Man Of Honour: Never The Loser, Ex-wife!

Divorce Papers?

Julian looked down to see the thirteenth missed call from Susan.

Such a sight would have lightened his heart twenty-five hours ago.

In their five years of marriage, he could count how many times she had called him on one hand.

Those less than five times had always been to scold him about something.

“Well, not anymore,” Julian vowed.

He threw the last feed in his hands into the duck pond and smiled as the ducks rushed to get their shares.

He was going to miss some things about this place after all.

The park had always been his place of solace, where he came to clear his head when the mansion got too intolerable for him.

It was also where he had made some of the deals that were currently shaping the global markets.

“Time to end this,” he muttered as he waved at the ducks.

Greedy, his favourite duck, took a moment to look at him.

It quacked and went back to chomping.

Julian snorted a laugh, which lifted a bit of the gloom in his heart.

He could have sworn the duck heard him.

Then he shook his head at his silly thoughts and headed back.

His mood had darkened by the time he got close to the mansion.

He knew why Susan had been calling.

The door opened before he got to it and he almost got knocked over by a towering stack of catalogues that dwarfed the man holding them.

“Excuse me,” the man grunted, even as Julian stepped aside with a raised brow.

Who needed that many catalogues at once to make a choice from?

The answer was waiting for him as soon as he stepped through the door.

“You finally showed your face, uhn? Where the hell have you been?” Madea snapped at him furiously.

Not waiting for his answer, she continued, “Susan is trying out her clothes and does not need you hanging around like a fool. Since you decided to hide away, you might as well be useful now. Follow Gwen and do everything she asks you to do. No mistakes.”

She jerked her finger at the smartly dressed redhead in front of her.

“Yes, Mrs Gibson. I will not disappoint you,” the woman answered eagerly.

“Great. If this idiot gives you any trouble, just…”

Her phone rang and she shooed the woman away with a wave of her fingers and walked off while picking the call.

“Hello, Andrea. Yes, oh, it was quite a surprise to me as well. Mr Anderson is quite smitten with my daughter, I tell you. Oh, the video. That is just…”

Her voice faded as she entered a room on the second level and shut the door.

The redhead gave him a look, and Julian supposed she knew who he was.

Or at least, she guessed.

After all, many knew of his relationship with Susan, even though most had not met him, since he was never allowed to go anywhere public with the family.

She looked at the clock and the look on her face turned brisk.

She passed him while saying, “Come with me. We have a lot to do. You can help with lifting…”

Julian headed towards the stairs with intent.

“Hey, I am talking to you,” the redhead called after him when she looked back and saw that he was not following her.

Julian ignored her and kept going.

“Hey, Mrs Gibson said you should… come back here!”

Her flustered call did nothing to stop him as he headed to Susan's suite.

Madea had said she was trying on her outfits, so he definitely knew where to find her.

The main door was slightly ajar, so he entered. Memories blasted his mind from years ago.

He had naively thought he would live as man and wife with Susan when she accepted to marry him before her grandpa's death.

That night, she had kicked him out of her bedroom with a warning.

He had been banned to the smallest guest room that was more like a store converted with the barest furniture.

Susan's rosemary scent teased Julian's nose, tugging at his heart with longing.

Still, he steeled his mind and headed to the dressing room where he heard Cecile talking.

He knocked on the door and Susan called out.

“Mom, what do you think of…”

Their eyes met in the mirror. Their gaze held for a moment, and Julian admitted what he had always known.

She really was a very beautiful woman when she wasn't scowling or sneering at him.

It wasn't a surprise that she was known as a top beauty in Jetrovale.

Her curvaceous body was currently hugged by a black bodysuit that left nothing to the imagination.

Her milky-white shoulders and thighs were bare, a perfect contrast to the dark material.

“What are you looking at, you perv?” Cecile snapped at Julian.

Susan turned without trying to cover the transparent lingerie.

He might as well see what he would never have access to, she thought, as her eyes trailed his perfect abs, which were still evident beneath his white shirt.

“Where have you been? I have been calling you?!” She yelled at him.

“I have been busy,” he replied calmly.

She scoffed, “What on earth have you been busy with? I am getting engaged. Things need to be done, and you are busy elsewhere? With what?”

“With this,” Julian responded as he brought out an envelope folded in half from his back pocket. “Sign this, and we can forever put an end to this.”

“What’s this?” She snatched the envelope out of his hand.

Cecile moved to her side as she pulled out the papers.

Divorce agreement slammed into her vision, and Susan’s chest suddenly felt too tight.

What…