Chapter 2 Help Me Draft a Divorce Agreement

Thalia struggled against Alden. "Don't do this. I really don't want to tonight." Alden scoffed before shoving her into the bed and bending her into a humiliating pose. Thalia panicked. She was about to shove him off when his phone started ringing, stopping him in his tracks. Alden glanced at the phone screen before getting up. He then grabbed his phone and walked out of the master bedroom. Thalia didn't need to look at the screen to know who the caller was—Kiera. Kiera would give Alden a call on this very day every single month. Alden would always answer it in his study and end up spending over 30 minutes on the call. The reason Thalia had never suspected that they were sleeping together was that Alden would always leave in a hurry after hanging up on Kiera's call. But tonight was the exception to the rule. Thalia was surprisingly curious as to what Alden and Kiera might be conversing about on their 30-minute phone call. What had they spoken about that would make Kiera so "gracious" as to let Alden have sex with Thalia tonight? Once Alden went into his study, Thalia silently went over as well. Not expecting Thalia to eavesdrop, Alden hadn't shut the door entirely. He'd left a small gap that just so happened to let Thalia listen in on what was going on. The lights were off in the study, so all Thalia could make out was Alden's figure merging with the darkness around him. She couldn't see his face clearly, though. Alden was currently on a video call with Kiera. Her face was clear as day on the bright phone screen. "Did you have sex with Thalia again?" Kiera whined accusingly through the call. "No. She wasn't feeling well." "What about next time, then? Hasn't Henrietta been pestering you to give her a great-grandchild? You're still going to sleep with Thalia next time!" Kiera cried. Her pitiful sobs rang out through the call. "I get so jealous whenever I think about you in bed with Thalia and being intimate with her!" "Kiki, you're the only woman who will ever bear my child. I'll make sure Thalia never does," Alden patiently consoled Kiera. "I've already swapped Thalia's daily vitamins with oral contraceptives." Alden's voice was so calm it was almost cruel. "I've only been putting up an act in front of Henrietta and Thalia all this time. "You're the only woman I'll ever want, babe, so please don't be sad anymore. I'll go to you once Thalia falls asleep, okay?" Thalia felt like all the blood in her veins had frozen over. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Vitamins… Oral contraceptives? So, the "vitamins" Alden always gave Thalia after they had sex—those gestures that Thalia had assumed were done out of care and affection—had been nothing more than an intricately thought-out scheme! Thalia sneered. No wonder Alden always said to "go with the flow" whenever children were brought up. He never planned to have any with Thalia at all! Alden hadn't even once considered the pain and accusations Thalia had to face from his family all these years, just because she couldn't get pregnant! Thalia didn't want to listen to Alden and Kiera's conversation after that. She turned around and returned to the bedroom, then made a phone call. "Draft a divorce agreement for me, will you? I'm going to divorce Alden," Thalia instructed. Alden never returned to their bedroom for the rest of the night. It was a sleepless night for Thalia. She received a well-drafted divorce agreement from her best friend the very next morning. After printing the agreement out, Thalia was about to go to the office to get Alden to sign it. But the moment she turned around, she saw him coming into the house. There was a large bouquet of what seemed like 99 roses in his hand. Based on how some of the petals were slightly wilted, it was clear they'd been left out in the open for some time. Thalia sneered. If she hadn't happened to see Kiera's latest social media post earlier this morning—where Kiera showed off a million-dollar diamond necklace and a bouquet of roses someone "special" had bought for her—Thalia would've thought that Alden had had a change of heart. Thalia passed the divorce agreement to Alden. "Alden, let's div—" Alden shoved the bouquet of roses into her hand before she could finish speaking. "This is for you, as an apology for not doing the deed last night." Thalia was a little taken aback. Before she could react, Alden had already taken the document from her hands. "Is Marquette Group facing financial difficulties again?" Alden asked with a snort. His phone happened to ring all of a sudden. Alden then flipped to the last page of the agreement without reading through the contents and signed his name at the bottom. He handed the document back to Thalia while answering the call. "Hey, Kiki…"