Six

Adrien's POV

I stepped into my home after a long day at work, hunger and exhaustion weighing heavily on me. It was a few minutes past 10, and everywhere was dead silent—no lights coming from the kitchen, no sweet aroma of a home-cooked meal, no silent humming from the kitchen while she cooked. She wasn’t even in the sitting room waiting like she always did. Something felt really off, but she couldn’t have left, right?

I increased my pace as I headed to our bedroom, a sudden panic filling me. As I pushed the door, an unsettling feeling of emptiness filled me. Walking towards the closet with my heart beating rapidly, I swung it open. Scanning the walk-in closet we shared, I realized I had made the biggest mistake of my life without even knowing. All her clothes were gone except for the only piece of clothing I had gotten for a woman I had called my wife. Grandpa had insisted I buy it for her on one of our business trips, and knowing the old man, he was going to ask Annabelle. I didn’t want him thinking I was treating her badly, so I had to. But now, going over that incident, I really did treat her badly.

The envelope by the bedside caught my eyes. As I walked towards the bedside, fear gripped me.

“She couldn’t have signed it. She couldn’t have,” I muttered as I slowly picked it up with shaky hands. Taking a deep breath, I fished out the papers, letting my eyes go over the words written with our full names below, right beside our signatures... our signatures.

“She signed it... she signed the divorce papers,” I gasped as a pain I had never felt before gripped me.

Walking to the bathroom, the pain increased as I realized her matching couple toothbrushes and the towels she had gotten on our last anniversary were now gone, leaving a bare hook and only my single toothbrush in the holder. Even the scented candles that used to sit by the nightstand, filling the room with a comforting aroma, had been removed too, as though she wanted to clear everything that would remind me of her absence in my life. But it didn’t seem to have worked because, for the first time since my parents’ death, I felt nothing other than sheer emptiness and pain.

I had expected her to put up a fight, prevent me from myself like she always did, and fight for our marriage. But who was I kidding? I served her fucking divorce papers and left to sleep with another woman.

“She cheated on me, right? She got what she deserved,” I tried to convince myself, to make myself feel better. But deep down, I knew I had fucked up.

Wanting to prove myself right, I grabbed my phone, forwarding the pictures I had shown her to Jax, my all-time best friend and tech genius, hoping I had not just divorced my wife over a lie. Quickly dialing his number, he picked up on the first ring.

“Adrien, I understand we are best friends, but this is 11:06 pm. Some people like their rest and do not work their asses off till they drop, you know,” his sarcastic voice came through. I would have smiled if the situation wasn’t so serious.

“I am so certain you were not asleep, asshat, so don’t give me that,” I replied, trying to match his energy. But it was pointless. Even a child would know something was wrong.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice now sounding serious.

“Can you please help me check the pictures I sent? I want to know how real they are,” I replied with a deep sigh. There was no point trying to cover up; he would still find out anyway.

“Okay, I will call you back shortly,” he replied. I gave him a silent nod he obviously didn’t see before ending the call.

As I waited, my mind drifted to Annabelle. Even after everything I did to her, she never stopped loving me. She never stopped trying. Why do I have this feeling that I was wrong to have acted so quickly?

The loud ringing of my phone snapped me out of my head as I quickly picked up the call with sweaty hands.

“Any information?” I asked, a large lump forming in my chest.

“Where did you get these pictures from?” he asked, a certain edge to his tone.

“That’s not the problem right now. I just need you to verify them for me,” I replied, not ready for his bullshit right now.

“Well, if you must know, these pictures are obviously photoshopped, and they were not even done by a professional. It literally screams fake. Anyone who would believe this is simply a fool,” he jabbed, knowing fully well I had believed it.

“Fuck,” I cursed, throwing a punch to the wall. Adrien, you have fucked up big time.

“This is obviously a picture of Annabelle, but the guy was edited into the picture,” he continued. I could feel my anger rising as I thought about everything. Cynthia had been so certain she was cheating, and I blindly believed her. I should have known she was only trying to complete what she started years ago. I let her destroy my marriage to Annabelle for nothing.

“Why do I have the feeling you have done something really stupid?” Jax spoke up.

“Because I have,” I admitted, ashamed of my actions.

“What did you do to Annabelle, Adrien?” he shot out, his voice rising. Jax had always tried to talk me into treating Annabelle better right from college, but I never paid him any attention. And right now, I really wish I did.

“I didn’t know. I promise,” I tried to defend myself, but it was pointless. He was going to give me shit for this, and we both knew it.

“I am coming over, and Annabelle better be home when I get there,” he threatened before ending the call.

What the fuck was I thinking?