Chapter 5

Diana’s POV

Present time

“Son of a bitch!” Pauline muttered under her breath. Her eyes flared with rage.

I chuckled at her expression.

“I know, right?”

“Where did you go then? Did you have any money?”

“No. I lived with one of my father’s workers for a while. She took care of me. She was also there during those hellish nights of grieving my parents and my broken marriage,” I forced a smile, looking down at my fingers.

“She brought me soup and bandages for my hands that bled after hours of clenching and punching a wall.”

“Diana, dear…” She looked at me with much pity.

Her eyes glimmered as tears welled in her eyes. She grabbed my hand and held it tight.

“But just a few days after I signed the divorce papers, an envelope came to me. Its contents are now inside this bag.” I took out everything in my small bag.

“A ticket, a credit card, and an address of what’s supposed to be a house in Hawaii. Well, at least he gave me a house. How nice of him.”

She gaped in disbelief, “Nice?!”

“I was just being sarcastic, Pauline.” I snickered.

Then, I pulled the remaining item out of my bag and showed it to her.

“And I also have my wedding ring here. I couldn’t wear it anymore, but I also couldn’t throw it away.”

Then, I put all of the things back in my bag.

“That bastard… So that’s why you’re here!? He wanted to send you off?” Pauline exclaimed.

I nodded.

“He knew I had nowhere to go. But he also didn’t want his pitiful ex-wife lingering around him. And I had no choice. I had to sell everything I owned back then to help compensate our employees. I was left with no money to my ruined name.”

“What about the money you gave to your husband? Shouldn’t you get it back? It belonged to you.”

I sighed.

“Yes, it did. It was my own money from helping in our business. But my family asked me to give Charles my money. After all, he was my husband. What’s his is mine, as they said. So, I should just give it to him as an investment in our… partnership.”

It’s not proper to refer to this as a marriage anymore.

“Your parents said that to you!?”, She gasped in shock.

“Yes,” I said, swallowing a large knot in my throat.

After answering, I dropped my head in humiliation and self-pity. My parents never showed me affection. They regarded me as an investment and have only ever been concerned with money. But they were all I had for a while.

Then they forced me to get engaged to Charles, and for a split second, I dreamed of having a family with someone I truly loved.

My whole life, I committed to becoming his perfect wife. He simply used me, though. After all I’ve done for him, he’s kicking me out and giving me this pitiful payment.

“You’re crying again, Diana,” Pauline said in a soft tone.

She was right. I didn’t notice my tears dropping onto my bag, nor did I feel myself shaking. As soon as I realized this, I sobbed.

“Oh, dear…” Pauline immediately hugged me, like a friend would.

I succumbed to her embrace because I felt so weak that I needed to hold onto someone.

“I feel so stupid. Why did they give me to him? Why didn’t he want me?” I confessed.

I always knew he was a man of ambition, always chasing after the greatness of his father. I was stupid to think he had a place in his heart for anything else. He killed the young, innocent boy I fell in love with, and turned him into a money-loving tyrant. Still, I stayed with him and married him, hoping the man I fell in love with would return. But he didn’t.

But in the end, I was merely an abandoned daughter… and a wife who never had a husband.

“Look, Diana” She released me from my hug.

“I know it’s hard, and you feel alone. You don’t have anyone, and you are at your lowest point right now.”

Wow. Way to sum up my misery.

“But look where you are. You are on a plane to paradise. You’re still young and beautiful. And my dear, you are not alone.” She gave me the warmest smile I’ve ever seen.

“Just look at what you did today. You made a friend,”—she gestured to herself—“And I don’t feel lonely right now because of you.”

“Pauline…” I whimpered.

She let out a breath, wiping away my tears with her thumb, “I know this…partnership—” I let out a faint giggle at the word. “—is yet to mature. But I’m here for you dear. And since I’m of age, you can think of me as your mom.”

My mother was nothing like her, so I didn’t know what to say. I only saw these kinds of moms in the movies and with our housemaids back then. They’re the ones who taught me how a mom should be. They showed me, but I never got to experience it for myself. What do I say to her?

“My mom never…” my breath fell short, so I took a deep one.

“She was never like this. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to, you know…”

“Oh.” She uttered sadly, but then she chuckled.

“Well, for starters, mothers serve as examples to their children, so if you don’t know, I’ll show you.”

“What?”

She tucked my loose hair behind my ear, then gently held my chin, “If I was your mom, I would do this so I could see my baby’s face, and feel proud because such a beautiful person came from me.”

My lip quivered, and I felt the sudden urge to cry at her touch. I’ve never been held like this before. I wanted to melt into her hands.

“Then, I would tell you that everything’s going to be okay because Mom’s here.” Then again, she embraced me, but this time, it was warmer, better, and intimate.

“I’ll make sure no one hurts you ever again.”

I couldn’t help it anymore. I cried into her shoulders. It was not the type of crying that left me gasping for breath, like the following night after my parent’s death and my divorce.