Serving The Divorce Papers

Two days later, Isabella filed for divorce from her husband and it made it to the blogs within a few hours.

But what others were yet to find out was that filing for a divorce was not the only thing she did through her lawyer. She also filed for the custody of their daughter, demanded half of her husband’s assets and sued the mistress, Kareen for emotional damages for a hefty sum.

Even Kareen would cough out blood by the time she received the lawsuit.

Since Gerald refused to give Isabella a clear promise stating that he would end things with his mistress and cut off all ties with her, she decided to help him make a decision.

She refused to be manipulated by his emotional blackmail. How does he expect her to condone his promiscuous nature and remain by his side while he continues to see his mistress?

On a scale of 1-100, how foolish and naïve did he think she was?

Isabella was having none of that. As soon as she filed for divorce, she packed a few of her things and went to her parents’ place to stay. Knowing her husband’s temper, she didn’t doubt that he would come back to their house to confront her after receiving the lawsuits she filed against him through his lawyer.

She had to avoid him for the time being, or better still go to the police to file a restraining order against him if he attempted to disturb her peace.

Arriving at her parents’ place with one luggage and a handbag, Isabella was welcomed with open arms.

Being in her mother’s warm embrace caused all the emotions she had been withholding to come pouring down.

“Mum, I’m tired.” Isabella cried while hugging her mother tightly. As she shut her eyes and rested her head on her shoulder comfortably since they were of the same height, tears flowed from her eyes.

Mrs. Smith shut her eyes briefly and when she opened them again, she started to pat Isabella’s back gently. “It’s fine. You have fought well. Rest.”

The more comforting words Isabella heard from her mother, the more tears raced down her eyes. Right there in her mother’s arms, she began to weep until her father came over and embraced them both in his strong wild arms.

“Bella, I want you to know something. Even if everyone you trust forsakes you, your mother and I will always have our arms open for you,” Mr. Smith said with red eyes.

He felt for his daughter because he knew and could understand what she was going through.

Isabella got married at the age of twenty-three and five years later, she was leaving her husband who betrayed her and broke their marriage vows with a two-year-old daughter.

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At the same time, Gerald was huffing mad after receiving the lawsuits delivered by his lawyer.

“I told that woman to wait for a bit and she went ahead to file for a divorce?!” Holding the stack of papers in his hands, Gerald’s eyes bulged from their sockets.

It wasn’t just one thing he was seeing, but three different ones. And as if that was not enough, his lawyer handed another envelope to him.

“This one is for Ms. Kareen,” the lawyer said and stuffed his hands inside his pockets.

The frown on Gerald’s face brought forth a vein at the side of his head as he felt his brain throb. By the time he made it into the apartment where he secretly housed his mistress, he had already torn the envelope open.

“Isabella!” Gerald roared when he read the contents of the envelope. His wife just sued his mistress for a whooping sum of $10,000,000.

It was at this point he understood that Isabella was the weapon fashioned against him.

When Kareen heard the roar from the kitchen, she frowned and returned the jug of milk in her hands back to the refrigerator. She was trying to make a smoothie for herself, but first, she had to find out what was going on.

Coming into the living room with one hand on her protruding belly and a slight frown on her pretty face, she saw Gerald sitting on the couch with his hands on his head.

“I heard your scream from the kitchen, what is it?” she inquired as she came to stand in front of him.

Hearing her voice, Gerald lifted his miserable face. “My wife just filed for divorce and sued you for emotional damages, $10,000,000!” he announced while pointing at the paper in his hand.

“What!” Kareen snatched the paper from him. She didn’t bother to read the note and just went straight to highlight the round figure with her eyes. As soon as she saw it, she flung the paper away!

“I’m not even worth up to this amount in assets!” she complained with her furious gaze on Gerald. “Your wife is just greedy and unreasonable!”

Immediately, Gerald rose to his feet with equal anger written all over him. Staring right into her eyes, he pointed a finger at her. “Then you should have listened to me when I refused to accompany you to the hospital at first! If you had been obedient like the previous times, that picture of us wouldn’t have made it to the blogs!”

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It took a while for Isabella to calm down and take a seat. Thankfully, her daughter was asleep while she ugly-cried otherwise, it wouldn’t have been a good sight for the little girl to behold.

“Bella, your mother and I are proud of you and we support your decision. Gerald not only failed to acknowledge his mistakes but he also refused to assure you and keep his family. You don’t deserve that kind of man in your life.”

Mr. Smith didn’t like seeing his only beloved daughter cry, not after he raised her with all the care and love in the world. Seeing her in pain after another man messed her up, he was tempted to go after him.

Well, it’s not like he has given up on that idea. For now, he would stay and comfort her.

“Dad, I feel like I just ruined my entire life,” Isabella said with regret as she dabbed her tears with the handkerchief her mother passed to her.

She was worried about being a single mother and how other children and parents would perceive her daughter in future.

Would there ever be any remedy to this?