NARRATED BY ALEXANDER
I found it hard to believe that Sarah was serious about our separation, she had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. I never met her family and she didn't want to talk about them.
When I got home, I found my sister trying on the new collection. I asked her if she had been here all afternoon until this late.
"Alex! Let me tell you that the new collection is amazing. I can't wait for the launch as soon as possible." Gina said with obvious excitement, just as she always did after trying on all the clothes from the new collections.
"Is Sarah in the room?" I asked, ignoring my enthusiastic sister, loosening my tie.
Since I came in the door, I hadn't heard a single sound from Sarah, although I knew she was home because her car was parked outside.
"She's not here." My sister replied abruptly, returning to her wardrobe.
I looked at her confused and completely bewildered. How could she not be home if her car is here? Soon my frown relaxed as I understood what was happening. My sister was playing a prank on me, she must have wanted to test my patience.
I didn't want to waste any more time with Gina when she acted inappropriately immature. I went upstairs to the bedroom.
"Sarah." I called out when I didn't see her nearby. I entered the bathroom, but it was empty. There were no traces of her anywhere, everything was untouched, just as I had left it before going to the company.
"Sarah, I'm here now. Let's talk." I said.
I took off my suit and left it in the closet. I brushed aside any idea of Sarah being away from home when I saw all her clothes where they always were and the suitcase she took for her one"week vacation which ended up being just a few days.
I returned to the bedroom and something caught my attention. It was Sarah's car keys and credit cards on the bed. What were they doing here? She was so organized with her things, she would never leave them here.
I opened her drawer where she kept her important belongings to put her keys and cards away, and then my heart sank when I noticed a small detail.
Her papers, her documents, the jewelry she kept under lock and key, everything had disappeared. Did she really leave? Was my sister telling the truth?
Suddenly, I felt a tightness in my chest and my bad mood increased just thinking that she had left home. But where did she go? With whom? She didn't take a single dollar with her and no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand how she kept her word.
After all, I couldn't remain indifferent to her after two years of marriage.
I couldn't sleep all night. It was the first time I slept with a feeling of emptiness. The silence in the room made me uncomfortable. I couldn't hear Sarah's relaxed breathing while she slept. The coldness in the bed became my new companion.
The next day, my family had already found out what had happened, and I cursed my sister for not keeping her mouth shut. My mother was the first to come early in the morning, when I was about to go for a jog.
"Son, I want you to know that this is the most sensible decision you've made in years. That girl was only ruining your image. No one knows about her background, but it's clear that she's poor and not up to your level. You deserve something better." My mother said as I sipped my coffee without sugar, listening attentively to her without taking my eyes off her.
Did my mother not like Sarah?
Had they all been thinking this way about her all this time?
I felt inexplicably angry about the way my mother was talking about my wife. She had no right to treat her like that.
"She's the one who asked me for a divorce." I said. The surprise on my mother's face was immediate. I wanted to clarify that it was she who made the decision for a significant reason.
"And please, don't talk about her like that. She may have an unknown origin and a blank past, but the values she has been taught speak better of her than the millions she lacks to please you."
"Surely she found a better match, after all, she is a gold digger." she said, ignoring my request not to speak ill of her.
"Have a nice day, Amelia." I bid her farewell to leave my house, before I lose the little patience I have left.
I know for a fact that what she cared least about was my money, she never touched the cards I gave her for her monthly expenses, she never asked me for a penny, she married me for love and that was what was torturing me at the moment.
I was her first man and her first disappointment.
As night fell, I had lost count of how many drinks I had, I wanted to erase the unpleasant feeling of remorse, more than a day without hearing from her, if she was okay or with whom she was, her phone was out of service and she wasn't receiving messages. She had blocked me. There was no way to reach her.
The doorbell rang and my maid rushed to open the door without saying a word.
"Oh, look at you, are you drinking because of that tasteless Sarah? What have you become? I was waiting for you in my apartment to finish what we started." Rachel was the last person I wanted to see. Her blackmail had me where I was now.
"Anna, why did you let her in?" I asked my maid with a cold voice and she approached with evident panic on her face. It didn't matter anymore, I was not going to scare my staff because of that woman.
"It's fine, never mind, continue with your work."
"You don't want to see me anymore? That's not what it seemed like yesterday when you were about to have me." Just by remembering that moment, the moment when Sarah arrived unexpectedly at my office, when she was supposed to be in Orlando.
God, I couldn't erase the image of her disappointed face, her eyes filled with tears, the way she looked at me with disgust, and although I wanted to give her an explanation, there was nothing that justified my infidelity.
That wasn't the way she always looked at me, when her eyes sparkled upon meeting mine. I made a grave mistake by doing this to her, I hurt the one who least deserved it, and even if it didn't go too far, I started something that should have never happened, that I should have never allowed.
"Shut up, Rachel, you know perfectly well why I was going to sleep with you and it's certainly not because I wanted to." I snapped before taking the last sip of brandy in my hands.
"Love, how can you say this to me now? After how well we've been together, it's true we haven't reached the point I wanted, but it's valid, do you want another drink?" She approached to take away my empty crystal glass, I looked at her with anger and mockery.
"I want you to leave my house." I said irritably in her presence.
"But I just arrived. Come on, you wouldn't want everyone to find out your secret or for me to fulfill what I promised you, that would be very sad for you."
I clenched my jaw with anger reflected in my eyes, restraining the urge to grab her by the hair and throw her out of my house.
But of course she would continue with her blackmail even though she got what she wanted. I just hoped my lawyers take care of the matter quickly, so I didn't have to live in torment with Rachel's blackmail, so that we could all be safe.
She poured me two glasses of brandy and although at first I didn't want to accept, I took it because of her insistent threats. I was angry with Rachel, but even more angry with myself for being so weak and cowardly, I was a respectable man, but I had made a big mistake that I was regretting, I wanted to internally punch myself for choosing the easiest option.
I didn't know at what point I started to see blurry, I wasn't accustomed to getting drunk so quickly and even though I had already had a few drinks, they hadn't affected me until now, the last thing I remembered was Rachel leading me upstairs while caressing my body.
I woke up with a headache, the memories of the previous night hit me, leaving me even more sore, although in reality, all I remembered was struggling to go up the stairs and then falling asleep on the bed without knowing anything else. I looked beside me, Rachel, who was naked, was peacefully sleeping as if she didn't have a single problem on her mind.
I tried to remember if anything happened between us the night before, but the truth was I didn't remember anything else after I got into bed. I woke her up without the slightest delicacy and kicked her out of my house this time successfully. Just seeing her using my wife's side of the bed made my blood boil. She would never come close to Sarah.
I went downstairs to have breakfast with the worst mood I'd had in years and an unbearable headache, but it didn't compare to the pain in my chest from my wife's noticeable absence. Ana handed me the mail and a particular envelope caught my attention.
I ran my hands over my face, feeling frustrated and annoyed with myself for allowing this to end like this, regretting giving Rachel free rein to do as she pleased with me as long as she didn't reveal that secret I've kept for years, and I didn't know how she managed to find out, let alone what she had me threatened with.
I opened the envelope and read every word of that document with an accelerated pulse. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. I threw everything on the table with my arms, the fine china and crystal glasses shattered when they hit the floor, mixing with the untouched food.
Orange juice spilled all over the table, joining the mess on the floor. As if that wasn't enough, I ended up throwing the chairs in my path, as if they were to blame for the consequences of my poor decisions.
It was the divorce certificate, only missing my signature.
The divorce papers.