Chapter 3 The Patriarch's Decree

Chapter Three

The Patriarch's Decree

"Baby" Claudia moaned the next second Bradley's lips had parted with hers. Her back was against me but I could tell her eyes were twinkling from the pleasure of being with my boyfriend.

"Brad..." I put both hands in my mouth to stop myself from saying something that I may regret should this turn out to be a ruse or some kind of prank.

I still believed somewhere in my heart that the two people I loved and trusted with all of me were not having an affair.

It was too absurd.

"My son" a voice echoed from the corridors leading to our bedroom and it caused all of us to shudder. It was the voice of Bradley's father and the residing patriarch of the McMichael household, Lord Vince.

Lord Vince as the maids and workers had taken to calling him was a strict ruler who tolerated little faults and always wanted the name of the McMichael upheld at all costs.

"Bradley, what are we going to do?" Claudia asked in worry as it appeared that the Lord was. As far as I know, Claudia never got along with the old patriarch either.

That was because Vince McMichael did not take a liking to just anyone. He always chose to mingle with only those of his prestigious status with only one exception, me.

"Have you gone to work without saying good morning to your father?" his voice rang out again and I shivered at how close he was to us.

I have always felt uneasy around Bradley's father since the very first day I laid eyes on him. There was always a way he looked at me which made me feel odd.

Bradley and I had an arranged marriage and Bradley had told me never to tell a soul as he intended on doing the same so I was not sure his father knew.

So when the lord made advances on me, I was so chocked. I had threatened to tell his son and since then he had backed off. But what about now?

"Were you having a meeting without me?" Vince said as soon as he walked into our bedroom and surveyed the tense look in our eyes.

"No sir" Bradley answered, his calm getting slightly undone "We were just..."

"And what are those papers?" Vince eyed the divorce papers suspiciously "Are you trying to transfer the ownership of our house and company to your wife behind my back?"

"Of course not" Bradley shut out immediately, his features burning with the colour of embarrassment at his father's accusation. The old man could not have been farther from the truth.

"What is it then?" Vince asked his hands stretching to receive the papers from Bradley "Can I have a look at it if you don't mind?"

"Divorce papers" Bradley said, handing his father without any hesitation at all.

I did not know what was going on but I was sure that Bradley would never involve his father in any prank. It was dawning on me that everything I just witnessed was real.

The Lord surveyed the letter with keen interest. I was so desperate, I began to hope that the old man would come to my aid even though I knew that was highly unlikely.

"So you have finally decided to put an end to this contract sham" Vince blurted, making me realize that he was also aware of the truth of my marriage to Bradley.

"You knew?" I asked the old man and he just spared a glance at me in response. No wonder he dared to make a move on me. He had always known that Bradley and I were having a fake marriage.

Different emotions ran into my mind at that moment from shame and betrayal to irritation and anger. Bradley had told everyone in his family while he instructed me to not tell a soul.

"So why isn't her signature on it already?" Vince asked with absolutely no regard for me or even Claudia still standing beside Bradley.

"Not yet but..." Bradley was trying to say but was stopped by his father's raised hand.

"Susan" Lord Vince shouted with his usual loud and domineering tone. The sound of his voice echoing throughout the mansion.

"What are you doing? I don't need them to get involved" Bradley was trying to say but his father did not want to listen, choosing instead to wait for the running maid.

"Yes Lord Vince" she panted after running inside our room "You called for me"

"Fetch me Pedro and Reymond, tell them to drop everything they were doing and hurry here" Vince ordered, not even sparing a glance at the maid.

"Yes sir" the maid said, resuming her run out of the room, not wanting to stay another second in the same room with the patriarch

"Father, what do you plan on doing?" Bradley asked, worry beginning to show on his face. Was he worried about me?

"Not me" Vince said as he looked between me and his son "You are the one that will take care of this"

"How" Bradley said still looking very concerned as the footsteps approached us.

"By kicking her out of the house and sending her to whatever slum you brought her from" Vince said this just as we heard a knock on the door

"Sir, you called for us" Pedro said behind the door of our bedroom and my heart skipped at what the McMichael Billionaires would want our gardener to do to me.

"Tell them to get all her things out of the house" Vince said before turning to the door "I will be going down for my morning tea"

"Yay!" Claudia jumped up and down excitedly as soon as the Lord was out of the room. I had almost forgotten about her presence here.

"You want this signed?" I said suddenly, reaching for the divorce papers that Vince had left on the bed.

Anger taking complete hold on me in that single moment and I put my signature right next to Bradley's.

Divorced!