ARIA'S POV
Grandmother’s funeral is being held on a gloomy day, much to my displeasure.
I listened to the weather forecast so I could choose the perfect day for the funeral, and according to the forecast, the day is supposed to be sunny and bright just like Grandmother. I feel duped standing by grandmother’s grave with the sky covered in clouds that only worsen the dark and depressing feeling that has settled in my guts since her death.
I have cried so much that I have no tears left to shed at grandmother’s grave and now have to wear dark sunglasses to hide how red and puffy my eyes are rather than to complement my black dress.
There are a few people hanging around the other graves in the cemetery to pay their last respects to their loved ones and at each grave, there are at least two people; couples holding each other, families comforting each other and even church processions.
I am alone, with no one to comfort me since no one else bothered to attend my grandmother's funeral. With her gone, I realize how lonely I actually am and the thought deals another blow to my already damaged heart. I try hard to get the heartbreaking events of the past few days off my mind and when I finally succeed, I turn my focus back to my grandmother.
She’s smiling in the framed picture placed by her tombstone and I force a smile as well as a fond memory of her slips into my mind.
“Aria, my child, you can’t frown like that everytime or you’ll get wrinkles like me before you are even my age!” She would say and then go ahead to spread my lips into a smile with her fingers.
Grandmother was a cheerful soul who would tell me stories, mostly the ones about my birth and how she knew from the very first day that she set her eyes on me that I was going to be a really beautiful and amazing child. I shared everything with her and talking to her about my marriage was one of the things that made it bearable. I don’t know what I’d do without Grandmother.
Tears start to gather in my eyes again and I take off the sunglasses to wipe them off before they start to fall. I already promised myself not to cry anymore; Grandmother wouldn’t want that.
Sniffling, I begin to place the things I brought with me by her grave; Tulips, which were her favorite flowers; Peaches, her favorite fruit and finally some sweets because grandmother had a really sweet tooth and never listened to me whenever I told her they were bad for her age.
“There are no sweets in heaven, Aria. It’s only right that I take as much as I can down here before the big guy calls me up there.” She would say at the same she unwraps another candy and tosses it into her mouth. She would talk on and on about ‘The big guy’ and ‘Up there’ like she was always prepared for the day she would die.
I can’t help it anymore, I burst into tears, falling on my knees by her grave as it dawns on me fully that she is really gone.
“I should have let you have all the candies in the world. I should have been there with you at your dying moment. I should have held your hands and told you it’s gonna be okay. I–” My voice breaks, the deep regret and tears choking me and making me lose my train of thoughts. I can’t think of a thing to say anymore and so I just cry, sobbing so hard my body shakes.
I hear confident footsteps approaching me and feel a presence behind me that causes my sobs to come to a pause. My heart races and hope swells inside of me when the person puts a hand on my shoulder. I whip my head around, expecting to see Adam but my hope quickly shatters when I see that it is Adam uncle, Regis.
“Regis.” I say, sniffing and wiping my tears in a rush.
“Here,” He hands me his handkerchief, stuffing it in my hand and closing my palm around it before I can even refuse. I say a barely audible thank you before I dab at the tears with the hanky that smelt like him.
“I came as soon as I heard, I’m sorry about your Grandmother, Aria.” He says in a sincere and kind voice. Regis has always been kind to me even when I was just a secretary.
Whenever he came to visit his nephew at the office, he would stop to say hi and hand me a canned coffee with a smile on his face. However, he left the country to study a few days before our wedding and only returned not too long ago. This is the first time seeing him since his return and the kind look in his eyes assures me that if he had been around, I would have had another person rooting for me just like Adam’s grandfather.
“You didn’t have to.” I say quietly, trying to downplay how much it actually means to me that at least, one person cares enough to be here with me. Regis looks around as if searching for something and then he frowns when our eyes meet again.
“You’re alone? Where the hell is Adam?” He asks, his voice a little hard.
My cheeks redden in embarrassment. Regis has only just returned and probably doesn’t know anything yet. I am not willing to talk either. I force a smile and begin to pack the excess things I bought for my grandmother's funeral.
Regis joins me wordlessly and I sigh in silent appreciation of how he doesn’t ask anymore questions. He takes everything from my hands even before I can protest.
“Did you drive here?” He asks and I shake my head. I came here in a Taxi.
“C’mon, we’ll take my car.” He says and walks in front of me. I have no choice but to follow him.
We have just gotten outside of the cemetery when a car drives into the parking space right beside Regis’ car. The car is familiar and I keep doubting who it belongs to until Adam steps out of the car, eyes trained on me as he walks over. The first thing I notice is his Royal Blue suit and I feel the slow brewing of anger inside of me. How could he show up wearing that? It is like a blatant disrespect of my Grandmother and I can’t stand to watch her get disrespected even in her death.
It is clear that he came from the office; little surprise there and it would have been better if he didn’t come at all as I now realize how looking at him only infuriates me. He had managed to avoid me in the past three days since the hospital incident. Three days since Sophia announced that she was pregnant and shook my world. I didn’t need anyone to tell me who the baby belonged to as he walks towards me now, I feel nothing but resentment for him.
“Is it over? Crap, I must have lost track of time.” He says before turning to his uncle and giving him a tight smile of appreciation that I find nauseating.
“Thank you for being here with her, uncle.”
Regis merely crosses his arms, staring back at his nephew, “Care to explain why you are only just coming?” Regis thows the question at him and I face Adam too, crossing my arms.
“Yes, Adam. Tell me what was more important than being at my grandmother’s funeral.” I already know the answer but I still wait to hear him say it so I can have a reason to hate him even more.
“I really wanted to be here, Aria but you know…” He trails off, running a hand through his hair, “I had to be with Sophia.”
The sound of her name is what does it for me; the same woman who is the reason I wasn’t around to witness grandmother’s dying moments.
“Did you really come all the way here to tell me you were with another woman you slept with and impregnated?”
“What?” Regis is the one who speaks, his voice echoing his shock as he looks from me to Adam. Adam’s usual blank look remains as if he is unaffected by my words and the pain he has caused me.
“Let’s not do this here, Aria. You know I can’t just leave her.”
I scoff.
“I never stopped you. You know what? You should have never come here. You should have stayed with her since that is where your loyalties lie now and I am no longer in the picture.”
Adam frowns, moving closer and intimidating me just a little with his height and muscular frame, “What does that mean? You are my wife.”
“Ex-wife,” I say the words without even thinking. I didn’t think any of this through but I don’t care because my entire being seems to agree that this is what’s best for me,
“I want a divorce, Adam.”
His eyes grow wide, unable to contain the shock at my words and I am proud of myself that I finally got a reaction that isn’t anger or coldness from him.
“Both the divorce papers and my resignation will find their way to you soon.” I add before he can get over his shock and I don’t wait for him to reply as I turn to an equally stunned Regis.
“Take me home, Regis.”
ADAM’S POV I want a divorce. The words circle around my head non-stop. Of all the shits I have had the pleasure of hearing–and trust me, I hear a lot of crap as a CEO–Aria asking for a divorce out of nowhere has to be the worst. I am a man who takes pride in my strength and ability to handle situations no matter how unexpected they are. It comes with the job, yet for some reason, I am unable to utter a single word or move my feet until she gets into the car with my uncle. When I finally come to my senses, she is long gone, leaving me to drown in the pool of shock she created. I am shocked at her audacity; the way she looked me in the eyes as she hit me with those words. Aria’s cold hazel eyes totally betrayed the meek and timid trait that I have only ever known her for. I am equally shocked at myself for actually being affected by it when I shouldn't have batted an eyelash, after all, I never wanted to marry her. The three years of living with Aria felt like I was in bondage creat
ARIA'S POV I’m thankful that Regis doesn’t ask any questions as he drives me back home. He offers to drive me into the compound but I turn him down and wait till he drives off before I sigh and walk into the house. The house is brimming with maids who rush over to me the instant they hear the door open but I raise a hand to stop them all from coming close to me. I am no longer the mistress of the house. I walk past them all to get to my room. Adam and I only share a room when he is looking to satisfy his sexual urges. He crawls into my bed and peppers kisses all over my body till I give in and that is the only time I ever feel wanted by him. As I walk into the room, I refrain from staring at the bed for longer than I should, afraid that the memories of us tangled up in sheets with him buried deep inside of me will break my resolve. And right now, I have only one resolve–to leave Adam for good. I begin to pack while that resolve is still strong, not even stopping for one moment to
ARIA'S POV Adam hands the flowers over to one of the maids, asking her to put it in a vase or whatever. He clears his throat, trying and failing miserably to hide his embarrassment in front of his mother, his sister and the maids. “The flowers weren’t for you.” He says, voice hard as he stares at me for a brief second. I barely even feel anything when he says that because I genuinely don’t care anymore, I just want to get the hell out of this house and never return. I don’t even care about the rest of my things which I am yet to pack, I just want to turn my back on this horrible life already. I hear Eva sniggers. Adam seems like he wants to say something to me but then he decides against it and turns to his mother instead. “Mum, please return the bracelet to her.” She snorts and shakes her head stubbornly, “I am not letting her leave with it.” Adam grunts, a sign that he is slowly losing his patience, “ I have never seen that bracelet mother, it belongs to Aria. Please, give it b
ARIA'S POV It begins to rain heavily the moment I step out of the house, a manifestation of the dark clouds that have been present since I was at grandmother’s grave. I am unprepared for the sudden change in weather and I contemplate turning back to seek shelter till the heavy rain passes but what does that make me? A spineless woman who can’t stand her ground. So I power through the rain, dragging my suitcase behind me as I do. The streets are empty without a single car in sight which means I can’t even flag down a taxi. And what if I can? Where would I go? Right there and then, it fully dawns on me what the consequences of my thoughtless actions are. I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t regret my decision but my helplessness has me hating myself. I burst into tears at once. Tears that are real, not just triggered by an allergy. The sound of the rain muffles my loud sobs while the drops of water flow down my face along with my tears as I continue to drag my heavy suitcase along.
ARIA'S POV The feeling of waking up makes me light for several seconds, like I am floating in the realm between life and death until I finally feel my consciousness slip back in. My eyes flutter open after that. I blink once, twice and some more when the vision in front of me doesn’t change into a familiar one. I sit up, expecting to see the dull blue walls of my room but the room I woke up in is painted differently in a brighter and warmer color that makes me feel relaxed to be here. Before I start to question the changes I am not used to, a fast train of memories slam into my mind and it all starts to make sense. Everything that happened from Grandmother’s funeral to me standing in front of the hotel, drained and desperate. From there, I remember nothing else. I must have fainted, completely blacked out and was brought to this strange place. I find it strange because it clearly isn’t a hospital room which I assume I should have been taken to if I fainted out of nowhere. The room
ADAM’S POV Three days–that’s how long it’s been since Aria worked up the nerve to walk out of our home. As a businessman, a few hours is enough for me to get over losses, as only a fool will continuously mourn a loss when he should be moving on to the next best opportunity to make up for it. It has always been like that with people too, I don’t care who leaves because in the long run, there is always someone better who can replace them. Yet, it’s been three whole days and I can’t get over this foreign feeling that tightens my chest each time I think of her. I can’t seem to attach my usual logic of loss and replacement to the one person I shouldn’t even care about losing. Unable to accept that the tight feeling in my chest means something, I resort to the ones I can actually cope with. I let the feelings of distress, anger, humiliation and total disrespect take root in my mind because really, those are basically the things Aria has done against me in the last 72 hours. The reasons f
ARIA'S POV My shock at Regis’s claim is evident, in the way my jaw slacks and the way my eyes go beyond their normal size. I stare at him and he in turn continues to stare at the key chain like he is just seeing it for the first time. Perhaps, the realization that he is familiar with the one it belongs to is the reason he is now looking at the key chain in a new light. I also discovered that besides the color of the jewellery piece, I know nothing else because I haven’t properly looked at it since my grandmother's death. The shock and the preparation for her funeral gave me no time to do so. So I wait for Regis to clear up the air about what he knows about the piece of jewellery adorned with rubies and emeralds. “Did you say your grandmother gave this to you?” Seconds pass before Regis finally hands the key chain back to me. I take it in both hands, nodding absent-mindedly at Regis while I take a proper overdue look at the memento. I discover there isn’t much to look at anyway, d
ARIA’S POV I take a step to the back when the man wheels himself forward again, getting even closer into my personal space than he already was. Looking to Regis for help in that moment doesn’t help one bit because he also has the same look of confusion written in clear lines all over his face. “I can’t believe it’s really you. Look at you, all grown.” He’s smiling through tears. When he grabs my hand out of nowhere, I yelp at the unexpected contact, backing away from him. It is exactly what Regis needs to break out of his confusion as he steps between us. I hide behind him, rubbing the hands the man held not too long ago. “Sir,” Regis says, “Is everything okay?” At Regis’ words, the man breaks out of whatever spell he’s been put in since he saw me. “Oh, how rude of me,” He says and then meets my eyes to continue, “I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable. I just couldn’t help myself.” He chuckles at the end of the words. However, that isn’t enough to convince me to step out