3 - Humiliated

3.

Daniella's POV 

"You're not saying anything, Daniella. You look so pale. Is something going on with you? It's been a long time since we saw each other, and I can't believe I'm running into you here at a law firm," she said, trying to touch me as I refused to talk to her.

I quickly jerked her hand off because I was not just angry but also disgusted by the fact that she touched me like we were close in the past. Why do I have to run into someone like her in a place like this? Is all the misfortune in the world going to fall on me now?

"Don't touch me, and don't act like we know each other. I have nothing to do with someone like you," I said clearly and wanted to leave, but she blocked my way.

"You have never changed the way you talk to me. Why don't you just calm down and listen to me? It's not like I'm going to bite you."

I knew she was going to pull something like this when she stopped me. My heart is so broken right now, and I'm not in the mood to talk to her. She hasn't changed one bit from the last time I saw her—the last person I ever wanted to see in my life because of the experience I had with her.

Matilda Connor.

The attention-seeking drama queen who thinks she is better than everyone. I won't deny she's very pretty and has a dark aura, but it doesn't excuse the fact that she is the most vile and cunning person I have ever met in my life. Technically, she used to bully me a lot in high school, although I wouldn't give her a chance.

I went through a lot because of the many rumors she spread and all the guys who liked me in school. She even made my school crush hate me, and she went ahead to date him after that. She was just too jealous of me because I had everything better than her in terms of beauty and intelligence.

Should I just ignore her and leave? I am in no position to talk to anyone right now, let alone my enemy from high school. I especially can't let her know what I came here to do, or else she's going to use that against me.

"I have a lot of things to do right now. If you would excuse me," I said, moving away.

"You look like someone who just came for a divorce. Are you okay? Forget whatever happened in the past. I am genuinely concerned about you right now," she said, pretending to be concerned, but I know in reality she's just trying to make fun of me.

I can't believe she figured out I came for a divorce. How does she even know something that is supposed to be between William and me? Is she just guessing or what?

"I'm here to meet my long-time love. He's someone who has loved me for a very long time, and we almost got married too," she said happily. "He asked me to meet him here. I wonder where he is."

She must be telling me all this just to show me how happy she is, which I don't understand. Why do I even need to know that when we have nothing to do with each other? She could have just ignored me, but she wouldn't change so easily.

"That's none of my business. Now, if you would excuse me—"

"There he is!" she exclaimed loudly and happily, waving her hands toward someone. "William! I'm over here!"

I don't know if it's because of what I'm going through or if I'm just losing my mind, but I did hear the name that makes my heart break. I'm not sure if I'm interested in Matilda's personal life, but out of curiosity, I turned around to look at who she was waving at.

I came here with William to finalize our divorce. Surely there is no way he's the same William she's talking about, right? My heartbeats increased as I slowly turned around to look at the person she was talking about, and it dropped the moment I saw his face.

"William?" I mouthed, unable to say anything else out of shock.

I looked at Matilda, who was grinning at me so happily that I felt like she was doing it on purpose. She immediately rushed to hug him right in front of my eyes. I stood there watching the two of them, expecting some kind of miracle. I wanted William to push her away and tell me it wasn't true.

I wanted him to let me know that he had nothing to do with her, but I was wrong. I only got disappointed as I watched him hold her back like she was his long-time lover. Did I get the timing wrong? What is going on here?

I'm supposed to respect myself and look away. I'm supposed to run and never look back. I should leave to stop myself from getting into more pain, but I couldn't. My legs were taking me forward. I was walking toward them. I couldn't take the emotions inside me as I angrily separated them.

"What the hell?" Matilda snapped as she almost fell, but she immediately changed her face to a kind one, which made me cringe. I can't believe how much of a snake she is.

William turned to me angrily. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Daniella?!"

"I should be asking you that! What the fuck do you think you're doing in public? What's all this nonsense—hugging another woman right in front of me?" I yelled back at him.

I completely forgot the fact that we just got divorced and were not supposed to be together anymore. But I can't stand seeing him with another woman. How dare he do this to me when we just got divorced? What is the relationship between the two of them? Has he really been in love with Matilda for a long time?

"Are you completely losing your mind, or did you forget what we just did now?" he asked, looking at me unbelievably.

I scoffed. "So what? Are you going to talk about our private affairs in front of her? We are still legally married. It's not even processed yet. How dare you do this to me?"

I was boiling with rage as Matilda composed herself and moved closer to me.

"I think you're getting the wrong idea, Daniella. There's really nothing going on between us. I just came because he asked me to meet here," she explained, but I wasn't interested.

I looked at William, who didn't seem like he wanted to give me an explanation. That only made me feel more insecure and sad. He could have met with her anywhere else, but he decided to meet her here when we were supposed to finalize our divorce today. Is he trying to frustrate me even more?

"Daniella, please listen to me. You shouldn't get mad at William because of this. I actually—"

"Can you just shut up and stay out of this? I'm talking to my husband right now," I cut her off rudely.

I didn't want to start crying in front of Matilda. She would just make fun of me. But it's hard to hold back when everything is happening right before my eyes.

I didn't want to start crying in front of Matilda. She would just make fun of me. But it's hard to hold back when everything is happening right before my eyes.

I didn’t use to be this way—this weak or desperate. However, I turned into this person because of him. He should take responsibility for making me fall in love with him when he was clearly the wrong person for me.

"Are you delusional? We already got a divorce, and it will be processed as soon as possible. You have no right to speak to me that way," William snapped.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know you guys were having problems, and I just added to it. I'm going to take my leave now—"

"No, Matilda. Let's go together. I'm done talking to her anyway," he said, holding her hand.

Matilda looked at me, acting like she was scared of me or something. "I'm so sorry, Daniella. I promise there is nothing between us. I'm just here as his friend and—"

William cut her off. "There's no need to explain to her. She means nothing to me. Let's go."

I mean nothing to him? How could his heart change overnight just like that? Even if I did something wrong, shouldn't he at least struggle to move on? We’ve been through a lot, and it's been over a year since we decided to give love a real chance, even though we started with an arranged marriage.

At least, that's what I thought. But now, I don't know anymore. I don’t think he ever loved me like he claimed to. Someone who loves you wouldn’t treat you this way, no matter what happened. He should have trusted me enough to give me time to defend myself.

Right now, it just feels like he wants to end this as soon as possible and is using this incident as an excuse. Maybe he’s been in love with Matilda all along—or worse, maybe he’s been cheating on me with her.

"You've been cheating on me with her, haven't you? You're just trying to use this incident as an excuse to get rid of me, right?" I asked as they turned around to leave.

He didn’t even turn to look at me. "Think whatever you want. I don't owe you an explanation. Be quick to get out of my sight. You disgust me."

Those words made me feel pathetic. I hate myself for crying so much, but I couldn’t stop. Even though I couldn’t stop him from leaving, I still hated the fact that he walked away with her.

The pain was unbearable, and I couldn’t understand how everything fell apart so quickly. I stood there frozen, watching their backs disappear into the distance. The weight of everything hit me like a tidal wave, and I felt completely alone in the world.

I thought we could work through anything. I thought love was supposed to withstand trials. But now, I see how wrong I was.

I don’t know how to move forward from this, I don't know how I'm going to survive. I'm going completely crazy, I'm losing my mind. Can I really give up like this?