A Divorce He Regrets

Chapter 301:

Dom’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Why?” he asked, as if I just told him I wanted to catch Bigfoot and use him as a teddy bear.

I sighed. “If the marriage doesn’t work out again and we get a divorce…” I avoided Alex’s gaze like the plague. I could feel the heat of his stare on the sides of my face, but I didn’t dare look. “It’ll hurt them, and I don’t think I can do that—not even for the company that’s trying to kick me out,” I rushed.

Dom crossed his arms over his chest, an impassive look on his face as if he hadn’t just heard me. “And if it does work out?” he challenged.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He was right. What if it does? There was at most a five percent chance it would, but there was also over ninety percent chance it wouldn’t, past history aside. But what if it does? The words echoed in my head.

“Fine. We can keep it a secret,” he caved. “For now.”

“Thank you.” I let out a long breath. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but in its place was a pile of heavy luggage—luggage that was the history I had with Alex.

He struggled, his eyes shifting from indifferent calm to annoyance, to confusion, and back to calm.

“I’m sorry, but I just don’t feel it’s right to involve them,” I explained, not sure why I was considering it, especially since he never really cared. But I felt an unshakeable guilt settle in my chest that I didn’t need there. “At least not yet. Not until we actually get things back on track,” I rushed to add.

I expected an outburst, or at the very least, I expected him to load me with a piece of his mind. He did neither. He shot me a tight smile.

“You should get some rest.” He placed a hand on my lower back, guiding me to the headboard.

Two days passed in a blur. I spent most of it in bed, even though I couldn’t be off work. Nope, not because I loved lazing about while the workload piled up, but because Alex had been like a typical jailer, only letting me get off the bed to use the restroom and freshen up. I swear, if he could follow me into the restroom, he would have. With all the time he spent hovering over me at the hospital, I couldn’t help but wonder how exactly his company was doing with him gone so often.

The wedding came faster than I expected. It was an intimate gathering—if you consider a small gathering where most of the guests were my people, who I barely knew but were related to me in one way or another and just happened to be in town.

F𝓾ll 𝒸h𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓊𝓅𝒹𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓈 𝒶t g𝒶l𝓷ovєls.𝓬•𝓶noveldrama

The choir broke into the melody that would usher me in, and my hands shook. A mix of anticipation and fear. I knew it wasn’t real, but no matter how many times I screamed it to my heart, it refused to get the memo and jumped every time I caught a glimpse of him.

The minister hurried through most of the mundane processes, only slowing down when it was time for the vows. I tried writing something the night before, but what do you say to a man who looked at you like you were the reason he still took steady breaths? Like he was the luckiest man alive to have you standing before him in a rented wedding dress you didn’t even pick out yourself, with no makeup, a pair of old heels, and a hurriedly done sleek bun?

He smiled gently after I finished my vow. I slid the ring onto his finger and stretched out mine. Alex had never been one to go out of his way to be romantic; he probably googled the vow or something, so it was better to save everyone’s time.

“Raina. I know I’ve been a shitty asshole for as long as I can remember.” I stilled. He wasn’t reading from a paper. Did he? No, Alex wouldn’t. “I messed up in the worst kind of way, and I honestly don’t know why you still gave me a chance to breathe the same air as you. You’re just too selfless for your own good.” He wrapped my hand in his. Heat seeped from the spot where our hands met, threatening to burn me to the ground at any moment. “I want to be selfless too, but whenever you’re involved, I can’t help but be selfish. I want you, not just in a ‘satisfy my urges’ kind of way. I want every part of you. I want to be lucky enough to be there when the corners of your eyes crinkle when you laugh. I want to be the reason you laugh. I want to wake up every morning and just thank you for choosing me, and I hope one day you will be able to truly forgive me and let me get my selfish wishes, because I promise you, I would never stop trying.”

My vision blurred. My heart clenched painfully. Every word, every sentence had come from him. Not once had he taken his eyes off of me, not once did he look away or stutter. He smiled at me with so much determination swirling in his eyes that it was impossible to breathe.

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