Chapter 6

Kathryn’s POV

The man I once admired as my husband, stood from his desk and sank on the sofa next to it, muttering curses one after the other. “This is fucking ridiculous!” 

“Don’t you want to read it first?” I asked, my face a blank canvas on his outraged nature. 

“You’re being unreasonable,” Wilhelm barked as he stared at the divorce agreement document that was placed on his table, his face turning dead-beat red from probably all the anger he felt. “How ungrateful can you be, Kath? I’ve wasted money for you to get to where you are, and now you’re asking me for a divorce?” he laughed without any humor. “And whose money do you think you’d use to pay your attorney’s fee? My own?” 

I placed my hand underneath my belly for support. “I owe you nothing, Wilhelm. The money that I have right now came wholly from my parents, especially my father’s inheritance.” 

“Yours? Are you even listening to yourself?” Wilhelm exclaimed. “Remember the day you came begging, promising to combine your inheritance with mine because your father had so many debts from his gambling addiction?” He waited for me to answer, but when I didn’t, he continued to speak. “I doubt you’d even be able to pay any of this.” 

“If money’s your only problem,” I regarded him coldly, “then you can put on the agreement the exact amount of settlement that you’d like for me to pay, and I’d have it split into installments. I doubt I’d make you poor if I don’t pay it upfront.” 

“You’re not thinking this through,” he gritted his teeth. “Where the fuck do you think you’d get your money from, Kathryn, huh? Some part-time job that pays you below minimum wage?” 

“I’m not hearing any of this,” I declared with my newfound courage. “Sign the papers and make this easy enough for the both of us. You’ll have more time to spare with that—” I gritted my teeth, “ —with Rose.”

At the mention of her name, Wilhelm narrowed his eyes on me. 

I clenched my fist and forced myself to speak. “You seem to be enjoying her company more than your own wife nowadays.” 

“Based on what you’re saying, you’re clearly suggesting that I cheated on you,” he growled, and when I didn’t answer, I saw how his face transformed into something dark and feral. “She’s just a college friend, and I haven’t done any of those nasty things on your mind.” 

“A college friend that sticks to you like a toad?” I glared at him though I tried to maintain my composure for the sake of the babies in my belly. “Wilhelm, I’m not blind.”

Wilhelm took one step closer to where I stood, towering over me. I looked deep into his eyes, and it hurt me so bad to think that it still held not even a bit of affection for me even up to our last moments as husband and wife. 

“How could you know anything about our relationship at the office? You don’t even work there.”

I placed my hand on my chest to ease the pain I felt upon his words. “You never let me have work! You even dismissed me earlier—” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he cut me off, his eyes coldly regarding me. “How could you make such assumptions by mere, baseless things that you’ve seen. That’s not even close to being a proof.” 

I opened and closed my mouth, tears trailing down my face as I asserted the thoughts I had in my mind that I was desperate to tell him, but failed in doing so. 

Before I knew it, I was already out of his home office. I headed to our bedroom and readied the single suitcase I managed to pack supposed he had done away with signing the divorce agreement I made. 

The door slammed open. Wilhelm stormed in and grabbed my hand, pulling me to a stand. “You’re not going anywhere, Kathryn. You’re staying here. What is it about you and your suspicions about Rose? I…” his eyes seemed as if he was looking for more words to make me stay. 

“I will double your allowance. I would even let you get a position in my company, just like what you’ve always suggested. Given the fact that your degree is basically useless, I doubt you’d survive without my help,” he searched my eyes but kept a firm grip on my arm instead. “Take this as my token of gratitude for the years we’ve been together.” 

His words hold no meaning to me now. I touched his hand and gently pushed it away as I kept my eyes on him. 

“I don’t want any of those.” 

Wilhelm sighed in an exasperated manner. “Then, what do you want, Kath? Tell me.” 

I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and never broke eye contact even though my heart felt like it was being hammered into my chest. “I want to be free of you—” 

I don’t know if I imagined it, but Wilhelm looked utterly shocked beyond words.

“I want to reclaim the life I’ve wasted on you and this family,” and with that, I left, the door hanging open behind me.