Divorced: I Married My Enemy

Chapter 1

Isabella's POV

Today was the day, the special day I have been looking forward to since I went for the business trip with my boss a week ago.

I was supposed to get back next week, but I had to rush back home because today was my husband's birthday. The man I have been in love with since childhood and had married for three years.

The taxi pulled up to our house, and I paid the driver quickly, barely waiting for my change.

I let myself in quietly, a smile already forming on my lips. “This surprise would be perfect,” I murmur under my breath.

I could picture his face, those brown eyes lighting up, and that rare genuine smile he reserved just for me.

But as I stepped in, I heard voices from the living room.

Daniel, I'm pregnant," I heard Sarah say.

The words hit me like a physical blow, stopping me mid-step. My entire body went still, and the gift bag suddenly feeling impossibly heavy in my hand.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. The world seemed to tilt, as I try to process what I just heard.

"What? Are you sure about that?" Daniel asked, his voice polite and calm, too calm, I thought distantly, even as my mind scrambled to make sense of what I was hearing.

He wrapped his hands around her, and I could hear the soft rustle of fabric, the intimate closeness of their bodies.

"I took the test three times," Sarah said, and I could hear the bright, triumphant tone I had heard a thousand times before, usually directed at me when she shared good news.

"And it was all positive, so we are going to be having a baby soon." She said it while holding onto Daniel's hand so intimately, and something inside me began to break.

“Wow, that's a good thing,” Daniel said, a smile curving at the corner of his lips, making my breath catch in my throat.

"And it's definitely mine?" he added, grinning ear to ear, and I felt my eyes widen in disbelief, my mouth going dry.

"Of course, who else's would it be, Daniel?" Sarah responded, and I could see the comfortable teasing of two people who knew each other intimately.

Daniel's smile deepened almost immediately, and I could feel the warmth in his response, the genuine joy from him.

"This is really good; I'm so happy right now," he said, pulling her into a tight hug, and my stomach dropped, the way you fall in a nightmare.

I couldn't believe that Daniel could be this happy over a pregnancy when he had clearly told me he didn't want kids. This is so cruel, that my mind struggled to process it.

I mean, we had been married for five years, but he had said he didn't want kids and wanted me to take contraceptive pills for five years.

I had done it, because I love him. I had swallowed them down, telling myself that he just needed time, that eventually he would come around, that our love was strong enough to wait.

But now, my best friend since college the person who had stood beside me at my wedding, who had held my bouquet while I danced with my father.

Who had cried happy tears when I said my vow, was pregnant with his child, and he was happy.

I thought, and immediately I felt my heart breaking inside of me. They have been having an affair all this while. I thought as hot tears clouded my eyes as I stared at the both of them.

"Sarah, thank you so much." He said, grinning from ear to ear.

"I can't believe it. I'm going to be a father!" He added, placing his hands on Sarah's flat stomach.

"I know. I'm glad to see you happy?" Sarah spoke softly, with a smile curved at the corner of her lips.

"Happy?" He practically shouted. "I'm over the moon! I can't wait to carry my baby. To hold them, to teach them everything. This is everything I've ever wanted." He said.

I released the tears that had been threatening to flow down my cheeks all this while.

He just said that was everything he had ever wanted. I thought within me, and just then the gift bag slipped from my fingers. It hit the hard floor with a soft thud, and I didn't even care.

Then both turned their gaze to my direction almost immediately.

“Bella, you are back,” Daniel said, with his eyes widened in disbelief as he, staring at me, but I was just too heartbroken to answer him right now.

Five years of marriage, five years of trying to convince him to start a family with me, and now this is what I get.

Five years of him telling me he wasn't ready yet, that he just wanted us to enjoy our marriage first, and I had believed him; I had believed every word.

But now I understood that he wasn't ready to have children with me.

They both looked up at me; Sarah's eyes widened, but there was no guilt there, no shock. If anything, she looked triumphant.

Daniel scrambled to his feet, his expression flickering through surprise, then panic, then something that looked almost like relief.

"Bella," he called to me.

"Daniel, did I actually hear her correctly?" I asked him, with tears in my eyes.

Sarah stood slowly, reaching for her purse on the coffee table. She pulled out a piece of paper with the pregnancy test results and held it up like a trophy.

"Congratulations, Bella," she said, with a smile curved at the corner of her lips.

"You're going to be an aunt. Daniel and I are having a baby." She added, grinning with her eyes fixed on me.

"You are really pregnant," I said, the words tasting like ash. "And he's the father," I added, pointing my fingers to Daniel.

"The only one who could be." Sarah smiled, and I saw years of friendship dissolving in that expression.

All those late nights sharing secrets. All those promises were all lies; I couldn't believe she could betray me this way. I thought as more tears flowed down my cheeks.

I turned to Daniel, my husband of five years. The man I'd given everything to, my love, my heart, my soul, even though my parents never approved of him.

"You told me you weren't ready; you said we had time. We've been married for three years, Daniel, three years, and you wouldn't even discuss it with me," I spat.

"Bella, it's complicated." He said, making my face twist into a frown almost immediately.

"Complicated?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"You're having a baby with my best friend, and you're telling me it's complicated?" I snapped at him as I blinked back the tears threatening to flow down my cheeks.

"Look." He ran a hand through his hair; that gesture I used to find endearing. Now it just made me want to scream.

"The truth is, I actually love her more to want to have a child with her," he said, breaking my heart even more.

"Why her? Why couldn't you love me enough to want a family with me?" I retorted as more tears flowed down my cheeks.

"The truth is, I never loved you; I only married you because of my grandmother's last wish," he explained, totally avoiding my eyes.

I felt something crack inside my chest. A sound like breaking glass.

"Daniel..." Sarah touched his arm, and he leaned into her touch with a comfort that he has never showed to me before.

"Here." He walked to the sideboard and pulled out an envelope, official-looking papers. He threw them on the coffee table between us.

"I was going to wait until your trip was over. Give you time to settle back in, but since you're here, and you have seen that Sarah is the one I want to be with, I guess there is no need to delay any further," he said.

My hands were shaking as I picked up the envelope. I opened it and widened my eyes in disbelief, seeing it was divorce papers.

And he has already filled it out, and he has already signed it, and now it is waiting for my signature.

“You are divorcing me because of her?” This question rang out of my mouth before I could stop myself, as my tears poured down my cheeks as rain.

"I have obeyed my grandmother's last wish for five years and treated you well, but I think it's time I moved on and started my own family, with the one I truly love." He finally looked at me.

This was it. I actually meant nothing to him. Sarah was the real deal for him, while I was just a lady he had to marry because of his mother's last wish. I thought within me as I finally released the tears in my eyes.

“What have I done to deserve this betrayal from you, Daniel?” This question rang out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“It's not a betrayal, Bella; just sign the divorce so we can both be free. I had been a good husband to you for five years, so don't try to make a big deal out of it,” he said.

"Give me a pen," I said quietly, as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

Daniel blinked. "What?"

"A pen," I repeated with a steady, even voice as tears began to well up in my eyes again.

"You want me to sign, right? You want to end this marriage, right?" I asked him, but he didn't respond.

He just brought out a pen from his pocket and stretched it to me. I took a deep breath, shutting my eyes for a while, before taking the pen from him.

My hands shook as I signed the divorce paper; he was free now. I thought as hot, burning tears blurred my vision.