1. Worlds apart

"Daisy."

It wasn't her real name, or maybe it was, she didn't know.

What she did know was the sisters in her orphanage had found her on a stormy night, wrapped inside a fluffy blanket, with a daisy chain tightly clutched in her small fist.

Growing up, she hated that name. She was allergic to flowers of all sorts and felt it was rather ironic that she was named after one.

"Daisy."

She wondered if she still hated that name. Maybe not.

Time heals everything.

She didn't agree with that phrase. Time didn't heal the scars, didn't wash away the self-hatred.

Rather time teaches acceptance. It teaches us to embrace the scars. It teaches us to love the parts of ourselves we used to detest.

And with time, she had learned to accept everything she hated about herself.

"Daisy!"

She looked up at the man calling her.

Henry Kingston.

She was an orphan. And with no family of her own, her naive self had considered her husband's family as her own.

Until reality hit her and she realized blood was indeed thicker than water.

"Yes?" She responded softly.

Henry was taken aback by her gentle tone. He had expected her to be angry, to scream, yell at him. He had always considered Daisy like his own sister and when his brother decided to divorce her on a whim he was clueless on what to do.

"Are you angry with me?" He asked, forgetting what he actually wanted to discuss with her.

"Yes," Daisy nodded. Her eyes flickered from Henry to the man sitting beside him.

Elijah Kingston.

A man she loved more than life itself. And the same man was now looking at her with a glare. If looks could kill she wouldn't even be having this conversation for she would already be six feet under.

She wondered what she had done to be on the receiving end of her husband's cruelty.

Was it because she claimed she had fallen in love with him after the repeated warnings he had given her? That he doesn't do love, absolutely detests the concept of it.

But could that really have ignited such a strong sense of hatred? She didn't think so.

"What did I do?" She asked. She didn't like conjuring up theories for it only created misunderstandings.

Maybe that's what it was. A big misunderstanding.

Or better yet. A nightmare. And she would soon wake up from it, going back to a somewhat happy life she lead.

The room was quiet, with only the sound of rain falling outside, creating a rhythmic music she was starting to hate.

"Do I not deserve an explanation?" She probed, her eyes fixated on her soon to be ex-husband.

Elijah merely glared at her, showing no signs of providing her with an explanation.

"Answer her." Henry hissed. Even he was curious as to why his brother would want to hurt someone as delicate as Daisy.

Elijah coldly chuckled at his older brother's commanding tone, "I'm not one of your lackeys you can order around, brother. Mind your tone with me."

Henry merely sighed at his brother's fury. He was used to it by now.

"Will you please answer her question, my sweet little brother?" He re-worded his question.

The sarcasm in his tone seemed to have gone past his idiot brother for he merely nodded in approval.

"You cheated on me with my own brother. Then proceeded to steal valuable intel and money from my company." Elijah snarled. "You should be grateful I'm not handing you over to the police yet."

"The fuck?"

Henry's head shot up in disbelief. He had thought his brother no longer wanted to prolong the arranged marriage their parents had forced upon him which is why he had decided to support his choice.

But not even in his wildest dreams would he have imagined he was accusing his wife of infidelity, much less with him.

"Do you have any proof?" Daisy, in contrast to him, was much calmer, as if the reason he had provided wasn't that far-fetched.

"Do you think I would make accusations without any solid evidence?" Elijah rebuked. "I have received multiple photos of you two doing that." He shuddered at the recollection of the emails he had been receiving for the past week.

"Have you considered the possibility of the photos being fabricated?" Elijah wondered why the woman was still so calm after being exposed.

"It wouldn't matter either way." He stated.

"You are a gold digger who only aims to leech off from my hard-earned money." He added, his tone coated with distaste. "I refuse to spend the rest of my life with the likes of you."

"I can start working if you want. I will no longer use your money." Daisy finally let the desperation appear in her voice. Never in her life had she ever lowered her head despite the odds she had faced.

But she refused to give up on their love. On Elijah.

"Work?" Elijah laughed at her desperate claim. "Do you mean you will go back to being a waitress? Face it, Daisy. You and I, we don't belong in the same world."

Daisy flinched back from his words. She always knew Elijah looked down on her because of her less than humble background. But it was always an assumption and now hearing him actually say it made it so much more real and painful.

"I love you, Elijah." She tried one last time. "Are you not going to give me even the benefit of the doubt?"

"You're only making yourself more pathetic." He snapped. "Just sign the divorce papers, Daisy."

She nodded. She had already humbled herself more than enough, she refused to humiliate herself anymore.

Even if it meant her heart would no longer beat in the same rhythm it once did.

With trembling hands, she picked up the fountain pen, her head hurting from the sound of rain outside.

"You know what, I can give you another chance." Elijah abruptly started.

Daisy paused, her hand about to sign her name freezing midway. She looked up at him, hope reigniting in her chest.

She loved this man way too much to leave him even if it meant it would ultimately hurt her in the way.

Because love is painful, isn't it?

And she would endure all the pain in the world if it meant she could be with him.

"Beg me." He ordered. "Get on your knees and beg me to forgive you. And I might just feel like forgiving you."

Daisy stared at him, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Was this really the man she had fallen in love with?

Could love really have blinded her to the extent that she never realized how cruel he was?

"No." Daisy simply shook her head. "I don't want a chance anymore."

Because sometimes love wasn't enough.