Call the AMBULANCE!

ALESSANDRO POV

An alarm rang annoyingly beside my head, and I angrily slammed the buzzer. Due to a disciplined life since childhood, I’d always been an early riser. So the hour nor the alarm would typically bother me. But I’d spent the night tossing and turning, thinking about Victoria. I’d only slept an hour, two tops.

Why I can’t stop thinking about her? I shook my head in frustration. Rubbing my face, I stepped out of bed and went to my closet to get my things for the office. There I was confronted with another reminder as Victoria’s colorful clothes hung as if mocking me. Though she was an introvert, she had an unpredictable personality and loved vibrant clothes and makeup. Still, she always presented herself as ladylike.

I shook my head again, frustrated that I still couldn’t get her out of my mind. With a sigh, I focused on my side of the closet. Everything remained the same as always, except there was no ready for me—one of the maid’s tasks. I frowned at her oversight. Maybe it was time for a change?

I picked up a black shirt and paired it with a silver-grey suit, then tried to find my black cufflinks to no avail. After several minutes of unsuccessful searching, I called my maid, Lauren.

In moments, she knocked on the door and stepped inside. “Yes, master Devonte?” she asked, standing straight, with her head slightly lowered.

“Where are my black cufflinks?” I demanded impatiently. “You only have one job, and you can’t even get that right? You didn’t even prepare my suit today. Why am I even paying you?”

She flinched at my icy tone. “M–Master Devonte, your clothes have always been sorted by Mrs. Devonte. I never touched your things after she came into the mansion.”

I blinked twice to digest what she’d said. All that time, I had thought the maid organized my clothes, yet it had been Victoria all along?

My fists clenched. “Leave,” I commanded too loudly. As much as I tried to control my tone, the harshness never subdued.

Lauren nodded and scurried out of the room.

I called Victoria, thinking she wouldn’t answer. But then her voice drifted into my ear over the phone, and I swore I had never heard anything so breathtaking, so melodious. Why had it never felt like that before? Why now, after she decided to leave me?

“Hello?” she said again.

I cleared my throat. Not wanting to let her hear my desperation, “Well, uh... I called to ask about my black cufflinks. Lauren said you kept track of them. Where are they?” I tried to sound serious and reluctant at the same time.

“In the closet. Second drawer on the right beside the ties in a black velvet box,” she said. “And find your own things from now on. Stop looking for stupid excuses to disturb me.”

The line went dead, and I stared at the phone. Did she really just hang up on me? Rage engulfed me, and I threw the phone on the floor. “Fuck her and fuck cuffs! I can work without them!”

With my temper flaring, I didn’t even bother with breakfast before going to the office.

Once there, I sat at my desk thinking about how messed up everything seemed to have become overnight. But I managed before she came into my life, didn’t I? So why did it feel like everything was falling apart without her, as if I had lost all control over my life?

Absently, I tapped on the table while I peered out the window. I had been at the office for an hour, and I was sitting there as if I had nothing to do. Never in the three years we were together had I felt like that, so all consumed by her. How could a woman affect me so much?

The intercom rang, pulling me from my thoughts. “What is it?” I barked into the machine.

Calvin answered, “Sir, Mrs. Devonte is here. She wants to meet with you.”

My heart stopped. Sh–she came to meet me! Sweat beaded on my brow. “I—Yeah, let her in,” I said, trying to sound authoritative and not too flustered, though I was certain my excitement didn’t go unnoticed.

With my heart racing like a teenager on a first date, I settled myself in my chair. I didn’t know why she was visiting, but I was glad she was there. Maybe she had changed her mind about the divorce? Excitement filled me at the prospect. 

She stepped into my office looking stunning in a white knee-length dress with white stilettos, a red belt and matching red lipstick. Her shoulder-length hair hung loose and sexy.

I said, “Hey. Finally decided to show up?”

Her brow arched, and those emerald-green eyes stared at me in question.

Everything was the same. Yet something had changed in her, and I couldn’t grasp it.

“I am sorry to disturb you,” she said, her voice cold. “I just need a moment of your time.” Instead of flashing her sweet smile, she pressed her lips into a thin line, and there was no emotion in her lovely eyes.

“What... do you want?” I asked with trepidation.

She tossed a file onto my desk.

I hadn’t even noticed she was carrying it. “What’s this?” I asked as I picked it up.

“It’s a separation agreement. I’ve already signed it, so it’s your turn.”

I stared at her, the excitement I had felt draining from me. I had been so wrong in thinking she might regret her decision. So very wrong.

Did she really want to go through with it? I peered at her, missing the sparkle that used to be in her eyes.

Then I shifted my eyes to the file, my thoughts growing cold. Fine. If this is what she wants, then why not? It’s not like I love her. She had conned me into marriage in the first place. I had no reason to allow it to bother me.

Without another thought, I opened the file, scanned over the agreement—it appeared to be standard—then signed my name and tossed it back to her.

She picked it up, glanced at it, and then left without a word.

I sat dumbfounded. Was that the end? Were we separated just like that? Had I made a mistake? Maybe I should have set my pride aside?

I raced out of the office, not caring that all eyes were on me. When I exited the building, I spotted her getting into a taxi. No! I rushing to her, stopped her, and pulled her toward me.

She glared at me, her beautiful eyes wide but filled with anger and pride. She pushed me away. “Don’t touch me!”

I couldn’t let her go, couldn’t lose her. So I held her tightly, and said, “I will not let you leave. You are my wife, and I have every right to you.”

“Fuck, Alessandro!” She clutched her stomach.

“Victoria!” She started falling, and I held her in my arms, watching her face scrunch in pain. Her eyes drifted closed.

“Oh shit!” Calvin said from behind me.

“Call an ambulance!” I commanded.