While I Was His Wife

Valerie's POV

"Master Montclair and Miss Harlow are in the longue," the head maid informed me curtly, she just like the rest of declan's families were not my biggest fans to say the least.

Good news for them: they won't have to worry about me very soon.

I entered into the lounge, holding the divorce papers that had been delivered to me at my hospital bed and the final confirmation as to why I needed them was right in front of me.

There was the man who I unfortunately called my husband for the past 4 years. He was pressed behind Sylvia with only fabric and a thin sense of shame between them. They were at the billiard table. She was bent over his chest resting on her back and his hand was also placed over hers positioning it on the cue stick.

If I had found them in this position in the past I would have blown gasket causing a scene and making a fool of myself but now there was this a numbness where the pain should have been, I coughed to let them know of my presence and that was when they called away from each other not even at a sensible speed gradually taking their time to peel away from each other's bodies.

"Valerie you're back..." Declan announced as if I had just gone out to buy groceries and was stepping back in.

"Yes I'm back" I responded flatly then walked over and through the envelope on the billiard table, "this is yours."

He exchanged looks with Sylvia and then back to me again "is this another one of your tricks what are you plotting? "

"Why don't you check and find out?"

Sylvia with her smug smile not hiding too far away said to me, "I know you were really upset and you have every right to be so because I ended up monopolizing Declan's time that night. I hope you didn't overreact and do something strange."

I said nothing to this and just gestured to the envelope.

Declan looked at it as if it was a bomb that he had to detonate and finally he picked it up spilling out its contents when he read through I could see his eyes enlarging in real time he tossed them back to the bloody table his voice rising instantly.

"Valerie, what is the meaning of this? I knew you were going to pull something but this is low even for you!"

Sylvia looked at the documents too. There was a smile on her face but she quickly wiped it off hiding it behind a concerned downward curve of her lips.

"Vally," she called me by that annoying nickname that she had coined herself, "you can't be serious about this! You and Declan are meant to be! We're just friends, nothing more nothing less."

I looked at them, before I would have began to feel some sense of guilt embarrassment thinking that I was just crazy and overreacting misunderstanding a perfectly innocent relationship but if soft grinding on each other was what they saw as a friendship then I would let them have that to but I would know longer be in the picture.

"Sign the papers, Declan."

"What about the baby?" He said sounding triumphant, these past 8 months had been a nightmare and it was also when I was closest to leaving him but whenever I even mistakenly mentioned divorce he would talk about how I was ruining our child's life before it would even start then he said that he would give me to court and completely demolished me making sure that he got full custody and the if I was lucky supervised visitation.

Instantly all the anger I felt sizzled away at the thought of hurting my unborn child, more than anything in the world I wanted to protect them.

I brushed my palm over the swell of my belly once filled with life and now just an empty shell beginning to sag but still mostly upright.

To anyone else I still looked pregnant even though it couldn't be any further from the truth.

"Declan the baby is gone." I said my voice was wavering for a second.

He marched forward grabbing my arm.

"Stop joking, what's this?" He poked at my belly and instead of the firmness that was usually there his fingers sank a little deeper, he paused briefly as frozen as an eye statue, his mouth hanging open and then he closed it right back.

"What did you do to your belly?" He demanded to know still hiding within the confines of denial backing away from me as if I had slapped him which I intended to earlier.

"The baby is gone," I repeated again, "I didn't make it to the hospital in time, fluid buildup before it could get out...the baby..." I stopped speaking so that I would not end up breaking down in front of the two people that I had promised would never see my tears again.

The moment was short but it almost looked like Declan was coming down to earth and realizing how much he messed up but that was when Sylvia came from behind touching his arm.

"Declan I told you that you didn't have to come and see me in the airport, look at what you've done? Now Vally has to go so far to get your attention."

Once again she minimized my pain to an act, I didn't need to prove anything to her to any of them.

The hardness in Declan's eyes were set back, convinced once again that I was purely lying just as a way to pull a stunt.

"Let's go to the hospital right now," he said, "I want evidence before I believe anything you're saying."

I wanted to argue with him but then I thought about it and this was the perfect way to get exactly what I wanted.

"Then let's make a deal..." I said with complete seriousness, "when the test comes out to be true you'll sign the divorce papers.”