Page 10 of Make Me Whole

My father’s tone peeled my gaze and wondering mind away from Max and his very cryptic, “I hope so.” What did he hope for? That Ella and Aiden would see each other as cousins, a totally appropriate option since neither had any and our families were so close? Or siblings, a concept that was too appealing for how little sense it made.

But I had no time to wonder at his meaning. As soon as my father placed my phone in front of me, it beeped with an incoming message. Despite having ignored Eli’s messages all day, I unlocked the screen and read the text.

Eli: I’m at your father’s house with signed papers.

You have two minutes to come claim them.

My heartrate spiked.

A voice inside my head whispered that it was a trap, something too good to be true that would end up badly. But another part of me—the stupid, hopeful, and innocent part, perhaps—was too excited to heed to wisdom. If by a miracle there was the possibility that I could become a free, divorced woman today, then I couldn’t waste it.

“Excuse me. I’ll be right back,” I said as I got up and almost sprinted for the house.

As I raced to the front door, my mind created scenarios of the life I would build for Ella and myself without Eli’s shadow hovering over our happiness. For the first time in years, I felt excited, hopeful, and energetic.

I took a deep breath when I reached the front door and squared my shoulders to face Eli for what could very well be the last time. My lips curled up into a small, involuntary smile.

That smile, however, was short-lived. He was leaning against the porch railing in a blue suit that perfectly matched his eyes and a partially unbuttoned white shirt that showed too much. His douchebag smile showed two white teeth.

If his appearance wasn’t regretful enough, he had to open his pie hole and speak. “You look absolutely delicious, Darling. Yellow isn’t really your color, but this silhouette does wonders for your curves.”

Vomit rose to my throat. I hated when he called me darling and made sexual innuendos, and I hated even more his veiled critiques of my looks. My skin was too pale, my hips too wide. It was mind-boggling how a man as handsome as Eli could be so disgusting. It was even worse how I had fallen in love and given eight years of my life to this man.

I crossed my arms and quickly uncrossed them when Eli’s attention fell to my cleavage. “You didn’t have to come up to the house. I was going to your car to get the papers.”

“I don’t mind. And since I’m here, we can visit a little.” Eli shrugged and pushed past me to enter the house. “We haven’t talked in so long, Darling. The house, our bed, and my life are so lonely without you.”

Gag.

I followed him to the living room. Since the papers were signed, I felt emboldened to speak honestly. “Our bed was always lonely for me. And I highly doubt you’ve been lonely at all, Eli. I’m sure being mayor only heightened your appeal to floozies and bimbos.”

A gross, self-absorbed smirk curled his lips. “They’re not you, Sky.”

The admission caused the last unshattered piece of my heart to break. Betrayal always hurt, even when love is long gone.

“Well, you’re never having me again, so enjoy your whores and good luck with those STDs.”

Holding my gaze with mocking eyes, he growled. “Kitty’s got claws now. Good for you, darling. But I wouldn’t be so quick to rule me and our marriage over.”

My heart damn near stopped. I looked down at the yellow envelope he had in his hands. “Unless you lied about coming over to deliver signed papers, I don’t see a reason I wouldn’t rule out both you and this sham of a marriage.”

He sat down on my father’s gray couch, placed the envelope on the coffee table, and smiled. “I’ve never lied to you, Skylar. And I wouldn’t start now. I brought signed papers for you, but I don’t think they’re the ones you imagine.”

Head pounding, I reached for the envelope and nearly tore it apart as I removed the papers from inside. The front page read,Petition for Sole Physical Custody of Minor Child.

My heart stopped as I read the petition that cited my lack of employment and housing as proof that it was in Ella’s best interest to be placed under her father’s custody. At the end of the document, there was date listed for a settlement in a few weeks. My hands shook as I turned to the second and last page, where Eli’s signature was.

“You bastard,” I sneered, motherly instinct kicking in and urging me to do whatever necessary to protect my daughter from this monster. “You’re not keeping my child from me. I’m an excellent mother, and I have no job because you’ve never allowed me to study or get one. And even now, you’ve used your position to sour every opportunity for independence that I found. I’m living with my father becauseyougave me no other choice.”

“I’m giving you one now.” I tilted my head, confused. He got up, smoothed the fabric of his blazer, and closed the waist button as he continued, “If we’re speaking our minds here, I really don’t give a fuck whether you love me or not. I’m not here because I miss you or want to romance you back into my life.

“I’m here because I have big dreams—White House kind of dreams—and being young and divorced are roadblocks I don’t want in my path. In politics, optics are important, and being seen as a playboy can crush me against a more established and trustworthy opponent. I need to be the young, handsome, family man candidate. That’s how I become governor before I’m forty and president before fifty.

“So, your choices are to either come home, do your duties as a mayor’s wife and help me climb up the ranks, or remain stubborn and end up without Ella. Your future depends on you.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I also wished I had brought my phone to record this clown and use his own words as the key to mine and Ella’s freedom.

Though I was well aware of his less than honest means to get his way, I knew his threats were lined with bullshit. So I called his bluff. “You should know better than to tell an opponent your masterful plan, Eli. Recordings are great ways to convince a judge that you’re not who you say you are.”

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