《An Undeserved Second Chance》


 A shocking demand

    The rain beat down the roof of the Harris¡¯s mansion in its fury this night, as it had done for the past three nights, as though it intended to pull off the roof of the house. The occupants of the grand living room paid the weather elements no mind though as they faced each other, one angry and unmoving with an impassive face, and the other tearful and pleading, but still trying to maintain an air of nonchalance, even though she knew that she was failing dismally.


    The dull weather mirrored exactly how Becca Harris was feeling. She was feeling dull, sad and most of all, the feeling of despair and pain refused to leave her. Pain that a man whom she loved with all her heart, had planned to spend the rest of her life with, and would gladly die for, was standing right in front of her and staring at her in utter disdain. But even worse than the look on his face were the words that he had uttered not more than a minute or two ago.


    ¡°I want a divorce.¡± The worst thing about this whole thing had been the cold and distant tone in which he had uttered those words ¡­ as though Becca was a stranger whom he had just met and not someone whom he had married and lived with for the past two and half years. The ringing in Becca¡¯s ears refused to subside, even though she shook her head several times to clear it, so she simply stood there and stared at her husband, waiting for him to take back his vile words. Ryan did no such thing, though, but rather, continued to stare at his wife with a cool, measured look that gave her the sinking feeling that all this wasn¡¯t just some bad joke as she had been hoping in a part of her mind.


    ¡°Did you hear what I just said?¡± Ryan asked her at last, when it became evident that she was not going to say anything.


    ¡°D¡­divorce? Did you say divorce?¡± Becca stammered in confusion, hoping that he would burst out laughing and tell her that it was all some horrible joke, at which point she would scold him severely and tell him that she did not appreciate such jokes, after which they would go about their lives as usual.


    ¡°Good. You heard me then. I was beginning to think that you¡¯re now deaf.¡±


    ¡°Ryan¡­ please, I don¡¯t understand. What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°What I¡¯m talking about? I¡¯m talking about the fact that I¡¯m so over this sham of a marriage. I want nothing to do with you anymore, and frankly, I can¡¯t wait to be rid of you. Seeing you is annoying the hell out of me.¡± Ryan spat in irritation and anger, although what was causing his anger and irritation remained a mystery to her.


    Becca continued staring at her husband as though he had grown horns right in front of her, and maybe he had because she did not recognize the angry and bitter man in front of her. Granted, they had not had the most romantic of unions, but even then, she had never anticipated such behavior from him. He was acting as though she had poisoned his favorite dog. As though the dog was aware of this comparison that Becca had just made in her mind, it ambled into the living room, immediately pausing as it sensed the tense atmosphere between its owners. It paused in the middle of the large living room, looking from husband to wife, undecided, and not knowing whom to go to. Besides, neither of them paid it any mind as they were too focused on each other.


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    At that moment, a loud sob escaped from Becca¡¯s lips, and the dog made his decision, walking over to where she stood facing her soon-to-be ex-husband, from the looks of it, and nuzzling her legs in sympathy. Becca was too heartbroken to pay the poor dog any mind, so after a while, it padded back the way it had come, looking almost as dejected as Becca did. It was almost as though it could feel the pain of its female owner, and knew that her time here was almost ended.


    ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong? Have I done something to offend you?¡± She asked, her voice breaking as she walked towards him, stretching her hands to touch him, but he backed away from her touch as though she was going to burn him with it, or as though she were some leper. Becca paused with her hands held towards him in midair, utter confusion clouding her pretty features as she observed him. It was only now that the gravity of the situation was really hitting her.


    ¡°Look, don¡¯t make this harder on yourself than it has to be. I don¡¯t want to be married to you any longer. It¡¯s as simple as that. Naturally, I will leave this house to you, or if you prefer, I can buy you a house anywhere you want. But, I cannot continue living with you any longer.¡± Ryan said, turning away from her finally, but Becca refused to let him off the hook so easily.


    ¡°In all of this, you¡¯ve refused to answer my question. Why? Why are you saying this all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°My reasons are mine and mine alone, Rebecca. You shouldn¡¯t bother yourself with them, and you most certainly shouldn¡¯t keep reminding me of them, because doing so just makes me angrier. If you keep it up, you may well walk away with nothing.¡± Ryan replied in the coldest tone that anyone had ever directed towards her, causing her to stiffen. His back was still turned towards her, and she longed to go touch or hold him as she had done the last time she had seen him before today, that is before he had gone on the business trip that seemed to have changed him.


    What had happened on that trip? Had he found himself a mistress there and now wanted nothing to do with her? It would not be the first time that she had known something like that to happen. In fact, it had happened to her best friend, who had taken her own life after her husband had served her divorce papers, and had gone on to move in with his much younger mistress, a girl who was barely legal. Her death had touched Becca to the marrow, but inwardly, she had known that her friend¡¯s action had been too extreme and drastic. Now, however, she realized how painful hearing such a thing from someone whom you loved and had envisioned spending the rest of your life with was.


    ¡°Here, sign them,¡± Ryan ordered, drawing Becca out of her reverie. She glanced at him to realize that she had been so lost in thought that she had not noticed him go wherever it was that he had gone to get the papers that he now gripped in his hands and held out to her.


    ¡°W¡­what¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Divorce papers, of course,¡± Ryan said, and Becca felt her whole world crumbling before her.

 Stubborn refusal

    ¡°I¡¯m not signing anything. You must be drunk or out of your mind to think that I¡¯ll sign those without an explanation. Whatever happened to you? You¡¯re acting so strangely.¡± Becca ground out through clenched teeth, anger finally overcoming the pain that had been ravaging her and pushing it to the background. It was a welcome emotion, for Becca was sure that if she continued to feel the pain, she will faint from the force of it.


    ¡°Oh, but you would sign them, Becca. You¡¯re going to sign them whether you like it or not, or I¡¯m going to make your life really miserable. You know I can do that.¡±


    Becca did not doubt that he could do that, but at that moment, she did not give a damn. ¡°Do whatever the fuck you want, but the fact remains that I¡¯m not going to give you the satisfaction of signing those papers since you can¡¯t be bothered to act civil in such a matter as delicate as this.¡± She finished and flounced out of the room, heading straight for the room that she shared with him. She got a few things she needed for the night, like her cream, nightie, and others, after which she headed over to one of the large guest rooms, which were hardly ever used, but were always in pristine condition.


    Once she had finished having her bath, she reclined on the bed and tried to get some shuteye, but sleep never came. In fact, she knew that she was not going to get any sleep that night. She had been expecting her dear husband to come to his senses and come over to the guest room to apologize and admit that he did not know what had come over him, but when it was past midnight, and she did not see him anywhere around, Becca knew that she was only deceiving herself.


    She hated fighting with anyone, especially the man she was in love with, but this was no ordinary fight. Still, her pride did not allow her to get out of the bed and seek him out, so she stubbornly lay there in bed, shut her eyes tightly, and pretended that she was asleep. Finally, she managed to get some sleep, but her sleep was troubled with dreams in which Ryan left her and she died of a broken heart and was all alone in her old age.


    At dawn, she got up and began pacing the room, lost in thought. What would happen if Ryan refused to listen to her and insisted that their marriage was over? She knew that refusing to sign the papers would make no difference and he could divorce her if he really wanted to, not that she would want to stay where she was not wanted, but she had to at least know why he was saying all this. Making a decision, she got up from bed and padded back to the room she shared with Ryan to reason with him, figuring that he would be more reasonable now. Whatever was his problem with her, surely they could work it out and save their marriage.


    On getting to their bedroom, however, she found it empty, but even worse, Ryan had moved his things from the bedroom to God knows where, and was nowhere to be seen. How he had managed to have that done overnight without her hearing a single thing was a puzzle to her. Becca looked around the room in bewilderment, as though if she looked hard enough, things would be back to normal. She left the room and went to check one of the guestrooms, but he was not there.


    Finally, realizing that standing there and doing nothing was doing no good, she began searching the house and later found him in one of the other guestrooms. He was as wide awake as she was, and hope blossomed in her chest. Maybe he had had time to sleep on the matter and had seen how unreasonable he was being. However, when he opened his mouth to speak, her heart sank again.


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    ¡°I see that you¡¯re not taking me seriously at all. What are you doing in here?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for any talk. I¡¯m moving out of this house today. Giving you the house was not in the prenuptial agreement you signed, but. I¡¯m willing to do that. However, you must sign those papers today.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll go nowhere and I¡¯ll do no such thing,¡± Becca stated, feeling like a broken record with the number of times she kept on saying the same thing.


    ¡°I had a feeling you would say that, but no worries. By the time I¡¯m done with you, you¡¯ll be begging to sign those papers.¡± It was a casual threat, which was said in a light tone, but she knew it was anything but light.


    ¡°W¡­what are you going to do? Hit me?¡±


    ¡°You know as well as I do that I¡¯m never going to do that, Becca. I¡¯m not that kind of man, but I know what you hold dear very much, and I¡¯m going to use it against you mercilessly.¡±


    Becca had no idea what he was talking about, and neither did she ask. Instead, she was opening her mouth to persuade him again when he said something that caused her blood to run cold.


    ¡°I¡¯m no longer putting your brother through medical school. He can find his way himself, or you can do it for him, after all, you¡¯re his big sister.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding¡­¡± Becca retorted, unable to believe that he would do such a thing. Granted, it was his money, but he had been the one who had encouraged the poor boy to go to medical school, that he was going to foot the bills for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not kidding. As a matter of fact, that is what I¡¯m preparing to do right now. I was only giving you one more chance to sign those papers without fuss. If you refuse to do so, then you do so at your own peril¡­ oh, and that of your very intelligent brother, if I might add.¡±


    Becca lifted her chin. ¡°Do your worst. I still refuse to grant you that divorce without you telling me what I¡¯ve done wrong.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Have it your way.¡± Ryan said and stood up. He began taking off his clothes with Becca standing there and watching him. Even with the state of mind in which she was, Becca could still take time to admire how perfectly sculpted and toned his body was, and she wondered what that said about her. Without saying a single word to her, Ryan walked into the bathroom to have his shower, while Becca stood there in the guestroom feeling like an unwanted piece of property.


    He took his sweet time in there too, so that before long, she became tired of waiting, and padded back to her room dejectedly. There was still time to change his mind, she decided. After all, he could not just serve her divorce papers out of the blues without any fight between them, and expect her to sign them without reservations on her part or some explanation on his own part. No, no sane person would do that. She was not some sort of puppet that he could control anyhow and anytime he wanted and she was not going to have any of this.


    Resolute in this decision, she went downstairs to the dining room to have her breakfast. She was just chewing her last piece of toast, when she heard the loud rumble of what sounded like a big car¡­ like a tractor, or a truck outside the house. Perplexed, she finished off her cup of tea and went to look out the window to see a very large moving truck in the driveway. At the same moment, Ryan came into the dining room, glanced at her, and then glanced away dismissively.


    Becca shuddered at the disgust and hatred that was in his eyes. She had never imagined that she would see such a look directed toward her from Ryan¡¯s face, and the discovery was not pleasant in the least. Ryan walked towards the huge refrigerator in the room, took an apple from it, and was about to walk out of the room when Becca spoke.


    ¡°What on earth are those people doing here, Ryan?¡±


    ¡°What does it look like they¡¯re doing here, Becca? They¡¯re coming to move my stuff out of this house, of course.¡±

 The move

    At this announcement, Becca could no longer hold herself back or control her emotions. She rushed towards Ryan and grabbed both his hands in hers, staring up at him with tear-filled eyes as she pleaded with him one last time. Her head only came up to his shoulders because of how tall he was.


    ¡°Ryan please, what you¡¯re doing is not fair in the least. At least give me a clue as to why you¡¯re doing this. We were fine when you went on your business trip less than a week ago. What has changed from then till now and why are you treating me with such condescension?¡± Becca asked, refusing to let him go when he would have dragged his hands away from hers and walked away.


    He stared down at her for some moments, and she could have sworn that she saw the tenderness that she used to see in his eyes towards her before, but it was gone in a split second, as though it had never been there in the first place.


    ¡°Everything has changed. Everything, Becca. The sooner you realize that, the better for you." He said briefly, the hatred and disgust coming back into his eyes, and then he dragged his hand away from hers to go meet the movers who were patiently waiting for him outside at the request of one of the servants. Becca let him go, staring at his back until he disappeared through the doorway, and then sighed, walking upstairs to their old room, where her things still were. She sank into the bed and gave way to bitter tears that refused to subside, no matter how hard she tried to stop them. Soon, she wore herself out with crying and did not know when she fell deeply asleep, which was no surprise, considering that she had not gotten much sleep the previous night.


    By the time she woke up, it was already some minutes past five in the evening. Becca sprang up from the bed, horrified at how much time had passed, and sure that her eyes were playing tricks on her when she spied the time on the wall clock. She had slept for over nine hours? How on earth was that possible?


    She rubbed at her eyes slowly, her stomach grumbling as she came fully awake. Belatedly, she remembered the happenings of the previous night and this morning. She got up and padded out of the room slowly and fearfully, afraid of what she was going to see.


    The house still looked the same, except for the guest room in which her husband had spent the night. That room was empty, and on closer inspection, she realized that every personal item of her husband was gone from the house. Not even one item remained. The furniture and household appliances were all still there, though. He had merely taken his personal belongings. Still, Becca knew that he was gone for good, and she went into the living room, where she found the divorce papers on a table there, together with a note that said,


    ¡°I¡¯m giving you a week to get over your shock and stubbornness and sign the papers, otherwise, I¡¯ll not leave this house to you any longer, and once I pay you what we agreed on the prenuptial agreement, which as you know, is not much to rely on, you will be on your own. It is in your best interest for you to sign them now and know that you have a roof over your head, at least.


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    Ryan.


    Becca glanced through the note, after which she sank to the ground and had another good cry. The hunger pangs that she had been feeling earlier disappeared immediately as she sat there on the floor, crying.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am.¡± A hesitant voice called, after Becca must have been in that position for more than twenty minutes.


    Becca wiped her eyes and reluctantly raised her gaze to find one of the servants, a middle-aged woman, looking at her sympathetically.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about what has happened, ma¡¯am. You must give Master Ryan some time. He¡¯s a good man, and I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll see reason soon. There isn¡¯t any woman on this planet who¡¯ll ever love him more than you do. All of us know that and I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll realize it soon enough.¡± The woman said, trying to console Becca.


    ¡°So it¡¯s because of another woman he¡¯s treating me this way, then?¡± Becca asked, fresh tears welling up in her eyes as pain wracked through her being.


    ¡°Oh no, ma¡¯am. I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I just meant¡­¡± The woman trailed off, not knowing what else to say.


    ¡°Thank you, Margie. I appreciate your concern. At least, someone cares.¡±


    ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am. So, I¡¯m going to bring some food for you now. You¡¯ve not had anything since the few pieces of toast you had in the morning, and crying on an empty stomach is bad.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. I¡¯m not in the least bit hungry¡­¡± Becca began, but Margie cut off her protestations and scurried off to the kitchen. After a few moments, she brought Becca a steaming hot bowl of chicken soup, which the latter devoured hungrily, finding out that she was still hungry, after all. Margie sat opposite her and watched her closely until she finished the last drop of soup, before nodding in satisfaction.


    ¡°There, don¡¯t you feel much better, ma¡¯am?¡± She asked, and Becca had to smile through her sadness. It was the first time she had smiled since Ryan started this madness, and it felt strange as her face felt stiff.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, Margie. I feel much better. Thank you very much.¡± Becca replied, but could see how uneasy Margie looked. There was clearly something else on the woman¡¯s mind, but Becca did not know what it was, and suddenly, she was scared to ask, but she had to ask all the same.


    ¡°Is something the matter, Margie? You look kind of pale and uneasy. Is there something you want to tell me?¡± Becca asked at last. She watched Margie visibly shake herself and clear her throat.


    ¡°Um, ma¡¯am. I¡¯m really, really sorry, and God knows that if it were up to me¡­ um¡­ well. It¡¯s just¡­¡±


    ¡°Out with it, Margie. You¡¯re scaring the hell out of me.¡±


    ¡°Well, the master has ordered that all of us, the servants, are to leave here this evening and report at the other house where he¡¯s staying. He had us all box up our things and will have the moving company move them over there tomorrow. But we¡¯re leaving this night.¡± Margie said in a rush, averting her gaze from Becca''s.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Becca asked, not sure that she had heard correctly.


    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, ma¡¯am. But he said he has divorced you and since we work for him, we all have to report to our new stations, which is the house he¡¯s staying at currently. That¡¯s not all, ma¡¯am.¡± Margie said, her expression sad.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening, Margie,¡± Becca encouraged, her heart pounding at Ryan¡¯s callousness and the length at which he was willing to go to make her life miserable. He had warned her that he would make her life miserable, after all. How one earth did he expect only her to stay in this ridiculously large house?


    ¡°It¡¯s not only the house helps who are to leave, but everyone that works here, including the gardener, drivers, and security men. The boss has directed that you alone are to remain in this house, ma¡¯am.¡± Margie finished, wringing her hands worriedly.

 Crippling loneliness

    Becca stared at the woman in surprise, but did not say anything. She still believed that Ryan would come around and stop this inexcusable behavior. In the meantime, he could do whatever he wanted, and when he came back to his senses, she would be right here waiting for him to come and apologize for all this rubbish that he was doing now.


    ¡°That¡¯s okay, Margie. You don¡¯t have to worry about me. I can stay alone. It¡¯s no big deal, actually.¡± She informed the woman, but this was a big, fat lie. How on earth was she going to stay alone in this huge house all by herself? Was she going to be the one to lock the gates and tend the garden and other stuff too? Supposing it was only cooking and maintaining the house, she could have done those without any stress, but she could not very well do everything in the house, and most importantly, she could not live there all alone¡­ or maybe she could in the meantime. She had no doubt that Ryan was going to come to his senses soon and see how much of a jerk he was being.


    All the same, she was going to start looking into hiring a security man, at least. Margie looked unsure, but there was nothing that she could do about any of this, so a few hours later, she left with the other servants, leaving Becca all alone in the huge house. Now that she was alone, her earlier bravado was failing her dismally. Although she was never one to believe in superstitious nonsense, Becca found that she was terribly scared of sleeping in the house.


    The house seemed so still and quiet that she began to imagine that she was hearing strange sounds coming from some parts of it. She turned on the television and increased the volume, but still, she felt very uneasy being all alone here. Deciding that she was going to check into a hotel for the night, she went about gathering some of her clothes, all the while feeling extremely sorry for herself. Heaven knows that she did not deserve this ill-treatment at all.


    She was just zipping up her small overnight bag when her phone rang shrilly in the empty house, causing her to jump about a foot high, her heart slamming against her ribcage painfully. What the hell was the matter with her? She saw that it was Ryan who was calling, and the tempo of her beating heart increased until she was sure that it would beat right out of her chest. Perhaps he was having a change of heart? She answered the call, trying to keep her voice from trembling.


    ¡°Ryan?¡±


    ¡°Where are you?¡± He asked without preamble.


    ¡°Um ¡­ I¡¯m at the house.¡± She answered, hating herself for sounding so pathetic, but she could not help herself.


    ¡°I did not receive the signed papers. I was expecting you to send them over with the servants. I hope you saw my note. You¡¯re playing with fire here, Rebecca. This is only just the beginning.¡± He said into the phone, causing any hope that had been blossoming in her chest to die a quick death.


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    ¡°Is that the reason why you¡¯re calling me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, actually. I¡¯m trying to make this as short and uncomplicated as possible, but if you want the process to be hard and difficult, it¡¯s your call. Goodnight.¡± He said and ended the call. Becca successfully resisted the urge to burst into tears again. She was usually not such a crybaby, but the events of the day before had turned her into one.


    The impersonal call had drained her of whatever energy she had left and the thought of having to drive over to a hotel and go through the process of lodging did not hold any appeal for her, but the thought of remaining all alone in the still and quiet house was even less appealing, so she picked up her overnight bag and headed outside, only to see that all the cars were gone from the garage.


    Becca walked around the garage in disbelief, wondering if there was an end to what Ryan was willing to do to punish her for something she did not even know about. Her old jalopy was the only car that was left in the garage, whereas before now, Ryan had always made sure that she had her pick among four different cars to drive herself anywhere, if she did not wish to have a driver take her.


    Becca did not even know if this car was still good. The last time she had driven it was a few months after she had first gotten married to Ryan, meaning that it was almost two years ago. Ryan had always complained every time she drove it, saying how it did not speak well of him that his wife was driving such a thing when he had all the money he could use and more at his disposal and had kept on buying her cars until she had told him she didn¡¯t want them anymore.


    However, she had requested that her old car be kept in the garage for sentimental purposes. She had bought it herself from her meager savings when she was in college, so it was quite dear to her. Now, this was the same man who was treating her this way. As she had suspected, the car refused to start and after trying to put it on for a while without any success whatsoever, Becca went back into the house dejectedly, deciding to sleep there after all. She put on every light in the house on, but for some reason, could not bring herself to sleep in the bed that she had shared with Ryan. So she made herself comfortable in the guest room in which she had slept the previous night but did not sleep a wink that night, and it was only when it was almost dawn that she finally fell asleep.


    ***


    Ryan Harris ended the call with his soon-to-be ex-wife and rubbed his fingers across his forehead wearily. He was so tired as he had not gotten a good night¡¯s sleep for the last three days. If only Becca would just sign the goddamn papers so that everything would be over and he could start afresh.


    As he had told her over the phone, she was playing with fire by refusing to give in to his demand, and if she continued this way, making them drag the process of the divorce needlessly, he was going to make sure that she rued the day that she was born.


    He could not believe that he had been married to her for going to three years, and yet, he had not known that she was such a two-faced devil. It absolutely galled him to think that all this while, she must have been laughing at him behind his back, apparently taking him for the world¡¯s greatest fool. Even now, she still pretended that she loved him, making sad faces and bursting into tears as though she was such a saint, but thankfully, he could now see clearly through her to the deceitful liar she was. Well, never again. To punish her, he did not intend to give her closure. She would always wonder why he had changed so suddenly, and that was a small consolation for him.


    He successfully tamped down the guilt that stirred up in him for taking away all the servants and leaving her all alone in the house. If he was going to be strong and deal with her in the way that she deserved, a guilty conscience was the last thing that he needed. He needed to teach her a huge lesson, and he had only just started. She would see what he was capable of in the following days if she still refused to sign the papers. He was Ryan Miller, one of the world¡¯s hottest billionaires, and no one, least of all a woman whom he had married, was going to make an utter fool out of him and go scot-free.