Chapter 17%
C
I slammed my hand on my wooden table after reading another message from my stubborn wife.
“Sign the divorce paper so I can leave the country already,” it said.”
My jaw tensed. I clenched my teeth, but it didn’t stop the curses from slipping out. One after another. Relentless.
“She’s really being stubborn. She really doesn’t want to bow down,” I shouted inside my office.
The moment I raised my arm, I heard a knock, too late. The vase flew across the room and shattered against the wall. Peonies. Her favorite. I brought them here because I’d gotten used to their scent, because even when she’s not around, I still crave traces of her. “Alpha, what happened?” Allan asked as he entered.
I shot him a sharp glare. It wasn’t his fault, but I needed someone to aim the fire at. My vision was red, my patience running thin. Every muscle in my body buzzed with the need to hit something. Anything.
“Good morning- damn!” Matthew followed, blinking at the mess around the room. “What the hell happened here? Did someone attacked you?” he even joked.
Allan made his way to my desk and picked up the crumpled paper lying there.
“She’s still pushing the divorce? Not even the gifts softened her?” he asked in disbelief.}
“What do you think?” I asked sarcastically. I clicked my tongue and drank a glass of cold water to calm my nerves. “She’s not here, I’m still a mess.”
I sat down and buried my face in my hands. I was running out of options. I didn’t know what else to do, what else to say, or how else to reach her. I apologized. I gave her everything I could think of. I even tried to be the man she once wished I would become. But nothing worked. Not even when Lorde got poisoned. She didn’t care.
“Fuck,” I muttered. “Does she really not care anymore?”
Matthew patted my shoulder. “Maybe you have to step up your game plan.“}
“Shut up! Game plan?!” I hissed. “None of your advice works. Not even making her jealous or threatened by another woman. None of that would work on her.”
The office fell silent after I said that. My voice kept rising, and it only irritated me more.
I closed my eyes and leaned back. I had work to do. Decisions to make. But all I could think about was her. Hestia. Her silence. Her absence. Her determination to walk away from me and from everything we built, even if it was broken.
“At this rate, it’s like you’re worse than a cheater if your wife can stand the idea of leaving you,” Allan said.§
I swallowed hard.&
I never cheated on her.
Yeah, I was a player once. I had women lined up like trophies. But when Chesca came into my life, something shifted. I knew I couldn’t go on like that. And when she died, when I married Hestia, I understood the fragility of what we had. Our marriage was thin ice. One wrong step, one wrong move with another, and it would shatter into pieces.
So I stayed loyal. Even when Beverly showed up. Even when I thought she was Chesca for a moment. The resemblance shook me. Her voice. Her mannerisms. It all came back in one wave I wasn’t prepared for. I kissed her. She knew why that kiss happened. She knew my reasons, that I was drunk, I craved for Chesca, I am not over her and her death.
And Hestia, she acted like she wasn’t bothered, and I believed it. She was never moved by the presence of other women, with Beverly or some family friends I was spotted with.
Even when I couldn’t bring her to parties because of Lorde and someone has to be my date, she didn’t make a fuss about any of it. That’s why I thought our marriage wouldn’t fall apart. Because no woman is involve.
That I thought only cheating on her would push her away. But I was wrong. She’s running away now.
“Why are you stressing yourself like this? You’re the alpha. Sure, there’s never been a divorce in the history of our pack, but it’s not a law. Even in your family, if that’s the rule, what can they really do when you hold the highest position? You are the law,” Matthew said. “Why not let go of her if she’s too much trouble and find someone to replace her instea-”
He didn’t finish what he was saying because I pushed everything off my desk again and stood to face him. He looked stunned when he saw how mad I was, how affected I was by his ideas.
“That won’t be included in my plan, you idiot!” I snapped.”
Allan held me to pull me back from Matt. I saw the confused and shocked looks on both of their faces.
“Lucian,” Allan murmured. “Don’t tell me this isn’t all about the rules anymore. Don’t tell me you can’t divorce her or let her go because you learned to love Hestia.“@
I was stunned by his question. Matthew and Allan stood there, watching me closely, waiting for an answer.
But how could they get answers from me when I had the same question myself? I was asking the same thing.
Do I have feelings for Hestia?!
Is that why I can’t stomach the idea that she wants to leave me?%
