My Husband Locked Me up When I Wanted to Ask for a DivorceChapter 1
Amber and Calvin had been married for three years, but Calvin's heart had never truly belonged to her—it was still irrevocably tied to his childhood sweetheart, Iris. A single phone call from Iris would leave him sleepless and rushing her to the hospital in the dead of night. At her slightest whim, he would compel Amber to eat mango cake, fully aware of her allergy. And if Iris so much as shed a tear, Calvin would abandon everything—including Amber.
It wasn't until the day Amber decided to leave that something shifted. Calvin, driving his sleek Maybach, pursued her all the way to the airport. His eyes, red with desperation, betrayed his fear of losing her. "Amber," he pleaded, voice trembling, "can we not divorce? I'm begging you."
***
After three tumultuous years of being married to Calvin—the crown prince of the elite Newark social circle—Amber had finally made up her mind to let go. But this decision was a fragile secret she couldn't let slip. She knew Calvin well enough to anticipate his reaction. He'd likely destroy the house in a drunken rage and buy three boxes of strawberry-flavored contraceptives, implying that she cheated on him.
The piercing roar of his Maybach's engine shattered the late-night silence, reverberating like thunder through the sprawling mansion. Outside, the dim streetlights flickered erratically, their brief flashes seeping through the curtains, casting fleeting shadows that stretched across the cold, empty bedroom.
Amber stirred, her light sleep fractured. Her sharp ears immediately recognized the deep, guttural growl of the Maybach. Suppressing a sigh, she slid out of bed, her movements purposeful but weighed down with exhaustion. Grabbing the carefully prepared divorce papers from her nightstand, she draped her shoulders with a knitted shawl for warmth. Slipping her feet into soft, well-worn cotton slippers, she padded downstairs.
The sight that greeted her was all too familiar. Calvin had stumbled home drunk yet again. His tailored suit lay crumpled on the marble floor, his silk tie and polished leather shoes discarded like forgotten relics of his pristine public image. The pungent stench of alcohol assaulted her senses, mingled faintly with the bitter tang of cigarette smoke.