Chapter 3 You Promised Me Forever

Elena

The words landed like a knife in my chest. I stumbled backward, my hand flying to my mouth. A sob escaped my lips, raw and guttural. I felt like I was dying. Like something inside me had just stopped existing.

"So it is true," I breathed. “Sophie’s carrying your baby.”

He turned to face me, and his expression made me step back unconsciously. It was dark and cold.

"Elena, do not stand there looking at me like I have committed a crime. These things happen. People change. Marriages change."

"These things happen?" I laughed, but it was hollow. "These things do not just happen, Damien. You made a choice. You chose to sleep with her. You chose to lie to me. You chose to destroy everything we built. These things do not just happen. You happened. You are what happened to us.”

"You are being dramatic." He said, taking off his watch.

"Dramatic?" I screamed. The sound tore out of my throat. "You are having a baby with another woman and I am being dramatic? You have been lying to me for months, maybe years, and I am being dramatic? I have given you everything, Damien. My career. My inheritance. My family. My whole life. And this is what you give me in return?"

I was sobbing now, loud and raw. My whole body was shaking. I could barely stand. I gripped the edge of the bed to keep myself upright.

"I never asked you to give up anything.” His voice was calm.

"You did not have to ask!" I screamed. "I gave it all because I loved you. Because I believed in us. You told me we would build a life together. You promised me, Damien. You promised me forever."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I am tired, Elena. I am tired of this conversation. I am tired of coming home to the same routine. I have found something different. Something that makes me feel alive again."

"Different?" I choked out. "You mean Sophie? The girl we took in? The girl who called me her sister while she was sleeping with my husband? That is what makes you feel alive?"

"She is nothing like you."

I froze. The words hit me like a physical blow. I felt like I had been slapped.

"Good," I spat, my voice dripping with venom. "I hope she is nothing like me. I hope she is exactly what you deserve. Cold. Calculated. Willing to destroy a marriage to get what she wants. That is what you deserve, Damien. Not me. Not someone who loved you with their whole heart."

His eyes darkened. "Watch your tone.”

"Or what?" I screamed. "You will have Lucas throw me out of the house? You don't have to. I am leaving."

I grabbed the suitcase and started dragging it toward the door. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely grip the handle. Tears were streaming down my face. I could barely see where I was going.

"Where do you think you are going?" He asked, his tone sharp.

"I do not know," I admitted, my voice trembling. "Anywhere you are not. I would rather be alone and homeless than spend another moment in this nightmare."

"Elena, be reasonable." He said, his voice flat.

"Reasonable?" I whirled around to face him. "You want me to be reasonable? You had a child with another woman. You destroyed our marriage. And now you want me to be reasonable?"

He walked toward me, reaching out to touch my arm. "I never said I was leaving you. I can take care of the both of you. I can provide for you. You will not have to worry about anything.”

"Provide for me?" I laughed bitterly. "You think I care about your money? I gave up millions to marry you, Damien. My inheritance was worth more than your entire company. I gave it all up for love. And you think I care about your money?"

I jerked away from him. My body trembled from the force.

His expression hardened.

"Then go. Leave. See if I care." He crossed his arms, looking down at me like I was nothing. "You think anyone else will want you? A woman who gave up everything for a man who did not want her? Your father already disowned you. Your brother will not take your calls. You have no money, no career, no family. Where will you go, Elena? What will you do?"

His words cut deeper than any knife ever could. He was right. I had nothing. No one. My father had cut me off when I married him. My brother had stopped answering my calls. I had given up my career to be his wife. I had nothing.

I stood there, frozen, as everything he said sank in. The weight of it crushed me. I had given everything for this man. Everything. And he was throwing me away like I was garbage.

But I still had my pride. I still had the tiny life growing inside me. The baby who would never know this man as a father.

I lifted my chin, even as tears spilled down my cheeks. "I will figure it out. I always do. Because unlike you, Damien, I do not give up on the people I love. I just stop loving them when they show me who they really are."

I dragged the suitcase past him, down the hallway, toward the front door. My legs were shaking. My whole body was screaming at me to stop, to fall, to give up. But I kept walking.

"Elena." He called.

I stopped but did not turn around. I could not look at him. If I looked at him, I would break completely.

"If you're really going to leave, you would have to sign the divorce papers." His voice was cold.

I froze. The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, his phone rang. And he picked it almost immediately.

A feminine voice said from the other end. "Baby, can you come over? Our baby needs you.”