Chapter 0001

Desiree stared at herself in the mirror, running her hand down the gorgeous off-shoulder, v-neck red dress she was wearing. She had no problem admitting that she looked pretty, and she hoped that her husband, Gerald Butler, would feel the same way.

Picking up her phone from the bed, she checked for the 100th time today. Still no message from Gerald. He still hadn't called or texted to wish her a happy birthday or happy anniversary.

‘He probably wants to surprise me when we meet later tonight,’ she thought.

Squealing with excitement, she twirled herself in front of the mirror, mimicking the dance she and Gerald would be dancing later. Today was their first wedding anniversary as well as her birthday, and she couldn't wait to spend the rest of it with him, as well as the ones to come.

For the past one month, she and Gerald hadn't spent a lot of time together. He was always busy, staying late for work and sometimes even sleeping in the office instead of home. But Desiree understood him.

He'd always been a man dedicated to his job, and she was not going to hold that against him. Besides, she was sure that tonight being so important, he would do everything possible to spend it with her.

She stopped dancing when her phone rang. It was Sasha, her personal assistant, calling. She picked up immediately.

"Tell me it's all done, Sasha."

Sasha scoffed on the other end and said sarcastically, "Your lack of trust in my PA skills is very heartwarming."

Desiree rolled her eyes. "Oh, just stop being a clown and tell me what I want to hear."

"McGregor's Diner is all yours, as well as the designs, decorations, and special menus you asked for," Sasha said.

Pleased with the information, Desiree grinned. McGregor's Diner was one of the fanciest beach restaurants in Jackson City. It was made for the creme de la creme of society, and getting even a table reservation wasn't easy for the ordinary person. But Desiree's name had been enough to get the manager to reserve the whole restaurant for her without struggle.

"Well done, Sasha," Desiree praised.

"Thank you, Des," Sasha said. "Now you can go and woo your husband until he wants to be nowhere else but inside you for the whole night."

Desiree gasped, her cheeks warming up. "You shut up, Sasha! PAs don't say that to their bosses."

Sasha merely laughed, knowing there would be no punishment for her crude comment. "Happy Birthday and Wedding anniversary to you once again... 'boss'."

Sasha hung up still laughing, and Desiree couldn't help the smile on her face as she shook her head. Sasha had only been her personal assistant for two years, but they'd grown so close that they were more like best friends. That was why Sasha felt comfortable enough to tease her that way.

Twirling in front of the mirror one last time, Desiree grabbed her purse from her bed and stepped outside her room, heading downstairs. There was no one else in the house because she'd told all their maids to take the day off as part of her anniversary celebration, so the house was a bit quiet.

She looked at her phone to check the time and smiled when she saw that it was already 6:30 pm. Time to go.

Thomas, one of the chauffeurs, was already waiting in the car when Desiree got outside. She greeted him as she slid into the backseat, and he drove her to McGregor's Diner.

“You can go, Thomas, and have the rest of the night off," Desiree said to the driver who left after bowing slightly.

The manager met her at the entrance of the restaurant with a huge smile. "Happy Birthday and Wedding anniversary, Mrs. Butler. Welcome to McGregor's Diner."

Desiree was ushered in, and she was very pleased as she looked around. The restaurant was already truly exquisite. It had a sophisticated ambiance, which, when combined with the view and sound of the ocean, made everything so serene.

But aside from the restaurant's normal beauty, Desiree had given instructions for extra decorations which she could see that her PA had followed to the tiniest detail.

Hang fairy lights added a soft, enchanting glow to the place. Rose petals were scattered all around, creating a love shape around the single table with two chairs sitting in the middle of the space. The table itself was decorated with some gorgeous confetti and table runners.

She had put all her heart into planning this night to make it perfect, and she hoped that Gerald would love it!

"Would you like me to start serving?" The hostess asked after Desiree was seated in one of the chairs.

Desiree raised an eyebrow and humorously said, "Well, I'm not here to eat all by myself, am I? Just get me a glass of sparkling water while I wait for my husband. He should be here any moment now."

After the hostess had left, Desiree picked up the wrapped box that was sitting on the table. It contained her gift to Gerald; a custom-made diamond watch with his initials, as well as the date of their anniversary, engraved on it. She wondered what gift he was going to surprise her with.

The clock ticked. 7:00 PM, 7:10, then 7:20. At 7:30 PM, Gerald still hadn't arrived. Desiree frowned. Gerald should've been here at 7 PM. He was probably being delayed by a bit of office work. He would surely be here soon. She smiled to assure herself.

At 8:30 PM, the hostess pulled up beside her. “Mrs. Butler, are you sure you don't want us to start serving? We could start with a little bit of the appetizers or perhaps some wine while you wait for your husband.”

Desiree declined politely, “No, he'll be here soon, I'm sure. He must've got a bit caught up in something.”

“Okay then." The hostess muttered before walking away.

Desiree picked up her phone and dialed Gerald's number. He didn't pick up. She tried again. Still nothing. By the third unanswered call, her chest was starting to fill up with an uneasy feeling.

What was going on? Why wasn't Gerald here yet and why wasn't he picking up his phone? He was a punctuality freak, so the fact that he was this late was beginning to worry her. Could something have happened to him?

An hour and several unanswered calls later, Desiree dialed the number of Patrick, Gerald's PA. He picked up after the fourth dialing sound.

"Hello, Mrs. Butler."

"Hey, Patrick. Sorry to bother you at this time, but did you remind my husband about our date? He should be here by now but he isn't. Or did something come up at the office that required him to stay behind?”

"I did remind him, Mrs. Butler," Patrick answered. "And no, he didn't stay behind at the office. He left about two hours before closing time and said he was going to see someone."

Desiree's heart skipped a beat. "Someone? Did he say who?"

"No, Mrs. Butler. Why? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Patrick. Everything is fine. Thank you for telling me."

After she hung up, Desiree shook her head vigorously, forcing out the unwanted thoughts that were trying to crowd their way in.

No. Gerald was going to be here, she thought determinedly. Sure, he'd been prioritizing his work over her in the past month but he wouldn't do this to her on such an important day.

But she sat and waited for hours, and Gerald still didn't come. The hostess came back to check on her several times, asking whether to start serving, but Desiree declined each time.

She tried calling Gerald's number again and again, but all her calls went unanswered. She sent him several texts, and even though her iMessage showed that he'd seen the texts, he didn't bother to reply to any of them.

She didn't realize what time it was until the hostess suddenly walked back to her table, a determined look on her face. "Mrs. Butler, I'm afraid we've extended the time past what you booked for. It's already past midnight, and we need to close. Do you want me to call you a taxi?"

The last bits of Desiree's hopes shattered. With tears burning her eyes, she finally accepted the reality; Gerald wasn't going to come.

She slowly shook her head. "No, thank you. I don't need a taxi."

A wave of sadness washed over her as she slowly got up from the chair. She felt so stupid. For the last one month, she'd kept on making up excuse after excuse for Gerald every time he didn't come home or spent too much time away from her. Telling herself that he was busy, that he had a lot to do.

But she was done making up these excuses. She couldn't keep lying to herself. Gerald didn't come not because he was too busy with anything; he just didn't care enough about her birthday or their first anniversary.

With a heavy heart, Desires walked out of the restaurant. Once outside, she remembered that she'd asked her chauffeur to take the night off, but her mind was in such a daze that she didn't even think of calling a cab; she just started walking down the street.

At that time of the night, the streets of Jackson City were eerily quiet and dangerous, but that was the last thing on Desiree's mind as she continued walking. Her thoughts were clouded with anger and disappointment, but most of all, sadness.

How could Gerald have done this to her?

Their security guards were shocked when they saw that Desiree had walked home on foot. They were speaking to her; their lips were moving but she couldn't even make out what they were saying as she walked past them almost mechanically like a robot. She continued that way into the house.

The lights were off, so the place was dark. Turning on the lights, her heart stopped, then soared when her eyes fell on the man who was sitting on a couch in the living room; her husband. He stood up when he saw her.

"Gerald!" She gasped with both surprise and delight, her hope springing back to life as she ran towards him.

Upon reaching him, she flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Gerald. I knew you would never forget our anniversary!"

Despite her excitement, Gerald remained unresponsive, stiff as a board in her arms. Desiree pulled back, cupping his face between her small hands as she gazed into his icy blue eyes in the dark.

“I know something must've kept you from coming to the restaurant. But it's okay. It's already midnight but we can still celebrate our anniversary. We don't even need to go out to celebrate. We have each other, and that's enough.”

Desiree pulled back when she realized that he was still quiet. “Gerald, why aren't you saying anything?”

He stared at her face, his eyes filled with nothing but coldness before he pointed at some papers lying on the living room centerpiece and said,

“Desiree, I want a divorce.”