The Final Curtain

CHAPTER 1: The Final Curtain Elodie’S POV "What the f**k do you mean I can’t go in there?" I snapped with my voice cutting through the fancy hallway. The two burly bodyguards in their neet black suits just stood there, blocking the door to the private room like they were guarding the damn president. My heart pounded against my ribs but I wasn’t about to back down.. not tonight.. not after everything. One of them, the taller guy with a scar on his jaw, held up his hand. "Ma’am, Mr. Bennett specifically said no disturbances. He’s in an important meeting." I laughed but there was no humor in it. Just pure boiling rage. "Meeting? Yeah, right. Move your ass before I make a scene that’ll have every gossip site in New York buzzing by morning." I stepped closer, my heels clicking on the marble floor. My long dark chestnut hair was pinned up tight but a few strands had come loose from the chase through the gala crowd. My gray-blue eyes burned as I glared at them. People were already turning heads from the main hall, whispers rippling through the sea of tuxedos and glittering gowns. The shorter guard shifted, looking uncomfortable. "Please, Mrs. Bennett. He doesn’t want..." "Doesn’t want what? His wife walking in?" I cut him off, my voice rising. "Or is he in there f*****g a w***e or something? Is that it? Because if my husband is balls-deep in some gold-digging b***h while I’m out here playing the perfect little trophy, I swear to God I’ll burn this whole gala down!" The words flew out sharper than I meant but damn it.. they felt good. A few guests nearby stopped pretending to chat and stared openly. A woman in a red dress gasped, clutching her pearls. Good. Let them look. Let them see what the great Reese Bennett’s marriage really looked like. My porcelain skin flushed hot with anger and I could feel the graceful dancer’s posture in my spine turning rigid, ready for a fight. I’d battled through worse in the ballet world... catty rivals, sleazy patrons and broken toes. This? This was nothing. The taller guard pressed a finger to his earpiece, listening. His face stayed blank but after a second, he nodded to his partner. They stepped aside without another word, swinging the heavy door open. "Fine," the shorter one muttered. "But don’t say we didn’t warn you." I shot them one last glare. "f**k you both. Next time, try not to lick his boots so hard." I shoved past them, my elegant black gown swishing around my legs as I stepped into the dimly lit room. I expected chaos.. maybe Reese with his pants around his ankles and some model on her knees. Or at least a tense business huddle with drinks flowing. Instead, the door clicked shut behind me and there he was.. alone.. sitting at a wooden table with a half-empty bottle of expensive wine and a single glass.. no one else.. just Reese Bennett, my husband, looking every bit the untouchable billionaire in his tailored suit that hugged his broad shoulders perfectly. His sharp black hair was combed back and those steel-gray eyes lifted to meet mine with that same blank empty stare he’d given me for the last two years. It hit me like painfully.. that look.. the one that said I was furniture or background noise. Once upon a time those eyes had lit up when I walked into a room.. back when we were broke and crazy in love, sneaking kisses in our tiny apartment after I saved his ass from that mugging. He’d been bruised and stubborn but mine. Now? Nothing. "Meditate on this too!" I growled, slamming the divorce papers down on the table in front of him. My hands shook a little but I gripped the edge to steady them. "You think you can just sit here drinking alone like some brooding king while I rot in our empty house? I can’t do this anymore, Reese. I won’t." He didn’t flinch.. didn’t even blink at first. Just stared at the papers like they were another boring contract. I kept going, the words pouring out. "Remember when we got married? You promised me the world even though your controlling mother hated my guts from day one. We were happy, damn it. You’d come home from those all-night coding sessions and pull me into your arms like I was the only thing that mattered. Now? You neglect me all f*****g day... miss my performances, forget anniversaries, treat me like a stranger in our own bed. And the s*x? God, that used to be fire. You’d f**k me senseless after a long day, make me forget everything. But even that stopped. We’re just two ghosts sharing a king-sized mattress. I’m done being invisible to you." My voice cracked on the last part but I swallowed hard. Show, don’t crumble, Elodie. I’d fought too hard to get here... principal ballerina, survivor of every microaggression in the dance world. I wasn’t about to beg. Reese picked up the papers slowly, scanning them. For a second I thought he might argue.. yell or something.. anything to show he still cared. Instead, he reached into his jacket, pulled out a pen and signed them.. just like that with the scratch of the pen on paper echoing in the quiet room louder than any shout. My stomach dropped. "Are you serious right now?" I whispered at first then louder. "You’re just... signing? With no fight? No ‘Elodie, let’s talk’? What the actual f**k, Reese?" He capped the pen and slid the papers back toward me as a flicker of annoyance crossed his handsome face, tightening his jaw. "What more do you want from me, Elodie? Money? I’ll have my financial team wire ten million into your account by morning. Take it and go." Ten million...? Like I was some employee cashing out. The nerve made my blood boil hotter and I leaned over the table with my expressive eyes locking onto his cold ones. "Money? You think this is about your f*****g billions? I loved you when you had nothing, Reese. I stayed up nights helping you pitch your stupid tech ideas while we ate ramen. I believed in you before Bennett Technologies was a household name. And now you offer me cash like I’m a problem to pay off?" He stood up then, towering over me at six-three, his commanding presence filling the room. But there was no warmth and no spark of the man I fell for. "You wanted out. I’m giving you out. Don’t drag this into some dramatic scene." "Dramatic?" I scoffed bitterly, stepping closer until I could smell his cologne... the same one that used to drive me wild. "This is our marriage ending, you asshole. The least you could do is look like it hurts. Or did your mother finally get what she wanted? Her precious son all to herself again, free from the Black FReesech girl who didn’t fit your shiny billionaire image?" His steel-gray eyes narrowed. "Leave my mother out of this. You knew what you signed up for." "Yeah, I did," I fired back, my voice rising again. "I signed up for a partner, not a ghost who f***s me once in a blue moon and then goes back to ignoring me. You used to look at me like I hung the stars. Now it’s like I’m not even in the room. Well, guess what? I’m done waiting for scraps. I deserve better than this cold bed and your empty promises." Part of me... the stupid, romantic part... hoped he’d grab me, kiss me like the old days, tell me he’d fight for us.. but he just sat back down, pouring more wine. "Take the papers and go, Elodie. It’s over." Tears burned my eyes but I refused to let them fall in front of him. "You know what? f**k you, Reese Bennett. I hope your empire keeps you warm at night." I snatched the signed papers, my graceful fingers crumpling the edge slightly. My body moved on autopilot as I turned and stormed toward the door, my dancer’s legs carrying me fast. The hallway was worse. Flashing cameras exploded the second I stepped out and media vultures swarmed like sharks smelling blood. "Mrs. Bennett! Is it true you’re divorcing Reese?" one shouted, shoving a mic in my face. "Any comment on the rumors of infidelity?" another yelled. "Elodie, over here! How does it feel to walk away from billions?" I pushed through them, elbowing past with my chin high. "No comment, assholes. Get the hell out of my way." My heart raced as security finally cleared a path but the damage was done. They’d heard the yelling and the whole gala probably knew by now. I made it to my car in the underground lot, sliding into the driver’s seat with shaking hands. The engine purred to life and I peeled out into the New York night, the city lights blurring past. The house waited ahead... the place that had stopped feeling like home months ago. I wiped a single tear from my cheek, gripping the wheel tighter. What now? I thought, my mind spinning with memories of better days.. the way Reese used to laugh with me.. the promises and the love.. but this was just the beginning of whatever hell came next. I had no idea how right I was…!