Growing up, she had learned everything–painting, dancing, golf, horse riding. She had worked hard to perfect child, the one everyone admired. Aced every test, stayed at the top of her class.
But when trust started to fall apart, it felt like she didn’t owe anyone any answers anymore.
Maybe this was just one of those lessons Kayla had never get out of
In prison, for the first time, she experienced real bullying. Kayla, who had always been surrounded by love and protection, never thought she would face something like this.
But it was happening and there was no escaping it. That was when she picked up smoking, it was the only thing that helped her forget the pain, even if just for a little while.
Before she could even react, a strong figure blocked her side and took the cigarette out of her hand. “You should smoke less,” he said.
She looked up, meeting Simon’s chiseled profile. For a moment, she just stared, stunned, before quickly looking away. “What? You think you can just butt into other people’s business?”
Simon flashed a smile, the corner of his mouth curling up as he took a sip of his wine. “When did
smoking?”
you start
Kayla raised an eyebrow. “Do we even know each other? Is this our first meeting or what?”
Simon met her eyes with a steady gaze and shrugged. “If you say so, then yeah,”
Kayla couldn’t help but feel like this was just another guy trying to make small talk. Sure, he had helped her earlier, but she wasn’t about to fall for some guy trying to be nice just to get her attention.
Without saying another word, she turned to leave. But Simon’s voice called out after her, “If you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”
Kayla waved him off, not bothering to look back and walked away.
Back home, Lionel started talking to her, trying to make conversation like usual. But today, she was just too drained to deal with it. “What is it now?” she snapped.
She had zero patience left for him and wasn’t in the mood to entertain anything he had to say.
Lionel’s face changed right away and there was this mix of caution and something else in his voice. “Who was that guy talking to you at the party? You two looked pretty close. Do you know him?”
Kayla shot him a glance, already done with pretending. “Why do you care? Don’t tell me you’re jealous. After this party, we go back to how things were, alright?”
Lionel frowned, trying to sound calm. “Kayla, I really do love you. If I didn’t, why would I stand up for you in front of everyone?”
Kayla couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “Isn’t it because of my money? My status? The influence I have?”
She knew by now that Lionel was more interested in those things than in her. Maybe, at the start, it was real, but everything had changed over the years.
*You love me? You didn’t even visit me during the five years I was locked up!” Her voice was sharp now. “Cut the
excuses, Lionel. I’m done with them!
The words hit him like a brick and for the first time, he felt a coldness crawl up his spine. He reached out like he
wanted to touch her, but his hand froze in the air.
Kayla turned her back to him, not wanting to look at him anymore. She walked to the stairs but stopped halfway
“Lionel, I want a divorce.
She locked the door behind her, but his voice still managed to sneak through. “Kayla, I won’t divorce you! I know
you’ve got it wrong, but I believe we can fix this”
Kayla buried her head in the blanket, trying to drown him out. There were still three days until they left.
