Chapter 5

Emma left the sitting room and came back a minute later with a bottle of vodka. She plopped down beside her cousin, opened the bottle, drank a mouthful, and passed it to Chloe.

"You know," Emma started, "I think the divorce is for the best."

Beside her, Chloe gulped down the vodka and asked gloomily. "What?"

"Your marriage was already an unhappy one. You cried every day," Emma said, taking the bottle from Chloe. "There was no way it could've lasted, and even if it did, you would never be happy, Chloe, and you deserve happiness." She took a long swig and passed it back to Chloe.

Chloe miserably drank and hiccupped. "I called him a monster, Em."

"And that's what he is," Emma agreed. "Don't go thinking you don't deserve happiness simply because you called him a monster."

Chloe took another mouthful and passed it to her. "It hurts, Em."

"I know, but it won't hurt forever. It'll pass. Get a divorce, take half of his net worth, and travel to someplace nice and..."

"I didn't sign for alimony."

Emma paused.  "What do you mean, you didn't sign for alimony?"

"I was in love, Em. I didn't sign because I didn't think we would ever..." Chloe grabbed the bottle from Emma and drank some more.

Emma shook her head. "Well, that doesn't matter now. What matters is your well-being. So, get that divorce and get yourself back together."

Chloe nodded but said nothing, drinking more vodka.

"You'll be fine, Chloe," Emma added, frowning when Chloe laughed bitterly.

"He called me a whore. There's no coming back from that."

Emma slowly took the half-empty bottle from Chloe and set it down. "Kylian is an insensitive dick and a fool, like I've been saying. His opinion of you shouldn't even faze you because we know you're not a whore. And besides," she added, "I've been called a whore a lot of times; you don't see me crying about it."

Chloe sighed sadly, her eyes drooping drowsily, as Emma rose from the couch.

"Come on, let's go clean you up." She seized Chloe's arms, pulling her up.

"I don't think I'll ever love again," Chloe whispered to Emma before she pulled her up.

A week later...

Chloe sat in Emma's kitchen, staring intensely at the document sitting on the counter in front of her. Her hair was disheveled from lack of sleep, and her face looked much older. With reluctance, she picked up the pen beside the sheaf of papers and flipped to the page where Kylian's signature glared up at her.

The divorce papers had arrived at Emma's house four days ago. And she had been putting it off for as long as she could, hoping Kylian would call her or maybe return her thousandth message of apology. But there was no use now; the thread that held her marriage together had vanished into the night.

Emma had advised her to get Kylian out of her life. That he was too toxic for her anyway. But how does one just stop loving someone?

How can love just vanish overnight?

How can she pretend the beautiful days she spent with Kylian didn't exist?

Chloe sighed. Getting out of bed was hard enough; now she had to make a big decision. She positioned the pen over the black line, awaiting her signature, and hesitated. A memory from when she and Kylian were still dating resurfaced freely in her mind—when she had been really sick and was unable to go to the hospital due to extreme weather.

Kylian had reached her apartment, she didn't know, but he stood outside her door, looking like a dreamboat under his bulky winter coat with frizzy hair poking out from under a beanie. His gorgeous face was flushed from the cold, and his gloved hands held bags.

"Are you going to let me in, or should I freeze out here?" Kylian said, snapping Chloe out of her daze.

"Sorry," she said, holding a handkerchief to her running nose and moving out of the way. Kylian entered, set the bags on the floor, and locked her door.

"Why are you here?" She asked in confusion. She had merely told him she was sick, without expecting him to show up in the middle of a snowstorm.

Kylian turned to her with an ‘isn't it obvious’ face. "To nurse you back to health."

"Nurse me back to... There's a snowstorm going on right now, Ky. You could've died!" Chloe's snotty voice wasn't making her words have enough impact. Kylian just chuckled at her and shrugged off his coat.

"I'm good, Chloe. I'm here, aren't I? In one piece nonetheless." He hung his coat on the rack beside the door, her eyes following his every move. He kicked off his boots, placed them on the floor under his coat, and was wearing just his socks.

"But you could get sick." All Chloe could think of was how reckless he had been, but Kylian didn't even seem to care with his smile and cheery attitude.

"Then I'll nurse us both back to health... or have my assistant take us to the hospital in the morning when the weather gets better." Kylian took off his gloves and beanie and shoved them in his coat pockets. He ran a hand through his hair and winked cheekily when he caught her staring.

Chloe blinked at him, perplexed. "How did you even get here?"

Kylian had given her a sly smile. "I don't mean to brag, but it's not so hard for a billionaire to have his way." He seized the bags, kissed her forehead, and walked past her, heading for her kitchen. They'd been dating for six months, and he had memorized her apartment layout from the few times he had come over.

A single tear ran down Chloe's cheek and dropped on the paper with a soft plop. That night was one of her most memorable ones. Kylian had made soup, which was technically not cooking, and claimed he was a chef. They had argued about it, but Chloe conceded because the soup was delicious. Kylian had given her drugs and held her throughout the night. Nothing much was said; his presence had said enough, and Chloe finally knew she was in love with the man.

She exhaled tiredly and signed the papers in a second before the memories will succeed in giving her false hope. She stared at her signature for a long time in the kitchen, feeling her heart break all over again. She was questioning everything she knew and fighting off the tears as she remembered their nasty fight.

I wish I could take them back, she said, burying her face in her palms.

It's too late.

Kylian already hated her, and now she had sealed her fate. Standing up from the kitchen stool, she dragged herself to the bathroom. She needed to go drop off the papers at their house and get all her things.

Chloe decided to take a shower because using the bathtub would lure her down memory lane, and she didn't think her eyes could take any more crying.

After a hot shower, she dressed in Emma's jeans and top, packed her hair in a high ponytail, and stuffed the papers back in the envelope.

Chloe tucked the envelope under her arm, grabbed her car keys, and left Emma's condo, but not before shooting off a quick text to her cousin.

Chloe drove through the busy streets, and the afternoon sun was less sweltering than usual, a blur of people hurrying off to someplace, talking loudly, and wearing questionable clothes.

As Chloe drummed her thumbs on the wheel, waiting for the traffic light to turn green, her phone vibrated on the seat beside her.

She winced when she saw who the caller was and picked up, putting the phone on speaker and placing it on the car's phone holder.

"Hey, Ollie."

"You better tell me now if you're in trouble with bad people. My uncle is an officer. He can help you."