Chapter 3

"Good morning, ma'am," Chorused greetings followed Chloe as she pushed through the revolving doors of her fashion store with two cups of coffee in hand.

It was a big store. Chloe's sweat and toil. She always felt a sense of pride whenever she walked into it. It was proof of her hard work. She was proof that she was not a quitter.

She merely nodded at her workers and made her way to her office at the back. walking past rows of assorted lingerie, pajamas, and bikinis of different colors, sizes, and fabrics, hanging on racks and mannequins for display.

A few customers were walking down the aisles of clothing, giggling and whispering, but Chloe wasn't even remotely happy. Though Emma had lifted her spirits and she had made plans to get Kylian back, there was still a sliver of doubt in her gut.

a sliver that won't go away.

She reached her office, and just before she tried to set the cups she was holding on the floor to reach the key in her bag, brown hands shot out of thin air and took the cups.

Chloe looked up and, despite herself, broke into a smile, which was reciprocated immediately.

"Good morning, Chloe," the owner of the hands chirped happily.

"Morning, Ollie," Chloe responded to the beautiful, brown-skinned teenager standing in front of her.

"One of them for me?" Ollie gestured to the coffee in her hands, her black curls bouncing every which way. Chloe simply nodded in response, digging a hand into her pocket.

She'd made a friend out of the seventeen-year-old since she came in looking for work a year ago. It was never a good idea to employ teenagers for work. They were inexperienced and sensitive, and we were like a fuse attached to dynamite.

But to Chloe, Ollie was different. The girl was charming and bubbly, and she could persuade a poor man to buy an elephant.

"You look..." Ollie started once Chloe got her office door open and the two entered. Chloe's office was quaint and decorated in lavender and gold; it had been Kylian's idea since Chloe loved lavender, and it brought her silent grief to look at her walls and know that Kylian was slipping away from her.

She wasn't ready. It was so sudden.

"What happened to the badass bitch?" Ollie made herself comfortable in one of the office chairs and kept the coffee on the table.

Chloe sighed at the girl's mannerisms. "Don't call your boss a bitch, Ollie."

"You know I say it with love." The girl smiled, revealing a set of white teeth, which Chloe had always found attractive.

"Of course, you do." Chloe settled behind her office table, keeping her purse and phone on it before turning on her work computer.

"For a boss, you're awful at keeping track of your business," Ollie said, pointing out Chloe's absence.

Chloe inhaled shakily and focused on her computer screen. "I've been busy."

"Busy? Doing what? Do you have another store that I'm not aware of? Or are you secretly a serial killer using this store as a front?"

"What?" Chloe's eyes widened, and she stared at the girl in bewilderment. Sometimes, Ollie said ridiculous things, and it shouldn't have surprised her—but it did. She couldn't figure out why such a charming girl would be obsessed with true crime documentaries. Those shows terrified her.

"I don't mean that, obviously. You're too good to be a serial killer. But seriously, what's going on with you? You rarely answer my texts or pick up when I call you. I haven't seen you in two weeks, and you look... unwell." The genuine look of concern on Ollie's face made Chloe's eyes water. She hadn't told her what was going on in her marriage; she didn't want to burden someone else with her problems. It seemed she'd been wrong.

She opened her mouth to tell Ollie everything when a knock sounded on the open door. Shutting her mouth abruptly, she glanced at the doorway and blinked in surprise.

"Linda?"

A tall woman stood by the door; she looked to be in her early forties but was still stunning in her ensemble. She walked in with elegance and held herself with what Chloe had dubbed "unshakeable confidence" and wished she had sometimes.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Linda said in her soothing, heavily accented voice.

Chloe opened her mouth again, ready to tell Linda she was welcome, though her visit was unexpected, but Ollie had beaten her to it.

"No, ma'am." Ollie jumped from her chair and grabbed her coffee. "I was just leaving." Ollie gave Linda an awkward bow, which made Chloe bite her lip to keep from laughing.

Linda Kincaid had that effect on people. They feared and loved her.

"We'll talk later," Chloe called out behind Ollie's back as the teenager fled.

"Cute kid. I see why you keep her around," Linda observed as she walked to the table.

"Yeah. You didn't call; I wasn't expecting you for another two days."

"I got bored of the Bahamas and came back early."

Chloe couldn't help but marvel at the glaring difference between mother and son as Linda sat in the chair Ollie vacated. Where Kylian had jet-black hair, blue eyes, and sharp features, Linda was golden blonde, round-faced, and had the softest shade of brown eyes. Those soft brown eyes that were currently pinning her with a severe stare

Chloe was now familiar with the severe stare, but there was a time she'd been scared of it and thought Linda hated her. Now it relieved her to be under the scrutinizing gaze of Linda; it meant she was still liked and considered a daughter-in-law.

Chloe kept waiting for the day Kylian would turn his mother against her and spread his unfounded hatred. Luckily, it never happened. Linda was always by her side and had talked to her son a good number of times regarding their marriage, which he was destroying.

though she wasn't successful. It comforted Chloe to have a mother figure in her life. Having lost her parents in a car accident when she was fifteen and moving in with the Andersons, Chloe never formed a bond with Mrs. Amelia, Emma's mother, and it bothered her.

"Now I have Linda," she thought happily.

"I'm fine," Chloe said in an assuring manner to the woman still staring at her. But Linda didn't look convinced.

"You're slouching, you have eyebags, and your hair looks like something died in it." Linda shook her head in disapproval. "I will have to schedule a spa day for you and a vacation. Where would you like to go? Maldives? Singapore?"

Chloe chuckled tiredly. Linda had her own way of showing affection and care. "Neither. You don't have to, really; I'm fine."

"Let me be the judge of that," Linda said. "How's Kylian?"

"I don't know. He hasn't come home yet."

"I'm sorry, dear. I've had a hard time reaching him, but on my way here, his assistant told me he's at home."

"At home?"   Chloe perked up.

"Yes, dear." Linda smiled affectionately. "Now head on home and talk to your husband. His assistant let me know he's in a good mood."

Chloe stood up with a shaky breath. "Okay." It was time to get her marriage back on track.

"I'll come by for dinner and see how you two are doing."

Chloe nodded, grabbed just her phone, and hurriedly walked around her table. "Thank you so much, Linda."

"Get on!" Linda shooed her away, and she couldn't help but laugh as she rushed out.

As she neared the revolving doors, Ollie came up to her with a brown envelope.

"This came for you."

Chloe took the envelope distractedly. "Thank you. I gotta go now."

"But you just got—"

She was already out the door, not hearing the rest of Ollie's words and not feeling the afternoon sun.

Having sent Calvin a quick text, her car was already waiting. Chloe jumped in, feeling more excited than she knew what to do. "Step on it, Calvin."

"Yes, ma'am."

The car lurched forward into traffic and sped off. Chloe drummed her fingers impatiently. She didn't know what to do with herself on the long drive home. It was then that she wished she lived closer. She wanted to see Kylian and know if he was okay.

Why is the car so slow?

In an effort to distract herself, she held up the envelope she was drumming her fingers on and peeled it open.

Chloe wasn't expecting any package. Maybe it was from work or Emma?

Digging her hand inside, she brought out a small bundle of papers.

"Huh," she mused. Her eyes ran through the first page, and her frown deepened.

"What?"   Her voice came out in a whisper as she turned the second page.

Was this a joke? It can't be true.

She flipped through the papers until the last part, where a signature stood out from the whole document. She knew her curvy, bold signature all too well.

Chloe collapsed back into the car seat; all the wind having been knocked out of her. Her eyes moistened with tears as she stared at the signature, hoping it was a lie. a bad prank on her.

All too soon, her car rolled into the wide compound of their mansion and stopped at the foot of the front steps.

Hot tears welled behind Chloe's eyes as she gathered up the papers. Her driver opened the door for her, and she tried to bite her tears as she stepped out.

She climbed the front steps, feeling as if someone had tied lead to her legs and drained the color from her face.

Chloe found Kylian in his study. His tall frame was hunched over some papers on his desk, one hand running through his hair.

He looked like he hadn't been sleeping.

"Kylian," Chloe called, her voice muffled in her ears. But it had made him stop, though he didn't look at her.

"What is this?" Chloe's hands were shaking so badly that she dropped the papers, which spread on the floor like white clouds.

"It's exactly what it is," came Kylian's brash response, "I want a divorce."