Chapter 1
Chapter 1
April Fools’ Day. My husband calls: “Sophia, I’m sorry. I cheated.”
Seriously? An April Fools’ joke this big?
I can’t help but laugh. “Wow, babe. What are the odds? I’ve been sleeping around too.”
He sounds… relieved? “Oh seriously? Thank God. I was feeling like such a piece of garbage.”
“Listen, the divorce papers are in the drawer. Just sign them and we’re good, yeah?”
Click. He hangs up.
Still grinning, I yank open the drawer.
I freeze.
The papers are real.
My throat tightens. Eyes burning, I’m about to blow up his phone when a text pops up.
From my husband’s little grad student.
[So you cheated too, huh Mrs. Carter? Wifey act’s over, sign it and GET OUT!]
My stomach twists. I’m gonna be sick.
I call him back. Once. Twice. Three damn times before he picks up.
Heavy breathing blasts through the speaker. A woman moans: “Oh god, Hawk-don’t stop-”
“Yeah? What now? Got a problem with the terms or something?”
“Hawk, listen-I didn’t cheat! I thought you were pulling some sick April Fools’ prank-”
He snorts.
“Oh, so that’s your play? Pin it all on me so I get screwed in the divorce?”
“Dream on, babe.”
“You know how much money my family has? The lawyers we can afford? Take me to court and you’ll get destroyed. I’m handing you five houses-that’s more than fair for playing startup wife.”
Eighteen. I was eighteen when I met him. Built his whole empire with him. Watched it hit Fortune 500.
Ten years of my life.
Five. Houses.
His words rip me apart.
“Hawk, please-” My voice breaks. “Stop playing games with me! This can’t be reall”
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April Fools’ “Surprise”-My Husband’s Divorcine Mo for He “men”. Cilal
Chapter 1
Still clinging to hope like an idiot.
The voice changes. It’s Gwen-his little grad student.
“Mrs. Carter? Sweetie, he’s not playing. What Hawk and I have? It’s the real deal.”
Rustling. His voice in the background: “Babe, ignore her. Get over here.”
Click
I call back. Straight to voicemail.
Can’t sleep. Can’t think.
Tears soak into the silk nightgown he bought me yesterday.
“Flew this in from Paris, Soph. Want my girl sleeping like royalty.”
I let out a choked laugh and grab the stupid cartoon cup from my nightstand-the one from two days ago.
“Saw this and thought of you. Pink, cute… just like my girl.”
“I know you’re almost thirty, but you’ll always be twenty-two to me.”
My hand trembles.
The cup slips.
Crash.
Porcelain explodes. A jagged piece slices clean through the silk.
Just like us.
Destroyed.
8 AM. My phone buzzes. A location pin from Hawk.
[10 AM. Don’t be late. Bring the signed papers.]
The woman staring back at me in the mirror looks forty. Not twenty-eight.
I slather on serums like I’m spackling a wall. Eye cream? I go through half the tube trying to hide the wreckage under my eyes.
Useless.
I do my makeup. Flawless foundation, perfect contour.
Still looks like a corpse in Chanel.
The café. He’s already there.
And so is she.
Gwen’s glued to his side, leaving the chair across open-for me.
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How generous.
I sit. Hawk shoves an iced Americano at me without looking up.
“Got you your usual.”
“I don’t drink iced. My period’s already late-can’t do cold.”
He frowns, pulls it back. “Oh. My bad.”
Before he can fix it, Gwen chimes in, all sweet.
“Ohmigod Mrs. Carter, I’m so sorry! That iced one was mine. This hot milk tea? Yours.”
“But my stomach was killing me, and I didn’t wanna waste it, so… yeah. I switched.”
I don’t hear her.
I’m staring at her face. Twenty-two.
Glowing. Flawless.
No wonder.
I used to look like that.
Suddenly, her eyes drop to my neck. She gasps like I just slapped her.
“Wait-didn’t I specifically tell you to return that? Why the hell is she still wearing it?”
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April Fools’ “Surprise”-My Husband’s Divorcing Me for His “Pure” Girl
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