Calvin and Amber. Two people tied by marriage, each nursing an unrequited love. She didn't know whether to envy, pity, or hate him. As Calvin leaned against her, drunk and vulnerable, her lips curled into a bitter smile. She pushed his head away with calculated detachment.
"Calvin," she began sweetly, her voice masking the steel beneath, "I need your help. I'm starting a studio and need some startup funds. Can you sign this for me?"
Calvin blinked at her, his drunken stupor clouding his judgment. "What's this?" he mumbled, taking the document from her outstretched hands.
"It's just a business agreement," she lied smoothly. "A formality."
Amber's heart pounded painfully in her chest as she watched him scan the paper with glassy eyes. The divorce agreement was clear, listing her terms: the house in Bayview and $4 million—pocket change for a man like Calvin. The precision of her request wasn't born from greed but from survival, a calculated demand for the freedom she so desperately craved.
Calvin's lips quirked into a lazy grin as he picked up the pen. "Oh, my little money-grubber," he teased, his voice laced with drunken fondness. "Good thing your husband has more money than he knows what to do with."
Without hesitation, he scrawled his name across the dotted line in bold, decisive strokes. Each pen stroke felt like a knife slicing through Amber's resolve, the sound of ink scratching paper echoing in her ears. Her body betrayed her, trembling faintly as relief and fear tangled inside her.
When he was done, Calvin tossed the pen aside and pulled Amber onto his lap, holding her hands captive in his own. "Just try finding someone else," he muttered mockingly, his voice laced with both arrogance and affection. "See where you'll find someone like me to bankroll your whims."
Calvin thought nothing of signing the agreement. To him, it was just another routine document. After scribbling his signature, he teasingly tapped Amber on the nose, a fleeting gesture of affection that meant nothing. He failed to notice the sadness lingering in her eyes, veiled by the cascade of her long, dark hair.