Devils in sheep's clothing

Even after all that had happened between them, when Thursday arrived, two days after Melina threw a divorce paper at him to sign, Elijah was still in the house, hoping that this nightmare would eventually end between them.

Seven o'clock met him in the kitchen, cooking breakfast, as usual, cracking an egg open and pouring the yolk into a pan to cook. 

As he stirred the scrambled eggs together, humming quietly to himself, he tried to not think about all the mean things his wife said to him and just tried to focus on the task at hand. 

When the eggs were ready, Elijah scooped them onto a plate, next to the bacon, sausages, 

 and toast that he prepared beforehand.

Then Elijah took the plate off the counter, set it on the tray beside a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, and slowly raised the gold tray in his hand, walking carefully out of the kitchen into the dining room.

Standing by the table, Elijah placed the tray on it before grabbing the fork and knife from the cutlery drawer, setting the silverware on the table, and placing it neatly beside the tray. 

At that moment, Elijah heard footsteps approaching the dining room where he was standing, and as he turned around, he saw Melina, walking into the room while rubbing her sleepy eyes, fully dressed in a lovely, knee-length, neat-fit white floral dress. 

"What is this?!" Melina frowned at him as she looked at the tray and utensils sitting neatly on top of the table.

"Breakfast…" Elijah whispered nervously.

Keeping her silence, Melina pulled out a  chair and sat down, placing her hands on top of the table as she rested her chin on them and stared at Elijah suspiciously.

"Are you sure you are not trying to poison me before I divorce you, so you can take all my money?" Melina asked, still sounding very grumpy.

 At first, Elijah thought she was kidding, but her tone was too serious not to believe. 

Taking a deep breath and letting it out calmly, he smiled slightly at her question, and simply answered, "How could I do such a thing? Melina, I love you too much to hurt you."

"Ha, you don't know when to quit, do you?" Melina chuckled lightly as she shook her head.

A frown settled on Elijah's face as he pulled out a chair and sat down across from her.

A calm atmosphere settled into the room as Melina ate the bacon, eyeing Elijah with every passing second.

"I still wanted a divorce. You are not husband material." Melina said bluntly, taking a sip of her drink as she stared into Elijah's eyes.

"Because I am poor, right?" Elijah asked as he raised an eyebrow, feeling an ache in his chest.

"Yes, Elijah! You are a poor guy who is constantly broke and has no job to support yourself or spend on me, and I am tired of being with a cheap guy like you!" 

"Wow!" 

Wiping the single tear drop that rolled down his face, Elijah stared at his wife and then at the buzzing phone.

After answering the call, he rested it against his ear and listened to the voice on the other end of the line, "Mr. Elijah, it's time for you to return home. Your father and mother want you back to discuss something important."

"Tell them, I will be there tomorrow," Elijah replied curtly, hanging up the call.

"We have a court date today for you to sign the divorce papers," Melina reminded him as she put her fork down, looking at him expectantly. "If you don't show up, you might get jail time, so I advise you to not make this harder than it has to be."

Sighing deeply, Elijah said no words as he watched her eyes, finally realizing and accepting that his nightmare wouldn't end here. 

Because she was the nightmare, and until he left her, it was only going to get worse, and it was time for him to accept the reality that his life isn't what he thought it was, and he should start to move on.

Suddenly, the sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house, and Melina smiled, standing up as she mumbled, "That's my ride to the courthouse."

Confused, Elijah stood from his seat and followed her to the front door as they both walked to the entrance of their house.

Opening the door, Melina smiled at a middle-aged man, dressed in a  business suit, standing at the doorstep. He had short hair, dark brown eyes, and wore glasses.

"Honey," Melina said sweetly, rushing into the man's arm and kissing him on the lips as she hugged onto his body with affection.

A scoff slipped from Elijah's mouth as he looked away, turning his attention towards the ground, unable to look at them anymore. 

This was an insult to his face, that his wife would kiss another man in front of him, and yet, she didn't seem to care that he was there.

Over the years, Melina had done a lot of things that hurt Elijah, but this... this was the moment he realized how toxic their relationship truly was and felt a sense of hate towards her.

Like a knife was stabbed in his chest, Elijah clenched his teeth, clasping his fists, trying hard to keep his emotions inside.

"Elijah, can you be at the Blueville courthouse before ten o'clock?" Melina asked him, breaking the embrace with the man.

Nodding, Elijah turned his gaze towards her, smiling stiffly at her and saying, "Of course."

"Great!" Melina said, grabbing the man's hand, and grinning sweetly at him. "Honey, let's go."

Silently, Elijah watched his wife get in the car of another man, and drive away. His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach and filled his veins with anger.

At that moment, he realized his father was right, this world is filled with hypocrites and devils in sheep's clothing, and he can never let his heart rule over his head, for a woman or anyone, and this lesson was coming true now.

But Elijah was somewhat glad it did because now, he would never let another human being get the best of him, ever again, and his heart slowly grew cold and numb as he stared ahead of him, his eyes darkening.

At nine forty-five, the cab came to a stop in front of the courtyard, and Elijah paid his fare with a quick tip before stepping out of the taxi.

Looking at the great white building, Elijah shoved his hands into his pocket, walking further towards the front doors.

When he entered the court hall, he was shocked to see reporters and camera crews, and they immediately started shouting and shoving each other to gain some coverage, making it difficult for Elijah to walk ahead.

"Is it true that Mrs. Melina Hayes is divorcing you? Can you please share some thoughts on why the CEO of Investverse company would  be divorcing you?!" A reporter shouted in his ear as she pushed a microphone to his face, causing him to recoil backward slightly.

Not uttering a word, Elijah pushed past her and kept moving through the crowd, keeping his head low as cameras flashed and microphones were thrust to his face.

"Elijah… please answer a couple of questions, Elijah!" A  female reporter begged him.

Pushing the microphone away, Elijah muttered, "No comment."

"Do you want to divorce your wife? How do you feel about that?" A male reporter asked Elijah?

"Leave me alone!" Elijah snapped at them angrily.

It grew silent for a moment between the journalists because of how powerful his tone was, and then one of the reporters mumbled, "Why is he acting like a boss or something when he's just a low-life stay-at-home husband."

"No wonder Mrs. Hayes wants to divorce him… he's just a loser! She should have known better than to marry him... She must have been blind to do!" Another journalist snorted derisively.

Bowing his head, Elijah forced his way past the crowd of people blocking his way forward, ignoring the questions he was asked, and walked straight into the courtroom.

There, Melina was with her family, and her friends and the way they all looked at him with anger, hate, and disgust made him feel as if he was the lowest scum in the whole country, even though he wasn't.

The divorce case lasted for a couple of minutes, and at last, Elijah was a free man, completely divorced from Melina and relieved that he was able to escape the pain that his marriage was putting him through.

Looking over at Elijah, Melina sneered and let out loudly, "I'm so glad this mess of a  marriage is over, and I can finally move on to the next person who is worth my time!"

Smiling at her sarcastically, Elijah nodded and said, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "Well, I guess I am the only one miserable now, aren't I?"

Then he shook his head and sighed heavily while glaring back at her and then turning around to walk out of the room because he was so done with the whole situation.

When Elijah arrived out of the courtyard, he stood still, staring at his phone, waiting patiently with his other hand stuck in his pocket.

"Elijah, that's your name, right?!" The man Melina came to the courthouse with, walked over to him with her hugging onto his arm.

With a look of disinterest in his eye, Elijah  looked towards the guy, replying simply, "Why are you talking to me?!"

Shock crossed over the man's expression before it quickly returned to his poker face, and then he laughed. 

But as he was about to make a comeback, a Mercedes Benz sports car pulled up alongside Elijah, and he walked towards the door, opened it, and then entered the passenger seat, slamming the car door shut.

"What just happened?!" Melina demanded angrily, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared wide-eyed as the vehicle took off at full speed.