Chapter 1

Danielle’s POV

It was Christmas Eve, and I was home, alone.

The snowstorm raged outside, fierce winds whipping through the air and carrying snowflakes that blanketed the ground in white. It was freezing cold, despite the warm air that the air conditioner emitted. I shivered slightly, keeping my eyes glued on the screen before me.

"On the road leading to the Newton network, a major accident has just occurred." My eyes fluttered slightly the moment I heard those words from the newscaster.  My husband was somewhere around there. 

"One person whose identity is yet to be known died in the unfortunate event, while two others were severely injured." I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I peered keenly at the screen hoping to catch a glimpse of the car of whoever was involved. 

Even though the accident happened right outside his office, I prayed that Jayden wasn't one of the victims. 

"I mean… He's Jayden. If anything happened, the news would say so." I calmed myself down with that thought, relaxing on the sofa and shutting my eyes.

Being alone in Jayden's huge mansion felt like hell. Even on Christmas Eve, I ate dinner alone. If you ask me if I like this mansion, I’d say of course I do, but I would like it more if my husband was sitting beside me. If not him, at least someone else. 

His father and sister weren't going to arrive until tomorrow. And despite how much I pleaded, no member of my family was willing to come over for Christmas because they never said yes to our marriage.

Damn! It’s so hard to distract my attention. 

I quickly grabbed my phone to text Jayden. "Hey, are you okay? Just saw the news about the accident and I'm getting worried. Please respond ASAP." 

I sat on the edge of my seat, my fingers tapping nervously against the armrest. The minutes ticked by with no reply. I mindlessly scrolled through I*******m, hoping to calm my frayed nerves. A short while later, I checked again, hoping that Jayden might have responded but there was nothing.

"The snowstorm has worsened and there are likely to be more accidents that have occurred or will occur. Please stay inside your house where it's safer. At least for now." The lady on the news was making me so nervous, my palms grew sweaty. I managed to reach out for the remote and quickly turned the news off.

"Daddy will be home soon," I was speaking to my unborn baby. "He's fine. Maybe he's stuck at work. Maybe he's having issues with Fred. But I'm sure he's fine." 

“That snow is so freakin’ crazy!”I heard a voice and footsteps in the living room. Relief washed over me.

Finally, he was home.

I quickly stood from the sofa and walked towards him with one of my hands on my belly. 

Smiling, I retrieved his bag and clothes. "How was your day?"

He was unbuttoning his suit, not even looking at me, "Danielle, I'm starving."  

"Right away," I retorted, hurrying to the kitchen. 

Minutes later, I sat opposite him on a dining seat. Watching him eat the meal with a grim expression on his face. 

“Why does this taste so..." He took a moment to choose his words, "So shitty. Did you make this?” 

“The cook prepared it before leaving for vacation,” I  explained. “I just reheated the turkey. I couldn’t do much… with the pregnancy.”

Jayden looked up at me slowly. It was the first time he was looking at me since he walked in half an hour ago. I could see the coldness in his eyes. "I work fifteen hours a day, Danielle. Yet you can't fix a proper meal.”

He stood from the chair, barely touching his meal. “You’re not a good wife,” he said, his cold eyes meeting mine. “You never were. You played your tricks to get me into this marriage. And now, you're playing them to keep me here. Seriously, Danielle, I’m sick of this.”

I said nothing. Even though I was exhausted, I sauntered to the kitchen to fix something for him. 

As I chopped the chicken into smaller chunks with the big kitchen knife, I cut myself by accident and immediately let out a scream, "Ouch!" I fell to the floor because the pain was excruciating. My finger was bleeding heavily. 

"Are you okay?" Jayden asked, rushing into the kitchen. I could swear there was a little bit of concern in his voice. 

I looked up at him, his broad bare chest, muscular arms and abs revealed.  All he had on was a boxer that firmly clung to his member, I found myself gazing at him for a while, my heart began pounding in my chest. 

Gosh, I hated myself.

I lowered my head to avoid his sea blue eyes so I could control myself, "I'm fine." I said with a voice that was lower than a whisper. 

I didn’t hear his reply immediately but I knew he was still here. We had some band-aids right inside the cupboard near him, so… 

"Good." He turned around and left, not caring for my injured finger. Then he disappeared from my sight. 

It was so stupid of me to think that he was going to help me with the wound. 

It was so obvious that he didn't give a fuck about me, he only checked on me because of the baby.

I was done cooking and had set the meal on the dining table. 

I then went to the bedroom to fetch him. stood at the entrance, watching him grin. Whatever it was on his phone's screen made him a happy man, I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as my stomach churned. "Where were you this evening? You came home so late, Jayden. This is Christmas for God's sake."

He just stared into his screen like I didn't exist. I took a deep breath, and heard myself asking, "Is she back?"

His finger froze for a sec.

I braced myself for the worst, swallowing hard and watching him intently. 

I watched as the smile on his face disappeared and his face hardened. He took a moment to ponder without saying a word to me. 

Moments later, he grabbed a document from the table and handed it to me, “Danielle,”

"What's this?" I asked, taking it from him. My curiosity was instantly aroused as I tore it open. But seconds later, I felt my blood running cold and my hands shivering.

“I married you because of my mom,” He said flatly. “Now that she’s late, and the woman I truly love has come back, it’s time we part ways. I want a divorce.”