𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑

~𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝒮𝒾𝓍~

KOHEN

I wake up with Tara in my arms, but her back is turned to me. I glance at the alarm clock on her dresser table, and it's almost eleven am. I lean over to see if Tara is asleep, but to my surprise, she's not.

She seems to just be staring at the wall in a daze. I get up slowly and make my way to the side of the bed she's facing, and I kneel down in front of her.

Tara stares at me with a blank expression. She looks exhausted like she hasn't slept. I stroked her hair softly and caressed her skin.

"How are you feeling?" I ask softly.

She shrugs, and a single tear drop falls from her eye. This isn't just about the fight last night. It's about her dad and Kristina's abandonment.

"Did you sleep?" I ask, but she shakes her head no.

I sighed and kept caressing the soft skin of he cheek. I love her. I hope she knows that. I kissed her cheek and spoke to her in a quiet voice.

"I'm going to make you breakfast, and then you need to take your pills, okay?" I say to her, but she shakes her head.

"Not hungry." She says in a soft, hoarse voice that sounds nothing like her.

I hate seeing her like this. "You still need to take your pills, bella."

She stares at me for a while and then nods. I press my lips to her cheek close to her ear and whisper. "No one's going to hurt you again.. I promise."

Tara stares at me and gives me a small smile. "I don't deserve you." She says softly.

"No.. I don't deserve you." I correct her and got up. "I'm going to get you some water."

She nods but doesn't say more. I want to stay in bed with her and hold her, but I know she wants her space to grieve. It's what she's always done, but I've never seen her this bad, so I'm torn.

I make my way out of her room and downstairs to the kitchen, but surprise, surprise, Kristina isn't there. I'm glad she isn't. Tara doesn't need the added drama.

I took a clean glass and rinsed it out before filling it with room temperature water. I make my way up to Tara's bedroom and get her pills from on the sink. She takes about four different pills for her depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

I head back to her bed, and Tara hasn't moved. She's still staring at the wall. I turn on the ac, knowing how much she likes the cold before I sit on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Sit up, bella." I say to her softly.

Her room is still dark  because of the thick curtains blocking the sunlight peaking in from the outside. Tara sighs heavily and slowly sits up. I give her the glass of water and take a pill from three of the bottles, and I include her birth control. She throws them into her mouth and drinks half of the glass of water.

I hold the last pill bottle in my hand and glance up at her. "Do you want a sleeping pill now so you can sleep?"

Tara rests the half empty glass of water on her bedside table and lays back down, covering herself up to her neck with her comforter.

"Leave it." She mumbles. "I'll take it later.."

I take a deep breath and rest it on her table next to the glass of water.

"Tara.... if you want -"

"I just want to be alone." She whispers softly while staring at the wall again.

I hesitantly get up and stare down at her about to turn to leave, but she weakly grabs my hand. Turned back and looked down at her.

"Thank you." She says.

I give her a reassuring smile so she knows I'm not hurt, and I tuck me back into bed. "I'm down the hall if you need me."

She gives me a nod but doesn't say anything. I walked away slowly, but once I reached her door, I hesitated, leaving. Should I leave her alone like this?

I stay there staring at her, laying there barely herself. I step out quietly and leave the door slightly open so if she calls me, I'll hear her.

If she's still like this tomorrow, I'm going to take her to a therapist for an emergency session. Her history with self-harm... the last thing I want is to find her bleeding out in the bathtub.

I walked into my study and finally I opened my phone once I sat down. I was bombarded with texts from Kristina.

TEXTS

KRISTINA: I got a hotel room.

KRISTINA: Please answer me

KRISTINA: I'm sorry for what I said. I was drunk and upset.

KRISTINA: I didn't want to lose you.

KRISTINA: Please tell me when Tara calms down. I want to apologize to her.

KRISTINA: Kohen answer me please. I love you.

KRISTINA: Let's have a talk, please. I feel like you misjudged me.

KRISTINA: Is Tara okay?

KRISTINA: Tell her I'm sorry. Please help me.

KRISTINA: Call me.

It goes on like that, but I don't want to read anymore. This isn't the woman I married. Or maybe it is, but she was just hiding. I pull out the divorce papers from my desk and stare at them.

I got these the day before Tara came back. I don't know why. I stare at the divorce papers with a blank face. If I want to help Tara, I can't do that if I'm married to the woman, causing her pain, whether she wants to be with me or not.

I know I'm safe legally. I had a prenup, and she signed it on our wedding day. The house is mine. The company and all the cars belong to me. I'll let her keep her car and a healthy sum of money for her to start a new life.

I know she won't take this lightly, I know, but it's what I want. I'm going to give things a couple of days to cool down before I give them to her. I want to focus on caring for Tara right now, but I will be divorcing Kristina.

~☆~