A Divorce He Regrets

Chapter 4:

ALEXANDER

Watching Eliza practically bursting with joy made me sick. Her being over the moon, like this wedding was a dream come true, was something I’d expected, but it was still annoying to behold. I didn’t want this marriage—not now, not ever—but she was too blind to see that, of course. She never did. To her, this was the beginning of some grand fairytale. But to me, it was a burden.

A charade.

I wouldn’t be marrying out of love, but because it was expected.

My phone buzzed. “Excuse me,” I muttered, barely glancing at either of the women as I left them to their excited conversation, having practically clawed at each other’s throats a few minutes ago.

It was my assistant on the other end, reminding me of the Golden Ball Charity event I was to attend that night. Shit. I had completely forgotten.

“Right, thanks. I’ll be there.”

Returning to the women, I announced curtly, “I hope you didn’t forget we have the Golden Ball charity event this evening. I think it’s time we left to start preparing.” I didn’t wait for their reactions, already moving to the door and then out to my car.

Eliza, of course, squealed with excitement—probably already imagining herself announcing to everyone there that we had fixed a date for the wedding—and the shrill sound followed me outside. I shook my head.

The drive home was quiet, for the most part. Eliza, thankfully, stayed glued to her phone, likely ordering another overpriced gown she didn’t need.

My younger sister Vanessa kept putting on makeup in the car. She always felt that it wasn’t perfect enough.

“Excited for the ball?” I asked.

“Oh, very,” she said, winking. “I might meet my future husband tonight. You know, Alexander, this event is for elites, the one percent. The kind of place paupers and wannabes—like Raina—would never dream of attending.”

She spat my ex-wife’s name with such venom that it actually startled me.

Read it all on gⱯlnσν𝒆ℓs․com

Raina.

I clenched my jaw but said nothing, a familiar irritation creeping into my chest. No matter how hard I tried to push her out of my mind, she always found a way to reappear.

…worm her way back into my family—they all hated her. Despised her. She had become the villain in my family’s soap opera, and they loved to remind me at every turn.

What had happened to her? Where the hell did she go after the divorce? Was she alive? Was she suffering, struggling like she deserved to be? And the child… the one she had run off with, what was her name? Was she still sick? Did she still… look like her mother? I sighed inwardly.

But then, I’d never stood up for Raina back then—there was no point doing so now.

When we got home, Eliza trailed behind me into the room, prattling on about how excited she was for tonight. She hadn’t worn her engagement ring in weeks, a silent protest against my coldness, but tonight, she’d be flaunting it like a prize, as if the glittering diamond could fix everything wrong between us. I sighed, tuning her out—only half-listening. I just wanted some peace. Eliza didn’t have a clue when to shut up.noveldrama

Shaking my head, I forced thoughts of my marriage away. I couldn’t afford for this to haunt me this evening—not when I had more important things to think about. Namely, securing the Graham family—New York’s most influential elites—as business partners, and tonight, they would finally be in attendance.

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