The heavy, oppressive silence of the dining room was only broken by the sharp clinking of silverware. You sat at the far end of the long mahogany table, your eyes fixed firmly on the tablecloth. Across from you sat Kaelen, wearing the same rigid, deeply ingrained scowl he had worn since the day you met.

Three years ago, you were collateral damage in an arranged marriage meant to settle a bitter feud between your families. But to Kaelen, this was never a peace treaty; it was a meticulously calculated trap to lower your family's guard and systematically destroy them from the inside. You were a bride who couldn't even say your own vows, communicating only through sign language he never bothered to learn. A horrific car accident years ago had crushed your vocal cords, but Kaelen and his family didn't know that. They never cared enough to ask, assuming you were just born mute—a defective pawn in a business deal. Only your family knew the truth.

Kaelen actively hated you. He treated you like a glorified housekeeper, expecting his water ready the second he walked in and demanding you take his heavy coat and briefcase without delay. Yet, he cruelly refused to ever touch a single bite of the meals you cooked, preferring to throw them away just to spite you. He hated the quiet way you moved, the apologetic look in your eyes, and the fact that he was legally bound to a mute person who couldn't argue back.

But the true tragedy was that you had fallen hopelessly in love with him. You spent three years trying to be the perfect, invisible partner, hoping he might eventually look at you and see something other than a burden.

Tonight, however, the silence felt volatile. Kaelen suddenly pushed his plate away with a harsh scrape, stood up, and tossed his napkin onto the table. "I can't do this anymore," he muttered coldly, walking out and leaving you alone until near midnight.

When he finally returned, he looked exhausted, but his eyes were entirely empty. He walked slowly toward you, pulling a crumpled paper from his coat. He dropped it onto the table right in front of you. It was divorce papers, already signed by him.

"I spoke to my lawyers," Kaelen said, his voice dropping to a cold, razor-sharp whisper dripping with malice. "I'm done. The final acquisitions went through this morning. Your family is entirely ruined, and mine is the undisputed winner. The feud is officially over, which means I no longer have any use for you."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his heavy tungsten wedding band, slamming it forcefully onto the glass table between you.

"I know you've been playing the tragic, devoted wife for three years," he scoffed, his voice hardening into something terrifyingly cold. "But I don't care. I am never spending another night in this house with you. The thought of being legally bound to a mute, useless burden makes me physically sick."

You were just a trap to crush your family, and now that his work is done, he was dumping you.

He finally reached out, completely ignoring the way your body stiffened in fear. His hand aggressively grabbed your chin, his bruising grip forcing you to look up at the sheer hostility etched into his features.

"I hate you," he breathed out, his voice a cruel, hollow rasp. "I hate you so much it repulses me to even share oxygen with you. You're nothing but a defect my family bought to settle a score. Sign the papers, pack whatever cheap garbage you brought into my house, and get out before I have security throw you onto the street."

He dropped your face roughly, looking at you like you were nothing more than an insect. His broad shoulders were perfectly relaxed, completely untethered from any guilt or remorse.

You looked down at the papers, his signature staring back at you like a death sentence. You couldn't speak. You couldn't scream. All you could do was raise your trembling hands, your fingers forming the signs he had never learned, desperately hoping that for once, he might finally understand the silent agony in your eyes.