Chapter 5
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The drive to Ebony’sville was meant to be a twenty–minute drive, but to Caleb, it was taking forever. So many thoughts were roaming through his head, which he couldn’t even place his hands on. Resting his hands on his jaw as he drove, he doubted if he was ever going to make it to work that morning.
He had breakfast with Aurelia and was hoping to get home, then walk straight inside his room without sparing Evelyn his attention.
After what seemed like forever, he was finally in Ebony’sville. Driving the car inside the garage and heading to the door of the mansion, the butler assisted him with his coat as he stepped inside the room.
As Caleb stepped into the house, it seemed eerily quiet. The stillness of the air was unnerving, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding. It was as if something was missing, some small detail that he couldn’t put his finger on. Or maybe it was just the headache and fatigue playing tricks on his mind. He tried to shake off the feeling, but it lingered like a cloud of gloom over his head.
His eyes ran into the dining table, expecting to see Evelyn with those long flowing gowns scated right on her favorite spot waiting for him before she had breakfast. But then, the dining was empty, just the usually three–course meal but there was no sign of her. That was weird!
He took steady strides towards the table, and then staring at the dishes, his gaze went to the maid that was standing close.
“Did Evelyn make this?” He queried, hoping she’d gone to the kitchen to get something or was perhaps waiting for him in the room. But one thing was certain; the meal was still untouched, which simply meant that she hadn’t eaten yet.
“No, but it was prepared by Megan,” the maid replied much to his dismay.
Nodding his head, he continued walking to the master bedroom, hoping he was going to find her there. But on opening the door, his eyes met with the emptiness of the house. There was no sign of Evelyn.
Taking the last resolve to check her at her favorite spot, which was the swimming pool where she’d be swimming. That was a resort she had always loved whenever she was having a tough time, he took a deep breath wondering why he was carrying out this search instead of just minding his business and staking the claim that he wants a divorce. However, getting to the swimming pool was a different story entirely. His turquoise eyes stared at the calm environment. The water was still and looked as though no one had visited there since morning, and there was no sign of her lurking around either.
Frustrated, he went back to the room, with his chest heaving heavily. Where would she have gone? He thought to himself raking his hands through his hair.
“Welcome Sir!” Megan greeted him; she was trying to lay the bed which was weird. This was majorly a task Evelyn does by herself. That morning was just so odd; first was the food being prepared by Megan, and now his bed was also being laid by Megan. He was tempted to call Evelyn and ask her why the unusual changes; he knew he had asked for a divorce, but he would still appreciate her carrying out her chores before the paper is signed and everything is finalized.
“Where is Evelyn?” He asked Megan, trying to keep his cool.
Megan raised her brow at her boss; he was indeed lucky that he was the boss of her. If not, she’d be smacking his head right now for being such a coward, letting such a huge treasure like Evelyn slip off his finger without thinking twice. He, for sure, needs someone to sit him down and have a long talk with, but she a mere maid has no right to carry out such; she loves her job and still needs to foot bills.
“She left…” her response took him by surprise, as he quirked his brow to look at her.”
“She did what?” It was as if he had just heard the formidable, and just then his eyes zeroed to the bed where a white folded paper lay. Walking up to the bed, he felt his hands vibrating as he unfolded it.
“I’m sorry, sir…” Megan muttered as she walked outside, closing the door behind her.
His heart beat loudly, giving a lub–dub noise as he read it… She signed his divorce paper! She signed it! It was signed! His heart was beating heavily as he glared at the signed document.
This was so unusual; this wasn’t the first time he had been bringing up the issue of divorce all through their five years of marriage. He had, in fact, reminded her almost each passing day, why now? Why did she choose to do it without him knowing? Why?
He felt his heart pounding heavily as he stared one more time at the divorce papers. It was quite unusual that Evelyn had chosen to leave just like that without a word being said, without arguing it out with him. It was so unlike her, who after exchanging heated words with him, would still prepare his breakfast, run a shower for him and still carry on with house chores like nothing ever happened. Where did that Evelyn go?
As Caleb stood there, holding the signed divorce papers in his hand, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind. Why had she done this without talking to him? Had he really been so blind to her unhappiness? Was there anything he could have done to change the outcome? The questions swirled around in his head, and he felt completely lost. He sank down onto the bed, burying his head in his hands. It was as if his whole world had been turned upside down, and he didn’t know how to fix it.
