Chapter 20
Frederick stared deeply into her eyes, his expression completely unreadable.
“Are you serious right now p>
Holding his gaze for two seconds, Maeve slid the settlement folder closer to his side of the table.
“I’ve already signed it. Read through the clauses. Once you’re done, sign at the bottom, and we’ll finalize everything at the courthouse p>
Frederick snatched up the paperwork. Right at the bottom of the page, glaring up at him in bold black ink, was her signature. He stared at her name so intensely that the blood vessels in his eyes began to rupture with rage.
Maeve’s expression didn’t so much as twitch. She simply picked up a pen from the table and held it out to him.
“Sign it p>
“Heh p>
With a vicious sneer, Frederick ripped the multi-page legal document clean in half and threw the pieces straight into the trash can. His voice was absolute ice.
“Maeve, there is a limit to these tantrums of yours p>
Maeve slowly closed her eyes and dropped the pen back onto the table.
“I’ll just print out another copy tomorrow p>
“Maeve p>
Frederick’s patience had officially snapped. Reaching across the space, he slammed his massive hands down onto her shoulders, gripping her hard.
“What the hell are you trying to pull here p>
“Did you go deaf? I want to divorce you p>
Maeve tried to pry his fingers off her collarbone, but he wouldn’t budge an inch. Giving up, she stared straight up into his furious, pitch-black eyes. Her voice remained chillingly steady.
“You can tear up that agreement all you want. If you rip up one, I’ll print ten. You rip up ten, I’ll print a hundred. I will keep putting those papers in front of your face until you finally sign your goddamn name p>
The brutal pressure on her shoulders suddenly vanished. His hands slid smoothly down her arms, looping entirely around her waist as he pulled himself intoxicatingly close.
His lips hovered a fraction of an inch above hers, leaning in for a kiss.
Maeve violently jerked her head to the side. The kiss missed its mark, landing instead on the corner of her mouth. Yet, rather than pulling back, he stayed there, peppering soft, infuriatingly gentle pecks against her cheek like he was soothing a hysterical child.
It didn’t soothe her. It just made her want to vomit from the sheer absurdity of it all.
“Mae, stop throwing this little fit,” he murmured against her skin.
The second he uttered that dismissive phrase again, a blinding pain spiked in Maeve’s temples. Summoning every ounce of her strength, she shoved him in the chest and shot up from the sofa.
Every single agonizing moment from the past six months came rushing back to her in an explosive tidal wave of grief. She glared down at him, vibrating with pure hatred.
“A fit?! Frederick, what the hell have I done wrong p>
“I literally just want a goddamn divorce p>
Her chest heaved violently with every breath, and her eyes were a savage, bloodshot red.
“I am screaming it right to your face! Why do you keep pretending like you can’t hear a single word I say p>
Frederick’s entire body tensed into a block of solid granite. Thick veins began to bulge along his forearms.
“Give me one valid reason p>
Maeve practically snarled at him. “The reason is staring you right in the face! Do I really have to spell it out for you p>
Frederick knew exactly what she was insinuating. The last traces of patience bled out of his expression, leaving only a freezing darkness.
“Is this about Zoe? Maeve, you know damn well what her situation is! I actually thought you were mature enough to understand why I have to look out for her. But instead, you’re demanding a divorce over some petty jealousy. When are you going to stop acting like a spoiled brat and actually grow up p>
“You’re right! I’m immature! I’m completely unreasonable! I will never, ever be the perfect, submissive little wife you want me to be p>
He was the man she had fiercely loved for years. No matter how much she tried to play the cold, detached victim, screaming those words felt like someone was violently carving out her heart with a rusty knife. The agony was so sharp she couldn’t even catch her breath.
“So just sign the goddamn papers! I’m letting you go, and I’m letting myself go with it p>
Frederick’s face contorted into something genuinely terrifying. His voice dropped into a lethal, venomous register.
“Five years, Maeve. We’ve loved each other for five years. I had no idea it would be this insanely easy for you to just throw it all away p>
“You had no idea p>
Maeve burst out laughing. It was a bleak, utterly shattered sound.
Thinking of the sheer hell she had been forced to endure for the past six months, only for him to brush it off with a pathetic ‘I had no idea all the fight suddenly drained out of her body. She felt unbelievably empty.
Her face was a mask of absolute despair. She began to whisper, sounding like she was talking to a ghost.
“You’re right. You didn’t know. How could you? For the past six months, you’ve been glued to your precious Zoe. You never answer my calls. You ignore my texts. When I’m sick when I’m miserable and orying or the floor, you’re entirely blind to it p>
“You literally abandoned me in the middle of our third anniversary dinner just because she called you crying. So tell me, Frederick… how the hell would you know what I’ve been going through p>