Nine months too late: After divorce by Baby Charlene
Chapter 1

"Do you love your husband?"

Sylvie scoffed, passing an unbelieving stare to the interviewer.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" She rolled her eyes. "As a matter of fact," she reached for Kage's hand, locking her hand around. his. "Who wouldn't"

The blonde interviewer smiled from across them before glancing at the script in her hand. "But there have been rumors....

"Oh, you know there'll always be rumours. Especially when you're married to a man like Kage Hawkins," Sylvie gave one of the prettiest smiles that showed her left dimple.

"Right!" The second interviewer laughed. "Mr. Hawkins is a lady's man. We understand that."

"Mr. Hawkins, can you tell us your favorite thing about your wife?" The second interviewer glanced at her script.

Unlike Sylvie, Kage wasn't in a hurry to wear his smiles. As a matter of fact, he didn't have any to offer.

"Well" he shrugged. Just the fact that she's pretty. Her beauty's one of those that's rare to come by." Sylvie stiffened beside him.

"Oooh. A good face, huh? I see.

The interviewers remarked with warm laughters.

"As much as I'm enjoying this love story, I'd love to clarify this. There's been rumours that you only got married due to your..."

"She already told you to turn a deaf ear to the rumours," Kage tsked.

-

"And to you, Mrs. Hawkins, what is it like being married to Kage Hawkins? I mean, he's hot - no offense - and runs one of the richest companies in the world," a small laugh. "You really so lucky, aren't you?" Sylvie lowered her gaze and smiled. "To say I'm lucky would be an understatement. Being married to a man like Kage is the sweetest thing,"

"Have you ever considered a divorce?"

"What? Hell no!" She huffed. "I've been blessed with a husband like him. We do everything normal couples do he sends me flowers, I cook for him when I can, we see movies and play around together, she paused for a beat to smile, "My marriage is perfect, Vivian. It's more than I could have asked for."

An hour quarter later, the two young couple were out of the studio, Kage was a step ahead of her, his designer shoes shining the moment they caught a glimpse of the sun

He was draped in a silk tuxedo suit with the jacket being held by one of his guards. On his wrist was a limited edition Rolex watch, and they glinted in the sun as he adjusted the sleeve of his shirt.

He stopped in front of his sleek black jeep.

"Holding me in there wasn't necessary," he said in that detached tone of his as he turned around to face her.

"Oh, please! I only held your hand, not your entire body. And just so you know, it was like having my hand wrapped around a terrorist's, Sylvie performed a partial eye-roll.

"And why the fuck did you hesitate when you were asked how good I was?" He took a step towards her.

The look on his handsome face was threatening. Sylvie hated when he looked that intimidating-

"Well, forgive me, alright? But that was the hardest lie I had to tell. The words weren't easy to pull out," she scored.

"Neither was it saying those shit about you. The whole point of this interview was to clear our names. Nobody asked for your fucking honesty."

"I get, Mr. Grumpy. But some lies are still too heavy for the tongue sometimes. Even a killer is kinder than you are.

The glint in his eyes cut through the air like shards of ice. But Sylvie wasn't sorry for her words.

Kage was the most arrogant man she's ever known. Yes, at twenty-seven, he had riches that could buy the world. And the whole thing had gotten to his head.

He hated the fact that he was married to her, just as much as she did. And if there was anything Kage would never do, it was caring for anyone.

Holding out his hand, one of his guards provided him with a cigar. Once it was stuffed between his mouth, the guard lit it.

Sylvie frowned as she crossed her hands and watched him. His top buttons were undone, giving a peek at his tattooed chest. And the silver ring on his left ear complimented the chain he had around his neck. God was so unfair. How could a man like him be blessed with such undeserving charm?

Rolling her eyes, she made to leave.

"Just make sure you don't bring a stain to my name, woman, his words made her pause to confront him.

"Oh. You mean the one you show to the public? Definitely," she gave a sarcastic smile and walked away, going into her own car. Once in the backseat, she released a deep weary breath. What an asshole.

She touched her head which had been aching right from the interview. She'd simply been doing her best to conceal it. Slowly, her hand rested on her still flat tummy and her heart gave that frantic beat. She exhaled shakily, fear clawing at her throat. "He couldn't know,' she reminded herself. 'He wouldn't care.

"Where to, ma'am?" Her driver's voice intruded her thoughts.

"My dad's place."

Sylvie needed to be at the office, but her father had called earlier that morning and requested to see her.

She found him in the living room when she arrived, speaking to her eldest sister - Beatrice. They paused the moment they

saw her.

"Good. You're here, her father nodded.

"Hi, dad."

Sylvie glanced at her sister who gave her an eye roll before looking at her.

"Yeah, whatever," she mumbled. "I don't mean to be in a hurry, dad, but there are things I really have to do."

"Yeah, I'll go. Talk to you later, daddy. Beatrice excused herself, taking the stairs.

"How was the interview?" Eldon asked, rising to his feet.

"Fine, I guess. Should be enough to disperse the not-so-false rumors," She went over to the wine counter where she helped herself to a drink. "The reason 1 called you here is very important, Sylvie. When I say important, I mean it has something to do with our family,"

Eldon said.

Sylvie drank from her glass as she swiveled to face him.

12:35 PM c d

"We need to get into the one trillion group."

The absurdity of her father's words almost made her choke on her wine. It took her a couple of seconds to get past the uneasiness in her throat.

"Dad, wh....what're you talking about? To get into the one trillion group, your business should be worth between seven hundred billion to one trillion dollars. We're not even close to qualified"

"I know. And that is where you come in. Kage is the present head of that group, isn't he?"

Realization dawned on Sylvie. "No way! Don't tell me you think Kage is gonna let us get in. That group is for the richest of the

richest and..

"And imagine how awesome it'd be to get into it. We'd have all the connections in the world, Sylvie. This is why I need to get

There was a brief silence.

"Lately, our company has been stagnant. We've not exactly been falling back, but we're not moving forward either. We need a push. And being in that group will give us more connection that we could ever ask for. Plus, it'd be awesome if we could get in before the annual Sylvie, who's expression had fallen, dropped her glass on the counter.

"I understand, dad, but Kage can't help us. Getting us in would be cheating since we aren't qualified and he..."

"Nobody would dare question him."

"He isn't someone that would do that for us. Or for me.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, the words tasting bitter now.

"You know Kage and I are nothing like a normal couple. We got married under... unpleasant circumstance, and it is no news to you that he hates me just as much as I hate him. Besides, our marriage ends in two weeks"

"Just get it done, Sylvie. At least, give it a try."

Looking into her father's eyes, Sylvie could see fear in them. He wasn't going to admit it, but their company might be needing some kind of help. They really needed that push.

She looked away and shook her head. She knew the son of a bitch. He'd rather pee on himself than help her. How did she ever get entangled with him?

"Woah. Look who's home the dear, beloved, lucky wife of Billionaire Kage Hawkins," her younger sister - Iris - taunted as she descended the stairs. The wife the world thinks he loves, but it's only a big fat lie. Tell me, has his family finally sent you packing? "Iris, shut it, Eldon snapped.

"What, dad? We've all been anticipating the day.

get kicked out. Which is just around the corner, by the way?

"And guess who's still single and living in her father's home?" Sylvie chuckled.

She grabbed her bag from the couch. Tll be on my way, dad."

"Please, think about it

Sylvie said nothing as she left.