She was his wife.
(ARIELLE’S POV)
“Friends?” I taunted him. “Best friends? Just like you and Sofia?
He didn’t respond, so I continued. “I have enough friends. I do not need more.”
He nodded and rose to his feet. “I’ll see you some other time.
I wanted to scoff and tell him, “You wish,” but I restrained myself. Instead, I nodded curtly and followed him to the door. He hesitated for a moment, sparing me a glance before walking out.
As soon as the door shut, the dam broke. I walked over to the couch and collapsed onto it, burying my face in my palms. Reality finally dawned on me. I was truly divorced from Jared. I was not hallucinating, it was real.
I didn’t realize how long I sat there sobbing, but the door going open alerted me that Ashley was home. I tried to bolt to hide my swollen face, but it was too late; she saw
- me.
“Are you all right? My goodness, have you been crying?” She shrieked, rushing to me.
I tried to hide my face by looking away, but she forcefully turned it to face her. “What happened to you?”
Was i
Deciding hiding or lying I opted to tell her the truth. “Jared was here-
“Did he hurt you? I swear, I would kill him-”
“No,” I shook my head. “He was here to sign the divorce papers.”
“What?” Arielle exclaimed. And then she regained herself. “I’m sorry for my outburst; it’s just that I was surprised since a few days ago, he refused to sign the papers. I’m just wondering what changed his mind.”
“I don’t know. My marriage is indeed over. I finally lost to Sofia,” I cried.
“Don’t say that,” Ashley cautioned, crushing me in a hug. “It’s his loss. Jared lost at good woman.
I nodded, trying to be strong, but no matter how hard I tried, it still hurt. You don’t love someone for years and expect the feelings to just go away.
Finally, after much consoling, Ashley was able to get me to stop crying.
+25 BONUS
ell me, do you regret your decision to divorce him?” Ashley asked.
“No, I don’t,” I responded, and it was the truth. I might be hurt that my marriage of three years has been annulled, but I don’t regret it. It’s for the best.
“It’s a good thing that you’ve made up your mind,” Ashley continued. “One of people’s greatest fears is making the wrong decision.”
I nodded.
“You know I’ve been in these shoes, right?”
“Really?” I asked, looking up at her in surprise. “You, miss ice, experience heartbreak? Now, that’s hard to believe.
“Come on, I’m not that bad,” Ashley whined, playfully slapping my shoulder.
“So how did you manage to get through it?” I asked, wanting to hear more about her experience.
She shrugged. “I just got over it. We all go through heartbreak at some point. Time is the greatest healer of all times.”
I nodded in agreement; time was the best healer. It was all I needed to get over Jared, the end of my marriage, and the loss of my child. Time.
All of a sudden, Ashley playfully threw a pillow at me. “So I heard one of the fastest ways of getting past a heartbreak or failed relationship is visiting the bar. Who knows, you could get drunk and end up in the arms of a smoky hot Mafia lord like those books written on W*****d.”
