She Approved Our Marriage, She Approved Our Divorce Chapter 04

She Approved Our Marriage, She Approved Our Divorce Chapter 04

My knees struck the pavement hard enough to tear the skin.

The people who had been shouting fell silent for a beat. Even they had not expected Nathan to throw me back outside in that condition.

Then someone laughed.

“At least she’s got a nice body.”

“No wonder she thought she could steal someone else’s man.”

“Look at her. She’s disgusting.”

Phones swung toward me from every direction.

I lunged for the doors, but someone caught a fistful of my hair and dragged me back.

“Where are you going? Brave enough to be a mistress, but not brave enough to admit it?”

“Let me go! Stop filming me!”

My scream came out raw and desperate.

“Such delicate skin. No wonder she thinks every man will fall for her.”

“Let’s ruin that pretty face and see who she seduces then.”

Someone raked a key down the length of my arm. Another person held my hair while palm after palm struck my face.

The crowd hurled insults at me nonstop, calling me a mistress and a shameless bitch.

Shaking with pain, I reached desperately toward the doors of Mercer Group, but the crowd kept me from getting anywhere near them.

Only after the spectacle had gone on long enough did Nathan send his security team to calm everyone down and drag me back inside.

“Will you apologize now?”

A blanket hung around my shoulders as I crouched in the corner.

“I’ll apologize,” I whispered.

Nathan gave one of his men a look. A camera was set on a tripod in front of me, and two guards hauled me to my knees.

Maya stood behind the camera.

“Say you were the mistress.”

“I was the mistress.”

“Say you tried to destroy my relationship with Mr. Mercer.”

“I… tried to destroy Maya Collins’s relationship with Nathan Mercer.”

“Say you chose to end the pregnancy.”

A sob caught in my throat, leaving me unable to speak.

Maya’s expression hardened. “Do you want to go back outside?”

“I chose to end the pregnancy.”

Tears fell onto the carpet.

“Say you did it to drive me away and take my place.”

“I did it to drive Maya away… and take her place.”

“Now beg for forgiveness.”

One of the guards clamped a hand on my shoulder, keeping me on my knees.

“Say you’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

My teeth dug into my lower lip as my entire body shook. Tears struck the floor beneath me.

Nathan finally spoke.

“That’s enough.”

The guards released me and switched off the camera. Maya reviewed the recording, and only then did she smile.

Nathan looked at me once.

“I never wanted to do this to you, but you killed our baby.”

Then he turned and left with Maya without looking back.

“Nathan Mercer, you’re a monster!”

My broken scream stopped him for half a second.

No longer than that.

Neither of us contacted the other for the next week.

On the seventh day, Nathan scrolled through his Messages until he found our thread buried near the bottom, my contact still saved as “Babe”.

[I’ve thought about it. Letting Maya into every part of our life wasn’t fair to you.

[I talked to her, and she won’t interfere again. That was the last time.]

Then he sent another photo of Maya’s handwritten permission slip. Nathan had filled in the approved activity himself.

It read, “Trying for another baby with Ella.

He followed the photo with a message.

[Ella, I won’t hold what happened against you. Can we start over and make this marriage work?]

I did not reply.

Nathan assumed I was still angry. On his way home, he bought a bouquet of roses.

The house was empty when he opened the door.

A filed divorce petition lay on the table.

The petition named me, Ella Dawson, as the petitioner.

The roses slipped from his hand.

Nathan searched every room, but nothing had changed since the previous week. It looked as though I had not been home in days.

“Are you looking for Ella?”

Our neighbor had stopped outside the open door.

Nathan’s breathing quickened. “Have you seen her?”

“She left a week ago. A man helped her move out.”