Chapter 1
The rustling of paper, the stroke of the pen, the heart breaking inside of her, she looked across the table where the love of her life sat with a blank stare while sitting next to his very attractive lawyer. She had finally done it, she is now a free woman, not that she actually wanted to be a free woman. She looks down at the paper she just signed and placed the pen down. She pushed the papers from her and sat back in her seat. The lawyer sitting next to her gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder which did not go unnoticed by the man sitting in front of them. He placed his hands on the table and reached for the papers, he grabbed the pen on his side and wrote his signature on the dotted line, now making it official that she is no longer tied to him. All she has to do is move out of the house she shared with him. She remembered those hateful words he had said to her only almost six months prior to this day.
"I do not want you. The only reason we had gotten married is because my mother had forced me into marrying you. I had not wanted to get married with you. You were a waste of my time and space, but the only thing great that came out of this, that you were amazing in the bedroom. I just cannot stay with one person for the rest of my life. You meant nothing to me, you mean nothing to me, so I am going as for a divorce."
The world no longer looked as beautiful as she thought, it became colorless, empty and gray, nothing but a dull look. Her world had come crashing down after that horrible day. She felt like she let him down, that she was not good enough for him, that she didn't deserve him. With her heart on her sleeve she had given into his wishes, she had called her lawyer and set up a date to proceed with the documents.
Now that he had achieved what he wanted, all she has left is to go back to the house they shared to pack up her things. He ad said that he would give her half of everything, half his money, half his possessions such as the house they lived in or one of the vacation houses they had bought together, but she did not want anything that belonged to him. She felt that it was not right to take something that did not belong to her. She didn't take his money for if she did, she thought that she would be looked at as a prostitute. She took the love she had for him, her heart, and the little surprise she had growing inside her. She had not told her lawyer because she knew that her now ex husband would demand her to dispose of the child or demand he had full custody of the child, especially after what had said about the matter.
"I am relieved that you had not gotten pregnant, for if you had then there would only be two options. If you had given birth to a son, then I would take him away from you, have you sign all your rights to me, make the child believe you did not exist. Finally, if you had given birth to a daughter, well you would have to dispose of it."
That had broken her heart even more than what he had done before. He had no connection to her whatsoever. That is why she had not mentioned it to anyone. She had gotten up from her seat after everything was decided, she shook hands with the judge and the lawyer in front of her. When she turned to say goodbye to her now ex husband, she froze because she knew he didn't want anything from her. She looked down at her rings and sighed. She slowly took them off and held them in her hands. She reached over the table and placed them in front of him, looked at him while he looked down at the ring, and said, "I hope you find the happiness that you deserve, I know surely that I did not deserve that happiness. Have a wonderful day Mr. Gabrielli." She did not want to wait for his response so she had turned away and walked out the room. He had stared at the rings that he had given her, he still could not believe what was happening. When he had gotten the call from his lawyer saying that his wife had agreed to file for divorce, his heart broke, his suspicion had been right, she had cheated on him, just as his mother had predicted. He grabbed the rings and held them in his hands. He looked up at the now closed door, she had walked out of his life forever, knowing very well the words he had said to her were cruel, but she had been cruel to him. With that thought in his mind, he shook his feelings away and walked out of the room and went to his office, hoping some paperwork can distract him from the pain he had been feeling since he had found out his wife had been cheating on him.
"Hello Mrs. Gabrielli, how are you this fine day?" She had arrived at the mansion she shared with him, to grab her things before the owner arrives. She turns to the butler and gives him a small sad smile. "Hello Stanley, as of an hour ago, I am no longer Mrs. Gabrielli, I am Camden Beverly once again." She had not realized that tears started falling down her cheeks. After all this time, she finally grasped the fact that she had no connection to the Gabrielli's no more, that she had in fact lost the love of her life. She had finally reached her breaking point. "I have come to retrieve my belongings before Mr. Gabrielli arrives. He had generously given me by the end of this week to be out. I am assuming that he will be staying in the penthouse in the city while I am here." The butler saw the hurt that his master had been causing this woman. He just did not know what had gotten into his master. He saw her pain and decided to be the shoulder she needed to cry on. "He has no right to put you through all this pain Ms. Beverly, especially if you are with child." She looked down and more tears had started to fall. "I did not say anything about me being with child." The butler was furious. "Why not? He has every right to know." She shook her head and told Stanley what Mr. Gabrielli had told her about the baby if he had known. Stanley again was furious, "He is only hurting you more, he should not treat you this way Miss. If there is anything I could do to help you, I am here, I am here for you Miss. I will do anything and everything for you." She hugged the man that had always been there for her, since she had moved into the mansion.
"Thank you Stanley, now will you help me get my things. I will only be taking my clothes and shoes, but not the shoes or the clothes that he had bought me." Stanley nodded. "As you wish Madam. Do you have a place to stay after you attain your belongings?" She shook her head. "No but I will be calling my brother to see if he is willing to help." Conrad Beverly happens to be her little brother who approved of her now ex husband, they had clicked and became the best of friends. What will happen when he learns that is now no longer Mrs. Gabrielli but Ms. Beverly again? It will be difficult trying to stop him from hurting himself and his ex brother in law. Stanley thought about loaning her the little cottage he has by a lake in the countryside. "If you want, I have a little cottage in the countryside with an amazing view by the lake. I won't ask for much, just to pay for the electricity. Miss Beverly you are the daughter I had never had the privilege of having. You do not deserve anything that man had put you through." She smiled and nodded. "Thank you Stanley, is means so much to me that you are helping me." He smiles and hugs her again. She smiled and went up the staircase into the room she once shared with her husband. She tried to stay strong, she did not want to remember anything about her ex husband, especially with the way he hurt her. She began packing her things, for the rest of the week she had packed everything she wanted. Once she had finished packing, Stanley had helped her place her things into the moving truck she rented. She had called her brother, he was not happy and in fact wanted to hurt her ex husband but she had stopped him.
It has been two years since she had been divorced, Stanley had been truthful, only making her pay for the electricity. She adored him for it, but currently she stood in an expensive chiffon dress her mother had bought her for this evenings festivities. Her child of two had been left in the care of her mother's maid her mother made her go to this event. It has been two long years since she had attended an event such as this one, what she had not known is that the man she onced loved had been invited to the event.
Being a little parched, she went over to grab a glass of champagne, she had turned only to almost drop the glass. Two years passed without seeing him, two years has passed, two years after leaving the mansion with only her broken heart, tears and a bundle of joy that she loved to death. Two years without seeing this man and her heart leaped with seeing him. He had been in a very expensive Armani suit with a Rolex watch on his arm, he had also arrived with a very beautiful woman that had been draped gracefully on his arm. She could hear her heart break once more seeing the smile on his beautiful face. She did not see that it had all been a facade, that it was a false smile. Her heart started beating heavily when she saw that he had turned in her direction, it had felt like time had stopped. He had shown her his longing and regret, but it cleared away as his attention turned to the lady he had brought with him. She could not believe her parents not telling her that he had been invited. She scanned the room, looking for her parents, luckily she found them away from her ex husband. She walked as gracefully as she could towards her parents. She grabbed her mother's arm, "Mother, may I have a word?" She pulled her away from the group, she did not know she had started crying until her mother wiped a tear away. "Darling, what is wrong?" She turns towards the group where her ex husband had been mingling with. "He is here mother. He is here with someone else and he looks happy." Her mother turns towards him, he been looking around the room. Both the women had gasped when they saw the youngest Beverly walked over to the ex husband, he began talking with him, but soon after both men started throwing punches at each other and were both on the floor in minutes.
The night could have not ended any worse, but that was spoken too soon as a little boy came running from the kitchen also in an Armani toddler suit, crying for his mother. He saw his mother and ran towards him. "Mommy!" And as if the world stopped, the men drew from each other, looking at the little boy who had yelled. Conrad looked towards his ex brother in law and looked towards his sister and nephew. He saw the look that his ex brother in law had, it was unexpected. There on his face had regret and pain, he shook his head and went over to his sister who was holding onto his nephew like her life depended on it. "Come on, let us take you away from here." He started leading them away but she turned towards her ex husband and saw the pain in his eyes. The night had been ruined, she just wished that now that her son had come out, that everything will go back to normal. What she had thought, was not what it was going to be. Nothing is going to be normal after that night.