Chapter 2

I rounded my arms around my body, hugging myself against the biting cold. The rain still fell in sheets, soaking through my clothes, but I didn’t care. I kept walking, not knowing or even caring where I was going. My thoughts spun wildly, faster than I could keep up with, swirling around the image of those divorce papers, Evelyn’s name, her signature, the finality of it all.

She’s really gone. It’s over.

The words rang in my head like a hammer, beating down relentlessly on my already broken spirit. I felt hollow, like something had been ripped out of me, leaving only a vast emptiness in its place. My feet moved automatically, step after step, down unfamiliar streets and past indifferent faces. The world continued around me as if nothing had changed, as if my life hadn’t just been shattered into a million unrecognizable pieces.

I barely registered the honking of a bus until it was nearly too late. Its blaring horn pierced through my fog, and I snapped back to reality just in time to see the blinding headlights bearing down on me.

I stumbled backward, my breath catching in my throat as the bus roared past, spraying water from the gutter across my legs. The driver shouted something, probably curses, but I couldn’t hear him over the rush of blood in my ears.

For a split second, I wished the bus had hit me. Maybe it would have been easier, less painful, than what I was going through right now. But that wasn’t how it worked. Life didn’t offer easy ways out, not for people like me.

I watched the bus disappear down the street, my chest heaving from the close call. I rubbed a hand across my face, wiping away the rain, or maybe the tears, I couldn’t tell which. The numbness began to settle in again, dulling the sharp edges of the pain.

Evelyn?

Her face floated in my mind, the way she looked when she told me she loved me, when she promised we’d build a life together. Five years. That’s how long we were married, but now, it all felt like a distant dream, like something that happened to someone else.

I shook my head, trying to clear the fog. How had it all gone so wrong? How had her parents convinced her to leave me? No, I realized, it wasn’t them.

This wasn’t just about her parents. Evelyn had signed those papers herself. She had made the decision, and no matter how much I wanted to believe otherwise, the truth was clear.

She had left me.

A new wave of anger surged through me, pushing back the sadness that had consumed me since I’d left her parents’ mansion. I wanted to scream, to hit something, to tear down everything around me just so the world could feel a fraction of what I was feeling inside. But instead, I clenched my fists, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.

Why? I kept asking myself. Why now? Why after everything we’ve been through?

The memories flashed before my eyes, our wedding day, the first apartment we rented together, the late nights spent talking about the future, the arguments we had but always managed to overcome. And then, the silence. The distance that had started creeping in, slowly at first, until it became a chasm too wide to cross.

But I hadn’t expected this. I never saw it coming. Even when Evelyn left, I thought she just needed space. I thought we’d work through it, like we always had. I didn’t think she’d go running to her parents, those rich snobs who always looked down on me, who never thought I was good enough for their precious daughter.

And now, they had won. They had taken her away from me.

I turned a corner, finding myself in a part of the city I barely recognized. The streets were dark, the streetlights that flickered in the rain. I didn’t know where I was going, but at that moment, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

The weight of everything, Evelyn, the divorce, the betrayal, pressed down on me, suffocating. My legs finally gave out, and I sank to the ground, the cold water seeping into my pants as I sat on the curb, my head in my hands.

I thought back to the look on her father’s face when he handed me those papers. The smug satisfaction, as if this had all gone according to plan. They never wanted me in the family. They were just waiting for the right moment to get rid of me.

My hands trembled as I dug my fingers into my hair. How could she have done this to me? How could she have chosen them over me?

The rain drummed against the pavement, filling the silence around me. For a while, I just sat there, letting it wash over me, trying to drown out the storm raging inside. But the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I wasn’t going to let them win. I wasn’t going to let them ruin me.

I stood up abruptly, my legs shaky but determined. I didn’t know what I was going to do yet, but one thing was clear, I wasn’t done fighting. I wasn’t going to disappear quietly. If they thought they could just throw me away, they had another thing coming.

I started walking again, this time with more purpose. My mind raced with thoughts of revenge, of proving them wrong. Evelyn’s parents might have taken her away from me, but they wouldn’t take everything. I would find a way to rise from this, to build a new life. And when I did, they would regret the day they ever tried to break me.

But for now, I needed to figure out my next move. My money was running out, and I had no place to go. The tiny apartment Evelyn and I shared was no longer mine, I couldn’t afford it, and even if I could, I didn’t want to be anywhere near the memories of our life together. I needed a fresh start, but I didn’t know where to begin.

As I continued down the street, I spotted an alleyway to my right. It was dark, but there was a small overhang that offered some shelter from the rain. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. I made my way over, ducking under the cover and leaning against the wall. The concrete was cold, but at least I was out of the downpour.

I slid down to the ground, resting my back against the brick wall. The exhaustion hit me all at once, my body aching from the day’s events. I hadn’t slept in what felt like days, and my mind was too tired to keep racing.

For a moment, I let myself close my eyes, the sound of the rain lulling me into a restless kind of peace. My thoughts drifted, swirling around images of Evelyn, her face, her smile. Despite everything, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I couldn’t stop wondering if there was still a chance, if maybe, just maybe, she regretted it.

But deep down, I knew that was a lie. She had signed those papers. She had walked away.

And now, I had to let her go.

As the rain fell around me, I made a silent promise to myself. I would rebuild my life. I would prove them all wrong. I would rise from the ashes of this mess they had left me in, and I would come back stronger.

One day, they would all see. One day, they would realize that they had underestimated me.

But for now, I needed to survive.

I pulled my jacket tighter around me, huddling against the wall. The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle, and the sounds of the city were muffled in the night. I knew I couldn’t stay here forever, but for tonight, this was enough.

Tomorrow, I would figure it out. Tomorrow, I would start to piece my life back together.

As the rain dripped from the edge of the overhang, I drifted into a restless sleep, my mind still full of thoughts of Evelyn, her parents, and the life I had lost.

But when I woke up, I knew one thing for sure:

This wasn’t the end of my story. It was only the beginning.