Divorce papers

Lying in bed, Elijah sighed heavily while running his fingers through his thick hair. His mood had drastically changed ever since his fight with Melina. He could feel the pain that throbbed inside him, and he hated it. 

To learn that his wife was into another man was devastating to Elijah, and no matter how hard he thought about their fight, he just didn't want to accept the fact that she was cheating on him.

"Damnit!!" Elijah groaned in frustration.

Tired, he buried his face into his pillow, his fists tightly clenched while his mind replayed their conversation, wishing that he had told her about his identity earlier.

Maybe that would have made Melina happy.

If she knew who he truly was then she would still be loving him.

But that didn't change the fact that it was painful and humiliating to be rejected by the woman he loved. And to know she had chosen another man because of his wealth.

When Elijah first arrived in the country, as a foreigner, he was still new to everything, and one night at a bar, Melina approached him and that was the beginning of their friendship.

But it immediately turned into something heated that same night when she invited him over to her hotel room and they had sex, which ended up with their relationship becoming way more serious than he ever thought it would.

Right now, he felt confused as to where the Melina he first met was, not wanting to lose the real woman he has fallen for so deeply. Because the truth was, Elijah didn't know if she was worth fighting for anymore.

Sighing loudly, Elijah sat up straight and rubbed the sleep out of his tired hazel eyes, grabbing his phone from beside him and looking at the time.

"Six am..?" Elijah whispered as he dropped his phone back on the sheets.

Leaning his weight on the pillows, he stared at his surroundings in shock, wondering why the hell he had not fallen asleep at such a later hour.

But honestly, the thought of Melina had never left his mind the entire night. The ones that were full of love and passion, moments that he remembered all too clearly from their past, and the way she kissed him with such a burning passion... the feeling of her body against his own, the warmth that lingered between them after their heated kiss, the soft moan she gave when he bit her neck...

The memory of those things was still fresh, and his heart ached at the thought that the value of their love was measured by monetary things. 

The nights he cuddled her, her sick days that he nursed her back to health, moments when he held her in his arms, and the times he made sure she slept well and ate healthily - it was all just meaningless to her because they were not worth money and luxurious things.

But his feelings for her remained intact, even though she had hurt him and broken his trust.

Because deep down, Elijah still wanted to believe that she would always belong only to him and no one else, and even though she abused or neglected him, they were still meant to be together.

There were only two people in the world that mattered to him: his family and Melina, and Elijah didn't want that to change.

With the sound of the guest room door suddenly opening, Elijah looked to the doorway and saw Melina standing there wearing a robe with her short brown curls framing her face. 

For a moment, Elijah focused on her tired eyes, knowing that she was suffering from a hangover, and then his gaze lowered to the folder in her hand.

"Morning," He spoke quietly and watched Melina's expression turn sour at the sight of him.

Ignoring his greeting, Melina stretched out the folder to him and said, "Here. Sign it!"

A look of confusion and concern etched itself onto Elijah's face as he stared down at the file and took it from her hand, opening it up.

"You want a divorce?" Elijah asked softly, his tone filled with disbelief.

Melina's lips twitched downwards slightly as she shrugged her shoulders, saying, "It's been years, Elijah. You can't keep holding onto me like this. It will only hurt me more and my image." 

The words she just said seemed to make no sense to Elijah as he continued to stare down at the documents, trying to find some sort of logic behind her actions.

"This marriage is not working for either of us," Melina explained. "We just need to go our separate ways and stay away from each other."

"Stay away from each other?" Elijah mumbled, his brows furrowing slightly as he began flipping through the papers. "Is this divorce finalized? I don't understand what is going on…" 

"I don't want to be associated with you anymore! What's not there to understand? Don't you get that?" Melina snapped at him.

"What are you talking about?" Elijah questioned, shaking his head. "I don't understand anything that is happening right now..."

"Do you know the shame I went through last night? Everyone at my party knew I was married to you. They probably even laughed and teased me." 

"Melina,"

"You are like a filthy stain to my reputation and self-esteem! Do you know how awful that feels?!" 

Feeling confused and annoyed,  Elijah raised his eyebrows as he said, "I'm not sure what you think I did wrong-"

"Everything," Melina interrupted harshly as she glared daggers at him."You are not someone I want to spend the rest of my life with, and you never will be. There is no point in staying married to someone like you."

"Why do you hate me so much?" Elijah frowned slightly. "I have done nothing but treat you right… I  haven't cheated on you, I love you, I treat you like a queen… How can you be so angry at me? I thought you loved me."

"Oh, Elijah, how stupid can you be?" Melina scoffed sarcastically. "Our relationship is nothing but a bet with my girls. True or dare... I chose 'dare,' and this relationship is the result."

"What,"

"My friend dared me to marry a guy I had had a one-night stand with and divorce him later on after a few years, for two million. So I said, 'yes,' and now we have this whole mess."

Elijah stared at her, stunned silent as his eyes searched hers for a sign that she wasn't lying. But when he found none, he let his gaze drop to his hand, looking at the file.

"I was a joke to you... just a bet for you and your friends? You were never serious about having a real marriage, were you?  If anything, our relationship means nothing to you. I was just a toy to use whenever you want, right?" Elijah let out, his voice sounding more bitter than before.

"Just sign the paper and stop making me miserable! You are not worth it anymore! Just forget about me, Elijah..." Melina said, avoiding his gaze as she tossed a pen on the bed. "There! Use it!!" 

"No!" 

"What?!" 

Unable to believe that this was real and that Melina was giving up on their relationship, Elijah stood, gazing angrily at her.

"Elijah, sign the damn papers!" Melina ordered as she stepped toward him.

Frowning, He took the papers and tore them apart before throwing the pieces on the floor.

With a soft look in his eyes, Elijah gave her a faint smile and said, "You are just saying this to please others because of how they have mocked our relationship. But I-"

A slap from his wife landed hard across Elijah's cheek, shocking him as he staggered backward and grabbed the side of his face, staring at her wide-eyed, completely astonished at how harsh she could be when she was mad.

"Don't you get it! I don't want your pathetic ass, and I don't want to see you again, Elijah. Go away and leave me alone!" Melina yelled furiously, glaring at him carefully.

"Last night you slapped me, and I let it happen because you were drunk. Today you hit me, but let it be the last time you ever think about raising your hand against me again. Understand?" Elijah told her sternly.

A sneer spread across Melina's face, and she let out a  mocking laugh as she rolled her eyes and replied, "What!! Do you want to be a man now? Do you think I won't hit you if I want to??"

Raising her brow, Melina stared into Elijah's cold eyes and pouted at how unamused he was about the situation, and the anger that grew within her increased tenfold.

Not holding back, she raised her hand, but Elijah grabbed her wrist before her palm can hit his face, and he mumbled, "Respect Yourself," 

The way Melina's eyes bulged out at his action caused her to freeze in place for a few moments before trying to yank her hand out of his grip, screaming, "Stop touching me! Let me go!!"

Looking at her with pity in his eyes, Elijah let go of her wrist with a sigh and rubbed his forehead tiredly, saying, "I am sorry, Melina, I am sorry. Can we just talk about this? Please?"

This was his last attempt to calm her down and convince her to give their marriage another chance and give her the benefit of the doubt that she would stop this madness and let him fix this situation by being honest with her.

"Talk? Ha, please, Elijah!! The only reason you are being this pathetic, gluing yourself to me even after I told you I had sex with another man is that-" Melina started to snap at him angrily.

But Elijah quickly cut her off, asking, "You did what? You said... you did what with another man?" 

"It doesn't matter, Elijah! It's over between us!" Melina snapped back at him. "And if you wouldn't sign the paper then I am taking you to court!"

With that, she stormed towards the door, opened it, and left without waiting for a reply.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, Elijah sat recklessly on the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands, unable to process all of the things that were going through his mind as he tried to grasp everything.

When he finally lifted his head, he laughed out his pain and bitterness, mumbling, "This can't be real. I don't believe this. She can't divorce me… This is some kind of cruel joke. I must still be dreaming…"