Chase was standing behind me, looking as tall and sturdy and sure, like he was a god himself. He was wearing black pants and a dark shirt that hugged his body and looked like it was made just for him.

I could feel the anger wafting off of him, but it still didn’t stop me from totally forgetting how to breathe… the way I always did whenever he was around.

Chase was one of those people who just looked like there was extra time involved in creating them. My husband was gorgeous. That was the only right word for it. But my awe of him was quickly replaced by a sour taste in my mouth when my eyes moved to the figure beside him.

My sister, Raven, stood beside Chase with one hand wrapped protectively around his arm. She was dressed in a pretty figure hugging light blue dress complete with a designer handbag. I instinctively felt self conscious, and I was already comparing my outfit of baggy jeans and a tee shirt to hers. My face was bare, except for the lipgloss that coated my lips, whereas, Raven had a full face of makeup on.

My eyes landed on her hand wrapped around Chase’s again, and I frowned. She was standing way too close to him. They looked like a couple, and I was sure that even strangers could see that.

Raven whistled loudly. “Good eye, Sydney. Who’s the hot guy?” She asked, raising a brow at Dwayne.

I ignored her. I was very aware that she was only trying to stir up trouble.

Chase took a step forward, forcing Raven to untangle her hand from his. “What are you doing here?”

The question was obviously directed at me, but Chase had his eyes set on Dwayne, almost like he was challenging the other man.

I had to give it to Dwayne though. Most people cowered under my husband’s glare. But Dwayne stood his ground and glared back at Chase with the same level of confidence. And despite the situation, I found myself smiling a little.

After what seemed like a lifetime of the both of them just glaring at each other, Dwayne finally brought eye contact and turned to me instead. “I’m glad you’re okay, and I’m really sorry once again. Have a good rest of your day.”

He was already walking away before I could say anything in response.

“Do you want to talk to me now that he’s gone?” Chase asked.

I turned sharply to him, feeling the anger inside of me threatening to boil over. “You promised you’d be at my appointment. Why weren’t you there?”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Sydney. Who was that guy and what was going on here?”

“Oh my God, Chase! There was a little accident and he was just making sure that I was okay. Happy? Will you answer my question now? Why didn’t you show up to my appointment?”

Chase growled in frustration and looked at Raven before turning to me with a look that suggested that I should magically know what he was thinking. When I didn’t say anything, he sighed and answered. “Raven has been in this hospital for weeks now. If only you cared, you would know that she was getting discharged today. Donald asked me to pick her up.”

His tone was curt and clipped, his faint Italian accent made it worse, and it only made me angrier. Of course my father had asked him to pick Raven up, even though he knew about the doctor’s appointment I had scheduled for today. My parents had always put Raven’s interests ahead of mine. I was used to it, but that didn’t stop it from hurting. Especially since my husband decided to follow in their footsteps.

“Of course he did,” I replied. “Everything is always about Raven, isn’t it?”

What followed my response was so unexpected that I didn’t even fully register it until I heard my housekeeper’s gasp behind us. Chase had slapped me. My hand reached for my cheek as I felt the pain and the tingling sensation his palm had left. I looked at his face in shock. Regret flashed across his eyes but it was gone just as fast as it came.

“Did you- did you just hit me?” I was barely even able to get the words out.

“This Sydney! This is the thing about you! Do you have to make everything about yourself? Do you always have to be this selfish?”

“I’m selfish?” I asked in disbelief. “I’m selfish for wanting you to pretend to care a little bit more about me? About our baby?”

“Oh for fuck’s sales, Sydney. The baby is barely even a baby yet. What does it matter if I miss one little doctor’s visit? I have provided the best hospital and doctor in the country, so why can't you be a little less uptight?”

“Chase…”

Whatever I was about to say was cut off by Raven who suddenly started fake coughing. Even a blind person would be able to tell that she was faking it, but of course, Chase ate it all up. He rushed to her side, looking at me accusingly.

“This isn’t a good time for your pettiness, Sydney. Your sister’s only just recovering after two years. Maybe you can pretend to care a little bit more about that.”

Chase threw my own words back in my face and then he took Raven’s hand. “Let’s get you to the car.”

I watched as he led her to the parking lot, barely able to move.

Hours later, I woke up with a jump. It sounded like something had fallen downstairs. It was so late, the small clock on my bedside table read 2:07am in glowy red numbers.

I quickly wrapped my robe around myself and headed downstairs.

“Syd!”

My suspicions were confirmed. Chase was the only one in this house who called me Syd. There were more clattering noises as I made my way carefully down the stairs.

Chase was in the middle of the living room, struggling to stand upright.

“Oh my God, Chase. Are you drunk?” I questioned as I made my way over to him.

“Hey, it’s you.” He said, pointing a finger at me and grinning like he was just meeting me for the first time. “It’s you. I know you.”

It took everything in me not to roll my eyes. I was too tired to deal with this right now. I’d spent most of the night just rethinking everything that had happened earlier. My doctor called me when I finally got home, and had advised that I avoid stressful situations if I wanted to keep my baby safe. Dealing with drunk Chase was the last thing that I wanted to do right now. But I knew that if I left him and just went back to bed, he would only break more things, ultimately keeping me awake. I could get one of his security men to do it, but it was late and I didn’t want to bother anyone.

“Come in, Chase. Let’s get you upstairs.” I tried to grab his arm but he grabbed me instead and pulled me to his chest.

“I know you…” he slurred. “You’re my wife. You’re my beautiful wife. You look so beautiful right now.”

“Chase, you’re drunk. You need to go to bed. It’s already pretty late.”

“But you’re my wife.” His eyes fell. “I’m so sorry that I slapped you earlier, Syd. I’m so sorry. I’m a horrible horrible person.”

“It’s okay, Chase . Now can we please go to bed?”

He ignored my words and leaned in to kiss me.

“Chase, I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. You’re drunk.”

He only laughed and tried once more to kiss me. I tried to get in control and take him upstairs but he wouldn’t budge. “Please, Sydney. Please. I’ve missed you so much.”

I knew I should have resisted, and I knew that he was only looking at me that way because he was drunk. But I liked the way he looked at me. I liked the way he looked like he wanted me. It had been so long since he had looked at me that way. So I kissed him. It was just going to be one little kiss. One little kiss and then I would make him go upstairs and go to bed.

But then he kissed me again. And his hands undid the knot in my robe, and it fell to the floor. I was left in my silk nightgown. Chase eyed me hungrily.

“You look so darn good right now, Syd.”

“Kiss me,” I whispered. It was getting hard to keep my hands off of him. I wanted him close to me. I wanted him to take care of the ache that I was feeling. I wanted him to want me.

So I let him kiss me, and I let him take off all of our clothes, and we made love right there in our living room.

But then the spell wore off when it was all done, and I didn’t feel as good as I thought I would feel about this. All I could think about was that I hadn’t told Chase that after thinking all day and night about our situation, I’d come to a decision.

I wanted a divorce.