Chapter one: Ophiela

I wished I were dead.

I wished I'd sustained a brain injury, or better—had found myself in an alternate universe in order to explain why my husband was hunched over my sister, railing her from behind.

The mugs of coffee I carried dropped to the floor and shattered, alerting the two unholy lovebirds to my presence.

My husband, Kent, turned sharply and gasped.

“Lia?” He hastily pulled his up his boxers to cover himself. My attention switched to Samara who looked away and quietly adjusted her dress.

“Why are you avoiding my gaze, Samara. Why not look at me?”

She continued to keep her eyes away from me. Even as Kent approached me, I couldn't stop looking at Samara. The weight of what I'd discovered was too much to bear.

“Lia,” Kent started with a calm voice. “I can explain.”

I chuckled. The fact tears weren't pouring from my eyes surprised me. It just goes to show how unbelievable this situation was. Kent and Samara together in my office.

I nodded. ‘“Go on. Tell me something I don't know, becauae this doesn't make any sense whatsoever.” I looked at him in agony.

Kent's gaze softened. And he looked down. He too couldn't stand my gaze. And although my heart bled, I found myself wanting to believe all this was one bad mistake. He couldn't have been in his right frame of mind. Yet, questions filled my mind. Questions, the answers to which, I was scared of.

“He wants a divorce,” Samara spoke. Her voice like claws, tearing my heart to pieces.

“What?” I glanced at Kent; he looked away . “What's she talking about?”

Kent's silence and zero eye contact terrified me. Soon enough my terror changed to anger.

“Kent, look me in the eye and tell me what the fuck is going on!”

Samara scoffed. “Your marriage is over, that's what is going on.”

“Samara,” Shutting his eyes, Kent tried to call Samara in order. She ignored him and went in with her torture.

“And finally an innocent young man will be free. It was never meant to be, Ophelia. You know it. It was just a marriage of convenience in which you alone stands to gain, while Kent only has to put up with all of it. Just because you're a Lewis.”

“That's enough!” Kent bark, shutting Samara up even though her smirk persisted.

The tears I’d thought couldn't form streamed down. My whole world shattered around me

It was.dead silent here. Kent couldn't even deny it. It was the truth.

“You want a divorce?” I asked, my voice choking.

Kent jmwd his teeth together, as such his jaw buldged. “I'm sorry, Ophelia. Believe me when I said I wanted this to work.”

From the corner of my eyes I saw Sara toll her eyes.

I looked down. I had always prided myself for being able to stay composed in drastic situation. That was why I had been able to manage a company as big as Bigots. It was this skill that landed me the position of CEO. But right now, I could hardly get it together.

I looked up eventually. The tears gone. My resolve back. “What changed? We were in love.”

“Oh, please,” Samara muttered. Kent's eyes were still directed away from me. And that instant, I missed them. The beautiful pale blue colour, how meeked they had appeared when he praised me; how fierce they'd burned as we made love.

A lump blocked my throat.

“We were in love, weren't we?” I asked, on the verge of sobbing. “Fucking speak to me, Kent!”

“There. That's the reason he's leaving you. You treat him like a slave who has no will of his own and you expect him to just swallow it up?” Samara stepped towards me.

I looked away from Kent to her. She'd always been antagonistic towards me, but never in a million years had I thought she'd backstab me by cheating with Kent. “It is over, Ophelia. Time to take the walk of shame.”

Kent neared, holding a suspicious piece of paper. “I didn't want it to be this way. I'm sorry.” He handed the paper to me.

With a shaky breath, I picked took it from him. Two words blurred my vision: divorce agreement.

Kent wanted this to be over. Truly.

Samara was right.

Without saying a word more, I took the paper from him, neatly folded it and walked away. Kent called after me, but I ignored him, banging the door shut behind me.

“Clean off the mess in my office,” I said to the janitor as I walked towards the boardroom. I had a shareholders’ meeting to attend. I wouldn't let this jarring news destabilise me.

***

It was all silent around me as the boardroom got filed with boardmembers. Kent walked in alongside Samara. She wasn't supposed to be here as she had no business with the company. On a normal day, under usual circumstances, I would have asked her out. However, the shock of the day had sapped every form of energy from me. I could barely speak.

Everyone took their seats and the meeting commenced.

“Good morning, everyone,” started the chairman. He wore a solemn expression, a fact that spurred my curiosity. “I welcome you all to today's meeting. “First of all, I want to congratulate our CEO here, Ophelia Lewis Dowell for her outstanding contributions to the company. All through her service, she was selfless, principled and determined.”

I monitored everyone's faces. Everyone except Samara looked morose. Alarm bells rang in my head.

“Now, for the meeting agenda…”

As soon as those words left the chairman, something occurred to me. The meeting was meant to include a client the company had secured for a merger. There no signs of the client nor representatives.

“Why isn't Lacome Enterprise here with us?” I asked to nobody in particular.

Only the chairman dared to speak.

“I'm sorry for breaking this to you this way. The company, along with the shareholders have decided that a new CEO will be elected.”

“What? That's impossible!” I blurted. It couldn't be. I turned my frantic gaze to everyone, seeking an immediate explanation

“Technically it is. The highest shareholder has the right to call for an election. It turns out you aren't astute as you claim,” Samara taunted.

Shareholder? First, I'd caught Kent sleeping with Samara. Next, divorce were thrown at me. Now now this? All in one day?

In a measured tone, the chairman said, “Now for the vote. Our candidates are Ophelia Lewis, Kent Duke and...”

Kent?

My eyes darted to his direction as an overwhelming sense of betrayal gripped me.

Lost in thoughts, nothing around me made sense. I didn't when hands went up, choosing Kent in favour of other candidates and me. My world spun as I stood from my chair.

I found in my car the next minute, started the ignition and hut the road. I drove with an absent mind, and reddened eyes.

I drove till a bang erupted from behind. The car summasaulted, driving shards of glass and metals towards me.

Then, all went black