Austin sat in his office chair leisurely with his legs crossed, while a frown was settled on his cold yet handsome face as he was deeply thinking about the words Vanessa had said earlier that morning.
When he was about to hop onto his car, he heard Vanessa's hoarse voice and his steps halted. His aloof gaze landed on her pale face, her lips were chapped, and she appeared as if she had suffered grievances and had lost weight overnight.
But he didn't bother about her and scrutinized her with his piercing glare when she muttered without any emotion in her voice, her usual luster eyes now seemed cold with a hidden rage in them, "I want a divorce, Austin ."
Hearing her say those words so nonchalantly had made him uncomfortable, but he didn't let it show on his face and gave a sharp glance at her and left with a slight nod.
He was too stunned to say anything else to her as those words were stuck in his mind and kept on reverberating in his brain, forcing him to think of it.
Austin actually thought Vanessa had said to get divorced on impulse yesterday and believed she would come running to him the next morning.
But when he heard the same words with an unwavering tone again this morning, he understood she was serious!
Vanessa had indeed asked for a divorce for real!
After Vanessa had said what she wanted to say, without wasting another second, she turned around and began walking inside the mansion. But her steps were very slow, and he even felt she was staggering a little.
Well, why wouldn't she when she was forced to kneel all night yesterday with bruises on her body and a heavy fever?
And the pouring rain didn't help her either. Her already high fever had worsened, and the throbbing headache hadn't subsided yet.
Her knees and legs were swollen, and her face lost its color and appeared as white as a sheet of paper. Despite the pain with every damn step she had taken, she hadn't shown it out since she knew it was of no use.
Slowly, she straightened her back while she was sweating heavily with the pain, although it felt extremely difficult for her, she was determined to not let anyone see her misery. Especially Austin Jones!
After Vanessa reached her room, she held the doorknob tightly to get the needed strength and leaned on the wall with her eyes closed.
With gritted teeth, she grabbed her phone and opened a contact she was most used to.
"Pick me up." Vanessa had typed in the message to Fiona Watson and began packing her luggage as quickly as she could.
With trembling hands, she grabbed her suitcase and climbed down the stairs, and the slightly left energy in her body was consumed making her extremely weak.
When she was taking deep breaths while her lower lip quivered, she rubbed her temples with her eyes closed in exhaustion and bumped into Austin.
Without sparing him a second glance, Vanessa put on a cold facade and dragged herself away from the mansion, leaving the indifferent man behind.
Since she had used a lot of her remaining strength and she didn't take any carbohydrates for a couple of days, her vision blurred, and she almost fainted, but Fiona jumped to her just on time and grabbed her hand.
"Careful, Vanessa. Why are you so pale?" Fiona couldn't help but ask, seeing Vanessa's miserable appearance.
But Vanessa remained mum and strode further on her wobbly legs with her suitcase in her hands. Seeing her like this, Fiona became enraged and wanted to tear Austin apart.
"Is Austin Jones dead? Can't he take good care of you?" Fiona yelled in frustration when she saw Vanessa in such a sorry state.
Fiona shook her head, took Vanessa's luggage, and opened her trunk. By the time she was back to open the car door, she saw Vanessa fall on the road, and she shrieked, "Vanessa !"
Eyeing her like that, Fiona felt as if her heart was stopped and she quickly ran towards her limp body and picked her up. When she accidentally touched Vanessa's forehead, it was burning hot!
"Damn it, Vanessa. Don't you know how to take care of yourself!" Fiona yelled, but her tone held concern and worry for her best friend.
With a furious face, she pulled Vanessa into the car, and mumbled in distress, while driving towards a hospital and sneaking glances at Vanessa, "Let me get you treated first."
Seeing Vanessa's unconscious silhouette while she settled on the passenger seat with her face utterly pale, Fiona's heart trembled in agony for her.
The hatred for the Jones family tripled in her heart but she had no time to deal with them since saving Vanessa was her first priority.
She immediately drove to the nearest hospital and admitted Vanessa.
Vanessa was in a coma all day and opened her eyes the next morning and found Fiona was resting on the bed with her head bent down.
Eyeing Fiona, who held her hands even in her sleep, Vanessa was extremely touched by her care.
In the three years of her married life, she was never cared for in the Jones family, and all the painful events that happened from the time she slipped down the steps swarmed back into her head in full force, making her eyes watery.
She couldn't help but feel gloomy that her life had turned out to be this miserable and her tears fell down from her eyes freely for all the grievances she had suffered in the Jones family.
She didn't want to wake Fiona who was sleeping and shut her mouth to not let any sob escape her mouth and disturb Fiona's peaceful slumber and cried silently.
Vanessa realized how wrong she was when she fell in love with Austin and thought she could make him fall for her and foolishly marry him.
Even though she knew Austin's heart had only Isabella Green, she was never disheartened and tried her best to be positive but what did she get? His coldness, indifference and was cornered by him!
Her married life had become a sick joke in her life. It wasn't a surprise as to why Isabella said she was stupid. Indeed she was blinded by stupidity and had made herself a joke all these years.
In fact, Vanessa even though she was the most foolish woman in the whole world to think she could gain the love of Austin and lead a happy married life!
But she would never again behave like that because she learned the lesson the hard way!
It was a bright morning with the sun kissing her cheeks while she was still resting with her eyes closed in the hospital bed.With the blazing heat searing her skin, she slowly moved and opened her eyes while rubbing them with her hands.She glanced at the wall clock, and mumbled in astonishment, "seven a.m." It means she was out all yesterday!Vanessa nibbled her lips while lifting herself up since the pain in her muscles hadn't subsided yet and it felt as if her body was fractured!She sighed in disappointment since she was feeling so damn weak and there was nothing she could do to reduce her physical injuries.By then Fiona had just opened the door and stepped in with a bottle of pomegranate juice and a light porridge.Eyeing the awake Vanessa, Fiona felt delighted and jumped towards Vanessa in a swift move making her startled and chuckle at the same time.But Fiona didn't bother about Vanessa's chuckle and asked seriously, "how are feeling now?"She put her hand on Vanessa's foreh
Vanessa propped herself up and rested her head on the pillow while a sly smirk danced on her face, but she appeared calm, in fact too calm when she talked about divorce.Eyeing Vanessa talking so nonchalantly about divorce while her lips curled slightly upwards with a flash of coldness in her amber pools made Fiona wonder whether Vanessa was really serious or joking about it.Fiona was worried that if Vanessa had become soft hearted like she was before with Austin, then she would be bullied by Austin again.That thought alone made Fiona’s insides burn and her brows furrowed when she heard Vanessa mumble while fiddling with her fingers leisurely, “Take out the divorce agreement in my suitcase.”Listening to it, Fiona almost jumped in happiness and exclaimed, “you’re really serious!”Thinking back on how Vanessa had suffered all these years in the name of her love for Austin, Fiona had tears swelled in her eyes.Fiona sniffed while glancing at Vanessa and patted her shoulder in encourag
Vanessa entered and left Austin Jones's cabin in a fraction of a twinkle as if she didn't have another second to spare a glance at her husband! Well, he was about to become an ex-husband!Seeing Vanessa's leaving back without a care in the world, his eyes followed her loud footsteps, which reverberated her confidence, while she swayed her hips and his gaze darkened while his fists clenched involuntarily.With scrunched brows, he grabbed the divorce agreement she had placed. Eyeing her clear signature in the black ink, he gritted his teeth and focused on the empty column next to her signature, which was for him to sign.A simple signature could terminate their three years of marriage in the span of a single day.Austin inhaled a chunk of air, and he felt complex emotions swirling in him, but he didn't understand what they were.Shaking his head in disapproval since he was thinking too much about an unworthy Vanessa, Austin again concentrated on the agreement which was just a single pag
After Vanessa calmed down a little bit, she wiped her tears with the back of her hands and took a deep breath with her eyes shut, and muttered, while the grip on her mobile had tightened as if her life had depended on it, "I'll come home soon, Dad."With a small pause, she added while her voice had become raspy due to her crying, but she tried her best to not let her father know, "Once I wrapped everything up here with no loopholes, I would come back to Los Angeles."Though Vanessa had successfully managed to muffle her sobs, she couldn't fool her father, who knew inside and out. Just by hearing her tone, he understood that his assumptions had come true.He didn't know what troubles his daughter had faced, but he was sure she was wronged!As the realization sunk in his mind, his throat felt dry all of a sudden, and his eyes watered, but he quickly get a grip on himself and said in his doting tone, "Alright. Take your time but be quick. Your mother and I would prepare for your arrival!
Vanessa gracefully stepped down from the car and strode to the court with her head held high while the chilly breeze hitting her made her silky hair flow freely, and she brushed it behind her ear with her slender fingers keeping a gentle expression on her face while all the gazes nearby glanced at her in awe with her dazzling beauty.Her every step displayed her confidence and she had an imposing aura lurking in the shadows, although she appeared tender which made her even more attractive.When her steps finally halted in front of the court, she eyed her watch, and a satisfying curve settled on her lips since she was five minutes earlier than her appointed time.By the time she reached the arena where the divorce cases were handled, she was the only one present, but her eyes roamed across the large queue on the other side where marriage certificates would be issued and a panging pain hit her chest as the realization sunk in that she was really going to get a divorce with Austin Jones!
After a really long day, Vanessa got down from the car and moved into Fiona's house while a cold gleam was dancing in her brown orbs.Seeing Vanessa was already back, Fiona, who settled herself on the sofa while watching television, was surprised and couldn't help but take another glance at Vanessa and eyed her watch."Wow, you were awfully fast!" Fiona commented, making Vanessa's eyebrows twitch, but she didn't respond and sat on the opposite chair and grabbed the bottle of water.Quickly, she gulped down as if she was deserted for a week making Fiona chuckle and asked while enthusiasm was lurking in her eyes, "Did you get a divorce?"Hearing it, Vanessa stopped what she was doing and gave a slight nod while her gaze was focused on the television, but Fiona wasn't satisfied as she was eager to hear everything that happened at the court."Show me the divorce certificate!" Fiona demanded while Vanessa was getting a headache with her excitement, but she couldn't do anything to Fiona and
Austin Jones sat on the president's chair with his legs crossed, his hands drumming on the table while his gaze focused on the presentation, and the department heads were eager to satisfy him to get their perks.When he was deep in thoughts, a phone rang, making the people in the conference hall wipe their sweat since they all know Austin would never allow anyone to interrupt a meeting.Their heads turned around to see who was the unlucky fellow, but it again beeped, but from none other than Austin Jones himself!Seeing that, they all relaxed, but a frown was settled on Austin's handsome face because he wouldn't receive any calls in 'do not disturb' mode unless they called repetitively, and no one in his sane mind would call him like crazy unless something happened!With that, he grabbed his mobile from his pocket and eyed numerous missed calls from all of his close friends.He grasped that something must be wrong and decided to call them when a message popped up on his screen from Da
It's been five days since the scandal of the Jones family's second son having a forbidden love affair with his sister-in-law had become a trending search in the city.Austin Jones had tried every means possible to shut the media and delete the news without a trace, but it had become impossible even with the amount of power they possessed.To top it off, the people who once looked down on Vanessa and mocked her for marrying the second son of the Jones family because he was rich had pitied her for her miserable marriage.Frustrated with the result, Master Jones had ordered Austin to get Vanessa and present her before him even if he had to search the entire world.With that, Austin and Theo had utilized all the resources, but couldn't find any trace of Vanessa after she moved from New York as if she had disappeared into thin air after she divorced him!Her social media accounts weren't even active in these past days, and the only post that was present on her account was the ironic apolog