8 The Face-Off
Diane felt really helpless after being threatened not to return home, but what was more painful for her was the sheer bit of hatred she saw in her mother's eyes after she had hit her.
Arriving at her apartment after taking the entire day off from work, the last thing Diane wanted was to be disturbed but then, her wicked ex-husband had to choose that time to return after ghosting her for an entire week.
She hadn't even gotten the chance to ice her cheek properly when Phillip unlocked the door and came in. She was actually startled as she had been meaning to change the locks on the door but forgot all about it with the prenup matter keeping her awake in the night.
Phillip walked into the living room and saw Diane sitting up on the couch with an ice pack in her hand and came to a stop.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his brows shooting the top of his head. He was equally surprised to meet her at home since she was clearly supposed to be at work by this time, and this was the reason he chose to crawl in as he wasn't supposed to meet her.
Diane totally ignored his question and went on to ask as she narrowed her gaze down at him, "You told my family about our divorce and that I owed you some money?"
Hearing her question, the frown on Phillip's face completely disappeared. He stepped forward with his hands shoved inside the front pockets of his black pants.
He looked completely dishevelled like a man who has been through a lot in life. Most strands of his hair were disobedient as they found a way to stick out in the wrong places.
Seeing the current state of the man she married and couldn't wait to be legally separated from, Diane felt repulsive.
"Is there a reason I shouldn't have mentioned it to them?" Phillip asked as the corner of his lips turned up in a smirk.
It was a thing of joy for him to stand there and watch Diane's face darken as she seethed in the rage she had for him. Nothing made him happier than that.
Throughout the week, he has been frustrated with work and was also avoiding running into her because of guilt. But who knew that it would be such a blessing to feel contented as a result of her hatred for him?
Diane took in his facial expressions and came to understand he was taking her for a ride. It pissed her off knowing that his joy came from riling her up.
"You bastard!" she cursed through gritted teeth and threw the ice pack at him with all the strength she could muster.
Luckily, Phillip was expecting that much from her therefore he successfully dodged it. But the loud sound it made from hitting the wall before falling to the ground with a clatter drop gave him sheer horror vibes.
"Have you lost your mind?! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Phillip was so furious that his hands automatically left his pants pockets. The smirk on his lips speedily vanished the moment he just finished imagining getting injured by the impact from the ice pack.
It would have hurt a lot and left bruises on his face.
"Why not?" Diane glared daggers at him. "I wouldn't mind going to prison for spilling your blood."
Phillip returned the glare. "Really?" He didn't take her statement seriously since he had never seen her hurt a fly.
How could she bear to kill him just to endure the harshness of the prison grounds?
"You just have to let me kill you first," she retorted.
There was more going back and forth between the two before a heated argument sprang up.
"You filed for divorce, be ready to dance to the tune!" Phillip thundered authoritatively.
Diane, who was already on her feet pointed a finger at him. "You must be really insane if you think I'm going to split my access with you."
"We will have to see about that," Phillip replied with all manner of confidence. "I had no idea I married a man instead of a woman. You can't give your husband sex, how can you then give him a child?" He let his gaze take her in, and added, "You were just a complete waste of my time!"
His words were like a hammer striking Diane's chest. This wouldn't be the first time he was making jest of her weakness, but she almost wanted to disappear.
Her head hurt, her heart hurt and at this point, she would accept if she was diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome.
Her self-confidence as a woman was long gone. Phillip made sure to trample on it so many times that nothing was left of it anymore. And now, he had the mind to call her a complete waste of time?
No matter how hurt Diane was, she couldn't resist calling him out on his criminal acts. "Says the fraudster who got married just to steal assets from a woman."
It was Phillip's turn to lose it. His jaw dropped, eyes widening in disbelief. "Did you just call me a thief?"
Diane actually looked him in the eye and asked, "Do you have any other profession?" She just had to have this comeback no matter how pained and worthless she felt.
Apart from being able to save lives in the hospital, there was nothing else she thought she was still good at.
Phillip's pride and male ego took a huge blow after being called a thief by his wife. He felt his heart rate increase as he balled his fists and clenched his jaw.
He was on the verge of ripping her apart but her daring gaze reminded him that he couldn't raise his hand on her.
He didn't need a lawsuit against physical assault filed against him when working on getting half of her assets.
"I need to thank whoever gave you a dirty slap on my behalf," he managed to say before storming out of their apartment without bothering to pick up the things he came back for.
Phillip had actually seen the faint red print on Diane's right cheek and with the evidence of the ice pack, he put two and two together to figure out what happened.
As soon as her husband left, Diane dropped on the couch and let the tears she had been holding fall.
She was slowly dying inside and was begging to be rescued.
At this moment, she was relying heavily on receiving Christian's help. Although she didn't think she could continue to wait any longer, she wouldn't mind exercising a little more patience as long as she won this battle in the end.
"Christian…" she mumbled as she curled up on the couch and dozed off a few minutes later.
