Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
And so no, dear God, no – she could never speak about that time again. She could never speak about him again. Never ever. Because if she did, she was terrified that the emptiness which thrived inside of her – the emptiness that she was so desperately doing her best to ignore – would come alive, and there would be no going back.
She would break...and stay broken.
THREE MONTHS HAD PASSED since that day when Anneke finally got around to scheduling a meeting with the family’s legal team. She tried to be succinct as possible, revealing little except for her resolve to have a divorce.
“I don’t care how much it costs me. I just hope we can have it finalized immediately and with minimum fuss.”
The group of lawyers nodded and assured her that it would be done. They had her sign papers, and as Anneke took the pen, the numbness inside of her started to spread all over her skin like a plague.
She watched her fingers begin to move, her signature gradually taking shape, and she felt like she was watching someone else write her name. Could this really be her, signing a petition for divorce and ending a marriage that barely lasted a day?
“We’ll keep you updated regularly,” the head of her family’s legal team promised as he took the papers from her.
“Thank you.” Anneke managed to hold on to her smile as she left their office and walked back to her car. But her fingers started shaking as she inserted the key into the ignition, and by the time she started her car, she was already hyperventilating.
She only managed to drive a few blocks before having to park her car by the curb.
She was shaking so bad, and she didn’t know how to stop it. When her throat started to tighten and breathing became a little harder, she began pounding her chest with a fist.
But nothing changed.
Oh God.
Oh God.
Oh God.
Pain threatened to choke her to death, and a keening cry escaped her. The last layer of shock gradually faded – it had been the only thing that enabled Anneke to keep things together all this time, the one reason that she had been able to delude herself into thinking she was okay – and when it disappeared completely, it was all over, and she could no longer stop weeping.
She had thought she was okay, but she was not.
Oh God, she was not okay—-
And she realized then she was right all along.
The moment she allowed herself to remember him –
She would break...as she did now, and would remain so, for the rest of her life.
Two
“Do you have some time? I’d like to speak for you a moment.” Willem de Konigh issued his command in a perfectly polite tone, knowing that his younger sister would understand he wasn’t really asking.
“Of course.” His sister rose gracefully to her feet, a picture of casual chic in her striped pantsuit and loafers. She looked breathtakingly attractive, more so than usual, but the smile on her lips ruined it for him.
Her smile never reached her eyes these days.
Willem took his time closing the door to Anneke’s office, hating what he had come to talk about. When he turned around, he saw that his sister had already left her place behind the desk and was taking a seat on the couch. It was business etiquette at its best – when speaking to a superior, one must never position one’s self above the former – and testament to the strict and thorough training he had imposed on all his younger siblings.
If only, Willem thought grimly, he had the foresight to train them as rigorously when it came to the matters of the heart.
She gave him a curious smile when he took up space next to her on the couch, and he worked hard to keep his face unreadable, knowing that the only thing stopping Anneke from breaking down was her foolish belief that her mask was working.
She had started wearing one ever since she came back home from her disastrous trip to Vegas, but she hadn’t fooled anyone with it. Not one goddamn bit.
“Is this about work?” Anneke asked hesitantly.
“I’m afraid not.”
And there it was, he thought less than a moment later.
The first crack on her mask, with the way her blue eyes became shuttered and her body becoming perfectly still.
“It’s been almost a year,” he said quietly.
“I know.” Her voice was steady. Too damn steady, Willem thought grimly, and that was the problem. How did he teach her that she had to break completely before she could put the pieces back together? How, when the thought of his baby sister hurting pained him, too?
“You can’t keep stonewalling me about your marriage, Anneke.”
“Actually, I can.” Anneke’s lips twitched. “It’s my life, Willem,” she said gently but firmly, “and I’m not a kid anymore that you can terrify into blurting out the truth.”