Chapter 22
1497words
" I don't want to get anything from any car, Ember. I came out here to be with you," he said adamantly, and I bit my lower lip.
"Well, that's dumb," I said quietly. The past weeks stretched out between us. The lawyer's letters, the letter rendering them void, the public statement on the internet. All of that, and I hadn't said anything to him. Now he was here, and I didn't really know what to say to him.
"me coming out here to be with you is dumb, but you being on a date with a stranger isn't?"
Rowan was no longer a stranger to me. But I wasn't about to explain any of that to him.
"You shouldn't be out here with me when you have a woman waiting for you inside, Paris," I explained in simpler terms, and he shook his head,
"Is this why you won't come back to me? Because of this new man?"
"Excuse me?"
" What exactly does he have that I don't have? I'm an Alpha for crying out loud. Is he? I have all the money you could ever want. I'm everything you could ever want, Ember." he said and I scoffed.
"Funny how you could be throwing your money in my face, seeing how often your sister and mother claimed I only wanted to be with you for your wealth."
"I never believed that."
"that doesn't matter to me anymore," I said and sighed.
"Because you've met someone else," he stated vehemently and I merely shrugged,
"you're committing a crime, are you aware?" He scolded me, and I tilted my head,
"What crime am I being accused of now?"
"bigamy." he spat, and it took a couple of seconds for his words to register and I fought the urge to laugh out loud,
“You have got to be kidding me right now.” I said and shook my head.
“Well, it turns out I'm not. You are my wife, trying to get yourself married to another man right under my nose.”
"bigamy? Really, Paris? Listen to yourself! Let me remind you, that you and I rejected each other and are separated. I'm not married to you! And if my eyes weren't seeing correctly, I believe you were just with your mate."
"So I'm right then, you do want to end up with this guy. That's why you won't come home."
"I already explained to you ages ago why I won't be coming back to you, Paris," I said, suddenly weary of the trajectory of how the conversation
"So you'll just go ahead and marry someone else? It hasn't even been a year, and yet you are already considering a new husband!" he said with barely constrained anger. But I had anger of my own and wasn't afraid of matching his,
"Now, look here, just because you saw me having dinner with that man does not mean I plan on getting married. And even if I did, it's none of your business, to be honest."
"none of my business, you say?" he asked,
"Yes! It's mine and mine alone. Hell, I'm not even your mate! "
"But you are my wife!"
"was! I was your wife, Paris. But you treated me like crap and even rejected me."
"Because you rejected me first!" He barked and I groaned,
"You're impossible." I spat and turned away from him, but he held me by my hand to keep me from getting into my car,
"Wait. Just wait, Em," he said, and I paused, my chest heaving from all the violent emotions I was feeling,
"What?" I whispered as a storm of emotions began to rage within me.
"He won't make you happy," he stated and I nodded again,
"that's for me to decide and deal with, I believe."
He finally let go of my hand, and I felt like a part of my heart broke right then,
"Then I guess I should push forward in the divorce papers, so you can legally be free of me," he said quietly and I nodded, in spite of the fact that my heart had just dropped into my stomach.
I blinked rapidly and looked away from him. If I looked in his eyes right at that time, then I was bound to shed real tears.
"Em?"
"yeah?" I replied, my voice hoarse to my own ears,
"I hope you can be happy from now on though."
"yeah. Me too." I said quietly, and watched as his feet turned away, heard as he walked away, probably back too late. Or perhaps his car to take something so that he didn't seem like a liar, and I couldn't help the tears that welled in my eyes.
I knew I was making the right choice, so why did it hurt so much to watch him walk away?
I knew taking what he offered at that moment was the wrong move, and so why did the idea of our divorce being printed out on paper, make me want to crawl into my bed and cry forever?
~~~~
I didn't sleep well. The whole thing with Paris the night before had left me feeling very emotional so that I had a hard time falling asleep, and when morning came and I had to get up for work, it had been something of a trial.
But I did it.
Hours late, Rowan called me during the middle of the day though, and that was actually the first time I smiled genuinely that day,
"hey!" he said, with more excitement than I expected and my lower chin. After the way I had left last night, I was sure he was going to write me off and never call me back. I was already considering how best to apologize. I mean, I know he had smiled and said it was okay. But sometimes, that was just a prelude to walking away from me.
"You don't hate me," I said with relief, and he chuckled,
"Is there a reason I should be?"
"Hopefully not." I said and leaned back in my chair, "How are you?"
"great. Tell you what. There's a dance party later this evening. What do you say, do you think you're up for it?"
I didn't even have to overthink it, "yes, I'm definitely up for it."
"good. What time do you get off work?"
"around four Ish."
"alright. I'll be there. You'll need some time to freshen up, so I'll take you home. We can leave around six."
I wanted to decline because of the part where he said he'd take me home, but then I remembered that it was Axel who set us up and that he knew my true identity.
"Okay." I said happily, "See you around four."
Until four, he was actually all I could think about, and when he came to pick me up and his eyes still twinkled like the night before, I knew I wasn't a lost cause when it came to love after all.
He took me home and spent some time with Axel while I got prepared, and as I put on my silver dress, I couldn't help but think about Paris and all his attempts from the night before.
"bigamy." I spat and shook my head. The man was really something.
"wow," I exclaimed when we reached the dance hall. The hall was really exquisite, and I turned to Rowan to find him looking at me, "I'm not sure I know anyone here, but this place looks really nice."
"I'm glad you like it already. Which reminds me, Axel said something about coming home one of these days for dinner."
"oh, did he?" I asked and mentally shook my head. Axel was really bent on helping me find love. I didn't know if to want to punch him in the face or if to be touched, "did he say what day?"
"any day you're fine with." I looked up at him and for the second time that day, my chin wobbled.
There had been a time when Paris and I loved each other and our love had an afterglow, but even then Paris had never made an attempt to get to know my family. Yes, I kept my true identity a secret, but Paris had never really tried to find out about them to start with.
I was just too in love to see a problem with that. That, and the whole thing helped me to keep my secret.
"Oh, then I'll just work it out with my family and let you know. It'll be soon though."
"just say when."
We danced after that conversation, and when our feet got tired, we went to have our seats to eat and laugh. It was turning out to be a very pleasant evening indeed, but I had not expected Paris's sudden appearance.
I was sipping wine when I caught sight of him and choked on it at the sight of him.
