Chapter Three

At 7 a.m. the following morning, Lex had prepared for work quicker than usual. The event of the previous day had left a hole in his heart, a hole that couldn't be filled.

The thought of divorce was ringing in his ears, but he had grown too attached to Stella. For that reason, he chose to ignore it for the time being.

Before he could prepare for work, Stella had left the house. They had not spoken to each other since the event of yesterday, and one could tell their marriage was on the brink of collapse. 

Lex stepped out of the room with his white T-shirt and black trousers that gave him an angelic appearance. He was a hot guy as ladies would describe. 

As he got to the sitting room, he made for the door and found Mariana standing up ahead with a brown file in her hands. Her gaze fell on him as he approached, and she rolled her eyes in disdain.

“Good morning, Mom," he greeted as he tried to walk past her but she held his shirt and pulled him backward.

“Where do you think you're going? And mind you, I'm not your Mom." Mariana stated plainly, and Lex sniffed in. 

She slammed the file on his chest while rolling her eyes over him, and Lex collected the file. After a few glances at the file, he raised his brow.

“A divorce agreement?" He asked, and Mariana looked away in the other direction.

He wasn't surprised because he expected it. But why was it coming from Mariana? Why not Stella? Why couldn't she propose for a divorce? Is she even aware of what her mother was doing? 

Many thoughts ran through his mind in a matter of seconds, and after proper consideration, he chuckled and placed the file on the table. 

“I'm not signing that. Not unless it's coming from Stella. If she truly wants the divorce she should go for it,” he stated plainly, and Mariana bit her lower lips in anger. 

“Heiiiiissss! You bastard!" She cursed with a fuming rage.

“You think you're intelligent huh? You better sign this document and save yourself and my daughter from embarrassment. I mean look at you, you're useless. Nobody wants a son-in-law like you.”

"You have been married to my daughter for 2 years and what do I have to show for it? Nothing. You're broke, no good job. Your wife earns more than you. All you do is eat and have sex all day, yet, you can't even build a family."

“A proper man would've given me a grandkid by now, but you, what are you up to? No good. People will think my daughter is barren and can't give birth. How do I explain that the problem is from you, the useless man who married my daughter and can't get her pregnant?" 

"You're just an adult baby. You want to get carried along by everybody. Because you're too lazy, you can't fend for yourself. You enchanted my beautiful daughter and made her marry you.”

“I know your kind, you're just here to destroy my family, but watch it, Lex, you have failed. You're definitely signing this document today, and nothing's gonna change that, you asshole. 

Lex inhaled deeply in a bid to control his rising temper, but Mariana wouldn't stop talking. Her provocative insults went on and Lex could barely handle it. Out of annoyance, he yelled at her; “Enough!" 

Mariana was startled by his voice, and she quickly retracted her words.

“What's your problem? You always have a problem with everything I do. When I do it right you complain, when I do wrong you complain. What's your problem? Listen, I'm fucking tired of this marriage already, when Stella gets back from work we can make it official. But I ain't signing those damn documents in her absence. Period!" 

The moment he stopped talking, a deafening slap flew to his face, taking him unawares. Lex held his cheek in shock. His eyes bulged as he stared at Mariana in disbelief.

“Did you just slap…?" He asked, but before he could complete his statement another slap landed on his right cheek. 

“Are you crazy? Don't talk back to me. Don't you dare, Lex. It seems like you weren't raised properly. Your Mom failed woefully. Such a shame, bringing a child like you, she must have been very unfortunate!” she snapped, her voice filled with anger and contempt. 

Lex felt a sharp pain across his chest. Her words suddenly reminded him that he never knew what his mother looked like. She left immediately after his birth. 

He clenched his fist, fighting back his anger, but Mariana stood firmly like she didn't care. Immediately, Maron walked in on them, and seeing them in the situation, he knew what was going on.

Lex closed his eyes and inhaled deeply then let out a deep breath to calm his nerves. Just as he thought, it worked. He opened his eyes and found Mariana pouring a wicked gaze on him. If her eyes could shoot, he would be dead already. 

He retreated, seeing that she wouldn't let him walk through the door. If he should force his way, he might just have to beat her up. He went through the window behind, and before Mariana could rush to stop him, he was outside already.

“Get back here, Lex!" She commanded, but Lex tucked his necktie properly and walked away, leaving her by the window to rant in his absence.

On his way to work, the road was quiet, with no cab nearby, so he had to walk down to the bus terminal where he would get a bus to his workplace. 

While thinking about Mariana's words, her annoying words about his mother got him angry and he began to lament inwardly while walking on the road. 

The whole time, a truck had been following behind, but Lex had failed to notice due to his absentmindedness. As he got to a pedestrian crossing, he was about to cross the road when he was called back to consciousness by a scream from a lady up ahead. 

He was startled and when he turned around, the sluggish truck was suddenly coming at him at full speed, and he was in the middle of the pedestrian. All efforts to avoid the truck failed, and he was crushed to the ground. 

Seeing Lex in a pool of blood, the truck driver hit his gears and escaped the scene, leaving the lady alone with no help around.