By the time Diane woke up in the morning and freshened up, her drenched clothes from yesterday which had already been dried and ironed sat neatly at the foot of her bed.
Although nothing was surprising about the hospitality, she still thought to thank Christian for taking her in when he did not have to, but she had to learn from the housekeeper who made breakfast for her that he and the other man from yesterday had already left for a business trip.
Diane felt her little joy disappear. "Do you know when he will be coming back?" she inquired.
The housekeeper who doubled as a cook looked clueless. "I'm not always informed about his schedule."
With her response, Diane came to understand something. The housekeeper was not in when she came over the previous night but suddenly appearing this morning meant that she was the reason.
Diane stopped talking and sat down on the stool at the kitchen island to eat while the housekeeper busied herself with cleaning. Diane had only managed to take a few bites of her toast when she got a call from home.
"Where are you? Come back home this instant!" The angry female voice from the other end instructed before a beeping sound followed suit.
Diane swallowed a lump and turned to the housekeeper to ask, "How can I leave Skyville?" She was no longer in the mood to continue eating.
***
Diane first went to the hospital to pick up her car before driving to her parent's mansion to honour her mother's command.
A deep sigh fell off her lips as her car pulled up in the driveway. There was always trouble in paradise bringing her back home; today, Phillip was the reason she was there.
She at least knew that much given his threats a few days back.
Diane stepped inside the house and had her coat taken by the butler before she was directed to the patio where her parents were sitting and chatting over tea.
"Dad, Mum," she greeted her parents as she walked over to their table.
"You are here." Her father, Dr. Brown welcomed her with a smile and gestured for her to take the seat across from him. On the other hand, her mother didn't even look her way.
Diane did not take her reaction to heart as she was already long used to it. She went ahead to pull out a chair for herself and settled in it.
"Have you had breakfast?" Dr. Brown asked as a servant brought an extra tea set to their table. He grabbed the white porcelain kettle and poured some tea into the cup before passing it to Diane.
"Thank you, Dad. I already had something to it before coming over," Diane replied even though she couldn't feel the food she had eaten over an hour ago. It was a miracle that she hadn't thrown up yet.
She looked her mother's way and saw her holding her teacup with her neatly manicured fingers.
Celine was stunning and carried an aura of elegance with her. She made a simple thing like drinking tea seem like pure art. Just like her husband who looked younger than his actual age, it was evident with her clear skin how much she put into caring for herself.
Celine continued to ignore Diane's existence until she saw her bringing the rims of the teacup to her lips. It was only then that she decided to taunt her.
"Gerald called this morning," she spoke slowly while taking her time to add some honey to her green tea before stirring it with a teaspoon. "He said you two are getting a divorce, and as a matter of fact, you filed for it."
Diane put her teacup down on the table and released a sigh before glancing at her mother who fussed over her tea like it was the most important in the world to her.
"Yes, I did," she admitted. "I filed for divorce because Gerald's not been faithful, and given that we are both tired of making things work, I thought it right that we part ways."
Celine brought her teacup to her lips and peered at her from it. "Are you trying to tell us that you are leaving your marriage because your husband cheated?"
Diane did not answer that question. To her mother, cheating was not a deal breaker but to her, it was. They were not the same people and besides, their marriages were different.
"When your father cheated on me, did I divorce him?" Celine did not forget to glance at the man sitting next to her as if to score some points before her gaze strayed back to her.
Diane and her father exchanged glances. Hearing her suddenly mention the past so casually just like the way she was drinking her tea was appalling.
Diane looked between her parents who looked nothing like the first ten years of their marriage. They could tolerate each other now because they have long passed that hurdle.
Dr. Brown cleared his throat and said to Diane, "Although you have already filed for a divorce, I would have advised you not to leave your husband because he cheated. You can always forgive him and work things out."
Immediately, Diane shook her head. "It's not only that. He doesn't love me anymore, and he doesn't care about me. We are worse than housemates. We are like strangers sharing a flat."
What was the use of staying married to a man who did not love her or respect their union? There was no way she would ever go back to him, not after his sudden display of wickedness.
"And you didn't think you could discuss with us before taking that step?" Celine fired as she squinted her gaze. The fake lashes she added to her natural lashes flapped a few times as she shook in anger.
Without waiting for Diane to speak, she asked in a higher tempo, "He also mentioned you owed him tons of money. How did that happen?"
That scum of a bastard mentioned it after all. Diane felt her spirit leave her body. She was so afraid of mentioning the problem with the prenup but now that she was asked about it, she can't remain mute.
She hadn't any choice.
"There is a problem with the prenup," she confessed as she slowly met her parents' gazes.
Her father frowned. "What kind of problem?"
Diane took a deep breath before revealing the fraud with the prenup and everything her lawyer found out about it.
"… Before our wedding, Gerald already transferred his entire assets to his sister so now, I have to split my assets with him according to the agreement in the prenup. But I have been trying to…"
Diane did not get to complete her sentence when a resounding slap landed on her left cheek.
She had been so busy talking that she didn't realize when her mother rose to her feet and raised her hand.
Dane's lips parted as her hand reached out to the side of her face that had already formed a palm print. She was in both pain and shock as she felt her ears vibrate from the collision.
"Celine!" Dr. Brown was stunned and he quickly grabbed her hand to pull her back to her seat.
He understood his wife's anger as he was equally upset about the issues with the prenup, but hitting a grown-up was considered going too far.
On the other hand, Celine was still fuming in rage. She pointed a finger at Diane whose eyes were already brimming with tears from the hot slap.
"If you were smart, how can your husband not love you? Also, you should have checked first before blindly filing for divorce. Look at the mess you have caused! Do you think I will watch you give out half of me and your father's hard work to a thief?!"
Celine tapped her fingers on the table and glared daggers at her. "After today, don't come back here if you don't resolve this issue!" she threatened.
What kind of mother would treat her grown daughter this way?
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Diane felt really helpless after being threatened not to return home, but what was more painful for her was the sheer bit of hatred she saw in her mother's eyes after she had hit her.
Arriving at her apartment after taking the entire day off from work, the last thing Diane wanted was to be disturbed but then, her wicked ex-husband had to choose that time to return after ghosting her for an entire week.
She hadn't even gotten the chance to ice her cheek properly when Phillip unlocked the door and came in. She was actually startled as she had been meaning to change the locks on the door but forgot all about it with the prenup matter keeping her awake in the night.
Phillip walked into the living room and saw Diane sitting up on the couch with an ice pack in her hand and came to a stop.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his brows shooting the top of his head. He was equally surprised to meet her at home since she was clearly supposed to be at work by this time, and this was the reason he chose to crawl in as he wasn't supposed to meet her.
Diane totally ignored his question and went on to ask as she narrowed her gaze down at him, "You told my family about our divorce and that I owed you some money?"
Hearing her question, the frown on Phillip's face completely disappeared. He stepped forward with his hands shoved inside the front pockets of his black pants.
He looked completely dishevelled like a man who has been through a lot in life. Most strands of his hair were disobedient as they found a way to stick out in the wrong places.
Seeing the current state of the man she married and couldn't wait to be legally separated from, Diane felt repulsive.
"Is there a reason I shouldn't have mentioned it to them?" Phillip asked as the corner of his lips turned up in a smirk.
It was a thing of joy for him to stand there and watch Diane's face darken as she seethed in the rage she had for him. Nothing made him happier than that.
Throughout the week, he has been frustrated with work and was also avoiding running into her because of guilt. But who knew that it would be such a blessing to feel contented as a result of her hatred for him?
Diane took in his facial expressions and came to understand he was taking her for a ride. It pissed her off knowing that his joy came from riling her up.
"You bastard!" she cursed through gritted teeth and threw the ice pack at him with all the strength she could muster.
Luckily, Phillip was expecting that much from her therefore he successfully dodged it. But the loud sound it made from hitting the wall before falling to the ground with a clatter drop gave him sheer horror vibes.
"Have you lost your mind?! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Phillip was so furious that his hands automatically left his pants pockets. The smirk on his lips speedily vanished the moment he just finished imagining getting injured by the impact from the ice pack.
It would have hurt a lot and left bruises on his face.
"Why not?" Diane glared daggers at him. "I wouldn't mind going to prison for spilling your blood."
Phillip returned the glare. "Really?" He didn't take her statement seriously since he had never seen her hurt a fly.
How could she bear to kill him just to endure the harshness of the prison grounds?
"You just have to let me kill you first," she retorted.
There was more going back and forth between the two before a heated argument sprang up.
"You filed for divorce, be ready to dance to the tune!" Phillip thundered authoritatively.
Diane, who was already on her feet pointed a finger at him. "You must be really insane if you think I'm going to split my access with you."
"We will have to see about that," Phillip replied with all manner of confidence. "I had no idea I married a man instead of a woman. You can't give your husband sex, how can you then give him a child?" He let his gaze take her in, and added, "You were just a complete waste of my time!"
His words were like a hammer striking Diane's chest. This wouldn't be the first time he was making jest of her weakness, but she almost wanted to disappear.
Her head hurt, her heart hurt and at this point, she would accept if she was diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome.
Her self-confidence as a woman was long gone. Phillip made sure to trample on it so many times that nothing was left of it anymore. And now, he had the mind to call her a complete waste of time?
No matter how hurt Diane was, she couldn't resist calling him out on his criminal acts. "Says the fraudster who got married just to steal assets from a woman."
It was Phillip's turn to lose it. His jaw dropped, eyes widening in disbelief. "Did you just call me a thief?"
Diane actually looked him in the eye and asked, "Do you have any other profession?" She just had to have this comeback no matter how pained and worthless she felt.
Apart from being able to save lives in the hospital, there was nothing else she thought she was still good at.
Phillip's pride and male ego took a huge blow after being called a thief by his wife. He felt his heart rate increase as he balled his fists and clenched his jaw.
He was on the verge of ripping her apart but her daring gaze reminded him that he couldn't raise his hand on her.
He didn't need a lawsuit against physical assault filed against him when working on getting half of her assets.
"I need to thank whoever gave you a dirty slap on my behalf," he managed to say before storming out of their apartment without bothering to pick up the things he came back for.
Phillip had actually seen the faint red print on Diane's right cheek and with the evidence of the ice pack, he put two and two together to figure out what happened.
As soon as her husband left, Diane dropped on the couch and let the tears she had been holding fall.
She was slowly dying inside and was begging to be rescued.
At this moment, she was relying heavily on receiving Christian's help. Although she didn't think she could continue to wait any longer, she wouldn't mind exercising a little more patience as long as she won this battle in the end.
"Christian…" she mumbled as she curled up on the couch and dozed off a few minutes later.
I personally love Diane's come back here. I wish that ice pack hit Phillip in the face because he deserves everything bad...
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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