Chapter 28

UNEDITED

The moment Nathan's glare leaves Sabrina, she drops to the floor. She felt an unbearable hurt churning in her stomach.

He was definitely going to be with another woman.

With this pain in her, you would think she would give in and call him back persuading him with her touch. She told herself that she was doing the right thing by letting him live his life as a single man. That's what he had planned, so that's what she wanted for him.

She closes her eyes. The darkness that was supposed to be, formed into images of him with random women in his arms. As much as it ripped her inside out she refused to cry. She just knew that it was inevitable for them to be doomed as a couple. How can a marriage last and be real when love isn't involved? If he at least believed in love maybe there could have been a chance for them to eventually get there, but a rich man like Nathan probably could never fall in love.

Standing up, she forces herself not to think about Nathan. She digs in the box pulling out more things. Then she spends an hour emptying and packing the box away. She was almost done there was only one thing left. She purposely left it for last. It was a trunk that her father had given her before the wedding.
He told her it was for his future grandchildren, and she was not to open it.

Feeling miserable and knowing that kids may not be in the cards for her, she lifts the trunk from out of the box and drops it on the floor. She unlocks it and finds an old family album. She smiled. It was filled with memories of her childhood.

The album was heavy, she carries it over to the bed and opens it. She flips the pages slowly. How quickly it passed and how she wished she stepped out of her body and just took a look around appreciating what her life was in those moments.

She looks at a picture with her father, herself, and Gracie. They were celebrating Thanksgiving. There was a huge table set with a golden-brown turkey and all of their mom's specialties.

Sabrina and Gracie's sat on her father's lap with a mouthful of pumpkin pie. Her father had been caught red-handed giving them dessert before dinner. She smiles remembering that year like it was yesterday. She had just started school.

Flipping the page again a piece of notebook paper slid into her lap. She gasped.

Immediately she knew what it was. The ticket to her and Nathan's freedom... She picks the paper delicately as it would fall into pieces.

"He left it for his grandkids." She states aloud in realization.

Had Sabrina been any less desperate to divert her thoughts, she would have never found it. Her father knew her all too well. She scans the drawing and a note at the bottom. It did hold an agreement for a mutually beneficial deal. At the bottom, it had both men signatures.

Suddenly a feeling of worry came over her.

It's over. Now nothing tied them together.
She should be sighing in relief, but she was dreading it selfishly. Deep down she wanted to stay married to him because she loved him but, because she loves him, she can't. He doesn't love her, and she knows that once he sees this agreement, he will give her a divorce. He will have everything he needs.

She scans around the room looking at all the pointless unpacking she has done.

~~~~

Later that night she lay wide awake in the AM hours of the night. She couldn't sleep if she was drugged with the best medicine.

She was waiting for Nathan anxiously, and impatiently. Every so often, she would get up and peek out the window. She watched the long driveway surrounded by endless trees in hopes of seeing the lights of Nathan's Range Rover.


Thinking she hears something she jumps up to look out the window only to see nothing. She stands for a minute longer and was about to go back in her huge empty bed when she sees lights. Her heart immediately starts pumping 1000 miles per hour.


Sitting back on the bed trying to calm her breathing. She blows out shaky breaths as she waits to hear his movements up the stairs.


After agonizing minutes, she hears nothing. Getting the courage somehow she grabs the note and opens the door.


Walking the long hallway and down the stairs. No lights were on. She clicks on the lights in the living area and peeps through the small windows looking outside and inside his car parked in view.


As far she could tell he wasn't in the vehicle. She continues to roam the house until she sees light coming from the bottom of his office door. While taking a deep breath she opens it.


There he was. His back was facing her and eyes to the window. He turns and she sees a drink in his hands and red glossy eyes. He was drunk.


"You shouldn't be in here right now." His eyes run up her legs and body then reaches her eyes.


"Why? Because the stench of another woman is all over your body?" She didn't let him answer. "Well, I'm not here for that."


She was putting up a major front more weak than strong at the moment she couldn't let him see it and capitalize on it.
She walks up close enough to smell the liquor on him. "Here." She hands him the contact.

At that moment did she realize how much she wanted him to fight for her. She wanted him to tell her that their marriage was more than just a piece of paper and that she meant more to him than the risk of losing his company.

Nathan grabs her hand instead of the paper, pulling her closer to him and without hesitation, he plants his mouth on hers aggressively forcing entry.

Although she pushes on his chest, he doesn't let up. He grabs her head keeping it locked with his. Suddenly he pushes her to the nearest wall causing her to drop the note.


He lets go of her mouth, pins her hands down, and starts to place kisses on her neck. "Hmm" He moans as he runs his nose along her jaw inhaling deeply. "Please stop fighting me." He whispers.

"Nathan." She protests before he covers her mouth hungrily.

She kissed him back. She couldn't help but kiss him back. When he comes up for air, he moves his harsh breaths to her ear. "I want you."

"I want a divorce."

He growls. He yanks himself away while clenching his jaw. "What the hell did you come in here for?"

She swallows, stoops low, and picks up the paper off the floor. "Here..." She extends her hand.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at first. Then it seem to hit him. He takes the note and reads it with a serious expression.

"There's no longer any reason for us to be married." She announces as her eyes follow Nathan back to his desk.

He runs frustrated fingers through his hair. "Sabrina."

"You told me if I gave you this then you would divorce me. Now you have both all of the proof. I'm sure without that I can't legally take half your company."

He lets out a breath. "You don't have to fight me anymore."

He wasn't showing any sign of relief or happiness. He just seemed like the liquor was making him numb. What did she expect? For him to confess his love for her? No, but that what she wanted. She knew that he would stop fighting. He has what he needs.


"Answer me one question before you walk out of my life." Nathan interrupts her thoughts.


"What's that?"


"Is there someone else?"


She squints her eyes. "What do you mean?"


He grinds his teeth. "Another man? Are you in love with another man?"


Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Was he jealous? Did he care whether or not she was with someone else? Truthfully he was the only man she's ever been in love with. 'No... There's no one else." She decided to answer the man.

"And what about your father's last wish?" He takes a sip of his drink. "Don't you care your father is watching you go against him right now?"

Fury grew in her. He didn't say anything offensive, yet it got her mad."Let me tell you what my father is watching. My father is watching the biggest mistake of his life play out from the other side. Because if he's been watching me, then he knows how miserable and unhappy I am. His being the great father that I've always known him to be he would want me to be happy."

She storms out of his office and goes back into the bedroom. She looks around at all of her things that were just packed, and they all had to be packed again. There was no way she would live in a home with him longer than she had to.

Having no business wondering about his sexual affairs she does anyway. It's torture. At least being away from him it wouldn't be directly in front her face. She loved Nathan with all her heart. Giving him the agreement was doing right by that love. He would be much happier without her, and she would be a lot happier not wondering when he would become bored with her and want to move on.

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