Chapter 3 Pandora Box

• Mia drove to her husband's office immediately after her mother-in-law left.
• "Can I help you, ma'am?" the receptionist asked professionally.
• The receptionist kept eyeing Mia up and down, from the casual-looking shoes she was wearing to the dress.
• Right now, she is just a shell of herself. Dressing doesn't impress her anymore. The one she thought she was dressing for does not compliment her anymore and does not find her attractive.
• "I am here to see Xavier Sinclair," she requested.
• "Do you have an appointment with him before coming?" the receptionist asked.
• The receptionist had thought she was some low one-night stand prostitute and that she had the intention of blackmailing her boss.
• "I was wondering if I could be buzzed in. I forgot my phone at home and couldn’t inform him of my coming."
• "Ma'am, you are asked to wait in the lobby as the boss is indisposed at the moment."
• Sixty minutes had passed, and she was still sitting down unattended. Right where she was seated, she saw the receptionist ushering a guest who came to see Xavier inside the elevator.
• The receptionist had just told her that Xavier was not around. Standing up from where she was seated, she reached out to the receptionist, but just in time, she was interrupted.
• "Yes?" questioned a familiar voice she knew all too well, her husband's right-hand man and cousin Raphael Sinclair. He was the lawyer in charge of legal tenders in the office and her husband's best friend.
• "Hi, Raphael. Is Xavier in? I've been waiting in the lobby for the past thirty minutes," she said.
• He gave the receptionist a sinister look. "Don't you know she is Mrs. Sinclair?"
• "I only told her the boss was indisposed at the moment," the receptionist defended herself.
• She insisted she was just following her boss's instructions not to allow anyone without an appointment to enter.
• Raphael is Xavier's cousin and also a friend of her, and he has been nice to her.
• She could hear voices from her husband's office, her husband's voice, and a female voice that sounded oddly familiar.
• She feared opening her husband's office door because it felt like she was about to open Pandora's box. Different thoughts swirled in her mind.
• What would her husband's reaction be because she came to his office unannounced? Lost in her thoughts, she hesitated to open the door. On another thought, she considered going back and informing Raphael to pass the information on to her husband.
• Just as she was about to make a U-turn, she was brought back to reality when the door to his office opened, and she bumped forward into his chest, causing a picture to fall from her husband's hand.
• With her face pressed against her husband's chest, she struggled to remove her head from his shirt because her earring was hooked to the button of his shirt.
• "Damn this earring; now is not the time," she cursed at herself with pure embarrassment.
• Mia was harshly brought back to reality when her husband yanked her hair away from his shirt, removing his upper shirt button in the process.
• Mia winced "Ouch!" Xavier felt guilty for a blink of a millisecond before switching to his angry face.
• The pain on her scalp was imminent, and she looked up to meet his face.
• Huffing, he growled to himself before directing his anger towards her.
• "Why can't you just do things right? And by the way, what are you doing here?" he asked, the anger evident in every word.
• Xavier bent down to quickly pick up the picture, trying to hide it from Mia, but she caught a glimpse of it—it was a sonogram.
• "It could be true," Mia muttered to herself, trying to convince herself; she was still in denial.
• He had just come out of his office with a smile on his face, and now he was preventing her from entering his office and shutting the door on her without any gentleness.
• Mia stammered, struggling to speak properly. "I wanted to..." She lost her composure and couldn’t find the right words.
• She was sure she saw a baby sonogram. Could it be that Xavier cheated on her? She was confused and heartbroken.
• "What do you want to say? Be quick about it." His lips pulled down in a ferocious scowl as he sent her a hateful glare.
• Mia, unsure of what to say and how she was going to state the main reason why she was here, felt like she had finally lost her husband, which is what he wanted the most. But she was still in denial that it could be someone else's.
• She couldn’t deny it; she could feel the hatred he harbored for her. It hurt a lot. He would always compliment how good she looked in this dress, no matter how many times she wore it, but it was different this time. It physically and emotionally pained her to know that her husband hated her and that he couldn’t even stand the sight of her for a proper conversation. It hurt to know that he no longer welcomed her sweetly as he used to do before; he didn't even want her in his vicinity.
• "Good you came, Raphael. Where are the papers? I need her signature on them before she leaves." Xavier asked, looking in the direction of his cousin.
• "My signature on what, Xavier? You can't do this. As of now, she was on the verge of tears, but she promised herself not to cry.
• She tried to hold them in.
• "I'm sorry," Raphael whispered to Mia. He had no choice.
• "And what if I don't sign them?" Mia asked.
• "Not only would your father and beloved brother lose their share in the company, they would be left broke, and your family would be back to square zero. And just so you know, you would be the cause."
• With long, thundering steps, Xavier moved towards Mia, looking at her with cold stares. She tried to meet his cold stare with all her willpower, trying not to back down.
• This is one of the reasons he loved her—she never backed down easily. And now he was going to use her greatest weakness—the person she loves most after him—her brother.
• "Not only would your family be penniless, but I would also make sure to send your brother Dylan to jail for fraud. And do you know what would be his crime?" Pointing his finger at her, he said, "YOU."
• "He will rot in jail on account of your father's sins, and I will make sure to make him suffer. That's a promise I'm making to you."
• He could see the fear in her eyes; that's what he wanted—for her to yield.
• "You are heartless, Xavier," and now the tears couldn't stop flowing from her eyes.
• Xavier's threat about her brother made her weak. Her brother was her only real family after the death of her mother, and she couldn't afford to let any harm come to him. She collected the papers and signed the divorce agreement immediately.