MICHAEL WEST'S JOURNEY FROM TORMENT TO TRIUMPH

Michael tapped his feet repeatedly on the tiled floor as he sat impatiently in the CEO's office of Robert and co. He had been sitting there for hours after receiving a message from his wife's secretary to come in and see her. 

The cup of coffee sitting in his hand let out its final smoke that swirled into the air till it disappeared as he looked at the wristwatch on his hand to check the time for the twelfth time.

The door finally pushed open and a young lady with curly blonde hair that bounced behind her as she swayed her hips walked in. A fitted blue mini suit skirt clung onto her body and a suit shirt to match fitted her perfectly. 

Michael let out a sigh as the word "finally" left his mouth. 

"Mr West, please come over to the table." She said nonchalantly. 

Michael frowned, she didn't even apologize for keeping him waiting for so long, heck she didn't even act like she acknowledged his presence. "I've been waiting here for hours, what took you so long?" 

"Me? Of course I had better things to do than to waste away my evening talking with the likes of you. Besides, shouldn't you be grateful that you were treated to a cup of expensive coffee and cooling air from the ac?" She raised a brow. 

Michael let out a scoff. She always talked to him like that, even though he was her boss' husband. 

"Well? Get here already!" She said in a commanding tone. "You're in no position to complain about anything." Her expression was only one thing as she spoke to him, disgust. 

Michael rose to his feet and walked over to the table. He placed the coffee gently on the table and waited for her to speak. 

She searched through the files and brought out one. "There it is!" Opening it, she placed it in front of Michael and put a pen on top of it. "Sign here." 

Picking up the pen, he looked into the paper. "What is this?"

"A divorce paper. Can't you read?" She growled. 

Michael didn't quite understand what she meant. "A divorce paper?" He asked, feeling confused as to why a divorce paper was laying in front of him. "I don't understand." His face scrunched up confusedly. 

"What is there not to understand? Miss Robert wishes to divorce you and free herself from the shackles of a useless marriage." The secretary rudely proclaimed. "She has had enough of the insults living with a man like you as her husband has brought her and she wishes to put an end to it." 

Michael stepped away from the table, more like stumbling backwards. The pen fell from his hands and he turned to look at the secretary. "Miss Robert ?" Why the heck was his wife referring to herself as Miss? "What are you talking about? She left home this morning and didn't tell me anything like that! Tell me this is a prank." 

His wife's secretary let out a hoarse laughter. "A prank? If anything is a prank then it's you. Mr West, you know in that shabby little heart of yours that you don't deserve a woman like Miss Robert . She's beautiful, rich and powerful why you're just a nobody from the trash trying to cling unto her--"

"What are you saying?" He asked. 

Everything his wife was today, it was because of him. Because of his sweat and sacrifices. For three long years he served her and allowed her to climb on top of his head to reach higher. 

Which is why he found it hard to believe, she was divorcing him and not even in person!

"Where is Clara?" He asked in a firm tone. 

"Miss Robert is busy. Now if you would just sign here, she is kind enough to give you the house you live in currently, a car and alimony of ten million dollars. That's enough for you to live a decent life." The secretary noted. 

"No!" Michael barked. "I will not sign those papers until Clara comes in here and tell me what the f*ck is going on!" 

"It's exactly what she says is going on that is going on, honey." 

Michael turned around to the voice of his wife. 

Clara stood at the door with a smile on her face. Michael almost didn't recognize his wife, unlike the morning when she left home, she was putting on a red fitted jumpsuit that hugged her body and displayed her curves so effortlessly. 

Her black heel called for attention as she strolled to her chair and sat down. 

"Clara, what exactly is going on here?" Michael asked. He forced himself to ignore the change of outfit and the full make up on her face. 

She tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "No reason for you to act unreasonable now, Ash, just sign the papers and take the house plus a car and ten million dollars." 

His eyes squinted. It was like he was staring at a whole different person. "What is the meaning of this? A divorce? Out of the blue?" 

"It isn't out of the blue, Michael, obviously you have seen the signs I have been giving you." 

"Yes, I did see signs but I thought it was because you were stressed from work." Michael fell silent as she broke into a mocking laughter. 

"Stressed from work? No, I've been stressed from having to put up with you for three whole years!" She rose to her feet with an evil glare in her eyes. "You're not a husband at all, you're nothing but dead weight pulling me down. Heck you're not even a man! You're... Nothing." 

He felt his whole world fall apart in an instant. The only reason he lived was to love his wife and he had done so for three good years. To him, every single moment shared with her was like a dream come true and not a nightmare as she claimed.

"Is this because of Liam?" 

Clara felt shocked by his words. She had been doing everything she could to get close to Liam 

George of the king's Donaldation so he would help grow her company. But it was over with Michael now so there was no reason for her to hide it. "And what if it is?" 

"Is power and money really all there is to you?" His brow arched. 

"Yes, that's exactly what you need in this life, not love like you think. The reason you are nothing and will always be is because you can't open your eyes to see the truth. Love truly blinds and it has blinded you so much that you can't see what it's not doing! It's not putting food on the table nor is it providing the clothes on our backs or the roof over our heads!" She barked. 

"But with love, anything is possible. We can survive together Becca!" 

She sat back down into her seat and relaxed. "I'm sorry but I can't survive on your love. Please, stop making it so hard and just accept this." 

For a moment, he thought he actually saw a hint of emotion in her eyes. But only for a moment. 

"Did you ever even love me?" She rolled her eyes at his question but it didn't stop him from talking. "I loved you every single step of the way. Every single day, the reason I wake is you, I've never loved anyone the way I love you--"

"If you truly love me then you'll sign those papers and stop making a fuss out of nothing and you'll never show your face to me again." Her words were cold enough to send chills down his spine. 

"I don't want anything from you. I'll sign the papers but I want my mother's ring back." He forced the words from his mouth as he fought the urge to fall apart.

"Good riddance, did you ever even see that old crappy thing on my finger?" She opened her purse and fetched out the ring then threw it across the table. "There's your mother's trash."

He picked up the ring and pocketed it. Picking up the pen that fell from his hand earlier, he brought his weary hands to sign the papers. 

"I wish you a good life Clara." He managed to hide his emotion as he spoke.

"I wish you'd leave my office already and bury yourself in the scrap where you belong already." Like sharp knives, her words stabbed his heart. "Oh and you can sell the house if you don't want to live in it, I already packed my things and moved to my new home." 

Those were the last words he heard her say as he left her office. 

Clara let out a sigh as the door closed behind Michael. Feeling like she had lost something important to her and it was a bad decision to let him go but she shrugged off the thought almost immediately.