Stubborn refusal

“I’m not signing anything. You must be drunk or out of your mind to think that I’ll sign those without an explanation. Whatever happened to you? You’re acting so strangely.” Becca ground out through clenched teeth, anger finally overcoming the pain that had been ravaging her and pushing it to the background. It was a welcome emotion, for Becca was sure that if she continued to feel the pain, she will faint from the force of it.

“Oh, but you would sign them, Becca. You’re going to sign them whether you like it or not, or I’m going to make your life really miserable. You know I can do that.”

Becca did not doubt that he could do that, but at that moment, she did not give a damn. “Do whatever the fuck you want, but the fact remains that I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of signing those papers since you can’t be bothered to act civil in such a matter as delicate as this.” She finished and flounced out of the room, heading straight for the room that she shared with him. She got a few things she needed for the night, like her cream, nightie, and others, after which she headed over to one of the large guest rooms, which were hardly ever used, but were always in pristine condition.

Once she had finished having her bath, she reclined on the bed and tried to get some shuteye, but sleep never came. In fact, she knew that she was not going to get any sleep that night. She had been expecting her dear husband to come to his senses and come over to the guest room to apologize and admit that he did not know what had come over him, but when it was past midnight, and she did not see him anywhere around, Becca knew that she was only deceiving herself.

She hated fighting with anyone, especially the man she was in love with, but this was no ordinary fight. Still, her pride did not allow her to get out of the bed and seek him out, so she stubbornly lay there in bed, shut her eyes tightly, and pretended that she was asleep. Finally, she managed to get some sleep, but her sleep was troubled with dreams in which Ryan left her and she died of a broken heart and was all alone in her old age.

At dawn, she got up and began pacing the room, lost in thought. What would happen if Ryan refused to listen to her and insisted that their marriage was over? She knew that refusing to sign the papers would make no difference and he could divorce her if he really wanted to, not that she would want to stay where she was not wanted, but she had to at least know why he was saying all this. Making a decision, she got up from bed and padded back to the room she shared with Ryan to reason with him, figuring that he would be more reasonable now. Whatever was his problem with her, surely they could work it out and save their marriage.

On getting to their bedroom, however, she found it empty, but even worse, Ryan had moved his things from the bedroom to God knows where, and was nowhere to be seen. How he had managed to have that done overnight without her hearing a single thing was a puzzle to her. Becca looked around the room in bewilderment, as though if she looked hard enough, things would be back to normal. She left the room and went to check one of the guestrooms, but he was not there.

Finally, realizing that standing there and doing nothing was doing no good, she began searching the house and later found him in one of the other guestrooms. He was as wide awake as she was, and hope blossomed in her chest. Maybe he had had time to sleep on the matter and had seen how unreasonable he was being. However, when he opened his mouth to speak, her heart sank again.

“I see that you’re not taking me seriously at all. What are you doing in here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“There’s no need for any talk. I’m moving out of this house today. Giving you the house was not in the prenuptial agreement you signed, but. I’m willing to do that. However, you must sign those papers today.”

“You’ll go nowhere and I’ll do no such thing,” Becca stated, feeling like a broken record with the number of times she kept on saying the same thing.

“I had a feeling you would say that, but no worries. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging to sign those papers.” It was a casual threat, which was said in a light tone, but she knew it was anything but light.

“W…what are you going to do? Hit me?”

“You know as well as I do that I’m never going to do that, Becca. I’m not that kind of man, but I know what you hold dear very much, and I’m going to use it against you mercilessly.”

Becca had no idea what he was talking about, and neither did she ask. Instead, she was opening her mouth to persuade him again when he said something that caused her blood to run cold.

“I’m no longer putting your brother through medical school. He can find his way himself, or you can do it for him, after all, you’re his big sister.”

“You’re kidding…” Becca retorted, unable to believe that he would do such a thing.  Granted, it was his money, but he had been the one who had encouraged the poor boy to go to medical school, that he was going to foot the bills for him.

“I’m not kidding. As a matter of fact, that is what I’m preparing to do right now. I was only giving you one more chance to sign those papers without fuss. If you refuse to do so, then you do so at your own peril… oh, and that of your very intelligent brother, if I might add.”

Becca lifted her chin. “Do your worst. I still refuse to grant you that divorce without you telling me what I’ve done wrong.”

“Alright then. Have it your way.” Ryan said and stood up. He began taking off his clothes with Becca standing there and watching him. Even with the state of mind in which she was, Becca could still take time to admire how perfectly sculpted and toned his body was, and she wondered what that said about her. Without saying a single word to her, Ryan walked into the bathroom to have his shower, while Becca stood there in the guestroom feeling like an unwanted piece of property.

He took his sweet time in there too, so that before long, she became tired of waiting, and padded back to her room dejectedly. There was still time to change his mind, she decided. After all, he could not just serve her divorce papers out of the blues without any fight between them, and expect her to sign them without reservations on her part or some explanation on his own part. No, no sane person would do that. She was not some sort of puppet that he could control anyhow and anytime he wanted and she was not going to have any of this.

Resolute in this decision, she went downstairs to the dining room to have her breakfast. She was just chewing her last piece of toast, when she heard the loud rumble of what sounded like a big car… like a tractor, or a truck outside the house. Perplexed, she finished off her cup of tea and went to look out the window to see a very large moving truck in the driveway. At the same moment, Ryan came into the dining room, glanced at her, and then glanced away dismissively.

Becca shuddered at the disgust and hatred that was in his eyes. She had never imagined that she would see such a look directed toward her from Ryan’s face, and the discovery was not pleasant in the least. Ryan walked towards the huge refrigerator in the room, took an apple from it, and was about to walk out of the room when Becca spoke.

“What on earth are those people doing here, Ryan?”

“What does it look like they’re doing here, Becca? They’re coming to move my stuff out of this house, of course.”