"Leave our house! Leave you leech. Sign it and leave. My daughter deserves better, not a broke ass bum like you," Priscilla's mother shouted, clapping her hands.
Anthony's head spun as he tried to make sense of what just happened. He rushed to Priscilla and cupped her face.
"Babe, what are you talking about? Divorce? You promised we will love each other forever," he began to say, his heart pounding in trepidation.
Pain clouded his eyes. If not that real men didn't cry, he would have broken down like a baby. However Priscilla slapped his hands away and forced a biro into his hands.
"Sign it now! You don't really think that someone as successful and beautiful as I am will continue to stay with a loser like you, do you? I don't love you anymore. You irritate me. I can't believe I was once enamored with you! You're a terrible stain I want to wipe away, so leave! Leave now that I'm still being nice. You're an eyesore. My greatest shame is being with a middle class guy like you when there are billionaires that want me!"she shouted furiously.
Anthony looked at her forlornly, apparently lost in his memories.
"I get it now. You feel you have made money. You now appear in international magazines and you control a listed company, so you think it's a waste of your talents and beauty?" He asked, looking at her calmly.
"Yes. Now that you understand, get out of my house," she shouted, her hands akimbo.
"Fine, I will sign it. But it's you three that should leave. Reed, Priscilla, mom, leave my house now! Since I'm divorcing Priscilla, we're no longer family. You should not relax in my duplex anymore!" He shouted.
"How dare you?" Her mom shouted, feeling enraged.
"Yes I dare anything, you arrogant fatso!" He shouted back, his patience totally non-existent.
"You…, this little idiot…" His mother in law shouted, wagging her fingers at him in fury. The duplex enabled her to boast to her noisy friends each time they came over, leaving such a beautiful piece of real estate was impossible.
Priscilla slapped him, her eyes red with anger, her posture haughty.
"How dare you talk to my mother in that manner, you piece of shit? I worked hard for this house. It now bears my name. I worked so hard for everything I have now, so leave and don't piss me off!"
Anthony smiled calmly and sat down on the sofa. His heart was breaking but he was determined to put up a strong front.
"Going to school and being beautiful is not the same as being smart. The documents state that; at any point in time I have the power to take it back. I refused to add that clause at first, but my lawyer insisted. I guess he saw the kind of person you truly are; I didn't. I just need a phone call and people from the court will be here immediately. Do you want me to go ahead?" He asked, tapping his hand on the armrest.
Priscilla staggered. Her face turned white as sheets the moment she heard that he had the power to legally take back the duplex from her. She rushed him angrily and slapped him.
"You liar and deceiver!" She shouted furiously, clutching his collar with rage in her eyes.
"Priscilla, don't mind him. We still have Knight group and K-city. Let's go. We will buy another house tomorrow," her mother consoled, standing up to go in and pack their belongings.
"Pris, it's true. He can keep the house. We will move to an even bigger mansion once you marry a well off billionaire. We can buy a decent house in the interim," Reed whispered, rubbing his sister's arm in consolation.
"Reed, you're a man like me. If Priscilla was your wife, would you be happy that she used you as a stepping stone, only to leave you once she felt she had arrived? May your wife treat you in a worse way." Anthony said calmly, cursing him.
"How dare you?" Priscilla and Reed shouted simultaneously.
But Tony was obviously not done with them.
"And just so you know, the moment you walk out of here you will go broke. You will only have the money in your personal account to your name. K-city is the major investor and shareholder in knight corporation and priscilla's world. So once you leave. Hehehe," he said and laughed ominously.
"Bastard! K-city belongs exclusively to me. All the rights to the game and streaming platforms are all mine. Keep your house, it's no loss," Priscilla replied and smirked, ready to leave.
"Did you forget the third clause the lawyer added about the rights going back to me in the case of a divorce? The divorce is finally happening." He said again, making Priscilla stop in her tracks.
Anthony looked at her persuasively, his eyes begging her not to divorce him. In reality he had no plans of taking anything back from her, he just wanted to stop her from leaving him. Then maybe he could get her to love him again like she used to.
"Only if you are the one divorcing me, especially on the charges of infidelity. K-city is my compensation for all the times I had to give myself to you and endure your touch." Priscilla insisted.
"Endure my touch? You used to like it pretty much. You kept begging for it till you found a billionaire lover. I'm taking back K-city on the charges of infidelity. The reason you're divorcing is probably because of the man I saw you kissing in that Jaguar. But I won't let you go to him with my hard earned money. Go to him the way I found you, a penniless beauty," he said coldly, feeling annoyed with her.
Priscilla staggered and held her head, refusing to believe what she just heard. She miscalculated everything. She should have just killed him as her mom suggested, instead of kicking him away. Now he wants to take away the company she worked hard to build, for two good years.
If she's no longer a wealthy CEO, Knox and the other men will be too ashamed to marry her. This can't be happening!
"When the lawyer kept adding those clauses, I felt he was worried for nothing. Now I know he had seen through you. Yet I loved you, I loved you more than life itself. It blinded me to your faults and made me worship you, despite what others had to say. I met you in the street being battered by loan sharks. I killed a man to save you when that loan shark wanted to have his way with you, and gang rape you with his men. I brought you home and nursed you back to health. I fell in love with you at first sight. However, I was determined not to force you. But you refused to leave or go home, claiming you love me too. That's how you started living in this house with me. I paid the debts your late father accrued due to gambling. I cleared your student loan and you claimed your results. I treated your mom for cancer, spending lots of money till she recovered. I was an orphan, so I was ecstatic to finally have a family of my own. I paid Reed's final year school fees and let him live comfortably at school as my younger brother. You pledged your undying love for me. You told me about your dreams. To support your dreams, I sold the shares I had in other companies, and gave you the proceeds to start your company." Anthony shouted with pain in his eyes as he reminded them where he found them.
Priscilla hated being reminded of how Anthony helped her out of the slums, hearing him recount it infuriated her. But she was on a mission, so she pasted her remorseful expression on her face and patiently waited for him to finish his nonsense.
"I used all my connections to register your company. You requested K-city so that you can use the image of its CEO to project Knight corporation and I signed everything to you, even this house. My cars, I left them to you. Each time you come back from work, you look so exhausted. So I decided to quit my post at Microsoft and stay home to take care of you. I turned into a stay at home husband because I enjoyed seeing the smile on your face each time you sign a new contract or close a huge deal. I liked seeing you proud, happy and confident. Even when your character changed, I thought it was due to stress. Only to find out you were cheating. It's fine, go ahead. Go to those men you think are better. But know this, no man can love you the way I do." he said and signed the divorce papers, shoving it to her.
She began to cry profusely, shocking Anthony who had turned to leave. He felt like rushing to console her. But he remembered how determined she was to divorce him and stayed still.
He went up to their room, as memories of how Priscilla forced him out of their bed months ago, making him sleep on the couch or the spare room flashed in his mind.
He had been confused about her sudden refusal to have anything intimate with him. But being the patient, loving, husband he was, he waited for her to come around. She never did.
The door opened and Priscilla walked in crying profusely.
"I'm sorry. I don't want a divorce anymore. My friends keep insulting me because of how unkempt you look, encouraging me to leave you. They deceived me and made me forget how we started out, I'm sorry." she whispered, kneeling down before Anthony while crying profusely.
Anthony quickly raised her to her feet.
"I gave you all my funds but you suddenly stopped giving me a wardrobe allowance. I didn't want to bother you, I was waiting for your own good time. How can you listen to them? I never listened to anyone when it comes to you, because I love you. They even led you to cheating." he whispered, rubbing her hair affectionately.
"I'm sorry, please don't leave me," she whispered.
"I will never leave you. You know how much I love you, you're my life. You're everything to me. I never intended to take anything back from you, I just wanted you to come back to your senses. But you have to promise to stay away from those guys. You used to like spending time with me a lot. You literally demanded sex every night. But suddenly, you don't let me touch you, for the past four months. You have to stay away from those men. You won't see them anymore!" Anthony said firmly.
Priscilla quickly nodded.
"I will not see them, ever again" she whispered fervently. Anthony smiled and carried her up. He sat her on the bed and wiped her tears.
"Don't cry. I don't like seeing you unhappy. It drives me crazy. I want you to always be happy. I love you Priscilla, more than life itself. Please don't break my heart anymore." he whispered, looking into his eyes. Priscilla nodded and he sealed her lips with his.
He gently caressed her, stripping off her clothes while whispering words of adoration to her ears.
****
Anthony turned, reaching out for Priscilla.
He found the bed empty and frowned. He fell asleep after their love making session which lasted for hours.
Although he noticed that Priscilla learnt new sex styles, probably from her new man, he forced himself to forget it. She won't see him again, that was all that mattered. Besides, most men marry women others have slept with. However, he met Priscilla a virgin. It should count for something.
He must forget about it and pretend it happened before they met, other men don't count how many men their wives used to stay with. He stood up and wore his clothes to go look for her. Just then the door opened and Priscilla walked in with a food tray.
"My love, dinner is ready."
A bright smile of happiness spread on Anthony's face the moment he saw her bringing food to him. This was the Priscilla he married; the loving and attentive woman who captured his heart.
He gave her a quick kiss and began to eat while Priscilla rubbed his back and fed him wine at intervals.
Anthony frowned and clutched his heart in disbelief, simultaneously spitting out blood. He looked at Priscilla in horror and saw the sly smile on her face.
Poison!