Chapter 1 Chapter 1

“AHHHH!!!” I screamed, suddenly jolting awake from my nightmare, my scream still echoing in the darkness.

My sudden noise was followed by a complete silence, my heart racing as I panted heavily.

Coincidentally, my phone rang, piercing the silence but by the time I could reach it, the call had ended. Still panting, I grabbed my phone, checking the time.

9:33PM.

I hurriedly punched in my password and unlocked the phone. I scrolled through, wondering who had called me at that time of the night.

I frowned, “Tyler?”

I glanced at his side of the bed and my eyes confirmed what I already knew.

“He didn't come home. Again.” I muttered to myself, and sighed.

I had grown accustomed to Tyler's late nights, but it still stung when he began staying out for days without a word.

This day in particular was supposed to be different because it was our SEVENTH YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. I had waited all day for Tyler, because I had something very important to discuss with him, but he never showed up.

He didn't even come home the previous day. And even when I called him several times, he kept declining my calls. Despite his refusal to pick my calls, I still waited for him. And as night crept in like a burglar, I had drifted off to sleep, jolting awake by my nightmare.

As I was about to call Tyler back, I heard a frightening bang on the front door downstairs, making my heart skip a beat.

“Who could be knocking at this hour?” I whispered, shivers running down my spine.

While I was still gathering my thoughts, the bang on the door came again, louder than before.

I sprung to my feet, tiptoeing out of the room. As I headed towards the front door, I realized most of the domestic staff were lined out by the door, shaking in fear.

They whispered to each other, completely confused.

“What is going on?” I whispered to them. “Who is at the door?”

“It's Mr Richardson.” One of them whispered to me, her voice trembling.

I stood there completely confused. “Tyler? Tyler is at the door?” I asked as I managed to find my voice.

“Yes, ma'am.”

“So why hasn’t anyone opened the door for him?” I questioned, wondering why they all stood there, not doing anything.

“We tried, ma'am. But he said he wanted you to come open the door yourself. He forbade us from coming upstairs to call you too.” The staff responded.

“What!” I was a bit shocked. “Why would he say something like that? That's ridiculous.” I muttered as I headed towards the door.

The moment I opened the door for Tyler, a hard slap landed on my face, and I staggered backwards.

“You fool!” He yelled angrily. “How dare you keep us waiting like that? Who do you think you are?”

“Living in my house for free, yet being of no use to me. Empty Barrel!” He hissed, shoving me aside as he made his way into the house.

“Please, come in, Babe.” His gentle voice felt like a knife to my heart.

I stood frozen, my eyes scanning the room for the woman he was addressing. And then, she appeared.

Hannah, his secretary, whom he had gotten pregnant, walked into our home with a confident stride. Our eyes met, and for a moment, time stood still.

Our domestic staff were equally taken aback, but no one dared to protest. They could only stare at us in shock.

“What are you staring at me for? Fools!” Tyler roared at them like an angry lion.

“Claire, bring Hannah's bags in. She has been through so much stress today.” He suddenly said to me, while I stood transfixed, saying no word.

Seeing no reaction from me, he yelled, his voice thundering through the room, “I'm sure you've not suddenly gone deaf and dumb at the same time! Get those bags!”

The maids in the house quickly rushed to Hannah's bags which were placed at the front door.

“Don't you dare!” He thundered at them. “If any of you touches as little as one of those bags, your work here is done.”

Hearing such threats, they all pulled back. I mean, no one wanted to lose their job.

“Baby, please make sure she brings the bags upstairs, carefully. There are some expensive and fragile things in those bags, like my skincare products. I won't be happy if any gets broken.” Hannah softly said to Tyler, who nodded in understanding.

“She knows better than to allow anything to get broken.” He said, staring at me, coldly.

“You heard her, right?” He asked me, and I nodded in response.

“Let's go.” He said, holding Hannah's waist like a loved up couple.

He suddenly remembered something and stopped midway.

He spun around to face me. “That reminds me. Claire, take your things out of the master bedroom.”

“That will be me and Hannah's room from now on. And we definitely want no disturbances. So, go and take out your things right now.” He ordered, but didn't expect the response he got.

“There'll be no need for that.” I said flatly, to his surprise.

“What do you mean?” He asked, his brows furrowed.

“My things are out of the room already.” I replied, throwing him into further surprise.

He wanted to ask more questions, but Hannah tugged on his arm. “Babe, I'm tired, and hungry. It's been a long day. Let's go in to freshen up.”

“Alright, love.” He responded to her softly.

He turned to the chefs. “We'll be down shortly for dinner. Set the table.” He ordered them.

“Dinner?” The head chef was completely surprised. “It's almost 10pm sir.”

“And who says I can't have dinner at any time in my own home? It seems you want to get fired!” He snapped at the chef, who almost fell to his knees.

“I'm sorry, sir.” He immediately apologized. “I'll get dinner ready right away.”

“Better.” Tyler hissed.

I watched as they slowly went up the stairs, while I struggled with carrying Hannah's bags, which for some reason, were extremely heavier than I thought they would be.

After struggling for a few minutes, I finally arrived upstairs with the bags, and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” I heard Hannah's voice.

I took a deep breath, opened the door and pulled the bags into the room, which was once ours, but was now taken over by another woman.

“Here are your bags.” I said, and turned around to leave.

“You don't plan to leave the bags there, do you?” Hannah asked me, and I turned to face her, looking confused.

“Please, take the bags over there. I want them placed up there.” She pointed at the upper part of a shelf in the walk-in closet.

“What!” I exclaimed. “I'm sorry, but I can't. The bags are heavy and I'm not so tall.”

“Besides, who in the world places a bag full of ‘whatever is in there’ on top of a wardrobe. It doesn't sound normal, in my opinion.” I protested further.

“No one asked you for your opinion. Get the bags up there. At least be useful for once in your life!” Tyler yelled at me, and I just stared at him, unable to believe my ears.

My marriage to Tyler had been nothing short of a nightmare ever since he met Hannah. There was absolutely nothing I did that made sense to him anymore. It was either I was doing too much, or I wasn't doing enough.

“Get to work!” He shouted at me one more time, and I shuddered.

I soon began to struggle with the bags, and I heard how they chuckled and made fun of me every time I almost fell with the bags.

“Babe, she can leave it. I don't want her to ruin my bags.” Hannah said to him, and he finally let me off the hook.

“Supervise the table.” He instructed me. “I don't want anything that would upset Hannah. You know she is quite picky with food now, and she has a sensitive stomach. We’ll be down shortly.”

I sighed and nodded, leaving the room right after.

Shortly after, they both arrived downstairs with Tyler having a lit cigarette in his hand.

Seeing the cigarette, I quickly stepped away from him. He knew how much I hated cigarettes, especially because of my health, yet he lit one in the house.

I watched as they both settled into their seats, with Tyler pulling out the chair for her like a gentleman.

And as soon as they were properly settled, I broke the news,

“I'm leaving.”