunately, he looked more serious than he’d ever been in his life. “Olivia, let’s get a divorce.” My mouth parted and I tried to speak but my brain just couldn’t form words after what I just heard.