3.

ARTEMIS

Divorce?

The words sucked the air out of my lungs, and I stumbled back with surprise. The way Kieran had said those words was so casual, as though my marriage to Van had been nothing more than a business transaction that he could change at will, and it fueled me with rage.

I turned to Van, expecting to see that he would get angry or show any emotion to prove that he saw me as more than whatever Kieran suspected, but the ground under my feet shook at what I saw.

Van was smiling. He looked pleased. His lips were curled in a delighted smile, and his eyes were wide with surprise, as if Christmas had come early.

Something cracked in me as an ugly realisation reared its head. The raw and bitter truth of the life I was trying so hard to grasp cut through my carefully constructed denial.

Van never loved me.

It should have already been obvious in the way he treated me like trash at home and in public, yet I never wanted to accept it, but the sight before me made my throat close up.

So many thoughts clawed at me. Was I ever a wife to him or just a pawn he used to climb the ladder of success? Was Van going to discard me now that I was useless to him?

My fingers curled into fists as a wide range of emotions consumed me, but the strongest of them all was rage. This was never the life I imagined when I decided to marry Van.

I turned to meet the stormy grey eyes of the man who had caused a stir in my world. A stranger who had walked into my home and had the audacity to decide my fate like he owned me.

At that moment, I didn’t care about how powerful he was. All I was, Kieran Archibald had no right.

“How dare you?” I snarled, my voice came out steadier than I felt on the inside as it sliced through the silence.

“Who are you to decide the fate of my marriage just because you have a stupid contract people salivate for?” My voice rose, breaking through my outer calmness.

I met Kieran’s cold gaze with a defiant one, refusing to give in under the intensity of his stare.

Van scoffed, but my attention remained on Kieran, who didn’t look the least bothered by my outburst. His gaze was unyielding as they locked onto me.

“The fate of your marriage?” The words sounded like a joke, and the way Kieran spoke made me feel like my marriage had been nothing but that.

“Yes, my marriage. I don’t care how powerful you are, but you have no right to come into my home and propose such a ridiculous idea.” It was taking everything in me not to scream at the blank expression he was wearing.

“You call this a marriage?” Kieran gestured to the space between us, “You want to fight for this?” His eyes narrowed with a glint of something unreadable.

I sucked in a harsh breath as Kieran took slow, calculated steps towards me. His presence was suffocating, and I wanted him far from me.

“You stood there in silence while your husband humiliated you in front of his friends and business associates. You flinched at his words but never fought back. You let him degrade you, knowing he invited your parents here to watch.”

For the first time since Van called me to the middle of the room, I glanced towards my parents, who stood at the far end of the room like servants with their tattered clothes while watching me helplessly.

My mother had tears in her eyes as her hands were placed over her mouth to muffle her tears, while my father had his eyes on the floor, too ashamed that he was unable to protect his daughter.

I didn’t know that Van would bring my parents until I saw them walk through the doors. He had warned me against talking to them without his permission unless I wanted them to run out of business, and I couldn’t risk that.

My parents had started a small fish business to survive after Van cut off all their sources of income, and the business was barely surviving because Van also made sure they couldn’t get any loans to expand. No one we knew wanted to help us avoid Van’s wrath.

“And yet, you dare question me?” Kieran’s voice dipped, smooth as silk but sharp as a dagger.

My throat tightened, and my body burned with humiliation and anger, but I was not going to let a stranger humiliate me like this. Van had done enough, and I was barely holding on to my sanity as it was.

“What you think doesn’t matter,” I sneered, “You are a stranger and have no right to judge and demand things in my marriage.”

“Or,” Kieran continued, his tone like a predator playing with its prey, as though I hadn’t said a word, “are you simply upset that someone finally made the decision you were too much of a coward to make yourself?”

My nails dug into my palm, but before I could respond, Van took the opportunity to insert himself into the conversation.

“Mr Blackwell, you are making me sound like a villain. I never humiliated her. Everything I said was the truth,” he chuckled nervously.

Kieran paid him no mind, his blank stare never leaving me as I glared at him with all the anger and hatred that burned through me.

Van forced out a laugh, though his nerves betrayed him in the way he shifted on his feet when he realised that Kieran was never going to give him an answer.

“Are you going to answer me, or should I take your silence as agreement that the latter is the case?”

“I don’t owe you any explanation,” I spat, but Kieran’s eyes twinkled in amusement.

“Uh, Mr Archibald,” Van stuttered, looking between Kieran and me. “I have a question, though. Why did you request a divorce all of a sudden? Are you interested in my wife?”

Finally, Kieran turned to him, his expression unreadable. “I don’t believe I was speaking to you, so why do you keep trying to interrupt me, Mr Calloway?”

Van stiffened at the icy tone and stare Kieran had levelled at him, and subtly, I was thankful that I wasn’t on the receiving end of that stare.

I had lost count of how many times Van had been reduced from an arrogant millionaire to a man who was trying desperately to hold on to the last bit of pride he could as Kieran tore him to shreds with just words and a few sentences.

“Don’t interrupt me again unless I ask you a question,” Kieran commanded, and Van shrank in size as he shuffled backwards in shame.

“Now,” Kieran’s gaze flickered back to me, and I tensed. “Do you want to stay here, Artemis?”

My stupid brain didn’t focus on his question at first. Instead, it captured the easy and natural way my name had rolled off his lips like he had spent a lifetime saying it.

I shivered involuntarily, not understanding why I wanted to hear him call my name even in the haze of the anger I felt towards him.

I quickly shook my head to dispel the thoughts so I could focus on the situation before me.

“I don’t have to give you an answer. Why do you keep crossing the line?” I snapped.

What was wrong with this man? Why was he treating me as though I didn’t know what I wanted?

“Do you want to stay here, Artemis?” he asked, voice deceptively calm. “To keep clinging to a man who just now, in front of everyone, so eagerly humiliated you. This is not the first time this has happened, right? And it probably won’t be the last”

I swallowed hard, my legs nearly giving out under the suffocating weight of the shame.

“If she finds it hard to make a decision, I will make one for her” Van stepped forward again, this time his eyes gleaming with greed “Why should I think twice when an Archibald has asked me to discard my burden for a life of glory?”

I couldn’t decide if it was me or the room, but something spun.

Burden?

The word rang loudly in my ears, a loud, shrill sound that made me wince as my vision went blurry.

“If you want me to divorce her this instant, I will. I can even get my lawyer to draw up a temporary document right away, and we can get everything finalized tomorrow” Van continued.

It seemed Van’s words excited him because he broke out into full laughter “Hell, if I had known that all it took to get a HiCorp contract was to dump her, I would have done it years ago”

Laughter rippled through the room, and my heart shattered.

Kieran didn’t laugh. He had not looked away from me the entire time while I went paler than a sheet of paper.

All the fight I had in me drained out, and if someone touched me, I might just collapse.

“There’s your answer,” he murmured, his voice almost gentle but laced with something darker beneath. “Is that the man you wanted to fight for?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

The betrayal and shame were worse than anything I had ever experience while being married to Van.

If there was a word greater than torment, that was exactly what I was feeling as I stood there watching Van smile like he had won the lottery while shaking the hands of the guests who celebrated him.

I felt the sudden urge to throw up. This was worse than the mockery, the insults and the years of neglect. Van had discarded me without a second thought, like I was nothing.

I couldn’t lie. I had thought about our marriage ending a few times before, but I never imagined it would be this way. Over a contract.

Kieran’s eyes softened a bit. “I gave you freedom.” He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the warmth from his breath. “The question is… what will you do with it?”

How dare he? I raged.

How dare he act sympathetic towards me when he was the reason for this mess? If he had not asked for such a ridiculous bargain, I wouldn’t be the target of the disgusting, pitiful and mocking gazes that were on me.

I couldn’t bring herself to look at the guests or her parents, scared of what I would see when I did. I felt exposed and wanted to run away, but Kieran’s gaze pinned me down, making me unable to move an inch.

He exhaled, almost in disappointment. “You weren’t wanted here.” The words were deliberate. Precise. Each one landed like a slap. “And yet you stayed. Why?”

Yet again, I had no answer. Why was he doing this to me? In front of them?

Kieran’s lips curved slightly, but there was no warmth in his expression. “Tell me, Artemis,” he murmured, “what will it be?”

The silence was deafening until Van’s cruel and booming laughter broke it. “Mr Archibald, I can promise you that nothing good can ever come from her. She is ruined. She has nothing valuable to offer”

Kieran’s body went eerily still, and for a moment, I thought he was going to punch Van with the way his hands clenched, but he didn’t.

The glare he sent Van wiped the smirk off his face, and he stumbled away from us.

“I would hit you, Van,” Kieran said coldly, calling his name for the first time that night “But you are not worth even one of my punches”

He turned to me and extended his hand.

“Come with me.”