Chapter 57 Touch Me Like You Hate Me (6)

Chapter 57 Touch Me Like You Hate Me (6)
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Mason demanded, his breathing heavy as he stared at me. “Why are you behaving like this suddenly?”
“Suddenly?” I muttered the word, the absurdity of it tasting like ash in my mouth. “How is any of this sudden to you, Mason?”
I quickly sniffed, fighting back the burning tears that threatened to spill over my lashes. I refused to let him see me cry. Not anymore. This bastard. He honestly stood there believing I was acting out of the blue.
He had spent years breaking my heart, abandoning me in this cavernous house, and sleeping with every brainless model and celebrity he could slide into—yet he had the audacity to claim I had suddenly changed.
“Yes,” he responded, crossing his arms, his entitlement radiating off him. “Mira, what has gotten into you? You were never like this before.”
“Oh, I guess I just finally stopped acting like a fool,” I whispered. A small, humorless laugh escaped my lips, hollow and sharp. “Just sign the damn divorce papers and let me get over it.”
“If you think I’m going to give you half of my money or my properties, you must be out of your goddamn mind!” he screamed directly into my face, his handsome features twisting into something entirely ugly and feral. “I will never give you a single damn cent. And to think you can just escape me? Not in this lifetime, Mira.”
The Mason standing in front of me right now was nothing like the man I had fallen desperately in love with three years ago. The monster wearing his face today was an ugly, greedy, and ungrateful creature.
Rage flared deep in my chest. I lunged forward, shoving him hard against his broad chest, forcing him back a step. “I don’t want a single thing from you, Mason! The only thing I want from your miserable life is for you to sign those papers!”
I spun around, violently zipping my suitcase shut with a snap. I turned back to look at him one last time, my eyes cold enough to freeze water. “And you need to imprint this directly into your pathetic brain. I am not your ex-wife. As far as I’m concerned, we never even met.”
With that, I gripped the handle of my bag and dragged it toward the bedroom door. Mason stood frozen, completely taken aback by my strength for a fraction of a second, but the sound of his heavy footsteps running after me echoed through the hallway.
“Mira!” he called out, his voice echoing off the walls, but I didn’t stop. I kept walking, my heels clicking against the hardwood as I dragged my heavy bag down the grand staircase.
“Mira!”
He called my name again, panic bleeding into his tone, but I was already at the front door. My fingers wrapped around the brass handle, ready to pull it open and breathe fresh air, when his large, heavy hand slammed down over mine, ripping me away from the exit.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he yelled, his grip turning violent as his fingers dug bruisingly into my wrist.
“Mason,” I called his name softly, my voice deadly quiet as he squeezed tighter, trying to assert his dominance. “Don’t make me do something we’ll both regret. I don’t want…”
“You don’t want to do what?” he mocked, a cruel scoff ripping from his throat as he cut off my words. “Who the hell do you think you are? Look at yourself!”
“Who am I?”
“Yes! I know exactly who you are, Mira. You are nothing but a helpless, pathetic orphan,” Mason sneered, stepping into my personal space, his eyes flashing with malicious intent. “You are nothing without my name and my money. I am warning you right now—if you dare open this door and walk out of my house, I will never accept your apology when you come crawling back here begging for my forgiveness.”
A low, dark smile escaped my lips as I stared directly into his angry eyes. The fear I used to feel around his outbursts was completely gone, replaced by pure pity.
“If you truly think I am ever going to crawl back to you begging, Mason... you are tragically mistaken.”
“Mira!” he shouted, his voice rattling the glass panels of the front door. “I am giving you one final warning. Take back your words about this divorce right now, and I will be merciful enough to forgive you.”
With a sudden, sharp twist of my arm, I forced my hand out of his tight grip, ripping myself completely free from his touch.
“I will never take it back.” I didn’t bother turning around as I threw the heavy mahogany door wide open. “And I will never crawl back to you. I don’t want your money, I don’t want your houses, and I don’t want your name. Just sign the goddamn papers and get lost forever, Mason.”
I stepped out onto the porch and shut the massive door behind me with a resounding slam.
But Mason wasn’t giving up that easily. The door flew open again a second later, and he came charging down the marble steps after me, his face flushed with humiliating rage.
Just as he reached the bottom step, a sleek, jet-black luxury car pulled up smoothly in front of the mansion’s driveway. The tinted window rolled up, and a professional private driver in a pristine suit quickly opened the driver’s door and stepped out onto the asphalt.
The driver walked past Mason as if he were invisible, stopping right in front of me before bowing his head in deep respect.
“Miss Hawthorne,” the driver called out, his voice crisp and formal. “I am here to pick you up.”
“Thank you, Thomas,” I replied, a genuine smile finally breaking across my face.
He quickly and efficiently collected the heavy suitcase from my hand, walking to the rear of the vehicle to place it safely in the trunk. He then moved to the passenger side, opening the heavy back door for me to step inside.
“Thank you.”
I was just about to slide into the leather interior when Mason’s hand shot out again, grabbing my upper arm and pulling me backward.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, his eyes darting frantically from the expensive car to the driver, and then back to me. “Where the hell are you going? Who paid for this car?”
“What do you think, Mason?” I replied, tilting my head with a mocking smile.
“Is this why you’re suddenly demanding a divorce?” He hissed, his voice dropping into a calm, dangerously quiet tone as he tried desperately to control the humiliation burning in his chest. “You’ve already found another wealthy man to freeload on?”