The Return of the Neglected Wife

I don't know why I kept hoping. Even as I stepped into the empty mansion, the silence greeted me like an old friend, almost mocking my pain. The walls of this house had always felt too large, too cold for one person to occupy. But now, in the wake of everything, it felt like an oppressive weight. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be anywhere.

The house, once a symbol of the life I thought I had with Nixus, now felt like a prison.

I leaned against the door, my back sliding down until I was seated on the cold marble floor. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I wanted to scream, but even the air seemed to be too thick for that. I closed my eyes, trying to steady my thoughts, but all I could hear was the ringing in my ears, the echoes of the doctor's words.

"I'm sorry, Malia. You've lost the baby."

The baby. The one I had loved before it had even taken its first breath. The one I had dreamed of, held close in my heart as I imagined a future with Nixus. But now, that future was a cruel joke.

I didn't know how long I sat there. My mind kept racing in a thousand directions, but all roads led back to the same conclusion. Nixus had never loved me. Not the way I had loved him. Not the way I had wanted him to.

The sound of my phone ringing pulled me out of my stupor, and I reached for it instinctively, hoping for something—anything. I half-hoped it would be Nixus. Maybe he'd changed his mind. Maybe he would care. But when I saw the caller ID, I felt my stomach drop. It was him.

I swallowed hard before answering, trying to steady my voice, but it cracked anyway.

"Hello?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end before his voice came through, cool and detached as always.

"Malia," he said, his tone clipped, "I got your message."

I closed my eyes, a bitter laugh escaping me. He sounded so casual, so indifferent. Just like he always did.

"I need you to listen to me," I said, my voice shaking with barely contained emotion. "I'm in the hospital, Nixus. I've just lost our baby, and you're... you're off somewhere with her, aren't you?"

There was another silence, but this time it wasn't empty. It was charged. I could feel the tension from miles away.

"Selene, right?" I forced the words out, even though I wanted to choke on them. "I bet she's with you now, isn't she?"

A sigh came through the phone, followed by a short, almost dismissive, laugh. "Malia, stop making a scene. Selene and I are on vacation. You know how it is. I don't have time for this right now."

My blood ran cold. He doesn't have time for this.

I felt something break inside me. It was like a dam crashing down all at once—everything I had kept bottled up, every shred of hope, every desperate desire to make him care—it all spilled out. But instead of anger, instead of rage, what I felt was numb. Completely hollow.

"You don't have time for me?" I asked, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "Is that really what you're going to say, Nixus? After everything?"

"I've been clear with you before, Malia. You knew where my priorities were," he said, his voice colder than it had ever been. "I'm not in the mood to listen to your dramatics. You're just going to have to deal with this, alright?"

I pressed the phone to my ear, my entire body trembling. Deal with it. That was it. That was all he had to say. I wasn't even worth more than a few seconds of his attention.

I'm just the wife he tolerates. The one he keeps around for appearances.

The ache in my chest intensified, and I felt tears gather in my eyes again. I had spent so long lying to myself, thinking that he would change, that he would come to love me the way I loved him. But this—this was the truth.

"I don't need you to do anything for me," I said, my voice steady even though I felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside. "Just... don't bother coming back. Don't come near me again."

I didn't give him a chance to respond before I hung up.

The moment the call ended, I felt something shift within me.

I had to end this. I had to free myself from the lie I had been living. Nixus wasn't the man I thought he was. He wasn't the man I had fallen in love with. He was someone cold, selfish, and cruel. And I had been foolish enough to believe I could change that.

I stood up, my legs weak, and walked out of the room, the sound of my footsteps echoing in the emptiness. I didn't want to be here, in this house that had become a cage. I didn't want to stay in this marriage, this farce. I needed to leave. I needed to be free of him.

The walls seemed to close in as I made my way toward his office. The heavy wooden door creaked when I pushed it open, the smell of old leather and stale air filling my nose. The room felt even colder now, somehow more oppressive than it had ever been before. His desk was meticulously organized, papers stacked neatly in perfect order, but I didn't care about any of that.

I went straight for the drawer where I knew he kept his personal papers. I knew this was wrong, that I was violating his privacy, but I didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. I pulled out the divorce papers he had insisted on having ready when we had first gotten married. At the time, I had been too naive to understand why they were there, tucked away in the back of the drawer. Now, it all made sense.

I sat at his desk, my hands trembling as I opened the papers. The weight of the decision hit me harder than I expected. This was it. This was the moment where everything would change. There was no going back. I picked up the pen, my fingers stiff, and signed my name at the bottom of the page.

As soon as the ink touched the paper, I felt a sense of finality wash over me. It was done. Nixus had won. He had never truly cared about me. And I had finally admitted that I deserved more than this.

I wasn't going to waste any more of my life on a man who didn't even care enough to be there for me when I needed him most.

As I sat there, the weight of the papers in front of me seemed to grow heavier, pressing down on my chest. I had never felt more alone. But at the same time, something inside me began to shift. It was a small thing, barely noticeable, but it was there. I was letting go. I was taking control of my own life, my own future.

And that, I realized, was worth everything.

The sound of the doorbell echoed through the house, sharp and unexpected. I froze.

I hadn't expected anyone. Who could it be?

The papers still lay in front of me, the ink still fresh. My heart raced as I stood, walking slowly toward the door. I didn't know what to expect when I opened it, but deep down, I knew it would change everything.

As I reached for the doorknob, my hand trembling, I didn't realize that the worst was yet to come.

In that moment, I felt the sting of my own decisions. I had wanted to believe in love, in Nixus, for so long, but now I had to face the truth: I had been the fool. I had let him destroy me piece by piece. And now, here I was—alone, yet finally free.