Chapter 13

"You forced me to work my ass off, and I did. I wanted to be a good wife for you, Stanley. But it's not enough, right? You used me, and now you want to be with my sister just because I wasn't able to give you a child. You threw all we shared away and you chose my sister over me!" Zoey could feel her chest clench with every word that spilled out of her mouth. 

Her eyes watered, but she dared not to cry. 

Zoe turned to her luggage and zipped it. All she needed was in her bag. She didn't care about the evening gowns, because she knew Jenna must have worn them.

Stanley still clutched the divorce paper as he waited for Zoe to talk about divorcing him first before he could present the papers to her. While Jenna had disappeared back to the sitting room, as she didn't care about what Zoe was going through. 

"So be it. I will leave this apartment, and we will live separate lives. If you want to marry Jenna, you are free to do so. But I will not tolerate your bullshit, I will begin to process the divorce…"

Stanley guts in, "There will be no need for that; it has been worked on, and it's right here for you to sign." He smiled as he handed over the papers to Zoe.

As she gazed at the divorce papers, her mind reeled with memories of laughter, tears, and shattered promises.

Zoe snorted, "I can see you have made a lot of plans behind my back to end this marriage. You had the divorce papers prepared already."

"Wasn't that what you demanded from me? You asked for a divorce and I'm giving it to you!" Stanley yelled.

With no assets to his name, Stanley had nothing to lose. 

Zoe's hands trembled as she held the divorce papers. With a deep sigh, she began to read them. Tears stream down her face, blurring the words on the pages.

Zoe still wanted to believe this was all a dream and she was going to wake up soon. Her marriage was going to end right before her eyes. Although Stanley had not been the best husband, she still loved him and cherished the memories they had shared. And Zoe despised herself for that. 

Zoe glared at Stanley as he sat behind their bed looking unbothered about the situation.

'I just have to sign this divorce paper so I can free myself from this bastard; I will have to take my credit card back without him knowing about it; he thinks I will keep feeding them after this divorce,' Zoe said to herself.

Zoe wiped out her tears, her eyes scanning through the divorce papers one more time as her finger traced the signature line. She had made up her mind and nothing will change her course.

Zoe's hands moved with deliberate slowness as she reached for the pen. With a steady hand, Zoe signed the divorce papers, sealing her freedom. 

With a deep sigh, Zoe dropped the signed divorce papers in the drawer. She luckily saw her credit card in the drawer where she dropped the papers and quickly took it without Stanley noticing.

Stanley stood up from where he was seated, he stepped closer to the drawer as his eyes fixed on the divorce papers Zoe had signed. "Mmm— we are now officially divorced, but where are you taking your things to? You don't earn that much from your job to rent an apartment." 

Despite Zoe supporting Stanley and taking care of her sister financially, Zoe diligently saved a portion of her income each month. Ensuring she had separate, untouched funds for her future, thanks to her hard work.

"From now on, nothing I do should concern you at all. You don't expect me to live with you after all this bullshit."

Stanley snorted, "You can live with me as a friend, we could share expenses to ease the burden."

"I'd rather be alone than pretend to be friends with you," Zoe said sharply, her voice icy. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "I can't even stand being in the same house as you."

Stanley can't bear the thought of losing Zoe entirely because he has no job. He still needed her to keep supporting him, despite divorcing her.

"I wouldn't have cheated on you if you'd given me a kid," Stanley snapped. "You're so caught up in your job, you don't even have time to think about starting a family."

Zoe stopped in her tracks and clenched her fist, as she tried to process the ridiculous words coming out of his mouth. Every muscle in her body screamed for action. But she held onto the last shred of her self-control.

Zoe felt her heart had been stabbed by Stanley's words. At the beginning of their marriage, she dedicated everything to him. She never had plans of working too much. She planned to be a homemaker while doing a part-time job on the side to enable her to have time for her husband and, hopefully, her baby.

But her dream had been crushed by Stanley.

"Ugh, I'm so done with you Stanley. There's no need to say all these things; we are divorced now; stop trying to blame me." Zoe responded

Zoe quickly dragged her luggage away, slamming the door behind her as she left.

"Barren bitch!" Stanley cursed. "No man will marry you because of your infertility." But Zoe was not there anymore.

"She's gone," Jenna said as she stood up, hugging Stanley.

Zoe took a deep breath after she slammed the door behind her. She tried to process what had just happened.

Zoe's mind flooded with memories of how Stanley had callously maltreated her. Even when she was working tirelessly to support him. she realized he had never deserved any of the sacrifices she had made for him.

'If it was possible, I wouldn't have spoken to that bastard.' Zoe thought to herself.

'Though It wouldn't have been possible for me to keep quiet, watching him spew out nonsense about me.'