DIVORCE? ON A CONDITION

CHAPTER 5: DIVORCE? ON A CONDITION

I was so glad that Dashiell's driver didn't drop me in the estate, and that he dropped me off at the same place we met last week.

But as I stepped onto my husband's estate grounds, all of the guards stationed at the gate all the way to the main house, held guns and stood near the gate. I wanted to ask what was going on, but I heard Barney call out to me.

"Ma'am, Mr. Malek wants to see you as soon as possible," My heart sank. I knew that tone, that look. Malek definitely knew that I had left the estate, and he knew who I had met with.

"What is it, Barney?" I asked, hoping that he was calling for no reason. Barney's expression remained neutral. "I'm not supposed to give you that kind of information, ma'am,"

I nodded slowly, "I understand. Sorry," I replied and made my way to his room.

************

Malek had his back to the door as I entered the room. He immediately stifled a laugh as he felt my presence. "You have grown nerves, Zahra. You have become audacious and nonchalant because I let go of the leash I put on you," He said, his tone low but sharp.

He turned to face me, "Fifteen billion Kuwaiti dinars was the amount I spent to buy you and bring you here! I paid your dowry; I bought you with money I could use to pick up and fuck fifteen billion girls! And you dare humiliate me?" He scowled, raising his hands. I flinched, whipping my head to the side because I expected a blow, but he simply wiped his mouth.

He walked away from me slowly, allowing my back to meet the wall. "I asked you not to speak to that insolent beast, Dashiell Blackwood! But you were seen hanging around with him; he called you, and the things I heard... they were so horrible that if I hadn't recalled the amount I spent on you, I would have returned you to your parents immediately! But I think I can still do that! I will call your parents right now, so they can take you home. We are finished!" He spat, actually throwing saliva on my face.

I started to chuckle, my mind racing with the thought of Dashiell protecting me. Malek looked at me with rage in his eyes, but I didn't falter. "You won't get rid of me so easily. I haven't suffered with you for eight years for nothing, Malek! Where is my child?" I yelled, my heart thumping.

He snorted and threw his head back, "What child? The disabled one? That is the spawn of the devil and not my child. No child will ever come from my sperm looking like a deserted cactus. I was convinced that you cheated on me, but I chose to overlook it. Now, I will divorce you on the count that you refused to give me a son who will take over my empire!"

I laughed in his face, "Because your mistress is pregnant? Let's see if she'll give birth to that child!" I scorned, and I felt the hardness of his hands on my face twice.

He moved to grab a stick on the bed and wanted to hit me with it, but at that moment, a gunshot rang out, followed by multiple gunshots.

Malek dropped the stick and wanted to run away, but I pulled him back, my nails digging into his rough skin. "I want my child to return to this estate! And I will leave if I get him returned to me. I won't let you run away unless I get your word for it," I scorned.

He nodded, yanked my hand off his shirt, and ran away. I took in a deep breath as I went to sit on the bed.

My hands unconsciously moved to caress my cheek, and I felt it hurt more than ever. I strode over to the vanity mirror in the room and inspected it.

But as I looked further, I noticed someone standing close to the door. His back rested on the wall as he folded his muscular arms around his chest, with an unreadable expression on his face. "Dashiell," I muttered and whipped my head back to look at him.

He didn't smile nor have any expression on his face as he walked toward me. His hands gripped my chin, and he pulled it gently to have a look at my cheek.

"I will kill him," He whispered in his cold baritone voice, his words dripping with venom, and started to walk away.

"As much as I want you to cut his head off, we need his signatures on the documents to sign off the estate and all other properties to my son. Don't be rash. I am fine," I convinced, and he paused, turning to look at me.

"Why are you here?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest. But he said nothing and started to walk away before turning back.

"Check the drawers. And bring me whatever you find. I'll send Gotham and Blazer to pick you up tomorrow," He replied and walked away.

There were a total of seven drawers in the room, and immediately he said that I rushed to check all the drawers, but I found nothing.

When I almost gave up, my thoughts drifted off to the drawer under the bed. I had one under mine, and I never knew what it was for or what to use it for.

I bent down to peek under the bed and opened the drawer.

I found a picture of a little boy and a will. My first thought was that the boy was my son, but I turned it over and saw, written on the back, 'Dashiell Blackwood, heir to the Otto-Kashem empire'.

And the will had the signature and name of a woman named Doris Miller, his mistress, who had already signed the will to be half of the inheritance and estate now and be given it all when she bears a son.

I was awestruck, the air in my lungs began to cease as I felt all the hatred that Malek had shown me, all over again. But I looked down to the bottom of the paper, a space was left for the family lawyer to sign, but he hadn't.

Which meant that I still had time.