The move

At this announcement, Becca could no longer hold herself back or control her emotions. She rushed towards Ryan and grabbed both his hands in hers, staring up at him with tear-filled eyes as she pleaded with him one last time. Her head only came up to his shoulders because of how tall he was.

“Ryan please, what you’re doing is not fair in the least. At least give me a clue as to why you’re doing this. We were fine when you went on your business trip less than a week ago. What has changed from then till now and why are you treating me with such condescension?” Becca asked, refusing to let him go when he would have dragged his hands away from hers and walked away.

He stared down at her for some moments, and she could have sworn that she saw the tenderness that she used to see in his eyes towards her before, but it was gone in a split second, as though it had never been there in the first place.

“Everything has changed. Everything, Becca. The sooner you realize that, the better for you." He said briefly, the hatred and disgust coming back into his eyes, and then he dragged his hand away from hers to go meet the movers who were patiently waiting for him outside at the request of one of the servants. Becca let him go, staring at his back until he disappeared through the doorway, and then sighed, walking upstairs to their old room, where her things still were. She sank into the bed and gave way to bitter tears that refused to subside, no matter how hard she tried to stop them. Soon, she wore herself out with crying and did not know when she fell deeply asleep, which was no surprise, considering that she had not gotten much sleep the previous night.

By the time she woke up, it was already some minutes past five in the evening. Becca sprang up from the bed, horrified at how much time had passed, and sure that her eyes were playing tricks on her when she spied the time on the wall clock. She had slept for over nine hours? How on earth was that possible?

She rubbed at her eyes slowly, her stomach grumbling as she came fully awake. Belatedly, she remembered the happenings of the previous night and this morning. She got up and padded out of the room slowly and fearfully, afraid of what she was going to see.

The house still looked the same, except for the guest room in which her husband had spent the night. That room was empty, and on closer inspection, she realized that every personal item of her husband was gone from the house. Not even one item remained. The furniture and household appliances were all still there, though. He had merely taken his personal belongings. Still, Becca knew that he was gone for good, and she went into the living room, where she found the divorce papers on a table there, together with a note that said,

“I’m giving you a week to get over your shock and stubbornness and sign the papers, otherwise, I’ll not leave this house to you any longer, and once I pay you what we agreed on the prenuptial agreement, which as you know, is not much to rely on, you will be on your own. It is in your best interest for you to sign them now and know that you have a roof over your head, at least.

Ryan.

Becca glanced through the note, after which she sank to the ground and had another good cry. The hunger pangs that she had been feeling earlier disappeared immediately as she sat there on the floor, crying.

“Ma’am.” A hesitant voice called, after Becca must have been in that position for more than twenty minutes.

Becca wiped her eyes and reluctantly raised her gaze to find one of the servants, a middle-aged woman, looking at her sympathetically.

“I’m so sorry about what has happened, ma’am. You must give Master Ryan some time. He’s a good man, and I’m sure he’ll see reason soon. There isn’t any woman on this planet who’ll ever love him more than you do. All of us know that and I’m sure he’ll realize it soon enough.” The woman said, trying to console Becca.

“So it’s because of another woman he’s treating me this way, then?” Becca asked, fresh tears welling up in her eyes as pain wracked through her being.

“Oh no, ma’am. I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant…” The woman trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

“Thank you, Margie. I appreciate your concern. At least, someone cares.”

“Of course, ma’am. So, I’m going to bring some food for you now. You’ve not had anything since the few pieces of toast you had in the morning, and crying on an empty stomach is bad.”

“Oh, no. I’m not in the least bit hungry…” Becca began, but Margie cut off her protestations and scurried off to the kitchen. After a few moments, she brought Becca a steaming hot bowl of chicken soup, which the latter devoured hungrily, finding out that she was still hungry, after all. Margie sat opposite her and watched her closely until she finished the last drop of soup, before nodding in satisfaction.

“There, don’t you feel much better, ma’am?” She asked, and Becca had to smile through her sadness. It was the first time she had smiled since Ryan started this madness, and it felt strange as her face felt stiff.

“You’re right, Margie. I feel much better. Thank you very much.” Becca replied, but could see how uneasy Margie looked. There was clearly something else on the woman’s mind, but Becca did not know what it was, and suddenly, she was scared to ask, but she had to ask all the same.

“Is something the matter, Margie? You look kind of pale and uneasy. Is there something you want to tell me?” Becca asked at last. She watched Margie visibly shake herself and clear her throat.

“Um, ma’am. I’m really, really sorry, and God knows that if it were up to me… um… well. It’s just…”

“Out with it, Margie. You’re scaring the hell out of me.”

“Well, the master has ordered that all of us, the servants, are to leave here this evening and report at the other house where he’s staying. He had us all box up our things and will have the moving company move them over there tomorrow. But we’re leaving this night.” Margie said in a rush, averting her gaze from Becca's.

“Excuse me?” Becca asked, not sure that she had heard correctly.

“I’m really sorry, ma’am. But he said he has divorced you and since we work for him, we all have to report to our new stations, which is the house he’s staying at currently. That’s not all, ma’am.” Margie said, her expression sad.

“I’m listening, Margie,” Becca encouraged, her heart pounding at Ryan’s callousness and the length at which he was willing to go to make her life miserable. He had warned her that he would make her life miserable, after all. How one earth did he expect only her to stay in this ridiculously large house?

“It’s not only the house helps who are to leave, but everyone that works here, including the gardener, drivers, and security men. The boss has directed that you alone are to remain in this house, ma’am.” Margie finished, wringing her hands worriedly.