How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 43- Lines Crossed

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The first mistake I made in this life was falling in love with a woman whom I didn't deserve and the saddest realisation in this life was when I realised that fact. I would never deserve her and in my attempt to keep her from leaving me, I had unknowingly broken her.

I see it now, in those eyes which used to be so bright and entrancing, the same eyes that looked as though they were gazing right through my eyes and into my broken soul. I see now, in this cold reality; that woman is gone.

I can see it in her eyes, every time she looks at me; I can feel it in my bones. Her voice, her actions... All of it. It's all gone.

That woman I loved is gone.

And she's never coming back.

"Stacius..." Ria's voice cracked as she called my name. Still lying on the ground with me kneeling beside her, she protectively held onto her womb, curved up on the cold ground, eyes unmoving from the blood staining her clothes.

"Right now... I am in dire need of peace," She whispered with a broken voice, too tired to even raise her voice at me anymore. Somehow, that wounded me more than when she shouted at me and released all her frustrations.

"I think it is time that I give up," She mumbled.

"Give up?" I repeated. My words echoing off the walls of the large room.

"I had so much hope. Every day I would wake up hoping and every night I would fall asleep hoping... but now I realise that it was all for nothing... A miracle is not an answer and you are no miracle, you never were. You were just the man leading me to death with a smile and a warm embrace... You are just a man that took everything from me... My friends, my mother and now my child... How much more do I have to lose to you? How much more guilt do I have to feel before I finally find peace? Tell me, Anastacius,"

No tears fell from her eyes. 

No tears were needed to fall for me to understand the fact that it was over.

This game that I started is over. 

I've lost, but no one has won.

"This burden is weighing down on my shoulders, this innocent blood coating my hands. You are the one that killed them but I am the one that watched them die, helplessly... I do not like being helpless... And therefore, I am giving up on you..."

Carefully and trembling, she sat up, hands coated in the innocent blood of our unborn child and her cold gaze rose to meet my eyes. Those ethereal hazel eyes darkening into a tarnished black, belonging to a broken soul.

"Therefore... I am telling you now, Anastacius, I have had enough. You've crossed all the lines, you've broken me beyond repair and well done for that... What would you say? Ah, yes... You've tamed me, is that what it was?" She asked.

"And what did it take?" A smirk slowly crept onto her face and she raised a bloody hand, resting it against my cheek and despite the blood that I felt on my cheek, I had nothing to say.

"Just the death of my loved ones and my unborn child," She answered, her hand falling back down on the ground beside her and the cold gaze melted away, being replaced by the broken gaze of a mother that lost her child.

Yes, there is no going back now.

I've messed up too bad.

"I, Valeria Antonia Aurelius Caesar... am hereby... and thereafter..." My breath got caught in my throat, eyes widening in the realisation of what she was trying to do right now... I lunged forward, trying to cover her mouth before it was too late.

It was too late.

"...Divorcing Anastacius Gaius Aurelius Caesar, from this moment on,"

We fell back, me covering her mouth to keep her from talking but it was too late. She blinked up at my panicked figure, not looking the least bit surprised by my reaction.

"No... No! It doesn't count!... There was no witness!-" I cut myself off, watching as she sat up and slowly turned her head to look towards the entrance of the room.

The silence passed on for what felt like years.

It's over... Isn't it?

Slowly, following her gaze, my trembling body finally came to a halt.

Julius... and Ambrogio... stood there.

Standing side-by-side, their hands on either side of themselves, faces resting in a calm expression... They heard.

And if they heard... Then that was more than enough to make this divorce a reality...

My lips opened and closed but nothing but my cracked, broken voice escaped and before I knew it, my body began shaking under the heavy burden that was reality.

"W-Why?..." I somehow managed to eventually breathe out, although I wonder if she or anyone else in the room was able to hear anything.

"You know why. And if you don't then my decision of divorcing you is probably the best decision I've made in this life," Ria replied.

"How long were you there for?" I looked over my shoulder, glaring at the two men that stood there, unaffected by my hateful gaze, Ambrogio more than Julius.

"The whole time... I had been talking to Valeria and was leaving when I saw you storm into the room, although, I didn't see anything until after Ambrogio came," Julius said, turning to look at his nephew that stood beside him at the same height.

"I came after hearing mother's scream... So, long enough," Ambrogio said.

"You can't do this to me, Ria... You can't leave me," I turned back to look at my wife, although, I don't think she was my wife anymore and the mere thought of that had my blood boiling.

"If you wanted me to stay by your side, you should have treated, not only me better, but my whole family too," My jaw ticked as I stared at her and she stared back, not surprised by my slowly rising anger.

"What will you do without me, Ria? You have no other home to return to. This palace was your one and only home," I stated as a matter-of-fact. "And what of our children-"

"Our children are adults, they live life however they want and as their mother, whether they want me to be in their life or not, I will always love them and support them. You cannot use them to threaten me anymore," She glared.

No, I can't let her leave.

I'm not going to let her leave me, I won't be able to handle it.

If I have to burn this whole Empire down to keep her with me then so be it, I will kill this whole Empire in her name and then we shall have to see who belongs to who.

And whether I tame her or not, in the end, she will always be mine. Divorce? That's nothing. Whether it be this Empire or even Ria herself, no one can do anything. I may have lost my mind but that's what is bound to happen to any man that tries to tame his wife.

And I will be the only man that succeeds in doing so.

...

KEYWORDS:

Divorce- To divorce, one or both parties simply had to consider themselves no longer married. It was deemed advisable to notify the other party, but not legally required that one do so and no public authority was involved. Romans didn't 'Get a divorce' they simply divorced.