You Need Me

Chapter 45

Viola stood in front of their bedroom door for a while before knocking... out of habit.

"Come in." Leon called from inside. He looked up from his working desk to find his wife walking in.

"I told you before you don't have to knock..."

"Sorry." Viola scratched her head. She took off her coat and hung it on the back of the sofa.

"Where have you been?" Leon asked while making notes on the documents in front of him.

"What...?" Viola turned her head to Leon.

"You were not in the florist since noon. Where did you go?" Leon asked again, now his eyes were on her.

"Oh..." Viola's body stiffened. Her heart was pounding so quickly she felt weak. What should she say? For a moment, she stood still without saying anything. Noticing her silence, Leon got up from his seat and walked towards his wife.

A few steps and he was now standing right in front of her. Viola lowered her face to hide her puffy eyes.

"Look at me." Leon said.

"No."

Leon sighed. He tilted his head and looked at her face from below. "Did you cry?"

Viola looked away. She opened her bag and took out a brown paper folder and shoved it to the man in front of her.

Leon looked at her with puzzled eyes. "What is this?"

"For you." Viola replied shortly.

"For me? A birthday present?" He chuckled as he opened the seal to see what was inside. His face grew dark as he pulled the content out.

"I'm not fond of any kind of jokes, much less on my birthday." Leon tried to keep his voice calm. His hand was still holding a document he took out just now.

"It's not." Viola said without looking at him. She did not dare to look at him.

Leon closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Why suddenly? Did you not just say you still want to be here with me, just a few days ago? Why do you want a divorce suddenly?" He threw the paper on the floor. Viola did not answer. She was frightened. Her eyes were on the divorce paper Leon had just thrown, the paper she had signed her name on earlier.

Viola bit her lower lip, clutching her dress tightly. "After that day, I... I have been thinking a lot."

She paused. Leon did not say anything. He waited for her to continue.

"I want to go back to Mir." She slowly lifted her head and looked at Leon.

He could see Viola was trying to hold her tears. "Mir? If you want, we can always..."

Viola shook her head. She closed her eyes and then opened them again. "I want us to... start over our life."

"Start over? What do you mean?" Leon tried to make sense of the situation.

"I feel like I have lost the meaning to be here." Viola paused to look at Leon. "In the beginning, in exchange for the Mir Islands Project and to repay your family's kindness, you and I agreed to this marriage... but now..."

"Now that the project's future is unclear and you think you have done your part, you want to leave? Is that what you mean?" Leon continued her sentence.

Viola's eyes widened. "That's not what..." After hearing his conversation with Lady Sarah this afternoon, she realized she was the one who got in the way between Leon and his company. Just as she stepped into his life to help him acquiring Mir Island, now Lady Sarah had appeared to help him.

"Whatever." Leon cut her short.

"So it was just me... all along." Leon said quietly as if talking to himself. He lowered his eyes to the floor and picked up the paper.

"Leon, listen..." Viola called and tried to take his hand but he shook it off and turned his back to her.

Leon walked to his desk and signed his name on the paper before giving it back to Viola. Viola received the paper with trembling hands.

Leon ignored her and walked past, towards the changing room. Viola watched him disappeared into the room. A tear dropped from the corner of her eye but she quickly wiped it away. Leon is angry. Of course he is angry. She had disappointed him again. She looked at the paper on her hand. Our marriage is over. Her chest felt tightened. Tears starting to drop again, wetting the paper. She hurriedly put it away back into the envelope and closed her bag.

Suddenly, she heard the changing room door opened. Leon had changed his clothes. A coat was hanging on his shoulders. He took his phone and keys from the desk and walked to the door without saying anything.

"It's late... Are... are you going out?" Viola braved herself to ask.

Leon stopped before the door. "Why do you care?" He sounded irritated.

I'm worried about you. Viola had wanted to say but nothing came out. She took her bag and walked to the door. "I... I'll leave."

She stood for a while beside Leon before turning the handle of the door. "Take care, Leon and thank you for everything..."

As she was about to walk out of the room, a strong hand forcefully pulled her arm back inside. The door was shut again and Viola was pushed against the door. Before she could make out what was going on, Leon's lips were already pressing on hers. His grip on her tightened. Viola tried to push him away but she could not fight his strong arms.

"Wait...! Leon..." Viola cried.

Leon stared angrily at her. He lifted her up in his arms and moved to their bedroom.

"What are you..."

Leon pushed her down to the bed.

Why is he doing this? "I need to go..." Viola tried to escape but Leon held her shoulder down firmly to stop her from running away. "Why..." She protested but her voice was drowned as he kissed her again. It was nothing like before. The kiss was rough and forced.

Leon moved his lips to her cheek and neck. Viola could imagine where this was going. "Stop... Leon... please..." It was as if he could not hear her, Leon started to unbutton her dress with his other hand. Viola grabbed his hand to stop him. "Leon... don't do this. I'm scared... Please..." Leon could see her frightened eyes begging him, which frustrated him more and tore her dress with his hand in anger.

Viola was stunned for a moment before she nervously hid the skin that was showing under her torn dress. Tears started to flow down from her eyes. Viola covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry, Leon. I'm really sorry..."

Leon pulled away sharply. He was reminded of the image of Viola crying on her mother's funeral. What had he done to her... Leon asked himself. He actually gave way to his emotions and almost did the unthinkable.

His hands wanted to reach for her and hug her trembling body but he knew he did not have the right to do so, even more after what he just did. Leon got up and quietly took off his coat and covered Viola with it.

"Give the divorce paper to Tom tomorrow. He'll know what to do." He stormed out of the room, leaving Viola alone crying throughout the night.