Divorce, Ending, And New Beginning

Even in July, the heat in the city of Merlin lingered in the air. Trees, buildings, cars, and people had no choice but to bask in the scorching sun all day and endure the warm temperature at night.

As soon as Gwen Lewis hopped off the car, the evening breeze immediately touched her skin. She raised her head and stared at the huge building of Grand Oasis.

Two days ago, she swore to Hayes Gilmore that she would never sign the divorce papers.

Today, their paths would cross again.

She was welcomed by the manager of Grand Oasis. The manager led her to an elevator and pressed the floor button.

Gwen stood outside a massive door and looked at the “888” number printed on the wooden door.

Not long after, the manager opened the door. “Mrs. Gilmore, you may come in.”

Gwen nodded and thanked the woman before stepping inside.

Cheerful jazz music boomed inside the large room. The sounds of laughter and the chattering of different voices almost startled her. Gwen slightly scrunched her nose when the smells of cigars and alcohol hit her.

Heads turned toward her direction, and the murmurs of people faintly died down. However, Gwen was too determined the find the person she was looking for, so she didn’t pay attention to them and just continued walking.

The room was large, and there were a lot of people. Gwen craned her neck several times, looking for him until she stopped in front of a poker table.

Dressed in a tight white tube top and red flowy skirt, Lacey Brooks languidly sat on the armrest of Hayes’s chair. Her alluring face looked relaxed and happy as she watched the game.

The first person who saw Gwen was the man sitting opposite Hayes. His gaze lingered on her for a while before he let out a soft whistle.

“Looks like you have a surprise visitor, Mr. Gilmore,” he said with an evil smirk.

The rest of the people at the table raised their heads to look at Gwen.

“Mr. Gilmore, your wife’s here,” the other man said and let out a meaningful smile.

Aside from knowing who she was, almost everyone knew that Gwen was Hayes Gilmore’s wife.

Three years ago, this couple’s wedding was the grandest and the most talked about event in the city. It was a pretty big deal.

Hayes poked his cheek with his tongue as he glanced at Gwen, who was sternly looking at him. Then, he withdrew his gaze and tossed the card on the table.

Unbothered by the people’s curious gazes, Gwen walked towards Hayes. Lacey immediately rested her palm on the man’s shoulder, displaying her perfectly manicured red nails against his black shirt. She leaned closer to Hayes and raised an eyebrow.

“What brings you here, Gwen?” Lacey tilted her head.

Gwen pretended like she didn’t hear her. She didn’t have the time to give these people a show to watch.

“Let’s talk,” she coldly said to Hayes.

Hayes remained staring at his cards. “What is it?”

Gwen sighed and pursed her lips. She glanced at Lacey and said, “About the divorce.”

She grabbed the papers from her bag and showed them to Hayes. “I signed the papers already. I can go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs to process the rest of the requirements anytime.”

It wasn’t ideal to talk about such a serious and private matter in front of these people, especially when everybody knew that it was Hayes who wanted to call their marriage off.

However, Gwen couldn’t wait any longer.

Of all people, she knew that Hayes was ruthless and always did everything to get whatever he wanted. But never did she ever think that he would do the same thing to her.

Hayes glanced at the papers in front of him but didn’t say anything.

The people at their table suddenly went quiet while Gwen tried to figure out what her soon-to-be former husband was thinking.

Lacey’s eyes caught the man sitting opposite them. She saw him place a cigarette between his lips before lowering his head to light the object with his lighter.

Smoke instantly rose in the air as he inhaled. Tempted by the smell of smoke, the man beside him grabbed the cigarette box, only to find it empty.

“Give me a stick, Seth,” the man whispered.

Seth Parker lifted his eyes and looked at the man. “A hundred thousand dollars for one cigarette. Deal?” he asked while smirking.

“The fuck? Does that thing have diamonds inside?” Tucker Scott replied incredulously. He grabbed the empty box and threw it on Seth’s face.

Seth laughed and blocked his face with his hand. As soon as the box touched his palm, he instinctively waved his hand, making the object fly across the table.

Seth and Tucker watched the thing fly in the air as if it was in slow motion. The box fell on someone’s head with a thud.

“Aw,” Gwen muttered before covering her head. She looked at the floor and saw a cigarette box.