CH.5

The back door of the flashiest car in the fleet swung open and to my utter shock, a familiar figure I least expected to see stormed out, not giving a damn about the harsh downpour now soaking him to the skin.

My heart leaped into my throat and I whirled around.

Panic surged through me when he charged towards me with a look of pure rage on his face.

I was rooted to the spot like a deer in headlights, unsure how to react.

He swiftly closed the distance between us and grabbed me by the wrist in a bruising grip before tossing me over his shoulder as if I weighed no more than a child's doll.

I cried out in shock and pain as his shoulder dug into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

I finally snapped out of my daze. "What the hell?! Put me down this instant, you bastard!" I screamed, thrashing and kicking my legs wildly as he carried me back towards the car like a caveman.

"Maisie!" Jason barked, his icy tone cutting through the sounds of the pounding rain and making me freeze in place.

He stormed over and wrenched the door open before unceremoniously dumping me into the backseat like a sack of potatoes.

I landed in a heap on the soft leather, staring up at him with my mouth hanging open in shock and disbelief as I tried to process what had just happened.

Jason, on the other hand, seemed utterly unfazed by my distress.

Soaked from the rain, his gray shirt was plastered against his toned torso and I noticed how the fabric clung to those defined abs I had spent countless nights running my hands and lips over. In my dreams of course.

However, any embers of lingering attraction were immediately smothered by the icy look in his eyes.

He turned his head to address Marcus, who had quickly scrambled back into the driver's seat.

"Get her home before she catches her death from this foolishness," he ordered gruffly, not even sparing me a glance.

With that, he slammed the door closed in my face, shutting me out as easily as he had so many times before.

Marcus nodded quickly and peeled away from the curb before I could find my voice to protest.

I was left to wallow in my pain and utterly heartbroken.

I twisted around to look out the rear windshield at the man I naively called my husband.

There he was, still standing out in the freezing downpour, watching impassively as we drove away.

He made no effort to shield himself from the harsh rain slamming down on him. He simply stood there with his hands shoved into the pockets of his ridiculously expensive suit, letting the water soak him as his eyes remained trained on the car whisking me away from him.

Suddenly, a group of his bodyguards rushed over with a large umbrella, quickly surrounding their boss to keep him covered from the torrent.

The sleek black car he arrived in came to a stop right beside him, and I watched with a bitter taste filling my mouth as he climbed into the backseat without a backward glance in my direction.

Of course. He preferred the cold, pouring rain rather than spending another second in the same space as me, his wife.

Jason always went to ridiculous lengths to keep me at arm's length,... to put up barriers between us at every turn.

Even after being caught literally in the act of cheating on me, he still couldn't bring himself to act like a normal, remorseful human being around me.

Well, he no longer needed to make such efforts.

I finally received his message loud and clear.

Jason never truly wanted me, not really. And after this ultimate humiliation, this cruel betrayal, I steeled my resolve to stay away from him.

My hands curled into tight fists in my lap as Marcus drove us back towards the prison of the Harding estate, the place that never really felt like a home to me.

The sprawling mansion I spent the past year desperately trying to earn my husband's love, affection and approval, only to be coldly rejected and tossed aside at every turn like an ill-mannered child.

Tears burned fresh tracks down my face, mingling with the raindrops that slid down my cheeks.

The icy prick of rainwater soaking through my clothes did nothing to numb the rawness of my emotions or the ache of my battered heart and bruised ego.

How could I have been so blind? So painfully naive?

He had made it clear from the start that he viewed me as an unwanted obligation in his life, not a partner to love and cherish.

Marriage was meant to be an unbreakable union, a sacred bond between two people joining their lives and families together as one. But he never let me in, never allowed me past those steel walls he kept firmly erected around his heart.

I was such a fool for thinking I could somehow change that, for deluding myself into this fantasy where I could make him want me if I was just beautiful enough, sexy enough, obedient and submissive enough to all his needs and desires.

All the while he had been taking his pleasure elsewhere, laughing at me behind my back as I desperately tried to be a good, devoted wife to an utterly undeserving man.

The rage and hurt burned through me like wildfire as the events of the day truly settled in.

He had gone out of his way to humiliate me, to shatter what little self-respect and dignity I still clung to. On our anniversary of all days, the one time I thought he might finally see me as something more than a nuisance.

He destroyed any remaining hope with his cruel indifference and callous betrayal.

The memory made my stomach twist violently again and I had to fight back the urge to be sick all over the car's plush interior.

Jason was always so controlled, so restrained around me, not even batting an eye at the sexy lingerie I often paraded around in while desperately trying to stoke some kind of fire in him.

Yet for that whore, he let himself go completely.

Well, no more. If being cold and unfeeling was how he wanted to play this, then that's exactly what he’d get from me.  

I was through trying to earn his love and approval, done playing the role of the obedient, devoted wife. It was clear now that I’d never be anything more than an object of disgust to him, a pretty little doll to show off at his whim before discarding back into the attic when he grew bored of me.

The thought of putting up with his emotionally abusive behavior for another day made me feel physically ill.

I wasn't going simply sit back and subject myself to this kind of treatment. Not anymore. Not from him or anyone else!

He could take his money, his family's social status... his reputation, and shove it all straight up his rich, entitled ass!!