CHAPTER 4

Alex POV 

My body ached all through the morning as I packed my clothes and every one of my belongings which wasn't all that much as I left back the things that Michael had bought for out of ‘Love’. 

A divorce letter had later come in around noon by the lawyer which I had signed without much of a second thought or any fuss. 

I really wanted to get out of this hell-hole. 

I wheeled my suitcase down the flight of stairs feeling exhausted in all ways than one. I caught Maria's figure waiting for me at the end of the stairs. 

Oh great. I thought trying to push down the rise of anger her presence filled me with. 

"Well, well, well," Her voice echoed through the foyer. "The lawyer just told me you signed the papers already. No fight at all? How disappointing."

I kept walking, my grip tightening on my suitcase handle.

"What's wrong, Alex? Cat got your tongue?" She stepped in front of me, blocking my path. "I expected at least some drama. Some tears. A begging scene maybe?"

I moved to step around her, but she shifted again.

"You know what's funny?" She ran a hand over her stomach. "While you were crying over your dead baby in the hospital, Michael and I were picking out names for ours."

My heart clenched, but I kept my face neutral. She was waiting for a reaction.

"Move, Maria," I said quietly.

"Or what?" She laughed, the sound harsh. "You'll run to your garden and cry? That's all you've ever been good at, hiding and crying while I had everything. Your husband, your home, your life..."

I finally looked her in the eyes, seeing the spite, the desperate need to hurt me. "You can have it all, Maria. The house, the name, the man who never loved either of us enough to be honest. It's yours. I hope it makes you happy."

Her smirk faltered slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"A man who can lie to his wife for five years can lie to his mistress too." I gave her a sad smile. "Good luck with your perfect life."

"You think you're so smart?" She called after me, her voice rising with each word. "At least I'm not the pathetic little wife who couldn't even keep her husband interested! At least I'm not the one leaving with nothing!"

I paused at the door, my hand on the handle. "Yes, I guess you're right and that's why I'm leaving you with everything. Have a nice life and a safe birth.” 

I felt the stunned eyes of Maria on me as I moved past her to the gate. Michael had been so ‘kind’ not to include any alimony on the divorce papers. 

He can go choke on it for all I care. 

I was leaving. I couldn't believe I was actually leaving.

I've never been one to act on a decision on my own. Either I chickened out or someone made the decision for me. 

Just like this marriage, made by the decision of my father. 

I took a taxi to a hotel which was more like a run down motel for the night. I didn't have much cash other than a crisp fifty dollars cash in my pocket. 

Fuck, I needed help. I wouldn't survive on the street with just $5o. 

I grabbed my phone and skimmed through my contacts. I hadn't spoken to any of my family and friends for 5 years ever since I married Michael.  

I spoke to my father once in a blue moon but it wasn't to check on me but to order me to be responsible and respectful to Michael. 

He and Michael's grandfather were the one who initiated our marriage. I was just eighteen, fresh out of high school when the proposal came to me. I had initially rejected the offer but when I saw it was Michael, my forever crush, I had immediately jumped on the idea. 

I didn't care about what anyone thought. My caring big brothers who always protected me were more disappointed in me than my father. I was so naive and stupid, that I rejected them trying to convince me otherwise, now here I am, living their prediction. 

And calling to them for help. Just like always. 

I tapped the contact that is saved ‘Elliott’ on my phone and waited for it to connect. 

Elliott was my eldest brother, our father's first heir. He was wiser and less impulsive than Tristan, Theo and Thomas, the triplets who are more likely to kill Michael in cold blood. 

Although I doubt he Elliott was going to p–

“Hello? Alexandra.” 

Hearing his voice broke me. “Elliott…” I sobbed into my phone. “I messed up big time, Elli. I really fucked up. I t…thought he lov…loved m–” 

“Calm down, baby sis,” he said firmly. “Where are you?”

“I’m… I’m in a motel,” I admitted, glancing at the dusty, threadbare bed beneath me.

“A fucking motel?” he snapped, his anger barely restrained. “I’m going to kill that bastard. You hear me?” He exhaled sharply. “Send me your address, and pack your things. I’m coming for you.”

Please get here fast...

____________________

“You need to calm down, Elliott?” I 

“How do you ask me to calm down when you look fucking malnourished. You just lost a baby for fuck sake and that bastard couldn't do the decency of taking care of you properly. Instead, he was busy fucking that piece of shit Maria to care and planning your misery, and you expect me to calm down!” 

"Shh... please Elliott," I begged, watching him pace back and forth in his living room. "Katie and James are sleeping upstairs."

"I don't care!" He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Five years, Alex. Five fucking years we watched you waste away in that house..."

Derek, Elliott's husband, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Love, you need to breathe. You're scaring her."

"I'm not scared," I whispered, though my hands were shaking. "I just... I don't want Dad to know. Not yet. He'll be so angry..."

Elliott whirled around. "Good! Let him be angry! Let him face what his precious arrangement did to you!"

"Please," I pleaded. "I can't handle his disappointment right now."

"Baby girl," Derek sat beside me, his voice gentle. "Your father's feelings aren't your responsibility."

“This is the real world, Alex. You can't keep letting people control you. You can't keep running to your little safe haven of a garden at any sign of trouble.” Elliott said. 

I was about to respond when his words truly travelled up my brain. I squeeze my brows at him. “How do you know about the garden?” I asked. 

Elliott suddenly stopped pacing, his expression shifting. "I've been...watching you."

"What do you mean?"

He shared a look with Derek before continuing. "I've had people keeping an eye on you, on the Coleman house. Everything, Alex. It led me to know there's a life out there that needs you, wants you but…” he hesitated. 

"But what? Elliott, please..."

"You're not ready," he said firmly. "You're still too... fragile. Too willing to forgive."

"I'm not fragile!" I protested, standing up. "I just signed divorce papers! I walked away!"

"After five years of manipulation," he countered. "After losing a baby. After-" He cut himself off abruptly.

"After what?" I demanded. "What aren't you telling me?"

Elliott took a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything, but on one condition."

"What condition?"

"You leave the country. Take over our Hong Kong branch."

I looked at him in shock. "Hong Kong? Elliott, I can't just..."

"Yes, you can," he interrupted. "You're smarter than anyone gives you credit for, including yourself. The position is yours if you want it. Besides I'll be beside you all the way through, like a mentor.”

"But why Hong Kong? Why can't you just tell me now?"

He knelt in front of me, taking my hands in his. "Because you need to find yourself again, Alex. Away from this toxic environment, away from them, away from Dad's influence. You need to become strong enough to handle the truth."

"I am strong," I whispered, but my voice wavered.

"You will be," he promised. "But right now, you're still the little sister who believes in fairytales. Who might run back if he comes begging."

Tears filled my eyes because deep down, I knew he was right. "How... how would I even run a branch? I don't know anything about business..."

"That's where you're wrong," Derek chimed in. "You ran that entire Coleman household. You managed staff, budgets, events. You have the skills, Alex. You just never got to use them for yourself."

I looked between them, seeing the determination in their eyes. "You really think I could do it?"

"I know you can," Elliott said firmly. "But you have to choose it. Choose yourself, for once."

I wiped my tears, thinking about the garden I'd left behind. Maybe it was time to plant new roots. "When... when would I leave?"

Elliott's shoulders relaxed slightly. "As soon as you're ready. The apartment is already furnished, the position's been held open..."

"You planned this," I realized.

"I've been planning it since the day you married him," he admitted. "I just had to wait until you were ready to leave.”