✨️Loveless Marriage ✨️

Summary:

You have always been in love with Victor, you moved back to Loveland after your engagement to Victor was announced but Victor isn't the same boy you knew all those years ago. You didn't know who you married and how does one photo change everything?

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This was not how you envision life would be after you married your childhood sweetheart. The once bright and smiling boy of your past became a hard and cold bastard. Granted in the last four years of marriage he never physically or mentally harmed you. He just pretended you didn’t exist. You’ve known Victor all your life. You remembered all the childish promises you two made but somehow after you returned back to Loveland from the US at 19 years of age, you notice Victor had changed.

Gone was the boyish charms, the goofy smiles, and cherished memories, they were all replaced by a man who had built the walls of his heart so high that there was no way to break them down. You haven’t heard him laugh or seen his smile since you returned back. Your engagement with Victor was announced before you saw him again. Over the years apart, you two always exchanged friendly and emails full of hope for a reunion. But that was until the engagement was announced. It was arranged by the CEOs of both companies. It seemed to be an obvious and good investment for both companies and to be honest, you were overjoyed with the news. But when you met up with Victor again after all those years apart, you could see the dread, cold rejection.

You remembered that day well and inside you knew things between you and Victor had forever changed. Your heart felt heavy just reminiscing. You glanced up at the large wedding portrait hanging over the fireplace. Victor wasn’t smiling in his tailored white tuxedo. Even looking at his portrait you could see that Victor held no emotions for that day that was very special. You could see the fake smile and could still feel the tightness that you held in your chest that day.

“Madam?” You were pulled out of your thoughts and saw Mr. Mills. You smile warmly at the old family friend.

“Mr. Mills, you are here early.”

“Mr. Victor asked me to make breakfast.”

“You know that you don’t…”

“He insisted and you know that I have always enjoyed cooking. Mr. Victor told me that you haven’t been eating lately.” You scoffed at the mention of Victor.

“Very observant of a man who is always working and is never home.” You grumbled.

“Madam, if I may, please, be patient with Mr. Victor.”

“I know you mean well Mr. Mills, I appreciate all you have done for me but…never mind. I am going to get ready for work, I will be down in 45 minutes.”

“Of course Madam.”

You made your way back upstairs and stopped in front of Victor’s room. Yes, even though you two are husband and wife, you have never slept in the same bed as him. Even on your wedding night, you stayed in the room that was dedicated to you and Victor locked himself in his. A bit of an embarrassing story, you have never been with any man, almost at the age of 26 you were a married virgin. You looked at Victor’s door again before shaking your head and made your way to your room, which was next to his. Two private master suits right next to the other, one belonged to a cold husband and the other to a wife that didn’t know where she stood in his world. Sad isn’t it?

You walked into your room and were greeted by grey walls with white trim. Your bed was a simple white platform bed with a very expensive pillow-topped mattress with grey sheets. Your furniture was basic with your beloved vanity against the wall closest to the bathroom. Yes, two master suites with their own private bathrooms. You always enjoyed simple things, some may say boring but it was your taste, it was efficient and without complications. You went through your morning routine with a quick shower, a dark pantsuit for the

workday, your hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and your makeup was light. You wore your favorite closed-toe heels and grabbed your blazer off the bed before making your way to the kitchen.

“Madam, I left a cup of coffee and your breakfast on the table.” You heard Mr. Mills call out.

“Thank you, Mr. Mills.” You rested your blazer on the back of your seat.

“Good morning, Mimi.” You were surprised by your company for breakfast. You looked at the other end of the table and saw Victor. He was dressed in his usual black suit without his jacket. He was sitting at the head of the table with his coffee cup in hand and his breakfast finished in front of him. Even with the estranged and odd marriage, he was a very handsome man. Even now you felt your heart flutter just being around him.

Oh good morning Victor.” You took your seat and instantly grabbed your coffee cup and drank. You closed your eyes and sighed deeply. Mr. Mills always made the most delicious coffee. You happily drank as you looked at your breakfast. It was your favorite breakfast, you couldn’t help but smile. You placed your cup on the table and picked up your fork.

“Do not forget that we have a dinner meeting with the Harmons tonight.” His deep voice broke the silence.

“At 6 pm?” You said without looking up at him.

“Yes, I confirmed it with Amelia that she made sure it was on your schedule.” You took a deep breath.

“Why thank you for the micromanagement, Victor.” You heard him sigh deeply.

“I was not micromanaging; I was just making sure you don’t forget.”“And as I said thank you, Victor, for calling my secretary and confirming that it was on my schedule because I am so forgetful.” Your voice reeked of sweet sarcasm. You heard Victor place his cup almost roughly on the table.

“I will not argue with you this morning. I will see you tonight.” Before you could say anything else Victor stood up and grabbed his jacket before walking out of the dining room. You bitterly chewed the inside of your cheek; you looked at the wonderful food in front of you and didn’t want it anymore. That was another thing that bothered you, Victor always treated you like a child and not the successful woman you were. You knew over time you began to feel resentment and anger towards his actions.

“Madam, your car is here.” Mr. Mills said as he walked into the dining room. You could see his frown when he looked at your plate and saw that it was barely touched. You picked up a napkin and wiped the sides of your lips and took another drink of coffee before standing. You grabbed your blazer and made your way over to Mr. Mills.

“Thank you for breakfast.”

“I wish you ate more, you are looking thinner these days.”

“I will be fine, I’m sorry I am running late this morning.” You rushed out a quick lie. Mr. Mills was not a stupid man, you knew he didn’t believe it but didn’t argue any further.

“Take these for the road.” He said as he held out a container, you knew without having to look inside the container that it was his famous bagels and honey walnut cream cheese spread.

“Thank you, Mr. Mills, have a good day.”

“And you as well Madam.”

“Good morning Mimi!” You turned around after shutting the front door. It was your secretary for nearly four years. After your marriage to Victor, your father retired as CEO of Loveland Corp and you took your position as CEO. Since you were young, you were groomed to transition to his position. Thankfully the board members did not argue or fuss when you took over. The company has been doing well since you took over and perhaps that’s why the board members were quiet.

“Good morning Amelia.” You smiled at your best friend, well, of course, it didn’t start out as friendship at first, Amelia was right out of school and very clumsy and made plenty of mistakes. But over the years, she quickly adapted to the busy schedules and paid close attention to her job. Now you knew that she was your lifeline at work. You could probably manage without her but it would be difficult.

You two made your way to the black SUV in the driveway. You slid into the back seat and Amelia slid in next to you. The interior was black leather and if you really wanted to you could go on how expensive this SUV was and explain all the bells and whistles but it got you from point A to point B without problems, so you didn’t care about the details. You heard the driver close his door and start up the vehicle.

“Oh my God, is that one of Mr. Mills’ bagels?” Amelia nearly shouted in excitement. You couldn’t help the smile that graced your face as you held the container out to her.

“Have at it.” Amelia gasped and quickly ripped the container from your hand. Amelia always had a weakness for Mr. Mills bagels and today you didn’t really feel like enjoying them with her.

“OH MY GOD! This is sooooo good.” Amelia moaned loud, you watched the driver glance at the rearview mirror. You smiled and laughed.

“I’ll be sure to tell Mr. Mills you love the bagel.”

“Tanph ouh.”

“You’re welcome, so what is on the agenda for today?” You heard her rummage around with closing the container, clearing her throat, and reaching into her bag that was in front of her. She passed you your tablet and took out hers.

“Well, you had a meeting with HR this morning. Then…” Nodded as you listened to your secretary and looked over your tablet as she ran through the meetings and daily concerns.

“Mrs. Lee!” You turned around and inwardly grimaced when you realized who was trotting his way towards you. You mustered up your fakest of smiles, but well masked and this man was too much of a moron to tell it was fake.

“Mr. Fox, I am sorry but I am on my way to my next meeting.” You said politely as you turned to continue walking.

“Mrs. Lee, I just ask for two seconds of your time.”

“I’m sorry…” You started and looked around, hoping Amelia could save you.

“Did you know your darling husband has a mistress?” That question floored any other thought.

“Excuse me?”

“When I found out, I had to show you the evidence before it made it in tomorrow’s paper.” You could hear the smugness in his voice that he tried to cover up with fake concern.

“Um…” He held out a yellow envelope and you slowly took it.

“I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, especially before a meeting. But this couldn’t wait another minute.” You really wanted to punch his man, ever since you took over your CEO position this man has tried everything in his power to kiss up to you. He even mistakenly attempted to make a pass at the company’s Christmas party 3 years ago.

“Uh…” You cleared your throat. “Thank you, Mr. Fox, I hope you have a wonderful afternoon.”

“If you need anything at all, Mimi, please do not hesitate to call me.” You really felt dirty just being in his presence. You shivered in disgust when he used your nickname.

“Yeah, good day.”

You tucked the envelope into your bag and made your way to the meeting room. You almost felt like you were in a daze. Amelia was already there and ran up to greet you and you didn’t see her there for the second your mind had wandered.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I was just thinking about the meeting this evening.” You said before greeting the members of the board. You glance back at your bag that held the photos and shook your head before starting the meeting. Your presentation went flawlessly even though your heart wasn’t in it.

“Mimi, are you okay?” You shook your head out of the daze.

“Um…yeah, so what’s next?” You looked at Amelia and smiled.

“Well, it’s 6 pm.” She said slowly.

“Oh, I didn’t realize it was so late, have a good night Amelia, I will see you in the morning.” You said automatically.

“Uh…you too Mimi, everything has been taken care of and tomorrow is Saturday.” You knew Amelia was giving you an odd look.

“Oh, gracious, of course, no work tomorrow. Have a good weekend.” You mustered up a smile.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“Yeah, I guess I’m just tired is all.” You waved off her concerns.

“Well make sure you get plenty of rest this weekend.”

“I will and you too.” You had a weird feeling that you were forgetting something. You shook your head and shook your mouse to access the login screen on your computer. You began looking over revisions and working on some paperwork. You found that you couldn’t concentrate and kept glancing at your bag. After the twentieth time, you let out an aggravated sigh and took out the blasted envelope. You pulled out several pictures and gasped. You didn’t want to believe the pictures. But it was Victor and some woman. The woman had her arms wrapped around him and there was a small smile on his face. You looked at the different pictures, there were almost the same but with Victor’s smile growing. It was almost like he was laughing. He had never been like that around you. Your heart wrenched and you could feel the burning of tears. It wasn’t fair, who was this woman. Why did she get a smile from him when you couldn’t? You quickly stood up and walked over to a bookcase that hid your whiskey. Yes, this was usually brought out when closing large deals but this was kind of a big deal. You forgo the glass and took a large swig. You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand. Before placing the decanter of whiskey on your desk and felt tears roll down your cheeks. Your hand was still over your lips as you sobbed.

You didn’t know when you passed out. But when you woke up, you realized that it was dark out and you were drooling on your desk. You grimaced and groaned in disgust. You looked at the decanter of very expensive whiskey and realized that it was empty. Good lord, you slapped your hands to your face.

“Oh shit the Harmons!” You quickly looked at the clock on your desk and shrieked in horror. It was 4 am…you dropped your head to your desk. “FUCK!!” Your groaned yell was slightly muffled by the wooden desk. Victor was going to be pissed and right about you forgetting. You quickly grabbed the blasted pictures and threw them into your bag. Thankfully you were sober enough to drive. You grabbed your car keys out of your desk. It was rare that you drove your car but your driver was most likely at home asleep and thankfully your car was here. You turned off your computer and rearranged your desk slightly and glanced at the decanter that once held the whiskey and groaned. You took the empty decanter back to the shelf and made a mental note to have it cleaned and refilled on Monday. You grabbed your bag and made your way out of your office and to the elevators leading to the parking garage.

The drive home was uneventful. You just dreaded to face Victor in a few hours. Hopefully, he was asleep…but would he really be home? You guessed if he did have a mistress that it would explain why he was always coming home late. You glanced at your phone and didn’t see any messages or missed calls. Did the Harmons say anything about your absence? You hated to think of what was going through Victor’s mind as the time ticked by and no word from you.

Fuck the bastard didn’t even call to see if you were okay. Did he even care? You sighed heavily as you turned into your driveway and drove around to the garage. You stopped the car in front of your spot and hit the garage door opener. Slowly the door rose and you strained to see if Victor’s car was parked. You didn’t know if you wanted to sigh in relief or groan in agony when you saw the black Bmwhatever. You slowly drove your white Tesla Model S into your parking spot and closed the garage door. You reached over and picked up your bag and got out of the car. You slammed the door shut on accident and felt your heart begin to race. Fuck that was loud. You nearly tiptoed into the house.

You nearly made it to your room before you heard the doorknob turning from Victor’s room. You wanted to run into your room before the door opened but your damn feet wouldn’t move. You closed your eyes waiting and preparing for the confrontation.

“Did you just get home?” Victor’s voice was rough and husky from sleep. You felt your knees nearly buckle. You slowly turned to Victor and inwardly moaned at the sight. He was standing in his doorway shirtless and black silk pajama bottoms rested very low on his hips. His hair was slightly disturbed and random strands stuck out in places.

“I…um…” You stammered.

“Just get some rest and we will talk later.”

“Um…”

“And take a shower you smell like a brewery.” With that, he shut his door and you starred at the door confused then felt anger. You knew you didn’t smell like a brewery, but of course, unconsciously you turned your head slightly to smell your blazer. You didn’t notice a distinctive smell but instantly felt foolish and stupid for believing him.

You let out an annoyed sound before making your way into your room. You closed the door and laid your bag on your chair before stripping off your clothes as you made your way to your bathroom. You weren’t taking a shower because Victor said to; you were taking one…because you wanted to damnit.

You didn’t think you would ever fall asleep but you woke up to the sun shining through your large bay window. You instantly remembered the conversation with Victor about why he didn’t give you a balcony like he has because it would have been too much trouble. You rolled your eyes in the memory of the conversation. You weren’t arguing about not having a balcony, you were fine with the bay window and the comfortable bench that was created in that area. You sat up and stretched, working the still tired muscles.

You made your way to your bathroom and felt as if you were preparing for battle with Victor later. It was going to be a long morning. After going through your morning routine, you made your way to the kitchen. You were dumbfounded at what you saw. Victor was in his usual weekend attire, meaning a black long-sleeved button down shirt were the sleeves were rolled up and black slacks. It was odd to see him in the kitchen cooking with his apron tied around his waist. You didn’t know what to do. Victor was usually on his tablet for work or reading a book about this time. Which caused you to glance over at the kitchen clock and it read 10:20 AM.

“I made a light breakfast. Your coffee is at the table.” Victor said with his back to you.

“Um…thank you.” You really didn’t know what the hell was going on but made your way to the dining room table. Your coffee wasn’t in your usual seat but the seat next to where he usually sits. A part of you almost wanted to take your coffee cup and move to your usual spot. But you didn’t want to poke the bear.

Victor walked in and you watched as he placed a plate of food in front of you before taking his seat and placed his plate on the table. He didn’t say anything before he began to eat. You looked between your plate and his and shrugged before picking up your fork. You took a bite of the eggs and smiled at the flavor. You knew that Victor could cook, he didn’t do it often, and in all the years of being married, he never cooked for you. You happily ate your food and drank your coffee that was surprisingly exactly the way you like it. You were so engrossed with the amazing breakfast and coffee you almost didn’t hear Victor talk.

“I don’t know what’s going through that dummy mind of yours but it’s not what it looks like.” You almost choked on your coffee when he called you a dummy. You quickly grabbed your napkin and covered your cough before looking at him.

Victor was finished with his meal and was looking at you. You looked into his amethyst color eyes and found that he wasn’t angry or irritated. His expression was soft. You didn’t know what to say at first, you knew exactly what he was referring to. Now as to how he knew that you knew, you were not sure.

“Then if it’s not what it looks like then explain it to me.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask about the dinner meeting with the Harmons.”

“Well I want to know about that too…”

“I texted Amelia to see if you two were running late but she told me that you were acting strange. When you didn’t arrive, I told the Harmons that you had an emergency that you couldn’t get out of. The deal is moving forward. After dinner, I decided to check on you.”

“Check on me yourself?” You said sarcastically but the look that Victor gave you to shut you up instantly.

“Yes, I decided to see what was keeping my wife, since her secretary said she was acting strange. You were asleep by the time I arrived at your office. I noticed the empty decanter of whiskey and your drooling state.” You grimaced and felt shame that Victor saw you like that. “Then I saw the photographs. I do not know the woman and I vaguely remember that event. One of my clients who is a heavy drinker decided to have our meeting at a bar and I did drink, as Goldman and I were leaving, that woman threw her arms around me and I was laughing at something my client was saying. I was not aware that the photographs were being taken. After I brushed the woman off, I came home. Of course, you were already in your room, I assume asleep.” You watched his face as he talked. The story seemed like it was a possibility, but honestly, what did you know?

“So why did you leave me in the office and come home?”

“I figured your dummy brain decided to think whatever it wanted with those photos and figured you would confront me when you came home.” He was too calm…why?

“So you told me to take a shower and go to sleep this morning because….?” You waited.

“I assumed you were tired and after you had some decent sleep we would talk,” Victor said almost matter-of-factly.

“Now what if I do not believe you?”

“You can believe what you want. I decided to tell you what happened, if you choose to believe me or not that is up to you.” Still, why is he so calm? His voice didn’t raise or soften, it was the same monotone way he always spoke.

“You are oddly calm about this.” You questioned as you watched Victor. He was watching you too.

“I have nothing to worry about.” You almost deadpanned at the answer.

“Really?”

“Yes.” You closed your eyes trying to calm your racing heart.

“So say if I do believe you, then what?” You said after a few seconds of silence and opening your eyes.

Regardless if you believe me or not Goldman is taking care of the photos as we speak and things will go back to normal.” Normal? The same day to day routine with Victor? You guessed that would be considered the “normal” but it shouldn’t be.

“Normal…is that what we have been doing for 4 years, Victor?”

“Excuse me?” You noticed his eyebrow raise at the question.

“Us being married, acting like strangers, is that normal? Or is that your normal?” You spoke softly, your heart felt heavy.

“Speak clearly.” You sighed heavily.

“Okay, I’ll dummy it down into simple terms Victor. What are we doing? What have we been doing these last, I don’t know, six years?”

“I…” Victor opened his mouth and closed it again. Why did you hope that he would say anything different, anything to make the last 6 years of your life make sense?

“You don’t know, do you? Well, I will tell you, I have been your fiancé and then became your wife. I have been your titled wife for four years, we do not talk, we do not see each other and we basically live like glorified roommates. Two CEOs that are living together, running two separate companies, sharing a home, and basically strangers.”

“I do not see the relevance of this.” Your heart fell, so this was his normal, he didn’t see you pass the titles.

“You are giving me a headache. Okay, let’s try this, who am I to you, Victor?”

“You are my wife legally, a business partner.” You wanted to strangle this man. You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed heavily.

“Basically this is strictly business, I am your wife legally and a business partner. Was there ever a time I was anything more?” You hoped against hope.

“What more could you be?” You felt your heart freeze. You looked at Victor almost desperately.

“Did you ever love me, you fucking asshat!” You nearly screamed.

“How could I love a woman that only wanted my name?” You almost missed the whispered muttering. Your mind and heart went into overdrive, did you hear him correctly?

“Excuse me?”

“Clean up the dishes, I will be out for the rest of the day.” Victor ordered before throwing his napkin on the table before rising from the table and walked out of the dining room.

“Oh, no the fuck you don’t, we are not finished here.” You jumped out of your seat and ran after him.

“We are done here, I do not want to argue.” You heard him sigh heavily.

“Oh we are going to fucking argue and you will explain why the fuck you said I only wanted your name.” You screamed.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you.” You stopped at the tone of his voice, it was cold and caused your heart to panic. He took your hesitation as the moment to leave.

“Yes, you do Victor, I didn’t marry you for your damn name. I thought….I thought…” You felt your throat closing as your heart hammered loudly in your chest. Something snapped in Victor and he stomped his way over to you. Your body moved backward and your back hit the wall behind you.

“You thought what? If you didn’t marry me for my name, then why did you agree to the arrangements?” Victor was in front of you, your back was flush against the wall.

“Victor…I…” You tried to speak but the words just stuttered.

“Why did you agree to marry me? We barely spoke after you moved, we were not romantically involved when the engagement was announced. Why did you agree to marry me?” His face was so close to yours, your heart raced a million beats a minute. You wanted to tell him, you both talked throughout the years, so what was he talking about?

“We emailed each other for years and talked about meeting again before the engagement was announced.” You rushed out.

“My father told me you were overjoyed with the engagement, he told me that you were excited to become part of our family.” The tone of his voice made your stomach twist, it felt like daggers.

“So that’s why you thought I was marrying you just for your name?” Your voice was too small, it came out like a whisper. Did he really take that as in you were marrying him for his name?

“Why else would you have been so happy to marry me?”

“I thought…” You stammered again.

“See that’s what happens when you think.” You could hear the blood rushing in your ears. It was loud.

“What the fuck is that suppose to mean?”

“You thought what? Tell me, Mimi, tell me why you were so happy about marrying a man who you haven’t seen since you were young, a stranger.” He dug deeper, his voice was venomous.

“I was happy because I was in love with you.” You shouted with your eyes closed.

“Liar.” If that one word was a knife, it would have been the finishing blow to your heart.

“Fuck you, Victor!” Victor leaned in close and you felt your heart stop. You could feel his breath on your ear.

“Something you have never experienced and never will.”

“What the fuck is your problem?! I told you I was in love with you and that’s why I was over the moon with excitement.”

“Since you think so much, think about that, how could you love me when you didn’t even know me.”

“You know what, you are right, I didn’t know that you would have turned into a fucking jerk, I was under the illusion that you were the same Victor that I spent my whole life waiting for. Thank you for making me realize that no matter what I do or how hard I try, you will never be my Victor, you will never be that boy I fell in love with all those many fucking years ago. Thank you for finally letting me know where I stand with you and this sham of a marriage. Thank you for making me realize that these last four years being married to you was a waste of time. I always wondered why you never laughed or smiled whenever I was around.” You pushed Victor away. He staggered back slightly. “You know what’s sad, I thought with time…well it doesn’t matter now, how did you put it earlier, ‘it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not, I’m just giving you the facts and you will take it how you will.’” You couldn’t deal with this anymore, you didn’t think that your heart could take anymore. “I want a divorce; the companies are in excellent standing that a divorce won’t damage them. I’m so over this Victor.” You felt your heartbreaking as you walked away. Victor didn’t try to stop you, you didn’t think he would have.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Victor stayed out of your line of sight. You got ready for work like every other morning, the only difference this time was you were tired. You were tired of crying, tired of wishing that Victor would get his head out of his ass and come to you. But after finally confessing your love and receiving nothing but a cold shoulder, you realized that this marriage would never work. Today was also the day you could contact your lawyer to draw up the divorce papers.

“Madam?” You heard Mr. Mills call out to you. You looked up at the older man and gave a tired smile. You saw he had a container for you. He must have known you were just about to head out and had a tumbler of coffee in his other hand. You felt tears clouding your vision as you reached to take the container and tumbler.

“Thank you.” Your voice shook.

“I am so sorry, you have suffered for so long.”

“I will be fine, Mr. Mills. Thank you for everything.” You choked. You turned and made your way to the front door. After closing it, you heard Amelia running up to you. When you looked up at her, you heard her footsteps stop. You watched the cheery smile vanish, you looked to your right, schooling your facial expressions to appear normal and to stop the burn of tears threatening to fall.

“Mimi, what is going on?” Amelia moved closer to you slowly. You noticed the harder your tried, the more you were losing the battle with your uncontrollable emotions.

“What are you talking about, nothing is going on…” You tried so hard but your damned lip quivered.

“Liar.” She whispered and you visibly flinched. She noticed it and couldn’t help herself but to throw her arms around you and hugged you tight. You dropped the breakfast and coffee as if everything came crashing down. The walls, the strength to continue to hold up the strong walls you have built, just crumbled. You buried your head in her shoulder and cried, you didn’t think you had anything left. Boy, were you wrong, you felt Amelia’s arms tighten as you sobbed uncontrollably.

**** Extra****

Victor didn’t want to get out of bed, he grumbled before laying on his back. He didn’t realize how exhausted he was after this weekend. Yes, he ran, yes he was a coward. He kept replaying Saturday morning over and over and over in his head. He replayed every word you spoke. He growled in frustration before sitting up and cursing the sunlight shining through his window. He heard the front door close and knew you had left for work.

He couldn’t help but be curious, he walked to his accursed window that overlooked the driveway leading up to the front door. He saw your back was to him and Amelia running up to you. He watched as her steps halted with a look of concern. He watched the subtle movement of your shoulders when Amelia said something.

He watched Amelia hugged you and you dropped the items in your hands. He didn’t notice the bagels spilled out of the food container or the coffee spilling on the walkway. He noticed that your head was buried in Amelia’s shoulder and your shoulders shook violently. He watched you and felt emotions he tried to bury resurface.

A knock on his door pulled his attention from the two women. He didn’t answer before Mr. Mills peeked his head through the cracked door. Victor noticed the stern and disappointed look on Mr. Mills' face.

“When will enough be enough Mr. Victor? Breakfast is ready.” Mr. Mills said before leaving and closing the door. Victor stood there baffled. What did Mr. Mills mean exactly? Victor quickly went into his bathroom and grabbed a housecoat. When he passed the window again he looked outside and saw you and Amelia no longer hug. Mr. Mills was making his way to you both with another tumbler and container. He handed them to Amelia and her face lit up before running to the SUV. You and Mr. Mills exchanged a few words before he hugged you. He passed you a handkerchief, which you took and gave a soft smile before patting your face. Mr. Mills turned around to walk back into the house. Victor was glued there watching you walk away from the house.

His heart did something as he watched you. It tightened and felt heavy. He watched as your steps slowed and turned. His eyes widened when his eyes met yours. Well from the distance, he wasn’t sure if you could see him. But he watched as you took a deep breath before turning around and walk towards the SUV.

*******

“Are you sure you want to do this Mimi?” You gave Deanna a sad smile. Deanna was the daughter of the company’s lawyer when he worked for your father. Deanna only specialized in divorce court and if you were honest, you didn’t want anything that was rightfully Victor’s. You wanted this to go as smoothly as possible without hurting each other’s reputations, actually each other’s company’s image.

“Yeah, I think would be for the best.”

“I still think I should give him an earful!” You laughed at Amelia’s protectiveness. Deanna laughed and nodded.

“As enjoyable that would be, I don’t think that will fix anything.”

“Agreed,” Deanna said as she pushed up her glasses. Amelia pouted.

“No fun!”

“So that settles it, did you want me to deliver this to him, or did you still want to do it.”

“I think I should do it, I’m the one that asked for it.”

“Okay, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

“Will that be on lawyer time?” You joked. Deanna sighed and smiled at you.

“For you Mimi, never, please take care of yourself and eat something girl.”

“Don’t worry I’m on it.” Amelia rushed before darting out of the office.

Thank you again, Deanna, I know that you are busy and this was very short notice.”

“Don’t sweat it, you are practically family, I’m so sorry that he can’t get his head out of his ass. I wish there was a way to fix this.” Deanna gave you a sad smile. You shrugged, you didn’t want to break down and cry again.

“The only way to fix it is for me to get over my delusion that I married the Victor I fell in love with.”

“Either way, no matter what divorce is hard on everyone.” You nodded in agreement.

“Well thank God we don’t have any kids or pets.” You choked out a laugh.

“No kidding, less messy.”

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You took a deep breath before raising your fist to knock on his door. This was it, you knew he was home. You knocked twice and didn’t hear anything.

“Victor?” Still nothing. You thought about sliding the packet under his door but then thought that the packet was too large to fit under the door. Then there was to option to leave it on the ground and pray he doesn’t step on it when he leaves his room. You decided to knock again, you raised your fist again and before it could meet the hardwood, the door opened. You quickly stood up straight and looked up at a groggy Victor. He looked like he just woke up.

You felt your heart stammer at his half-awake state, which if you were logically thinking, it was way too early for him to be sleeping. But no, you had to notice that he was shirtless again, his hair was a mess, and those godforsaken black silk pajama bottoms that hung sinfully low on his hips.

“What?” His voice was deep and you felt a shiver run down your back.

“I…I…um…”

“Spit it out.” You always being quick to anger, glared at the sleepy Victor and thrust the packet in his chest. That seemed to wake him up. He grabbed the packet before it fell. “What is it?” You took a deep breath and folded your hands in front of you.

“Divorce papers.” You simply said. For a second you watched Victor’s eyes grow wide.

Well, that was fast.” You couldn’t gauge his tone.

“Yep, my lawyer drew up the papers for me today.” You simply stated.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, so you can read over it and sign it and I’ll take care of the rest.” You just wanted to go to your room and get as far away from him as you could.

“You’ll take care of it?”

“Micromanaging again Victor, yes, I will take care of it, I don’t want anything, I am already looking for an apartment until I figure out what I want to do. I will be out of here in a week and you can have the house. You will also see that I will be changing my last name back to my maiden name. I don’t want anything that is yours, what’s yours is yours and what’s mine and mine.”

“I’m impressed.” You wanted to growl.

“Well, I don’t need to impress you anymore.”

“I guess not.” There was something in his voice that made you pause. Your anger quickly vanished. You couldn’t figure out what was different about his tone of voice. It was very strange. It sounded strained.

“So…I guess look over the documents and give them to me whenever you are done.”

“You are something else.” You looked up at Victor surprised.

“Excuse me?”

“You have it all worked out?” Was he a broken record?

“I don’t understand why that means anything but yes, as I said I don’t want anything that belongs to you.” Victor made an annoyed sound and before you could walk off, you felt a hand reach for your wrist. The large hand circled your wrist easily and then yanked. You tumbled sideways.

“Ek! What?” You were caught off guard. But Victor didn’t say anything. He just pulled you until you were standing in front of him. You opened your mouth to say something but you really looked at his face and saw something you have never seen before. There was no smug smirk or cold stares. Instead, his eyes held something different, something new.

“You don’t have everything worked out…” He whispered. You didn’t know what he meant. You felt his arms wrap around your waist and he brought you flush to him. Your arms were resting on his shoulders. You just froze. You felt him embrace you tighter. His forehead rested against yours. You gave in and wrapped your arms around his neck stood on your tiptoes and pulled him close.

Victor moved his face to the juncture of your neck and shoulder. You felt him take a deep breath in and when you thought you were close enough, he proves you wrong. You shivered as his breath caress a spot you never knew was sensitive.

“Victor?”

“Tell me you won’t let go.” You tried to move back but Victor’s hold was tight.

“What?”

“Tell me you won’t leave me.” Your traitor heart skipped a beat at the desperation in his voice. You had no idea why he was holding you and why you still had your arms around his neck.

“Is this a joke?” You felt your voice beginning to break.

“No.” He whispered as he buried his face into your neck. You shivered at the sensation.

“But I thought this is what you wanted?” You whispered back.

“No.”

“You are going to have to use your words to explain what is going on.” You sighed at his childishness, you needed more, you needed him to explain what the hell was going on.

“I can’t.”

“Then I don’t know what you want me to do Victor.” You really growled this time.

“Just tell me you won’t let go.”

“Let go of what?” You nearly screamed.

Do you love me?” You froze, everything stopped. Victor pulled his head back to watch you. You two were so close that you could smell the cologne that you bought for him a couple of months back. That spicy, sandalwood musk drove your senses crazy. You looked into his amethyst eyes and watched his lost expression.

“Excuse me?”

“Answer the question.” His eyebrows twitched together briefly.

“Why does it fucking matter?!” Your voice raised. The infamous Victor frown returned.

“Because I love you, dummy!” What? You must have misheard him, you had to mishear him. Was he drunk? No, his breath didn’t smell like he had a drink. So where the hell did this come from.

“What? You are joking.” You watched the hurt reach his beautiful face.

“No, I’m not, I’m sorry, I went about this the wrong way. I know that now.”

“Please make some kind of sense.” You desperately wanted something.

“You asked me if our relationship was normal, it’s not, this is not what I wanted.”

“Well, that’s fucking rich.”

“Mimi, you don’t understand…”

Of course, I don’t fucking understand, I don’t understand what you want, I don’t understand what you are trying to get across, I don’t fucking understand anything because you won’t talk to me, you never had. So tell me Victor how could I understand? Please…” You felt your throat tighten and you nearly pleaded. Victor tilted his head back a little more so you could look at him fully.

“I…I was a fool, a dummy, I…”

“Tell me, Victor.”

“Don’t leave me, just stay.”

“Why do you want me to stay?”

“Dummy, I…I love you.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Yes.”

“So what changes?”

“Everything.”

Victor, give me more than one-worded answers. I need you to make sense of all this, I have loved you for so long, I thought this is what we needed to do. Everything hurts so much, I not ready to stop loving you but I need…” Then everything changed, the moment his lips touched yours in a soft press, everything stopped. Your arms tightened around his neck. It started as an innocent kiss that quickly changed when you gasped. Your lips moved against his in desperation, you didn’t want to let go. You didn’t want this moment to end.

Victor’s kiss made your knees weak and the moment his tongue slipped past your lips, you moaned. Both wanted to be closer, pulling each other closer and closer, well tried to. After what seemed to be hours you both pulled away, but not before Victor kissed you softly. His head rested against yours as you both tried to calm the fire and the panting breaths. Your eyes were closed and slowly opened them to see Victor watching you.

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Extra! :D

“A girl could get use to this.” As you bit into your breakfast that Victor made you. You smiled as ate mouthful after mouthful. Victor chuckled as he watched you eat.

“No, my wife should get use to this.” You blushed this side of Victor was new.

“Oh really, now Mr. Lee I would have to say your wife is a lucky woman.” You tried to joke.

“And I a lucky man.” You chuckled and smiled before setting down your fork to grab your coffee cup.

“Sap.” You whispered before taking a sip.

“Dummy.” His tone was amused and you couldn’t help but playfully pout.

“Hey, that’s not nice.” Victor smiled and started eating. You couldn’t help the warmth of happiness overflow you. You didn’t think that you would never have a moment like this with him. The pain and anguish of the past seemed like it was worth it just to get to this point. But if you were honest, all this misunderstanding took away a lot of time, a lot of missed moments. “But seriously, if you keep feeding me like this, I will be big as a whale.” You joked before taking another sip of coffee.

But you would be my whale.” You didn’t know if that would have been an insult or a sweet sentiment.

“Okay, now you are just making fun of me, jerk.” Victor placed his fork on the table before bringing his chair closer to you. You smiled and shook your head. You placed your coffee cup on the table before turning your body closer to him.

“It wouldn’t matter, I would still think you were beautiful,” Victor said seriously as he took your hands in his.

“A hopeless romantic. Honestly, I like my weight right now, if I gain too much weight I will need a new wardrobe. That would mean a new wardrobe of clothes and then upset because I gained so much weight so quickly. I doubt you would want to see me round.” You rambled. You almost missed the mischievous smirk.

“Oh, I would like to see you round and you realize we can get a new wardrobe easily.” Wait, he couldn’t have meant…

“Wait, what’s with that flicker in your eyes.” Victor chuckled before bringing his face closer to yours. Your cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“Listen closely because I won’t say it again. I would love to see you round.” Oh…my…God…he did mean it…your heart raced.

“Victor!” You shrieked.

All round and swollen.” His voice made your knees weak, good thing you were sitting down.

“I think you have a pregnancy kink!” You rushed out in embarrassment.

“Well, I never thought having children would be a dream come true. Not with the path we were on.” You watched Victor’s eyes lose their playfulness. You took your right hand from his and cupped his cheek.

“Yeah, I was just a virgin before you deflowered me last night, oh and this morning.” You said with a smirk.

“Mimi…” You couldn’t sit in your seat any longer and got up and pushed Victor to sit back in his chair as you straddled his legs. Victor wrapped his arms around your waist and you cupped his face in your hands. You leaned in close to him as he held your gaze in his.

“Don’t look at me like that Victor, I would love to carry your children in the future, but right now, let’s enjoy and make up for all those years that were wasted.”

“Just to think, I could have had you in my bed all those years ago but I was too stubborn.” Victor’s eyes looked away from you in sadness. You tilted his chin up so he would look at you again.

“It’s in the past, my love. Let’s enjoy the present.” You smiled before kissing him. He pulled your body closer as he deepened the kiss. You laughed and pulled back.

Can I deflower you again?” Victor whispered and you loudly laughed.

“You’re insatiable!” You shrieked and squirmed in his lap.

“As if you have room to speak.” Victor thrust his hips up and a loud moan stopped your squirming.

“Victor…”

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THE END

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