Chapter 1

“Nita, you don’t have to do this anymore. It has made no sense to me and it will never.” Dennis said to Nita calmly but his expression coated with coldness.

Her heart broke as she recalled her effort in making their anniversary a memorable one. Was that the best words he could say to her after all the stress?

From his tone, Nita knew that something was different about Dennis.

“Hmmm, but today is a special day,” Nita said happily.

“What is so special about today?” Dennis asked sarcastically.

She did not dare to ask him why he didn’t remember their anniversary. In a bid to compress her pain, she closed her eyes for some seconds and opened them after giving an exasperated breath.

He has never for once in the past years remembered their anniversary so why was this year a shock to her?

Nita gazed at the meals she had prepared on the dining table. “So, the five years we spent together meant nothing to you? Or should I say, all these years, you didn’t even develop an ounce of love towards me...?” She spat pitifully.

“Hold it right there, woman. Now, an end has come to whatever we shared. Read my lips, YOU DON’T BELONG HERE! My chosen one is back.” Dennis uttered with a sly smile forming on his lips.

“What?”

Tears welled in Nita’s eyes.

“I have never been happy around you. I deserve someone better than you. We are not meant for each other, get that, Nita.”

Remembering all she had endured and passed through in his hands over the years, she shook her head.

“Really? You deserve someone better than me?”

“Of course!” Dennis replied quickly without hesitation.

Inwardly, like a shattered glass, Nita’s heart broke. Her relationship with Dennis started based on arranged marriage because of the business gains their fathers aimed at. She knew it was just a deal, but she never expected him to treat the years they spent together like trash. His words pierced her heart deeply.

Maintaining a cold look, Dennis took a glass of water from the jug on the table. His indifferent and I don’t care attitude pissed her off.

Ring…

At this point, Dennis's phone rang. The moment he gazed at the screen, a bright smile formed on his face and he answered the call.

“Hello Lisha”

Clearly, Nita could hear a feminine voice speaking on the other end of the phone.

Lisha? Is it the same Lisha that happens to be Dennis's first love? Nita thought inwardly.

“Stress? Of course not. I’ll be with you in a jiffy.” After saying that, he ended the call.

He didn’t even feel guilty that he was talking to another woman romantically right before his legally married wife.

“Could it be your first love is back?” Nita asked with her tone etched with curiosity.

Nita added, “I have been faithful to you all these years. Is this what you deem perfect for me? What did I ever do to you that you hurt my feelings at every opportunity you get? Dennis, you can’t do this.”

There was only one woman whom Dennis loved wholeheartedly. It was Lisha, the same person who cheated on him five years ago and eloped with another man. The same person who suddenly returns after getting a divorce to claim she still loves him and wants him back.

Despite all this, Dennis didn’t think twice about ending the relationship he had with Nita. The woman who had been faithful to him. The woman who lost herself just to please him, hoping that one day they’ll be on the same page.

They were not best of friends, but she remembered he once told her about his first love named Lisha and to worsen it whenever they were making out, he always mentioned Lisha.

It dawned on her that his heart belonged to another woman and there was absolutely nothing that could change that.

“I owe you no explanation,” Dennis replied with a tightened expression. “You just have to leave. Hold on, do I need to remind you that our union was never based on our mutual love for each other? I don’t love you. You should know better and stop all the drama.”

“Alright, I understand.” Nita sighed.

However, she maintained an indifferent outward look. She did not want to look defeated before him.

Dennis scanned from her toes to her head, “I know you have nothing to fall back to. I’ll make a cash transfer of one million dollars. That should be enough for you to gather the pieces of your life together. Call out your account number.”

Dennis doubted if she was going to say her account number because for all the years they spent together, she had never shown herself to be a gold-digger or crave his money. It was his heart she wanted after all.

To his shock, she said her account number and after some seconds, her phone beeped confirming the credit alert of one million dollars.

Nita smiled and said, “If that will be all, I beg to take my leave.”

Dennis adjusted his necktie. “You have just three days.”

“Perfect, Dennis,” Nita said politely, curving her lips.

Dennis turned and left the house.

Dennis's decision was a hard pill for Nita to swallow but she had no choice but to put herself together.

Three hours later, Nita parked everything she owned excluding things Dennis had ever bought for her. He wasn’t the best partner but for public shows, he always gets her expensive gifts.

The next day, Dennis returns to the house he had shared with Nita for the past five years. Only to find signed divorce papers alongside the wedding ring he had bought for Nita.

Guilt, emptiness, and regret engulfed his heart when he found that Nita was not in the house but that won’t solve the current situation.

Scanning through the closet, he noticed that her things were gone and reality struck him hard. There was a piece missing in the abode he calls home.

“Nita, I gave you three days? Why did you choose to leave now? You can’t be so strong-hearted.” He whispers as he paces about restlessly.

“She has no one to run to for help,” Dennis added.

He pulls out his phone and dials Nita’s number and it goes through.

“Nita, where the hell are you?” Dennis spoke authoritatively.

The voice on the other end giggled and hung up.

Annoyingly, Dennis dialed Nita’s line again.

“Hey, do I need to remind you that this is not yet official and I have rights over you? You’ve grown some nerves suddenly?” Dennis uttered coldly.

“That must be a joke of the century. Dennis, my dear, in case you’ve not seen it, pick the divorce paper on the table in the bedroom. Nita hissed. “You now have rights over your lost but found lover, Lisha. You have no rights over me again, jerk!”

Jerk?

Dennis moved the phone from his ear to digest what he had just heard. In all the days he had spent with her, she had never for once used such words on him.

Clearing her throat, Nita added. “Don’t ever think of calling me again. You can even try but you won’t be able to reach me.”

Dennis realized that he couldn’t always be the master of the game. His ex-wife is no longer the woman he once knew.