Divorce: Love too Much, Hurt too Much

"I want a divorce."

Alexander Davis, dressed in navy blue trousers and a matching dark-patterned shirt, tossed a document onto the dining table.

At that moment, the Davis family was gathered for dinner.

"Absurd. You've been married for barely a year, and now you want a divorce? The child is only one! I won't hear of it," declared Ryan Davis, Alexander's father and chairman of the Davis Group, who was also Cordelia Westbrook's father-in-law.

Alexander, his patience wearing thin, loosened his collar and took a seat across from Ryan. With a dismissive glance at Cordelia, he said, "Bridget is back."

Cordelia, kneeling on the floor, was scrubbing stains from the carpet.

At the mention of Bridget, she visibly flinched. The day had come, after all.

Even Ryan and his wife, Victoria Hayes, looked momentarily stunned. "What did you just say? Bridget is back? But, but..."

"Mom, you know exactly what Bridget did for me back then. No need for me to spell it out in front of an outsider. Besides, the Davis Group is thriving. I don't need to cling to my marriage to smooth things over," Alexander said coldly.

The words pierced Cordelia's heart.

Outsider?

I have admitted the mistake for Alexander's reputation and have since raised their child and cared for his parents.

How is it that, in his eyes, I remain an outsider?

She'd been caught in a scandal years ago—one night with Alexander, photographed by reporters, putting the Davis Group in the spotlight. In the end, she had confessed to seducing him to settle the matter. All the hurt and injustice she endured, she had been a victim, too.

Outsiders believe in gossip, but does the Davis family also accept it as truth?

Victoria, her tone sharp and her words harsh, set her utensils down. "Enough with the melodrama. Get up. No one wants to see your pitiful act. It's just bad luck."

Cordelia, wincing from the pain in her knees, barely managed to rise. She nearly collapsed back onto the floor, prompting Victoria to launch into another tirade.

Carefully, Cordelia took her place at the edge of a chair. But as she settled, her hand trembled, and a plate fell with a loud clatter onto the pristine carpet.

Victoria shot up from her seat and slapped Cordelia hard. "That plate was from France! Are you doing this on purpose?"

Cordelia's face instantly swelled from the slap. Terrified, she didn't dare to protest or plead, remaining as still as a statue.

This was the life of Cordelia, the young matriarch of the prominent Davis Group in Los Angeles—outwardly glamorous but subjected to her mother-in-law's unrelenting humiliation.

She had endured this for two long years.

Ryan, rubbing his temples as if he had become accustomed to these scenes, sighed. "Can you stop hitting her at every turn? She's still our daughter-in-law. Could you at least act like a decent mother-in-law?"

Victoria shot him a scathing look before sitting back down. She signaled the maid to clean up and glared at Cordelia. "Fine. Divorce is the best option. We've had enough of this useless daughter-in-law who's nothing but a laughingstock. I agree to the divorce."

Ryan folded his arms, looking down, his posture a mix of resignation and acquiescence.

"What about the child?" Cordelia, her voice trembling with suppressed pain, finally asked her so-called husband.

Alexander continued eating with a nonchalant air as though he'd merely swatted a fly. "The Davis family will take care of the child. I've arranged an apartment and a settlement for you—enough to last you the rest of your life. A driver will take you there shortly."

Ryan's brow furrowed with a tinge of remorse. "Cordelia is the child's mother. It's cruel to separate such a young child from her mother."

"I don't care," Alexander snapped back. "You promised me that if Bridget came back, I'd be allowed to divorce and marry her. She's already on a plane here. I need to clear the way for her, make sure she doesn't see anything she shouldn't, and upset her. Don't forget, she's not in the best of health."

Cordelia wasn't a vain woman. Having grown up in an orphanage, she had always been more than capable of maintaining her dignity. If she hadn't been forced into this situation by deceit and pregnancy, she would never have dreamed of marrying into such wealth.

Yet, despite her dire circumstances, she had done her best to play the role of a devoted wife and daughter-in-law, caring for her husband's parents. She had hoped that, despite Alexander's lack of love, he would at least show some kindness for their child's sake and acknowledge the sacrifices she had made for the Davis family.

But she hadn't anticipated this—two years of humiliation and mistreatment, only to be cast out now.

At this moment, she realized a painful truth: no matter how much she gave, if a man didn't love her, he never would.