Rachel stood still and gasped in shock. It felt like a cold wind blew past her as she stared in surprise at the man who stood before her.
Did she hear him correctly now or was she hallucinating?
He wanted a divorce. George wanted to divorce her.
If anyone had told her that the moment she came back from the villa this morning after spending some time with her father, she would hear a ridiculous statement like this, she would have just stayed back!
Had he been drinking? What nonsense was he saying?
Rachel was so shocked she didn’t even notice the tears already trickling down her cheeks. As she stood in front of him with the divorce papers in her hand, what even annoyed her more than anything was the fact that he had already signed his part of the divorce papers.
So quickly….
Did he want to get rid of her so fast? She had already told her parents and Sophia that she was not putting an end to their marriage. She had also made it clear to George that she loved him….
Why was he suddenly determined to get rid of her presence?
Blinking away her tears, she looked at him “You’re joking right? It’s just a prank, right?”
George faced the wall, refusing to look at her. He couldn’t bear it, he could already hear the tears in her voice. “I have already told you it’s not a joke. I am serious…”
Rachel whimpered, holding the divorce papers tightly. Did something happen that she wasn’t aware of? What happened to the love and promise he made to her?
“B-but you said you loved me?”
George stared at the wall, remaining silent.
Rachel sniffed and wiped some tears on her face. “You don’t love me again, is that it?”
George finally glanced in her direction, his gaze moving over her as she looked at the divorce papers in her hands in unbelief.
He didn’t like the atmosphere today. She looked very sad, with tears running down her cheeks nonstop. She probably thought she was having a bad dream and would soon wake up.
George sighed, asking himself for the hundredth time today. Why was he even doing this? He clearly didn’t want this!
It was hurting both of them….
If she really moved out of here and got married to someone else, he would really lose it.
“Answer me! Is it because you don’t love me anymore? Is that it?”
George exhaled a whiff of air. He couldn’t bear the idea of her thinking he didn’t love or want her anymore. That was far from the truth.
“No, that’s not it”
Rachel frowned, completely exhausted. Then what was it? Why was he acting like this?
“I-Is it because I ruined everything after I came here? Is that why you hate me now? Because I tore your family apart by investigating my father’s case again?”
George rubbed his head slowly in circular motion. He had a headache. If he continued chatting with her this way and answering all her questions, she would not let go.
What else was he supposed to say? That he felt ashamed whenever he looked at her father? That he believed she deserved a better husband?
“I don’t hate you and no, that’s not it”
Rachel felt very tired. “Did your mother tell you to do this? She doesn’t approve of me anymore?”
“That’s not the reason. She’s not involved in this”
“Then what is it?!! Tell me clearly!!” Rachel screamed at him in anger.
And that was all it took for George to lose his patience….
He yelled at her with all the pent-up frustration and sadness he had been feeling too. “You want to know the reason so badly, right?!”
Rachel flinched at the anger and pain in his voice.
“Do you want to hear the real thing?!! That I am ashamed to even look at you and your father these days. That I can’t seem to shake off the feeling of guilt I feel about what my family did to your father? That I believe you deserve a better husband from a more peaceful family?!!”
Rachel blinked, crying more. “What are you talking about? We had already planned to stay together after all of this. Why are you coming up with this now?”
George closed his eyes for a minute. “You don’t get it. Are you going to say that you have not noticed that your mother, including your father, doesn’t approve of us being together again? Are you going to tell me that they really want you to still be connected to this family? Don’t lie to yourself, you know the truth”
Rachel reached for his hand, grasping it. He was quite right but it didn’t matter to her. “But it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. This is about us. We’ll decide what to do regardless of anyone’s opinion.”
George pulled his hand away from her grip and turned to leave the bedroom. He could feel his eyes getting misty.
Rachel moved quickly and wrapped her arms around his waist. “George, please don’t do this to me. We can work things out.”
“There is nothing to work out anymore. Just sign the papers, let’s move on with our lives. It’s for the best”
And with that, he pulled open the door and walked out, leaving Rachel in a daze and uncontrollable tears.
~~~~~*~~~~~
George sat in his library and through the window by his left, he watched as the rats of the sun went down.
He had not been able to do anything reasonable today since his conversation with Rachel this morning and it was evening already.
He had been considering putting James in charge of the company affairs, he believed he was different from his mother, Judith but his mother was not having it.
She didn’t even want to hear about it.
George smiled as he remembered their conversation yesterday….
“I refuse!” His mother had insisted “Do you think I went through all this so that you can hand over my company to Judith’s son?”
“Mom, you know he is different from his mother. Are we going to throw him out of this family just because his parents did something terrible? Think about it, we actually share a father so we’re not that different…”
His mother glared at him for a moment. “Yes, I know he is different just like you said. But It doesn’t make any sense to me. Morris almost killed me just so he could make James the CEO. It feels like he is getting what he wants even though he is in prison, I will not allow that!”
“I understand what you’re trying to say. I am not making him the CEO, I am just putting him in charge of things for a while to see h-”
“And I said no! I refuse!” She had cut him off instantly.
The sound of his library door being opened brought him back to reality. George glanced up to see James walking over….
“Uhm, you told me to meet you here” James muttered, looking around uncomfortably.
“Yes, have a seat. Thanks for coming” George pointed at a chair.
James pulled back a chair and sat down. It was so uncomfortable sitting with George like this after everything that had happened between through the years.
They were not enemies but it didn’t feel like they were family relatives. It felt more like they were strangers….
After his mother, Judith became an obstacle to their ‘relationship’ as brothers, everything fell apart. They hardly even sat down to talk together unless it was a family celebration.
So sitting in front of him felt weird.
Besides, ever since the court case wrapped up, he had been packing his belongings. He needed a break, some fresh air after all this drama. And not just that, he needed some space to process his thoughts properly.
Traveling was a good option for him right now. This villa held a lot of ‘not so happy’ memories for him. It was time to leave.
James focused his attention on George and asked “What did you call me here for?”
“It would be nice to have you lead this company. That’s if you’re interested. I believe that you are different from our father and you will do an amazing job with no ulterior motive”
James burst into laughter. This was unbelievable. Of all things, he never expected to hear that.
Anyway, it didn’t matter. As far as he was concerned, he was completely done with anything related to this company. He would not walk in the path of his parents no matter what….
Besides, he knew that Mrs Patricia didn’t really approve of him. She was still hurt by everything his mother did to her. He understood her. There was no need to continue staying here. He was done.
George raised an eyebrow “I am not sure I said anything funny. I am very serious about the statement I just made”
“I appreciate your belief in my ability but I am not interested in this offer”
George folded his arms “I understand if you’re still uncomfortable about everything that has happened so far. I just want you to know that I believe you are different from your mother.”
“It’s not that, really. I have never been interested in anything related to being in charge of this company. I would rather do what I really have an interest in. You can always hire a manager if you want”
George sighed. “I see. So what interests you?”
“Travelling. I am not tied down by any rule now and I don’t have anyone trying to force me to do what I don’t want. So I’m going to travel the world, as far as I can go”
George smiled. “That’s great. H-how are you coping with both of your parents being in prison?”
James was a bit surprised by that question. Noone had really cared how he was feeling after everything.
“You look surprised…” George observed. “… I know that our relationship was affected over the years but I just want you to know that I still care.”
“Uhm, I wasn’t expecting that. I’m doing okay, handling it better than I expected to. But what can I say? It’s part of my fate”
“Do you have any plan to see your mother in prison before you travel”
“Yes, I do. Knowing the kind of person she is, I don’t expect her to admit she was wrong. But I’ll see her anyway”
George smiled at the young man who should have been his best friend if Judith didn’t ruin their bond….
“I wish you the best of life, James Scott”