Chapter 53: His Ex-Wife

Aurora POV:

He stared at me for a long time

"Miss Hardy, I'm about to tell you something I've never told anyone, not even my parents know about it. It's my deepest and darkest secret."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because I want you to know"

Here it comes, I braced up. He was going to tell me he physically abused his wife and would try to give a ridiculous excuse to justify what he did.

"I'm listening"

"My ex-wife was the first woman, the first and only woman I've ever loved, I trusted and loved her with my life. I know you must have heard we started dating in high school"

I nodded affirmatively. Everyone knows that.

"Yeah, Everyone knows that"

"True. we married right after high school before she furthered her education. I was never intrigued about school, so it was no surprise when I dropped out after high school to start the ranching business."

"I would have done anything for her and wanting to go to San Antonio to continue her education was the least of it, she wanted to study Estate Law. It wasn't a surprise she had always wanted to further her education, she was really smart, one of the smartest women I've ever seen and I loved her for it. The only problem I had with it was her going alone without supervision but I trusted her, afterall we were already married, nothing could go wrong I had thought."

I listened carefully unsure where the story was heading.

He cleared his throat again "She was growing in knowledge and I had grown in wealth, the ranching was doing unbelievably well. I had channeled my whole life into it and every year I made plans to further expand it. I was engrossed in doing what I love and making more money from it, I didn't miss my wife's absence that much. Our daily Facetime turned to every three days and finally to weekly. I didn't mind much, I presumed she was busy."

"She insisted I don't come looking for her in school and I settle for getting to see her physically whenever she decided to come home. Again I had no reason to doubt her, I believe the love of my life was busy and wanted no interruptions. I had no reason to believe she was being sucked into the city life and wanted me to stay away from her.

She finished at San Antonio University with distinction, I was so happy for her and celebrated her as I possibly could. The happiness soon turned sour when she got offered a job in New York City at a well-known law firm barely a year after college. I was against it, I couldn't bear to have her go far away from me again, I promised to build her the biggest firm, even if it meant getting broke, She argued and beseeched me to bend to her will, she said New York wasn't that far away from Jacobsville. It was barely a 4-hour drive and I could still see her as much as I could. Seeing how much she wanted to go and how much she wanted to. I allowed her to go for three reasons; I trusted her to remain faithful, I knew refusing her would affect her marriage terribly, and deep down I already knew she was meant for much more, she didn't bag a degree with distinction to settle as a rancher's wife in Jacobsville and building her a law firm for her in Jacobsville, no matter how big it is would never top what she wanted from New York. So I bent to her will. "

"She got the job she so wanted and started working in the law firm in the big city. We found a way to make it work, it took great effort from both sides, but we made it work and we were happy again. After a year she complained of having grown fatigued from the weekly conveyance, I understood her, a 4 hrs drive from New York to Jacobsville to and fro every weekend was not an easy feat. So I did not have much argument when she made it at the end of the month, it was hard, very hard, but I made peace with it and allowed the love to lead us"

"Our first conflict came in her second year when she became pregnant, it was quite a surprise she was, she always used contraceptives"

"So, what was the cause of the conflict" I asked with peaked curiosity

"It was I, who wanted the baby. She wasn't interested. She wanted to abort it"

"I was having none of that, she won't kill my baby. We had a heated argument, all our life together I've always allowed her to have her, except for this time. I wouldn't budge nor bend to her will."

"I know it might sound selfish and it was her body her choice. I know it would have a detrimental effect on her work, but I was adamant on my decision. I could admit I was insecure, I wanted to have some type of leverage over her. I thought if we had a child, she wouldn't ever ever want to leave me."

I tried to understand him from the perspective of someone who was scared his wife would jilt him. I wouldn't particularly call him selfish, but his decision was.

"She was angry with me, she would not talk to me, While she was pregnant, but I gave her access to all my money nonetheless, anything to make her happy and bring her comfort. I permitted her to lavish it and Oh lord she did, she kept spending on what I had no idea, but the money kept reducing at a drastic rate. I minded not. She was my wife and would give birth to my child anytime soon. She was still angry with me but I believed all the love would come back as soon as she gave birth and saw our baby too."

I saw the desperation and heard the pain in every word he uttered.

"How wrong was I? Inexplicably wrong," He said

"When she gave birth, all the love disappeared. Every day it got worse, till I was sure she hated me at a point and she hated me more even daily, her hatred was growing daily and I was helpless in front of it. I lived and cannot bear to have her hate me"

"The more I try to reach out, the farther drift away till I am sure there is no love left. I took solace from our son, I lost her love but I had gained a son. It was a painful deal, I still loved her with my heart but I made peace with it. Then she started overstepping her boundaries, she was trying to keep my son away from me."

"How?" I asked

"She would be coming to Jacobsville every 3 months which meant I would be seeing my son once every 90 days. I refuted strongly and we had a heated argument, and in the heat of the moment, it slipped out why was I hell-bent on caring for what wasn't mine. It was a slip of the tongue but I held on to it, the truth is often spoken in anger or a drunken state."

"I thought it was out of line and I was being irrational at first but I couldn't bear ignoring the thought. So, I took hair strands on Ivar's comb and went for a DNA test"

I held my breath, I knew what was coming next.

"As you had expected. Yes, the result came back negative, I was not the father of the child I loved with my life. It was an unbearable reality, I felt an unbearable pain, the greatest pain I have ever felt and would ever feel. I saw my world crashing around me"

I felt for him, I couldn't imagine the pain he possibly went through.

"Waiting for her to come back was the longest. When she did I challenged her as calmly as possible. I knew I still loved her, if she admitted to her error, offered a plausible reason, and begged for forgiveness with remorse, I was ready to take her back. Yes, I loved her that much and was ready to take care of another man's son. Unfortunately, the woman I knew and loved was far gone, her reaction was far from remorse, she laughed Aurora, laughed. She hurt me, then mocked me for it."

I stared back in disbelief at what I was hearing. He has felt pain, true pain.

"So, I slapped her. Believe me Aurora, I didn't mean to hurt her, she hurt but I never wanted to her. I regretted it instantly and apologized, I let her know that it was the biggest mistake I've ever made. She stormed out of the house and the next time I saw her was with a divorce paper. She had hired Micheal to help her file a divorce, I was helpless but still made a last-ditch effort to salvage our relationship by refusing to sign the divorce paper. After being pushed to the limit, I signed the divorce papers where I had to give up forty percent of my wealth. It was the first and greatest betrayal I've ever been unfortunate enough to have experienced."