CHAPTER ONE ~Divorce Papers
1383 Words
Beth found herself looking at divorce papers that were unceremoniously thrown on the bed where she lay.
Her heart sank to her feet. The day she had been scared of had finally arrived. Finally, Greg could no longer pretend to love her.
“D-Did I do something wrong?” She couldn’t help but ask. Her chest constricted, feeling like someone was squeezing it...”
Beth felt a prick of pain at his words. Over their two years of marriage, she had truly fallen for Greg, shaping her whole world around him and hoping that her love for him, would make him love her back.
"We can work…’ Before Beth could even finish her sentence, Greg interrupted
‘’There is nothing to work out here, Beth. You asked that we try a year ago, and we did, but nothing seems to work out… We have grown apart clearly.’’
Greg grabbed a pen from the drawers and put it just beside the papers he lay on the bed for Beth to sign and left.
Meanwhile, Beth was left alone in the middle of the conversation, sobbing. Her mind raced with questions: Had her love blinded her? Was their marriage truly a failure? Were the things people said about them all these years true?
Beth felt her stomach twist and turn. Her gaze fell on the small gift box she had placed on Greg’s bedside table. It was untouched… did he hate her that much that he didn’t want any gift from her?
With a heavy sigh, she picked up the small box and opened it… the positive pregnancy test was still there.
Beth felt like the whole world had turned against her. How would she ever tell Greg about the baby? She had just discovered she was pregnant, but with their recent awkwardness, she hadn’t found the right moment to share the news.
The morning went by with Beth thinking through the few good moments she shared with Greg: the walks in the park, their cuddles, and the memory of the first time they made love. He couldn’t keep his hands off her body. She smiled at the thought of this.
And then there was that one time he confessed how much he loved having her around. ‘’It couldn’t all have been fake, could it? If there’s something left between us, I need to try to fight for us’’ She thought to herself
These ignited some hope in her, and she quickly wiped off the tears and got out of bed.
‘‘I know exactly what to do to get us back to those days when we were happy,’’ Beth said to herself, with a ray of hope lighting up her eyes.
The evening came, and Beth dressed up in Greg’s favorite red body- hugging dress, her stiletto echoed through the walls of the griffin mansion as she walked while her pony tail fell on her back bouncing as she walked.
She prepared their dinner, got his favorite wine, cooked his favorite meal, and lit up the candles in the room.
She hung pictures around the room from their high school days to their wedding photos, with the last picture holding the positive pregnancy test result.
‘’This looks perfect’’ she said with a sense of pride within her.
The clock was ticking, and the breeze of the wind crept through the dining room were Beth was seated waiting on Greg. It was 10pm and he was not home yet, she started to panic
She looked at her watch again, ‘’He should have been here by now, but maybe he is probably just stuck in traffic or swamped with some work, I will wait a bit longer’’ she said to herself
“Ma’am, please go sleep in the room,” one of their workers said as she tapped her shoulder to wake her up. She had fallen asleep at the dinner table while waiting for Greg to come home.
“Oh, I fell asleep. What time is it? Has Mr. Griffin come home?” she asked.
“No, ma’am,” the old lady, who had worked with them and was now almost like family, replied. She shook her head in a way that seemed to share her disappointment.
The disappointment in Beth could be smelt miles away from the room as she walked back up to their bedroom.
When Greg came home, he saw Beth asleep while holding a wedding photo of theirs in her hand. His heart was unsettled for a moment at the site of this but he quickly pushed that thought away and went to sleep in another room.
The next morning, Beth tried to talk to Greg as he was getting ready to leave. “You came in late last night,” she observed.
“I was busy,” he replied, barely acknowledging her. “Greg, can we talk? There’s something I need to—” she said, but he cut her off again.
“Beth, let’s not complicate things. We’ve talked enough. Let’s not make things more difficult than they already are.
Beth’s heart sunk again, she had to live through another morning with tears in her eyes, she realized that the connection she once had with Greg was gone. She felt like she didn’t know him at all and that he had been pretending during their time together.
“I was so naive to think he loved me. He was just trying to move on from his ex,” she thought, regretting not listening to her friends who had warned her about getting too close to him too soon.
"Greg could barely look at her or even hold a conversation with her, but she was still hopeful that things between them would work. However, she didn’t want to push too much this morning. She left the room for her morning walk
While taking a walk in their courtyard, she watched Greg drive out for work. He couldn’t even say goodbye," she commented. “How disrespectful,” she said, with a tiny sense of hurt within her but she ignored that feeling
She had a doctor’s appointment that morning; she had recently started her antenatal care.
“Your baby is coming along well, Mrs. Griffin,” the doctor commented with delight. “You and your husband are so lucky.”
“Come with him next time, so he can see this development too,” the doctor continued. “I am sure it will make him happier.”
“I surely will,” Bethany said, faking a smile and engaging in conversation about how happy she was with the topic concerning her husband.
“Let me show Greg this first scan of our little one. Maybe surprising him with this will make him want to talk about us, and it could be a beautiful head start for us,” she said to herself excitedly.
She grabbed coffee for him and headed over to his workplace.
“Hi, Mrs. Griffin,” the secretary said. “You look lovely. We haven’t seen you in a while. You can go right ahead; Mr. Griffin is in.”
“Thank you, Charlene,” Bethany replied. “It’s always a delight to talk to you.”
"Beth was elated on her way to Greg. She played out images of how Greg might react to the news of their baby as she climbed the stairs.
As she drew closer to the office, she couldn’t help but notice his office door was slightly open, leaving room for anyone to hear the conversation inside.
“No, stop! You’re so naughty, Greg,” the woman giggled loudly.
Bethany’s heart skipped a beat, her mind racing as she felt her blood rush through her body. Not entirely sure of what she heard, she decided to take a peep, while being careful not to be seen or heard.
Leaning forward, she saw it: Greg, her husband at an angle, holding another woman’s waist in a way that suggested they were just kissing or about to.
Doubt clouded Beth’s mind. Was she seeing things clearly? She took another hesitant step closer, and there it was: Greg, entangled with this woman, her hands wrapped around him.
Bethany’s stomach dropped. Who was she? Could she be the reason he wanted a divorce?"
- Writer
