Chapter 31 Daniel
DANIEL
The sounds of Claudia’s stilettos clicking on the floor echoed through the empty house, letting me know she’d finally come home.
Slightly nervous, I smoothed a hand over my suit right before she appeared in the dining hall.
As always, she was dressed for the occasion with a trendy dress that complemented her figure.
She was as lovely as the day I met her back in college, but enough was enough, and it was finally time to end this deception.
“Is everything okay?” she immediately asked, probably noticing the tension filling the atmosphere.
“I think it’s better if we sit down for this,” I told her, watching her brows furrow.
But knowing a thing or two about life, Claudia didn’t ask unnecessary questions. Instead, she joined me at the dining table and sat down.
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll get straight to the point.
I want a divorce,” I said, my voice calm and composed despite the weight of my words.
I wasn’t trying to be cold or cruel, but based on my experience in litigation, I knew that delivering difficult news was best done firmly.
Beating around the bush wouldn’t help, especially in such a tense conversation, and I was already prepared for a range of emotions that soon followed.
“A divorce?” Claudia’s face went blank before she let out a nervous laugh. “You’re joking with me right now, aren’t you?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not.” Placing the divorce papers on the table, I slid them toward her. “If you look inside, you’ll see I made sure that you’re compensated for the years we were married and way beyond that—”
“Compensated?” she barged in, lips tight. “What the hell are you talking about, Daniel? Where is all of this coming from?”
“I know this is unexpected, but—”
“Unexpected? Unexpected is when we run out of milk in the morning. This is insane. Where is all of this—” She paused, her eyes narrowing at me. “Have you met someone else?”
Suddenly, being straightforward wasn’t as simple, and her question forced me into silence. My throat dried up, and for a second, I thought about lying, but I couldn’t. Holding her stare, I gave her a short nod.
“I have.”
Her heart just broke. I saw it so vividly in her eyes, eyes that always looked at me with nothing but love.
Staring at me in disbelief, lips slightly parted, she stayed quiet as my betrayal was laid bare before us.
It hurt, but I didn’t have the right to make this moment about myself; it was her pain.
Pain I didn’t stop to take into consideration during the past few months.
There were numerous times when I could have chosen not to hurt her, and every time, I chose otherwise.
So now, I had nothing to do but accept the shameful way in which she looked at me. As I well deserved.
With tears already sliding down her face, she sniffed. “How long?”
“I don’t think details would help—”
“Damn it, Daniel! Tell me, how long were you screwing someone else?” she snapped.
“A couple of months.”
“A couple of mo— F-fuck.” Her voice broke and was replaced with a sob.
Pulling a handkerchief from my pocket, I handed it to her.
Very rarely did I see her cry, and the tearstains on her cheeks reminded me of Maya’s birth, which was one of the few times she had.
Another time was our wedding. Unfortunately, right now, these weren’t tears of joy, and a mere handkerchief wasn’t about to fix the pain I’d caused.
Taking it from me, she blew her nose before fisting the cloth.
“Who is she?”
“Would it help if I said?” I asked, genuinely meaning it.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Relief washed through me because, despite it all, I still couldn’t bring myself to tell her the whole truth.
That the person I’d fallen for wasn’t a woman, but a man.
A man who once worked for us and whom she knew all too well.
And not just that. I couldn’t tell her that I was gay, and that our whole marriage was based on a lie.
“What about Maya?” she asked, snapping me back.
“I offered to have shared custody—”
“Oh, screw you, Daniel.” She jumped to her feet, snatching the papers from the table. “There’s no way I’ll agree to that.”
“It’s not up for discussion. She’s my daughter just as much as she’s yours,” I answered back calmly, knowing it was her rage speaking right now.
“I highly respect you, Claudia, and I understand I’ve wronged you.
Yet, it has nothing to do with Maya, and while I hope to avoid it, if needed, we will settle this up in court.
” Despite my sympathy for the situation and my responsibility for causing it, I would never give up on my daughter.
Call me shameless if you would, but that was where I drew the line.
Fisting the papers in her hand, she stared at me with contempt. “To think I believed you were different from your father. It turns out the apple didn’t fall far from the tree after all.”
Claudia had enough class not to drag me through the mud, and even though I deserved a lot more, this was the only thing she tossed in my face before asking, “So what now?”
Standing up, I fixed my suit and cleared my throat. “Even though I’ve been more than fair, I’d still suggest you take the marital settlement to your lawyers and go over it. I’ll be waiting for your response, but in the meantime, I’ve bought a condo not far from my office.”
“Shit…” she hissed, shaking her head. “You really sorted it all out, huh?”
I exhaled. “I know it might not seem like it, but the last thing I wanted was to hurt you, and I’m sorry for that. I truly am.”
Brushing a hand over her cheek, she looked up, her eyes locked with mine. “But you’re not sorry, or else you would never have done it.” She looked down at the files. “I’ll go over this, but be sure I’ll do whatever it takes to protect our daughter.”
Standing next to the floor-to-ceiling window in my new condo with a view of Central Park, I listened to the phone ring, waiting for the call to be picked up.
“All??”
I let out a breath of relief once I heard his voice.
“I did it,” I said, one hand shoved into my trousers pocket while the other held the phone. “Claudia and I are officially separated.”
While it would still take a few more months for the divorce to be finalized, today, a month after I’d dropped it on her out of the blue, Claudia had signed the divorce papers, turning this matter official.
“How are you feeling about it?” he asked, and the softness of his voice made me wish he were here so I could hold him.
“I’m glad that it all worked out well, but—”
“Maya?” he completed my sentence when I failed to do so.
With a sigh, I nodded. “Yes. I still think about her reaction.”
The day after I told Claudia I was leaving her and the house, we sat down with our five-year-old daughter.
Explaining to her that Daddy and Mommy would no longer be together and that Daddy would now live in a new house was more difficult than I’d ever imagined.
Now, almost four weeks into this, I realized how naive I’d been, thinking the divorce wouldn’t affect her.
But it had. And my new task was to make this divorce as nontraumatic for her as possible.
“Is she still not wanting to see you?”
I held the phone tighter. “Yes.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Me too, but the child therapist said it is a natural reaction and that I need to be there, even if Maya doesn’t want me to.
” I brushed a hand over my face, exhausted.
I knew I had no right to complain, considering I’d brought it upon myself, but the past few weeks had drained me of everything.
Between Claudia and Maya, I also had to deal with my family, who, not surprisingly, were outraged by the news.
On top of it all, I missed Elliot so much that the pain grew stronger with each passing day.
His absence was now more evident than ever, increasing the loneliness I woke up to every day.
Glancing back at the living room, I walked over to the sofa and sat down with a sigh.
“You sound tired.”
“Truth is, I’m exhausted.” An unsettled feeling took over me. “No matter how hard I try to fix things, I still feel like a villain.”
“You’re not. All you did was choose yourself.”
“At their expense.” Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “If only we could go back to the Amalfi Coast. Things felt simple there.”
“We should go again, then.”
“We really should, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes.”
The lack of air in his voice made me open my eyes and perk up.
“What are you doing?” I asked, hoping he was—
“Tying my shoes. I’m going for a run.”
There go my dirty thoughts.
“Isn’t it a bit late?” I checked the time on my watch. It was 7:00 a.m. here, which meant that in New Zealand, where he currently was, it was 11:00 p.m.
“It is, but we were shooting the whole day, so I couldn’t work out.”
I’d be the first person to advocate for physical activity, but moderation was important. “Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”
“I must if I want to stay in shape.”
Leaning back on the couch, I snorted. “Nothing will happen if you miss a workout or two, you know?” Not to mention, he was already beyond fit. I’d kill to have his fat percentage, although probably not, given how much I loved my pastries.
“I’m in New York next week,” he said, changing the subject. “Do you think it’s okay if I stay with you?”
“Of course. It’s why I got such a big place, with closets for all your clothes.”
He chuckled, and the soft sound of his laugh reminded me that despite the hardship, it was all worth it. And not a single part of me regretted my decisions.
“I can’t wait to see you,” I added, my heart full of love for him.
“Me too… But I have to go now. And you should probably get to work yourself.”
He had a point, considering I’d be late if I didn’t get my ass moving.
“Have a safe run.”
“Thank you.”
“And Elliot?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”