Chapter 3

Ava's Pov

I ran down the same long spiral stairs, my chest heaving hard, my body shaking. I couldn't believe what had just happened in there. Jerome... Autumn. Now, it suddenly all made sense. The reason he was never at home. The reason we never moved into the house we had deemed to be our dream home. The reason he never touched me. I was just his placeholder wife, and she was the woman who had his body, his soul, his heart.

It broke me that after three years, he could never still love me. Did he drive her down here? How did it feel having him sleep on the same bed? Being able to touch him, being able to feel his kisses?

"Ava!"

Before I could react, a strong hand grabbed my arm and turned me around violently, forcing me to stop.

My eyes met Jerome's, and in our entire three year marriage, this was the most emotion I saw in his eyes. He looked livid, like he could kill someone.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" He asked, his teeth gritted, his eyes wide. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?!"

"I am divorcing you!" I asserted, my chest heaving as I struggled to get out of his grip.

"With whose permission? Why the fuck do you thimk I would let you divorce me, Ava? Huh? Why the hell do you think I would let you leave me?"

"You... you got my sister pregnant!" I yelled, pushing him away from me, my eyes wide. "You slept with her multiple times when I barely got you to sleep with me throughout our entire marriage! You could only touch me drunk, yet you got my own sister pregnant. That's enough for any self-respecting woman to get a divorce, don't you think, Jerome?"

I pushed him away from me, and he took a step back, his eyes wide, his chest heaving. I swallowed hard, tears filling my eyes fast.

"I won't let you," he said simply. "I won't ever let you."

"We'll see," I replied, sniffing hard. "Congratulations on your first child, Jerome Parker. You will probably make a good dad."

I turned away, but I had barely taken a step away from him when he covered the distance again. He pushed me back to the railing, his body pushed up on mine, his hand wrapped gently around my neck.

My eyes widened as they met his, and I couldn't breathe. The proximity was maddening, and the purse I had been clinging on to fell to the ground with a soft thud.

"You... you are bluffing," he said, running his hand slowly down my chin. "Look at you, Ava. You will never be able to live without me."

A single tear rolled down my cheeks. "That's what I thought too. But you are not the man I fell in love with. You are not the man I vowed to stay with no matter what. That Jerome.... he would never cheat on me like this. He would never humiliate me like this. This Jerome.... this Jerome did all of that, and I don't have to stick around for it. The least you could do was honour your vows and yet... you couldn't even do that. I have no obligations to stay with you. I already wasted three years. I am not wasting anymore."

His grip around me loosened, and I gently moved away, tears running down my cheeks. Without another word, I turned away, my hands grabbing unto my dress, my chest heaving hard.

I stopped and turned, half expecting him to be there. He was gone, but I wasn't even surprised anymore. I am not the woman he wants. I never will be.

I turned around, and Autumn was standing in front of me, her eyes thin.

I moved away from her path, but she suddenly grabbed my hair, forcing me to stop.

"Let me go!" I screamed, but she only held on tighter.

"You are happy, huh? You ruined this party! The reporters are hounding us now, and for what? Because you couldn't take the fact that someone would choose me over you!"

I pushed hard, my chest heaving. "Is that why you seduced my husband? Because you were always jealous that everyone wanted me instead?!"

"You fucking wench!"

"Guess what," I said, my chest heaving. "No one will ever want you, still. The man you willingly got pregnant for, Jerome? Guess what? He was jist here with me, and he is not allowing me to divorce him. You... you are always going to lose, Autumn. Always!"

Her eyes glazed over with anger, and she reached out, grabbed me hard, and pushed me down the remaining stairs.

I fell on my stomach, and a sharp pain pierced through me. I gave a small yell, my hand reaching out to hold onto anything.

The pain was unbearable, and I curled up, my hands wrapped around my stomach, my body shaking. I was covered in sweat, and I could barely see beyond the blur of tears sitting on my eyes.

"Look at you," Autumn suddenly said, pulling a small knife out of her purse.

I dreaded what she would be doing to me. What she would be capable of. Nothing she did tonight was expected, and I wondered just how far this mania would go.

"All helpless. Jerome belongs to me, Ava. As long as I have the strings... " she tore her dress, then gave a small laugh. "He will always dance to my tunes, sweetie. You... you will be discarded in no time."

I watched in pain and horror as she tore her thigh with the knife, blood running down her legs fast.

"What..." I managed to say, "What are you doing?"

She laughed. "Watch TV tomorrow, lil sis."

Colour drained from my face as I watched her turn away and head straight back to the banquet hall.

I closed my eyes, tears running down my cheeks. This wasn't how I envisioned tonight. This wasn't even in my wildest, most pessimistic dreams, and yet.... yet...

"Ava?"

It was Jerome, but I was slowly losing consciousness, and I couldn't even bring myself to turn to him. I mustered all of my strength to open my eyes, only for them to close again, the last bit of consciousness leaving me as I felt someone hold my hand.