WASHINGTON, SEATTLE 2022~ANASTASIA~Most stories open up in a decent environment, but mine opened up in a rather rathole—a prison cell. I tried to pinpoint the moment everything went wrong, but I couldn't. I don't even know when my perfect world flipped upside down, let alone how I got here.Never in my life did I imagine I’d be in a prison cell, let alone because of the man I love.God, life can be so unpredictable!I was staring at the dirty ceiling, watching the spiders scurry around. I don't even know how I didn't throw up with this place smelling like it does, full of rats.“Mrs. Rogers?” A guard's voice snapped me back to reality. “You're going home,” she said as she unlocked the cell. A smile crossed my face at the thought of my husband.Finally, I was going home; my husband was here for me; I thought he had forgotten about me.I followed the guard as she led me out of the cell to the reception, but as we reached there, I saw a man I wasn't expecting. I looked at the door, hop
WASHINGTON, SEATTLE 2022~ANASTASIA~“We're getting a divorce.” I was speechless. Sure, the marriage never worked out, and I expected this after his grandfather's death, but today? How could he do that when I sat in that cell for his crime?I shook my head fighting back tears. I’d grown used to his infidelity, but divorce? How could he even suggest that?“I will have my lawyer start with the process,” he brushed his fingers across his lips, removing lipstick, the sight of it made my heart ache.“W-what… What are you saying, William, I-”“Aren't you tired of crying?” He spoke over me. I looked up, seeing the frustration in his face as he raked a hand through his hair. “Listen, you tricked me, and your time is over, or what made you think Grandpa would never die?”“But...why are you saying this? I…” Words failed me.“I’m not doing this. Not today, okay?”“We can talk about this, William; we can’t just…”“Just what? Get a divorce? God, you’re such a headache.” He started rubbing his temp
WASHINGTON, SEATTLE 2022 ~ANASTASIA~I felt my head spin, so I moved back to the bed and sat down as my heart was in pain too.“I did you a favor by packing your bag; I could have just scattered your things,” Jimena said, and I ignored her as I calmed myself down but failed as my chest was uncontrollably moving up and down.“Y-you… You can't be pregnant; William will—he won't accept it.”“Wait, are you calling me a liar?” I don't know what was wrong with her, but I knew I couldn't show her how much she was hurting me. I was William's wife; she was just his mistress. It didn't matter if he loved her or not; the law and the public knew I was Mrs. Rogers, not her.“Yes.” I said as I stood up from the bed, “You have always loved my husband, so I'm sure you made this up.”“No Anastasia,” she said and came closer to me. I looked at her confused. “Liam has always loved me; you are the one who came between us; you are the one who tricked him; I will never–”“It doesn't matter.” I cut her, an
WASHINGTON, SEATTLE 2022~ANASTASIA~I was shocked. Why didn’t William allow me to leave, and most importantly, what made him think I would listen to him?I knew I was still in love with him, but I knew when to stop. I broke eye contact and freed my arm from his grip.“You’re not leaving here, Anastasia.”“Why?” I sounded confident. “Why should I not leave?”“Because I say so.”“God…” I couldn’t believe him. I shook my head as I couldn’t find the words to respond. He was full of himself.“Now go back to the guest room before I lose my patients.” He commanded. I looked at him and then at Jimena, who was as shocked as me as she left the magazine she was pretending to read and fixed her eyes on us now.“I don’t know what’s wrong with you; I mean, sure, I was a fool to fall for you but to think you own me.” I hysterically chuckled.“I own you. I don’t know if your father told you, but the situation his company is in is not good, and without me, it wouldn’t be a company.”“Wait, you’re thr
~ANASTASIA~I slapped my forehead, which caught Scott’s attention as he turned to me with a curious look.“Is-”“Drive.” I cut him; I couldn't deal with him.“Ms. Anastasia-”“I'm not Ms. Anastasia!” I yelled, “I mean, I guess now—agh, just drive, please.” I rubbed my forehead and caught my breath. I had forgotten that I was not married to William anymore.
~ANASTASIA~“If you're here to make fun of me, then I advise you to leave now,” I said and walked back to the couch while he remained frozen.“I know, yes, I was wrong, and yes, I'm in big trouble, but trust me, I know how to solve my problems, okay?” I said as I picked up my bowl and started eating, the person still didn't respond, and I, not wanting to force anything, ignored him and focused on my food."Ana?” he finally said after a long moment.“Just get over with it Trey, what are you going to say now? That you warned me? Well, I'm sorry for being-”“I'm so sorry,” he said, surprising me. I turned to look at him, and he nodded his head and then came to me."Listen, I'm not interested in your pity.”“I'm your brother; if I don't pity you, who will?” He asked as he sat next to me, and then he placed his arm on my back and started running it in a comforting manner, “This bastard hurt you so much. I'm sorry, sis. I really am,” he continuously said, but I didn't respond as I was still
~WILLIAM~ I took a swig of my drink as I impatiently stomped my feet. What the fuck was taking her long to get back at me? “Just a small task, and it's taking hours," I complained as I stood up and walked to the window, my fingers tracing my jaw. I couldn't believe Anastasia's audacity; what made her think she could divorce me? She's the one who begged to marry me; I should be the one to sign the divorce papers first, not her. I punched the wall, but as pain shot up my arm, I grunted in pain. "Fuck!" I cursed as I tried to soothe the pain. I couldn't wait for her any longer, so I walked back to the table and took my phone. I dialed her number, and she picked up the first ring. “Mr Rogers?-” “I always ask myself how I employed such an incompetent human; I say do this, and you take hours to get it done.” “But sir, it's over ten hotels.” “And so? People get that done in less than ten minutes.” “I'm sorry, sir.” “Whatever, how many have you contacted so far?” “Seven s
~WILLIAM~Where will I even begin? Anastasia ruined my life. I had to marry her. My grandfather insisted that if I hadn't, I could have lost the company. I honestly didn't care much about the company, but my baby.I was going to pull out at the last minute when she told me she was pregnant. I was heartless but would never let an innocent baby suffer for something they didn't do. That's why I went ahead and married her.I sat on the table staring at the ring as I recalled the day I gave it to her, so she dared to remove the ring and leave it behind without my permission. Was she perhaps serious about this divorce? But that wouldn't be possible. Anastasia loved me; she endured years. I didn't give her any attention, so what made her do this?I ran a hand in my hair, ignoring Jimena, who was arguing alone. The only thing that snapped me out of my thoughts was the ringtone of my phone. I quickly reached for my phone and picked it up.“Speak!” It was Vanessa, my secretary.“I managed to ca
~ANASTASIA~ I woke up about thirty minutes ago; I had already taken a shower and prepared myself for the day. I had to see Harriot today for my first appointment. Sadly, it wasn’t weird that William was not going with me. I mean, even with Ivy, he never attended any of the appointments; he was only present at her birth, which he made sure to trend on the news as that was his main goal. I was standing in front of the mirror combing my rich chocolate brown hair. I haven’t looked at myself in a mirror in such a long time. Marrying William somehow made me question myself if I was just that ugly, whenever I looked in the mirror, I saw that ugly woman who destroyed William's life, so I refrained from looking, but now that I wanted to rebuild my confidence, it was going to be difficult, but I had to try. I noticed I had bags under my eyes, so I quickly picked the foundation and hid them. I was pregnant, so I was so emotional that even a little thing made me cry. Last night, after t
~JIMENA~ “Shit!” I cursed as the call ended, “What am I going to do now?” I asked myself as I started pacing around, “They made it clear, god!” I slapped my cheek but quickly rubbed it as it started to tingle in pain. They made it clear that if their plan got ruined, I would be the one to pay for it. “But I... I can’t leave William now.” I said to myself as I stopped pacing, “Mom, she knows what to do.” I said as I got my phone, and with trembling fingers, I dialed Mom's number, and she picked on the third. “Sweetheart, I’m in the middle of something… can…can you call back la-” “You can fuck him later; I need you.” I cut her as I could hear moans; yes, that was my mom. Since Dad died, all she did was sleep around with young men. “Okay, that’s rude,” she said, but I could hear movements, which meant she was now seated. “What happened?” “It’s William.” “What did he d
~JIMENA~ I took a sip of my glass of milk and then glanced at my phone. I don't even know why I was checking at this point when it was clear that William was not going to call. I don't know where to start; this was all so shocking to me. Why was William behaving like this? I mean, a few days ago he was talking about our marriage, how he was going to divorce Anastasia and marry me, how he was going to give me and our child the world, so what changed? I kept asking myself if I had done something wrong, but nothing came to mind. I don't remember doing anything that could have upset him. “Did he fall in love with her?” I asked myself in a low tone as I was in the kitchen still waiting for him to return as he stormed out earlier, leaving his mother and me. “It is like he doesn't want to marry me?” I said as I remembered earlier when he said he didn't care about our honeymoon and his reaction when Carol, his mother, said she was going to move our wedding date. "No, he loves me; we've
~ANASTASIA~ You won't believe I've been married to William for four years and still never saw this side of him. With the mistreatment, I still never imagined him calling me a thief. “You're unbelievable.” “I know you have it.” "Well, my father is experiencing a little trouble now, but that does not mean we are desperate for money.” "I honestly don't care the reason you took it; you know how Jimena is.” “I don't care about Jimena!” I yelled as I was tired of hearing her name, “You love her; then fine, go be with her and stop bothering me.” “What is that?” “What is what?” “I knew it; you still want me,” he said, a smile on his lips as if that's all he wanted to see. Well, if I didn't know him well, I would think he wanted a second chance, but this was William; he would never love anyone apart from Jimena, and besides, I was nothing more than the villai
~ANASTASIA~I didn't understand what William was doing here, so I quickly stood up and walked to the door with Dad following behind.Reaching the door, I was shocked to find that William and Trey were taking turns on each other—hitting each other like little kids on the grass.“Oh my god, somebody stop them!” I screamed, and that's when the gateman and two guards rushed to them and separated them. I couldn't just wait by the door, so I walked to them and asked the guards to free them since they were both struggling and wanting to hit each other more.“Trey, go inside,” I said, and Trey shook his head.“You're not speaking to him, sis; this bastard mistreated you for four years. Give me a good reason why I should leave him alone with you.” Trey questioned."He's in my house; I can take care of myself here, and besides, the guards are here; he can't do anything to me,” I s
~WILLIAM~I couldn't believe after everything I did Anastasia still had the guts to refuse me. I mean, where's that girl who would do anything just so I noticed her? Now I was convinced something was really wrong.“Maybe she hit her head,” I said as I paced around my office, “or is doing this to get to me.” I thought of every possible reason that made her say what she said to me, “She walked out on me, me..." I scratched the back of my head as nothing was making sense.I made sure no one employed her, and she made it easy for me as she refused her brother's help. I thought she would come and beg me, but it seemed she was more stubborn than I thought.“This is insane,” I said as I got my phone and dialed my daughter's number. I was left with no choice but to ask for her help; the divorce wasn't trending anymore, so I wasn't worried about my reputation, but I just couldn't allow Anastasia to be the o
~ANASTASIA~Dad looked shocked as he shook his head, almost not wanting to believe it. Well, I couldn't lie to him even when I wanted to, so I nodded my head as I placed the cupcake down.Dad came toward me, and I stood up as my hands found their way to my flat belly. Dad never liked William but still loved Ivy. I heard how he spoiled her, but I didn't know how he was going to feel about this.“Dad-”“Congratulations!” he surprisingly said as he took me into his arms; my hands were still on my flat belly, not hugging him back as I was in shock.I stayed in his arms for a moment before he pulled away and then sat me on the couch."Well, at least the asshole gave me beautiful grandchildren,” he said, and I still confusedly looked at him, “Cupcake?” He lifted my chin. “You don't look happy about it?”“You're o
~ANASTASIA~ It's been an hour. Yes, the distance from my apartment to the Lancaster mansion was half an hour's drive. We passed by the company. Dad had things to take care of. He asked me to go with him, but I refused and remained in the car. That's why we took another thirty minutes, as we had just arrived at the mansion now. The mansion was located outside town because he wanted all the space as it was very large. We were not the only family; most wealthy families built their homes outside town like there were many other families, including Vivienne's, which was called the Frost mansion. “Are you ready?” Dad asked, and I took a deep breath before I turned to him and told him I was ready. He warmly smiled, then got out before he held out his hand for me, which I took and followed his lead. “Ms. Anastasia, welcome back,” the servants we met on the way to the main entrance greeted, and I ignored them as my attention was on something else. I was
~ANASTASIA~ The man was my dad; it shocked me because I hadn't seen or spoken to him in four years, and from what I remembered, he hated me, so how was he in my kitchen and making cupcakes at that? The words were stuck in my throat as I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. “Cupcake?...” He also seemed shocked as he slowly took steps toward me. I was in so much shock that I didn't react or realize when he got to me as he took me into his arms. "Cupcake…” he repeated; his voice was so low like he was about to cry. I closed my eyes and raised my hands to hug him back, as smelling his scent somehow calmed me. I hadn't seen or spoken to him in years; I didn't even realize how much I missed him until now. “D-dad…” My voice broke, and as he stroked my hair, I couldn't control myself as I started crying, he didn't stop me; instead, he encourage