Lahat ng Kabanata ng DIVORCED MORNING AND REMARRIED TO HIS BROTHER BY NIGHT: Kabanata 281 - Kabanata 290

MONIQUEI sit there for a moment longer, staring at the document like it might burst into flames if I look at it hard enough.This cannot be happening in real life.“So let me get this straight,” I say finally. “After everything he’s done to me, after the lies, the cheating, the child,...I have to sit down with him and talk about our marriage like it’s some broken vase we might glue back together?”Mr Smith doesn’t sugarcoat it.“Yes.”My jaw tightens.“And if I refuse?”“Then he will argue that you are in breach of the agreement,” he says. “And he will push to enforce every penalty written into it.”I let out a slow, shaky breath. Silence stretches between us. Heavy and Suffocating.“I want to be very clear,” I say quietly. “I am not going back to him.”“No one is asking you to,” Mr Smith replies. “This is not about reconciliation. This is about strategy.”I look up at him sharply.“Strategy?”“This sit-down,” he says, tapping the document, “is a trap. Ryan believes he still controls

MONIQUE“No,” Marcus said, his hand already on mine in front of the table. “Please don’t blame yourself for that idiot.”“I’m the idiot,” I told him. And a tear ran down and I quickly wiped it. "Don't cry for him Monique." Marcus pleaded“I’m not gonna cry for him. I know I was so stupid back then, and I made some mistakes, and here they are, ready to bite me in the ass...." I wiped away a tear "Can you believe that this idiot is forcing me to stay married to him? I mean, that has to be against every law in the country, in the world. You can’t force someone to be with you.”Marcus only nodded before he asked, “And what did the lawyer, Mr Smith, have to say?”“Well,” I said, “I told Mr Smith that there is no way in hell that I am going to stay married to Ryan. No way in hell.”He nods, letting me continue.“I told him that I was not doing it, and I think you saw there is a rule there that states, if we were to divorce and there was no way for us to go on and that one of us really wan

MONIQUEIt surprisingly took a lot of effort, a lot of pleading and negotiation to get Marcus to finally let me go to my sit-down with Ryan.He looked okay at first with it, but as time got closer to the sit-down with Ryan, it came quicker and quicker, and he got clingier and clingier. It kind of became..... I don't know adorable, funny, to see how much he wanted to hold on to me.He soon started negotiating about coming with me, maybe he will come to the restaurant after my arrival and just sit somewhere at the hotel.... Then I could call him when I was done with Ryan. My answer, of course, had been No, No, and No.Seeing Marcus so determined to come with me made me feel a lot more confident about my meeting with Ryan because I knew he wasn't fighting so hard to come there because he was afraid for me or that he thought I couldn't handle myself. It's because he wanted to be close to me and also acted a little possessive and jealous. It was sweet and made me feel a lot better, confid

MONIQUEThere was something about the way Ryan looked at me.As I stared back at him, really looked at him, I saw how comfortably he sat there, like this was just another one of his business meetings. One he was expecting to win. I saw the confidence in his eyes, the certainty that I would bend to his will, to his words, the way I always used to.I couldn’t believe he thought this was actually going to work. That he truly believed a few carefully chosen words could undo everything he had done, his words, his actions, physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically......and that I would go back to him.“I don’t need your help, Ryan,” I said. “In fact, the only help you can give me is to sign those divorce papers without trying to bring up anymore issues..... let us go our separate ways.”He smiled, like he’d been waiting for that answer.“I know you think you don’t need me, Monique, but you do. You always did. Nothing has changed. I’m Ryan, the man who took care of you all these yea

MONIQUEI stared at the open car door, my heartbeat pounding in my ears so loudly it almost drowned out everything else.“Get in, Monique,” Ryan said again, softer this time, but there was something underneath it. Something tight. Something impatient.I didn’t move.“I… I think we should go back inside,” I said slowly, my eyes scanning the parking area. “The police should be coming. Dale is still out there.”Ryan’s jaw flexed slightly.“We don’t know if it’s safe inside either. Whoever those men were, they could still be there.”“Yes,” I said, nodding, but my feet still wouldn’t move. “But there are people there. Staff. Cameras. Security.”His hand tightened on the car door.“Monique,” he said, his voice dropping lower, firmer. “Get. In. The car.”A chill slid down my spine.That tone. I knew that tone.For ten years, that tone had meant one thing, obey or regret it.My fingers curled slightly around my bag strap as I forced myself to meet his eyes.“I’ll take another car,” I said car