With the Handsome Stranger.

Arthur sits in the darkness, watching the slow and steady rhythm of her chest as she breathes in and out.

He doesn't even know this woman but something about her is tugging deeply on his heartstrings.

Nobody, absolutely no one deserves to be treated as such trash.

Daisy had said it herself that Charles's wife had cleaned their own house and this strange woman herself had said she got home by midnight to meet another woman in her own husband's bed... And even worse, much much worse, they have been married for over a year.

The woman sighs softly and lays down on her side, deep asleep.

That makes him wonder when last she has had such good sleep for her own body to shut down on her.

Arthur rises up from the chair and walks over to her, crouching by the bed, he raises his hand and puts it over her face, not touching it but just tracing out the outlining of her face.

Her curved jaw and sharp nose, with those curled eyelashes that look luxurious and her...

She suddenly opens her eyes with his hands in mid air, right above her lips.

He pauses, not letting the fact that she startled him show.

Bethany shuffles slightly away from him while Arthur stands to his feet.

"What do you want? Who are you? Why were you about to touch me?" She asks in rapid succession and he chuckles.

"I don't mean any harm. You took a huge breath so I came to make sure you were still alive, considering that you had collapsed, I had to keep a watch over you."

Bethany looks around and notes that it's really just himself and herself in the dimly lit room with a chair at the foot of the bed. "You were the one who brought me in here?" She asks, sitting up. "By yourself?" She vaguely remembers how he had caught her right before she had collapsed.

She owed this unknown man.

And Bethany absolutely hates owing people.

Arthur shrugs. "I never introduced myself to you. My name is Arthur Worth. You don't need to introduce yourself to me, Bethany."

She puts her legs over the bed gingerly, letting her hair fall in waves over her head, back and shoulders. "I want to leave this family. I don't like the name Worth... I don't like you." She risks a glance at his pristine face and she catches a tiny smile that flickers away.

Pretty much a lie if you ask her.

Arthur only scoffs. "Are you sure about that? You were married to him for two years and for a year and half out of that, he was married to another woman, seeing her while seeing you too... I understand if you hate the man but why hate the name? It didn't offend you. Only the character did."

"The name didn't offend me... It tortured me." She laughs ruefully. "Do you know, about a week ago, I had gone to the grocery store to get some things and a woman was asking how much something was worth. At the mention of the word, I jumped and everything I had been carrying spilled all over. Hearing the word in itself is making me jump, not even talking about the name and then the family..."

Arthur walks to the door. "You want a divorce right?"

Bethany looks up at him. "You saw and heard it. I am trapped in this sham marriage."

"I know the family hasn't treated you well but allow me to make an exception..." His hands glance ever so briefly to her bandaged hand. "All you need is Charles's seal on a divorce document right?"

Unsure but somehow, trusting him, Bethany nods.

"Fine. I'll have my lawyer dissolve the marriage in front of a judge. You don't even need to be there. He just needs the documents with both your seals. I'll get Charles's seal for you tonight. Get yours ready. I'll see you in two hours." He suddenly leans in and she takes in a sharp breath. He runs his hand down her chin and smirks. "I'll get you out of here."

Arthur gives a small, mysterious smile and then goes out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Bethany watches the door for a few moments, wondering how the man is going to help her. Who is he to the family? How was he going to convince Charles to divorce her? What was it about him that made her heart skip in a way that she does not like one bit?

True enough, his small touch to her bare skin had caused it to tingle and it went down to her stomach... She raises her hand unconsciously and touches that same spot.

Too many thoughts are going through her head and she suddenly feels a bit woozy, she lays down on the bed, glancing at the time.

She notes that it's already few minutes past four pm in the evening.

She had been out for that long?

Bethany sighs as she drifts off to sleep once again.

*

The next morning, Charles wakes up alone in the bed. Feeling slightly groggy, he sighs to himself, wondering aloud when Bethany will come to her senses and just accept Alexa as her junior wife.

He puts his legs into his crocs and walk into the bathroom where he splashes some water on his face. He looks at himself in the mirror. "What happened last night? I don't remember much. Did I have too much to drink?" He mutters aloud and he pours some more water on his face to fully wake himself up.

He currently has the worst headache and he shuffles around, searching for his phone.

He finds it and notes how empty the whole house sounds, he can't hear the usual morning hum of Bethany's vacuum cleaning, or the familiar clanging of plates and spoons as she always managed to make noise with them whenever she was cleaning them, no matter how gently she claimed to have handled them.

Talking of hands, Charles catches a glimpse of something black and he turns his hand over to see his palms. He examines the black spot on his thumb and he frowns...

Suddenly, he has a flashback from the night before.

Someone had forced his thumb down on a document while he had been drunkenly rambling away!

Alarmed, he goes down the staircase, hurriedly passing everything by until he comes to a stop in front of Bethany's room.

He pulls open the door and it opens in his hands so easily.

Everything seems to be in place, all except the one thing he had wanted to see the most.

Bethany.

"Beth? Beth?" He calls out, secretly hoping she's probably taking a bath but as he walks in, he sees a document on the bed and picks it up.

He gasps slightly.

Below the document was an handwritten note that said "Here's a copy for you, I am no more your wife. Fuck you both."

And sure enough, there are two fingerprints and seals on the document.

He grabs his phone and calls his parents. "Mum? Dad? Bethany is gone!"