3.Chapter 3 Get A Divorce
The sun was up before Whitney woke again, lying right where she had fallen on the living room floor. The place was empty; nobody had bothered to take her to the hospital.
She could only offer a weak smile, thinking, ‘I guess I really don’t matter to this family, huh? Even the staff treats me like dirt. Why do I keep hanging onto this marriage? Just for some old memories of kindness?’
Suddenly, Whitney heard the sound of familiar footsteps in the distance, and she quickly endured the physical discomfort to prop herself up, determined to fight for her marriage one last time.
“Thiago, you…” she began.
“Come with me to apologize to Quincey!” he demanded.
The moment Thiago uttered those words, Whitney felt a part of her heart shatter.
‘Turns out, he’s only back to get me to apologize. What a joke! So this is the man I’ve loved for eight years. Quincey has always been the only woman he cares about!’ she reflected.
At this moment, Whitney finally gave up on Thiago, no longer harboring any expectations.
She braced herself and stood up straight. When their gazes met, the love in her eyes had already been replaced by an endless coldness. It was said that women could be more heartless than men once they were done with the relationship. Sure enough, that was the case here.
Holding steady eye contact with him, Whitney enunciated, “I didn’t push Quincey down the stairs. She fell on her own. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the guests. Did someone actually see me push her?”
Her tone was so matter-of-fact, as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself.
Under Thiago’s angry gaze, she smiled sadly and suggested, “Thiago, let’s get a divorce.”
Thiago’s eyes immediately darkened. He had assumed that Whitney would realize her mistake and apologize to Quincey after a night of self-reflection. Never in a million years did he imagine she’d ask for a divorce.
‘Who was the one who begged to marry me? Get a divorce? How dare she suggest such a thing!’ he fumed inwardly. He glared with fury in his eyes. As Whitney headed for the door, he snapped, “Walk out that door, and don’t even think about waltzing back in later!”
Whitney heard him, but that only made her speed up. The minute she decided to ask for a divorce, coming back wasn’t in the cards—not now, not ever.
When Whitney exited the Mackenzie manor, she staggered and slumped onto the ground as if all her strength had been drained.
She shook her throbbing head and pulled out her phone to make a call. With that done, she quietly packed some of her things and printed two copies of the divorce papers. Then, she just waited.
As she did, memories flooded back. She’d been in her senior year of high school, not yet back with her own family, dealing with a dad who gambled and hassled her at her school, and facing teasing and pranks from the other kids all the time.
Thiago had been the only good thing back then. He stood up for her against the bullies. Without him, high school and even college would’ve been a nightmare.
In retrospect, Whitney simply found everything ludicrous. ‘How could I have fallen for such a cold guy!’ she muttered to herself.
Right then, a slick red Maserati convertible pulled up, and a good-looking guy in casual clothes whistled at her. “Yo, Whitney, what’s up? Whoa, what happened to your head? Bump into a wall or something?”
Jonah Gardner immediately quit being flippant and hurriedly got out of the car to check on Whitney’s injury. However, she sidestepped his efforts.
“It’s nothing much. I’ll go get it bandaged in the hospital later,” said Whitney.
“For goodness’ sake, Whitney, how can you just shrug this off?” He held the car door open for her, all concern.
And that’s when it hit her. Even a friend was worried about her cut, but Thiago? Not a chance. He’d seen it too; he just couldn’t care less.
