Chapter 1: I Want A Divorce.

SHARON'S POV.

Last night was still playing in my head.

The warmth of Christian's hands on my body, his breath against my skin. The way he had looked at me for the first time in three years like I was actually his wife and not some stranger.

I had spent three years wondering what it would feel like to be wanted by my own husband. Last night, I finally found out.

But I made the stupid mistake of thinking it meant something.

That maybe things were finally going to change and he realized that he loved me.

I smiled to myself as I stepped out of the car with grocery bags hanging from both of my hands.

I spent half the afternoon buying everything I needed to make his favorite meal for dinner and I even got his favorite wine. Down to the dessert he used to love when we were younger.

Tonight was going to be different, I said to myself.

It had to be.

I looked up at the apartment building before heading inside.

We'd lived there for three years, although calling it home always felt like a lie. Christian was barely around but tonight, I was certain he'd come back.

After what happened between us, how could he not?

I spent the next few hours in the kitchen, cooking everything from scratch. I wanted the evening to feel special. I wanted him to walk through that door and see that I was still the same Sharon he'd known before everything between us became so complicated.

By the time I finished, night had fallen.

I changed into a black silk nightgown and stood in front of the mirror, smoothing the fabric over my body. I added a little more lipstick than usual because I wanted to look beautiful just for him.

Then, a knock sounded at the door and my heart jumped.

"Right on time." I hurried across the room and pulled it open.

Christian stood on the other side.

Tall. Impossibly handsome. Dressed in the dark suit he'd probably worn to work all day and I couldn't help but notice his tired expression.

I barely had time to smile before I leaned forward, hoping for a kiss but he sharply moved away.

Christian walked past me without saying anything and the smile on my lips was very quick to vanish.

His familiar cedarwood cologne filled the apartment, and for a moment, I simply stood there, watching him.

"I've been waiting for you," I said quietly as he loosened his tie.

"Come sit down. I made your favorite." I forced myself to smile as I walked toward the dining table.

"Sharon."

Something about his voice made me stop.

It was cold.

"We need to talk." Christian said and my stomach immediately dropped. Everyone knew nothing good ever came after those words.

Christian walked toward the table and placed a stack of papers on it. I stared at them and back at him.

"What's this?" I asked.

"I'm done, Sharon." He muttered.

The words had barely registered before he continued.

"I'm done with this marriage. I can't do it anymore." My eyes dropped back to the papers and my hands went cold once I realized.

These were divorce papers.

"Christian..." My voice barely came out.

"I've already signed them." He said coldly and I looked at his cursive signature. It was real. This wasn't another argument or one of the empty threats he made the few times we fought.

He was actually leaving me.

"But I made dinner. I made everything you like. Tonight was supposed to be romantic after last night...Did all that mean nothing to you?" The words came out before I could stop them and when I reached for his arm, he pulled away so quickly that I stumbled.

"Don't."

My eyes burned.

"Christian, I don't understand." He looked at me then and somehow, his expression was colder than anything he'd said.

"I thought I could make this work. I really did." He said.

"Then why are you doing this?" The question left me weak and then he turned away. "Because I can't keep pretending." He replied.

"Pretending what?"

"That I love you." My heart immediately sank.

The room went silent and it felt like I couldn't breathe.

My mind went back to last night once again. Everything I'd thought it meant and everything I allowed myself to believe.

It was all a lie.

He was drunk and so was I.

That was the only reason we'd ended up in the same bed for the first time since we'd gotten married and when I woke up this morning, he was already gone.

And when I woke up that morning, he was already gone.

I'd spent the entire day convincing myself that his silence meant he was embarrassed or maybe he just needed time.

Maybe, after three years, he'd finally realized how much I loved him.

But how foolish I'd been.

I'd loved Christian for far longer than we'd been married. I was only 15 when I first realized it and he was 17.

We grew up together and Christian was always the person I looked for whenever I walked into a room. He knew just how to make me laugh and teased me when I was upset, 

He was the person I trusted most and somewhere along the line, my feelings changed.

I fell in love with him.

When I finally confessed, he didn't exactly reject me but he didn't accept me either. Our parents, however, had been convinced for the longest time that we were made for each other.

They always joked about how perfect we'd be together.

What we hadn't realized then was that it wasn't entirely a joke. They had already decided our future for us.

When Christian turned 18, he left for college in New York. One year became two. Two became five.

And before I knew it, eight years had passed before he came home.

By then, I was twenty-four. I had changed as well but the second I saw him, every old feeling came rushing back.

Christian wasn't the boy I'd remembered, he had grown into a completely different man.

He was more serious and a lot more reserved.

He was always dressed in expensive suits and was always surrounded by important people.

Still, I searched for the boy I knew.

The boy who used to make me laugh until my stomach hurt.

When he came back, it didn't take long until our parents finally told us the truth.

About their plans for us to get married and we had no say in it.

Christian was furious when he found out.

He didn't want me, nor did he want the marriage. But me on the other hand, I saw an opportunity. If we were going to be married anyway, I thought I could make him fall in love with me.

I imagined our life together.

A house.

Children.

Sunday mornings.

A husband who would eventually look at me the way I looked at him but instead, I got three years of loneliness.

Christian barely touched me and even though we lived under the same roof, we existed in completely separate worlds.

Now, after one night together, he was standing in front of me with divorce papers.

"You have until tomorrow to decide." His voice pulled me out of my thoughts and when I looked at him, the tears fell.

"Christian, wait!" He turned toward the door but I rushed toward him to grab his hands.

"You can't just do this." I said.

"I love you. I've always loved you." My voice cracked and finally, he looked back. There was something almost angry in his eyes.

"What did you expect?" I froze.

"That one night would change everything?" He asked. My lips parted but an answer couldn't even come out.

"Last night was a mistake, Sharon. I don't want this marriage anymore. Now that I've taken over my father's company, I don't have to keep pretending." A sob caught in my throat.

"I don't love you, Sharon." He said the words that finally shattered whatever was left of me. "I never did. You only built this fantasy in your head because of who we were as children and you convinced yourself that we were meant to be together."

Each word was colder than the last.

When he opened the door, I could barely speak.

"Christian..."

"This marriage is over." He looked over his shoulder before walking away. The door slammed behind him and I stood there.

For a few seconds, I couldn't move.

His words only kept repeating inside my head.

"I don't love you. I never did." When my knees finally gave out, I sank onto the floor as the tears came running.

I'd spent years waiting for Christian. Years believing that if I loved him enough, he'd eventually love me back.

Apparently, I waited for nothing.

I forced myself up and looked outside the window.

Christian was already leaving the building. I watched him cross the lobby, maybe still hoping that he'd turn back but he didn't. He walked toward the parking lot and suddenly, a car pulled up next to him. I frowned as the passenger door opened.

A woman stepped out.

She wore a black dress that clung to her body, and even from the distance, I recognized her.

"Cassandra?" My breath caught.

Christian looked up and the woman walked straight toward him. He pulled her into her arms before they kissed.

My heart stopped.

I stared through the glass as they got into the car together and disappeared into the rain.

It turned around to the divorce papers still sitting on the table and it felt like my heart had shattered into a million pieces.

"You have until tomorrow to decide." His words echoed.

For years, I'd imagined growing old with Christian Lockwood. I'd imagined having his children and spending the rest of our lives together but in that moment, it hit me.

The man I fell in love with was long gone.