Chapter 3: She Doesn’t Mean It

Jordyn’s POV

The ring clattered to the ground. I stared at it for a beat, then I bent down to scoop it up. She was playing games again – Cassandra. I casually slid the ring back into my pocket.

Divorce?

Yeah right. How many times had she mentioned divorce? Five? Eight? Fourteen?

I’d lost count.

It was a ploy. Something Cassandra did when she wanted more attention. It was a childish scheme and I was tired of it. Which is why I didn’t take her threat seriously.

I knew Cassandra. She didn’t mean it.

“Are you okay?” Ellie asked, her eyes flooded with concern.

“Just a bit rattled,” I told her. “I didn’t know Cassandra knew about us. I was shocked to see her.”

“Me too,” she said, sidling up to me. I inhaled her perfume. Vanilla and rosewood, the same perfume she’d worn before the accident. I loved it. “I haven’t done anything wrong, have I?” she asked with a pout.

Damn, she was so cute when she pouted like that. I ran my thumb along her lower lip.

“Of course not,” I told her. “You’re perfect.”

She smiled coyly at me. “Does it bother you? That she wants a divorce?” Ellie asked.

I shook my head. “Is this a jealousy thing? Because if it is, drop me. You have nothing to worry about. I love YOU. Not her. I always have and I always will.”

She snuggled her head into my shoulder and I stroked her hair. She began nipping at my neck with sexy little kisses. I was distracted though.

I thought back to the start of our marriage.

Ellie was in a coma. I sat by her side every day, waiting for her to wake up. She was the one I wanted to marry, and I vowed to wait for her, no matter how long it took.

My grandfather, though, had other plans.

He demanded I marry Cassandra. I had no idea why! I knew they’d met and she’d been helping him with something, but I didn’t know what it was. Clearly, Cassandra had won him over somehow. Which was NOT easy to do. And now he was ordering me to marry her!

I hadn’t wanted to. I didn’t love Cassandra. I barely knew her. I loved Ellie. But my grandfather started threatening me. He said I wouldn’t inherit the family business unless I married Cassandra.

Ellie was still in a coma. The doctors said it didn’t look good, that she might not ever wake up.

What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t risk losing my inheritance. And what if Ellie never woke up?

So…I’d married Cassandra.

It wasn’t a miserable marriage. Cassandra tried hard, I’d give her that. She just wasn’t the right wife for me, so we struggled. She brought up divorce a few times. It wasn’t really an option though. My grandfather would be super pissed if we got divorced. Plus, I knew she didn’t mean it. 

One month ago, though, everything changed. I received a surprising phone call. Ellie had woken up! 

And I quickly learned that Cassandra was involved in Ellie’s car accident. Or at least, she MIGHT have been. I still didn’t have any proof.

It was hard to live with Cassandra after that. The thought of her harming Ellie flooded my thoughts. I became even colder and more distant.

I didn’t mean for Cassandra to find out about me and Ellie. Not yet. But since she had….

“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” I said to Ellie.

She happily agreed.

The next day at work, I was chugging coffee (Ellie and I had been in bed all night but we hadn’t got much sleep, if you know what I mean), when a package arrived at my office. I tore it open only to find…

Divorce papers?

Seriously?

Cassandra had gone through with drawing up divorce papers? But she’d only left last night. This all seemed awfully quick. 

I sighed. 

I didn’t have time for this bullshit, so I tossed the papers aside and focused on my work.

The envelope stared at me all day though, and by the end of the day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to read it, only to see what kind of game Cassandra was playing.

That’s when I got to the part about the settlement.

$10?

What the?

I grabbed my phone and angrily called Cassandra. She picked up.

“Ten dollars? How dare you insult me like this?” I spewed into the phone.

“Your actions have been equally insulting. Even more so, I’d say,” she said calmly. That made my blood boil.

“You wanna talk about insulting actions?” I said, clenching my fist. “Why don’t you tell me what REALLY happened with Ellie’s car accident?”

She was silent for a beat before she said, “What are you talking about?”

I wasn’t going to let her get away with this, though. She couldn’t play innocent anymore. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You KNEW I loved Ellie. And you destroyed my life with her!”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

And before I could respond, there was a male voice on the line.

“Who the hell is this?” I asked, confused. Who was Cassandra with? Another man?

He threatened me in a calm, stern voice. Like I gave a fuck. I didn’t even know who he was!

Click.

He hung up on me.

So I called back. But to my disbelief, all I got was a prerecorded message saying:

“The number you are calling is no longer in service.”

I slammed down my phone.

I was confused. What was Cassandra trying to accomplish? What was her end game here? Who was she with? Had she been involved in the car accident?

These questions spun in my head. But I didn’t have time for these games. I had a company to run. So I pushed the questions out of my head.

Besides, I knew it was only a matter of time before Cassandra regretted this whole thing. She’d be so sorry she even so much as uttered the word ‘divorce.’