Twisted Fate

Divorced.

The funeral of Arthur King had been very, very, over-whelming. 

Media had arrived in pools and the police had to be called to hold them back. Important people had flown out from across the world to pay their last regards. I had known Arthur King to be a very powerful man, but had only witnessed the intensity of it today, at his funeral.

Arthur King was my father-in-law, yet I felt like I knew him the least from everyone present there. The man had loathed me, hated me with every little bit of his old heart. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine at the memory of the look on his face, when his only son, Oliver, had walked in with me by his side, announcing our marriage.

Arthur King's face had burnt red with an all consuming anger. He had roared profanities that still made me wince.

"Is this some kind of a sick joke? You hired this woman two months ago! And now you're married to her?! Are you out of your fucking mind Oliver? Running away and getting married when you know very well you're engaged to Catherine O'Neil! I gave my word to their family, does that mean anything to you?

"This is atrocious! An embarrassment! What the fuck did you see in this- this broke, orphaned girl with no heritage? Is this the legacy you want for our family?" Arthur King had looked at me with so much disgust on his face I thought I might burst into flames under his glare.

"I see you've already done your research on your new daughter-in-law." Oliver mocked, only aggravating the old man further. "Father, need I remind you, I didn't even want to get married two months ago. YOU were pushing me into marrying someone I didn't even know, another one of your business alliances. You did not care about my happiness or my wishes. YOU blackmailed me, threatened to take me off the will!

"Now, as you can see, I have chosen my own bride. I've met with your conditions. You will accept her, whether you like it or not. I don't give two shits about your opinion of her. I was never going to marry Catherine. Not now, not ever. You can give up on that dream old man" Oliver spat back at his father before taking my hand and storming out of the room.

Loud footsteps broke me out of my reverie. I didn't have to turn to know it was Oliver. I could smell his strong mint cologne from where I stood.

"We need to talk" He said in a serious tone as he walked past me and took a seat on the couch. He put forward his briefcase, opened it and fished out some papers.

"I want you to sign these" He said, in the professional tone I knew so well from my first few days of working with him. I felt uneasy. I could sense something was wrong, I saw it in his eyes. He was suddenly acting a lot like he used to when I first met him. Closed off, emotionless and... cruel.

I convinced myself that it was probably due to exhaustion from the funeral and dealing with all the legal matters that followed the death of his father. 

Slowly, I took a seat across from him and read through the papers.

"Divorce? Y-you want a divorce?" I asked in disbelief, my voice cracking at the last part. It seemed as if all the air had been chocked out of my body.

"Yes. Now that my father is dead, I have no use of you" He said coldly, not a hint of emotion on his face. I could not even blink. What the hell was he talking about? He had no use of me? What did that even mean?

"W-what?" I gasped, my voice barely a whisper. I was still looking at him, expecting him to just laugh suddenly and tell me he was joking. Instead he stood up, loosened his tie, and took off his blazer.

"Sign the papers, Alena." He ordered, undoing his shirt buttons. He looked so normal, as if he hadn't just handed me divorce papers out of the blue. It didn't look like it was affecting him one bit.