"What is this Divorce Agreement, Seb? What does it mean? What's happening?" Serenity asked, even though she already knew the answer. Her heart was racing, dreading his response. He couldn't possibly want a divorce from her, could he?
"Aren't you a law student? Don't you know the contents of these papers? Must I spell it out for you?" Sébastien replied with disdain, his cold eyes piercing Serenity's heart and shattering it into pieces.
Letting out a sigh, she stated, "You don't have to insult my intelligence! I didn't ask you what is written on these papers, I asked what they are for!" Despite her fear of him, Serenity stood her ground.
She didn't have to obey his every command for the rest of her life. She was tired of this elitist family looking down on her and thinking they were better than her.
And how dare he bring up her abandoned dream now? Wasn't he the one who prevented her from pursuing a career as a lawyer? He turned her into a housewife with no ambitions. And now he was handing her divorce papers and giving her a lecture. How cruel could he be?
"Don't you dare talk to me like that, woman!" Sébastien sneered, causing Serenity to shrink back in fear. Her self-confidence had been crushed the moment she married into this family. They made sure to constantly belittle her dignity.
"Since you're acting clueless, I'll tell you... Just sign the divorce and let's put this behind us!" Sébastien stated coldly, without a hint of emotion.
Serenity's legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground. This couldn't be real, could it? She always knew this day would come eventually. But she thought the love she had shown him for the past three years would have at least thawed the ice around his heart.
To her surprise, the ice did melt, but she wasn't the one who melted it. It was the other woman who had been in his heart.
What of her? Her aspirations, which he snatched away? What will she do now? How is this even fair to her?
"W-why? Why Seb? What have I done to deserve this? For years, I've been a lovesick puppet, blindly following your every command without question.
Even when you told me to abandon my dreams, I gave them up to please you. Your family treated me like a servant instead of a daughter-in-law, yet I never complained.
I've been a devoted wife and dutiful daughter-in-law. And now, my reward is divorce papers? You are heartless, Sébastien Williams!" Serenity's chest tightened as the pain in her heart grew with each word. Tears cascaded down her face without effort.
The three years of her marriage had been hellish, yet she never uttered a word of complaint. And now...All she got was a divorce paper and the disdainful gaze of the man she had ever loved. The world is indeed cruel to the poor.
"You want to talk about cruelty? Serenity, do you know what you did to Ariana? She will be stuck in a wheelchair for months, and we don't know if she'll ever walk again. And who do you think is to blame for that? If you hadn't pushed her down the stairs out of malice, would such misfortune have befallen her?" Sébastien's voice was cold as his anger intensified with each word.
He wanted nothing more than to strangle the woman in front of him with his bare hands and end her life. How dare she talk about cruelty when she's the embodiment of that word?
"What?" Serenity asked in disbelief as she cautiously stood. So this is the reason behind all of this. Hasn't she already proven her innocence? How can he still blame her after everything she had said?
"Seb, please listen! I swear I didn't push her. She fell on her own. I even tried to help her, but she refused my help. Why won't you believe me?" Serenity made a final effort, rushing towards Sébastien and gripping his left arm as she attempted to explain and prove her innocence once more.
Why couldn't he believe her? She would never do such a terrible thing, not even to her worst enemy, let alone the woman her husband loves. The thought never even crossed her mind.
"I demand that you release me!" Sébastien retorted icily, shaking off her grasp. "Just sign the divorce papers! My mother will be bringing Ariana anytime now. I do not want to see you here by then. I do not want her to witness your presence and be frightened!" He ordered coldly, thrusting a pen towards her.
His words pierced Serenity's heart like a thousand knives. In his eyes, she was nothing but a bad omen for his childhood sweetheart. How cruel.
As Serenity opened her mouth to speak, the living room door swung open, revealing a group of eight or nine people, with one sitting in a wheelchair, her face wan and pallid.
"Why is this wicked being still in my house?" Sasha, Sébastien's mother, exclaimed as she entered with a livid face.
Both Sébastien and Serenity turned towards the door, seeing the entire family and Ariana, sitting in a wheelchair, walk in.
At the sight of Ariana, Serenity hurriedly rushed to her and grasped her hand in hers, desperately pleading, "Miss Blake, please tell Sébastien that I did not push you. You fell on your own. Please tell everyone the truth. I beg--"
But before Serenity could finish her plea, someone pushed her violently to the ground, causing Ariana to scream as if she had seen a monster.
"You wretch!" Sasha advanced towards Serenity and slapped her hard across the face. "How dare you continue to try and harm her? Haven't you done enough?" She yelled into Serenity's face.
Serenity covered her burning cheek as tears continued to stream down her face. What had she done to deserve such cruelty? Why is her life this horrible?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sébastien move towards Ariana, holding her in a comforting embrace.
That scene was the final straw for Serenity. Now she realized how foolish she had been to expect their understanding. Even the man she had been married to for years did not believe her. Why would the rest of the family?
And to top it all off, he was hugging another woman right in front of her and his family. Indeed, actions speak louder than words. She was an outsider among them.
Serenity seethed with rage as her gaze met with the cold, calculating eyes of Old Madam Williams. She desperately hoped to find even a trace of trust in them - after all, it was she who had arranged for Serenity to marry her grandson. But it was clear that the old woman held no faith in her granddaughter-in-law anymore.
Turning her face away, Old Madam Williams showed her lack of belief in Serenity. It was just another reminder of the contempt the entire Williams family held for her.
Gwen, Sébastien's younger sister, sneered at Serenity whilst addressing his brother: "Help my sister-in-law escape from this wicked woman. I knew from the start that she was no good."
As the family members walked past her, Serenity sat alone on the floor, her tears falling uncontrollably. This was supposed to be her husband's home - her in-laws' house - but she felt like an outcast in her own marriage.
Harris, Sébastien's father, glanced at the divorce papers lying on the table. As a man with a wealth of life experience, he couldn't help but have doubts about what had transpired just two weeks ago.
"Are you certain about this, son?" he asked, his voice filled with concern." Do you really want to go through with this?" Harris, questioned upon seeing the divorce documents resting on the table. A well-traveled man, he remained skeptical of the events that transpired and wanted to verify if his son knew what he was doing.
What if he comes to regret it later on?