Nicole looked from the papers to the lawyer, okay she thought she had misunderstood what was written, which is why she had called him to clarify things but he was saying exactly what she had seen.
“Wait, does that mean, the hotel is in my name? The mansion too? I know he gave me a studio, I mean that was a present, I was going to give it back but I thought it would be rude but this? How should I collect this from him knowing how hard he worked for it?”
“It seems this is what he wanted to give you, he already signed and all you need to do is sign too, I think he is taking care of you and making sure you don’t lack anything,”
“I don’t need this, I didn’t want a divorce, I don’t want any of his property either,”
“Oh, dear, them you don’t need to sign, just send it back to him with a petition, then you guys will have to meet in court, and go through counseling,”
“Wait what? Why do we have to go to court? We didn’t even get married in court, and I am not disputing, I am just saying I don’t want all these,”
She said, she didn’t even know what she should do, she was just too stunned to think, why will he give her all these? She didn’t need them, she wanted him back.
“Or, you can just call him and you guys will talk it out,”
“That’s I don’t think he will take my calls,”
She said she hadn’t tried to call him so she wasn’t sure.
“Call him first, if he doesn’t then we will know what to do next,”
“Alright,”
She said and walked into her room to get her phone, she dialed his number and felt her heartbeat rate increase as she waited for him to pick up, already ready to not feel disappointed if he doesn’t but he picked up, which also left her in a nervous wreck.
“Rafael, hi,”
She greeted nervously, she hasn’t heard his voice in while.
“Hi, I am assuming you got the papers, that’s why you are calling right? Just sign them Nicole, I really don’t want to start an argument.”
He said, wow he knew why she was calling.
“I am not going to sign, I don’t want your property, yes, the gallery is mine because you gifted it to me but the mansion and the hotel close to Vhrisma are not mine,”
She replied firmly.
“They are yours, the mansion is built in your name, okay originally Natalie’s name but I had it changed after I found out, and the hotel has your name too, the hotel was supposed to be a present, still is a present to you, you know it will be rude to return a present right? If you don’t want it, you can donate both to the public, it is worth billions and would help a lot of people, just sign the papers, have a nice day,”
He said and ended the call, Nicole look from her phone to the lawyer who heard everything because she had the phone on speaker.
“I guess, we are going to court right?”
“No,”
“Then you are signing?”
“No,”
“Well you have to choose, it’s either you don’t sign and start your reasons or you sign and go as he said, I will pick the latter if I were you,”
Gavin advised
“That’s your advise as a lawyer or as a father figure?”
“As both, he wants you to have it, sending it back to him will hurt him, I don’t know the full details of what went on with you guys but I heard a little and for me, that young man is trying to do things right by you, just keep what he gave you, that would mean a lot to him.”
“You think so?”
“Yes,”
“Okay then,”
She answered collecting her pen, she looked at the papers that would end everything she had with Rafael and without thinking too much she signed it, Gavin offered to help her take it to him and she agreed, she hadn’t even thought of how she was going to send it to him before when he left, she spent the rest of the day drowning herself in chocolate, and painting sad photos, surprisingly, she didn’t share a tear, it was as if her body and mind already knew that even though she felt the pain her tears didn’t come, she decided that day to really move on, make the best of everything he gave her, be happy by herself while holding on to their memories…
****
Rafael sat staring at the papers, he couldn’t even think, just sat there staring at it, when the documents had been dropped off at his office, for a moment he had hoped she didn’t sign, but she did, now that she has signed it, now that he would get his freedom finally he felt empty, this was it, now that this is done he would go back to living like this whole thing never happened but why wasn’t he happy, why was he so sad and why did he feel like his heart is been ripped off, this wasn’t supposed to be painful, he spent weeks preparing himself for this moment, he should feel liberated, not pained.
“I guess it really the end,”
He said as he kept the papers inside a file and closed it, it wasn’t meant to be and it was time to face it truly, he called his legal team and before long everything was finalized and Nicole’s documents for the hotel, the gallery and the mansion were sent to her.
The news of his divorce was everywhere a few hours later than when it had been time for him to go home, his whole office complex had been filled with different reporters, he couldn’t even get to his car, even with the bodyguards around, the reporters all swarmed owe him like honey bees, shouting out questions and demanding answers as if he owned them any, done of the questions were so annoying
“Any words please, why did you file for a divorce? Was it because of the loss of your child?”
“Sir, are we going to be seeing more of you, do you have any plans of getting married in the future?”
“Sir, would you mind telling us how it felt finding out you married the wrong twins and what your experience is?”
The stupid and annoying questions went on and on, he just kept quiet and walked right into his car that pulled out of the place immediately, he resisted the urge to curse at the reporters, he took a deep breath and relaxed, yeah, he tried to relax, this was it, this was what he had wanted, he was free, she was free, they could both go their separate life now, but why did it still hurt and how long will it hurt? He wish he knew just how long the thought of her will hurt him, he wanted healing wanted to start afresh, go back to the main goal which is to become the youngest trillionaire, he should face that goal and by May next year, he would achieve it…
****
One month later
Rafael watched through the window of his car, he wondered why on Earth he was here, what the fuck was he doing like a stalker? This wasn’t right. He was stalking Nicole, he hasn’t seen or heard from her since the call she made before she signed their divorce papers and she hadn’t made any public appearance either, even Natalie hadn’t made any appearance, in fact, that one have been gone from the public since after Nicole’s accident, the only people he still saw sometimes were the parents, who unlike before were making less and less appearance. It was as if the whole family was taking a break from the public, he should do that too but everything he does always find a way to make the papers, and he couldn’t even do anything about it.
Wondering why the fuck he was here, looking through his window, he brushed his hands through his hair, it wasn’t her he saw it was someone else, but the person had looked so much like her that he had ordered his driver to stop, he was going to look away, then he saw her, she wore a bottom down dress and had her hair up, she had a paint brush in hand, she was painting, glad to know she was back doing what she loves, he smiled, she was smiling at the other person in the room, his heart skipped a beat seeing her beautiful smile again, he missed that smile, he couldn’t make out who it was that she was smiling so brightly at, he watched her from her afar, at least one of them is happy, at least she is doing fine, so he should move on too, he was about to tell his driver to leave when the other person in the room made an appearance, he couldn’t help the surge of jealousy that enveloped him at that moment when he saw the person she had been smiling with was a guy, what did he expect? Their divorce was finalized over a month ago and she would move on, he should do that too, move on, start dating again and forget about her but all these were easier said than done, in fact, he couldn’t see himself talking to another woman, the guy whoever he was, patted her on the back, Rafael took in a deep breath to control himself, it wasn’t any of his business, it wasn’t in his place to tell her what to do because she wasn’t his anymore but he hated it, hated the fact that someone who wasn’t him was touching her, patting her back and she was smiling, he couldn’t watch anymore so he told his driver to move, which he did, Nicole moved on faster than he thought and even though he wanted to delude himself into thinking it didn’t hurt, it did.