SHOCKING NEWS

Chapter 1: Shocking News

Rose husband, Derek, slammed a wad of papers on her face, his face filled with disdain for her, as he laced out his next words. “I want a divorce,” he said.

His words came as clear as a joke to her, so they sent her laughing. Because, they is no way Derek could be asking for a divorce suddenly.

“Are you kidding me?” Rose found herself questioning him in awe. “How can you be pulling my legs this much?” she chuckled, passing the paper back to him, “he must be joking” she thought.

She had no idea what was written on the paper, but she was 110% sure that it wasn’t a divorce paper. Because why would he want to divorce her? And why so sudden? He never spoke about a divorce.

“Don’t act like a fool now, Rose. Sign this paper immediately, so we can get this done and over with,” were the next words she heard from him, and his eyes pierced into her soul when he said this.

“Are you kidding me or what?” Rose threw at him, already finding his joke boring, it was already becoming annoying, so she thought of ending it.

“Do I look like someone who is kidding, Rose?” His words cut her short, and threw her in confusion. ‘what could be possibly wrong with this man?’ she wondered.

“I just want you to sign the papers and stop bombarding me with useless and unnecessary questions.” His words hit her, and his eyes grew darker as they stayed on her. And as his eyes glowed on her, something was awkward; they were mean and had no atoms of emotion.

Derek hasn’t been a good husband for the past 2 years, but she was hoping to work things out with him because she loved him so much.

When he first came into my life, she was nothing but a poor orphan living in the streets and doing street jobs to survive.

She recalled vividly how she met him. She had gone to steal bread from a fellow street orphan like herself because she was so hungry.

And just when she was escaping with the bread, she was caught. Adam, the guy she stole from, called his friends, and they dragged her to a lonely part, probably to mess me up.

Because he had been giving her the green light, which she had been turning down for a while. And just like she suspected, they dragged her to a lonely part to mess her up, but just when they were about to have their way with her, Derek, who was passing by, saw me and saved her.

As for Adam and his friends? They were arrested, and Derek took her in, took care of her until I was 20, then he proposed to her, and they got married.

When they got married, the first three years of their wedding were the best three years of Rose life, because Derek loved her, pampered her, and showed her compassion that no one ever had.

She felt like the luckiest woman on earth; she felt on top of the world, and she felt finally safe. But just when she thought she could be happy and live the life she always wanted and dreamed of, Derek suddenly changed for the worse, and the story has remained the same till today.

“Hey! What are you thinking? How to steal my money?” Derek’s words pulled her back to reality, and she was left to stare at him like a fool.

“Here! Sign these damn papers so we can go our separate ways,” he threw the papers at her again. She watched as the papers hit her on the chest and scattered carelessly on the floor.

She looked up at him, and watched as his emotionless eyes pierced deeper into my soul, and she could feel herself getting horrified and concerned. Horrified because she had never seen him stare at her so coldly, and concerned because she was bothered that he could be talking under the influence of some alcohol, since he is a chronic drinker.

But on a second thought, she realized that she didn’t see him drink before coming out.

“What’s wrong with you, Derek? Are you good?” she found herself questioning, her concerned eyes darting around him.

“You can’t do this now,” she felt her voice pleading after what seemed like an eternity. The reality was already setting in; Derek wasn’t kidding when he asked for a Divorce earlier on.

“You can’t dump me now, Derek,” she pleaded further, as she hoped for a miracle to take place. She was not ready to be left alone, she was not ready to live alone, she needed a shoulder to cry on.

“Can we not do this here? Can you just give me a last chance to write my wrongs, if I had ever wronged you? You are all I have, Derek. If you leave me, like my parents did, what will become of me” her eyes were already red from crying, she knelt before him and clutched his trouser tightly. She hoped he would have compassion on her.

“Get lost!” Derek sneered at her, like she was nothing. “Stop trying to compensate me, because it’s not working. Isn’t it obvious that I am done with you? Well, I am sorry for doing this on your birthday, but I have no other option, Rose,” he blurted, then paused before he continued. “I want you to be gone from my life by tomorrow,” he dropped this bombshell.

Rose eyes moved to him in pain, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was avoiding her gaze like a plague. “Had he quickly forgotten what he promised her at the altar?” Rose wondered as she stared at him.

“Pick yourself up and move on; I am sure you will find someone better than me,” she heard Derek say bluntly without any sign of remorse.

“We can’t be together again, because my heart belongs to another now; I am no longer in love with you,” he continued. She focused her stare on Derek; his last words caught her attention.

“Who are you in love with, Derek?” she pleaded, as tears bounced down her cheeks. “Just tell me you never truly loved me as your wife,” she screamed in pain and frustration. Everything was finally becoming clear, he really isn’t into her anymore.

“Sign these papers before I let you see the love of my life,” Derek picked the divorce papers from the floor and passed them to Rose once more. She looked at the paper for a while and looked up to him.

“You really want me to sign this, Derek?” she whimpered, tears gathering in her eyes yet again. This had to be the hardest decision she would have to ever make.

“Stop prolonging matters; just sign this damn paper, and leave my life,” Derek barked into her face, obviously angered by her persistence.

Rose watched him for a while in search of something – the feeling that once bound them – and she couldn’t find anything; they were all gone.

This man wasn’t wrong when he said he loves another; he was really sure about it.

And as she sat on the floor there, she knew this was the right time to end it. Even if she refused to sign this paper, it wouldn’t change the fact that this man in front of her no longer loves me, and would continue treating her like a piece of trash.

“Here!” she passed the paper to him after scribbling in her signature. Derek grabbed them from her roughly, with a sinister smirk playing on his lips.

A smirk that gave Rose the feeling that he was satisfied with the decision she took.

“You made the right choice, Rose. Thank you,” were the next words she heard from him. “Now, I want to introduce you to my lover and my wife-to-be,” Derek grinned and clapped his hands.

As his hands slapped against each other, the bright lights that once hung at every corner of the large ship converting them went dim immediately.

And in no time, the spotlight, which was once on them, directed to a sumptuous figure of a lady who had a veil on her head.

Rose watched as the lady walked up to Derek, her only interest being to catch a glimpse of her face. She looked so familiar, and she just couldn’t fathom why.

More importantly, she wanted to badly see the face of the woman who just turned her life upside down.

The veil slowly came off and Rose gasped in shock. Her heart beating dangerously against her ribs threatening to bore it's way out and shatter. This was the person She never thought could have betrayed her.

Her beloved Aunt.