I Divorced the President’s Secret Heiress (Kael’s POV)

Chapter 2

KAEL’S POV

The dining room fell into stunned silence at Zorina's words. Divorce? The audacity of it struck me as almost comical. My mother was the first to recover, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife.

"You want a divorce, Zorina? Really? Do you even realize the gravity of what you just said?"

I watched with mild fascination as Zorina, always so eager to please, always so careful with her words, stood tall, her jaw set in defiance.

"I don't care," she replied, her voice surprisingly steady. "I want a divorce, and I'm not changing my mind."

I couldn't help but snort, leaning back in my chair with deliberate nonchalance. This little tantrum was becoming tedious. "A divorce? Let's be honest—this marriage was never a love match. I married you because Father pitied you and thought you deserved a family." I paused, watching her reaction closely. "Now I'm in love with Liora, and you're upset about it?"

I noticed how her hand twitched at her side, how her fingernails dug into her palm. Good. Let her feel something for once, rather than that dutiful blankness she'd worn throughout our marriage.

"Upset? You think this is about jealousy?" Her voice trembled, and I found myself intrigued by this new, volatile version of my usually subdued wife.

I smirked, deliberately provoking her. "Like I said, Polygamy is legal here, isn't it? Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

Mother, ever the ally, spoke up from across the room. "He's right, Zorina. You know our customs. Why must you act so dramatic over a perfectly acceptable tradition?"

Kaela, never one to miss an opportunity to twist the knife, added her own barb. "Good riddance, honestly. But I'm going to miss having you in the kitchen. At least you saved the maids some work by cooking alongside them. Now they can finally listen to my instructions without you in the way."

I watched a flush of humiliation color Zorina's cheeks, but instead of shrinking away as she typically would, she turned to face me directly.

"I'm divorcing you, Kael. And that is final."

I raised an eyebrow, genuinely amused by her newfound audacity. "You can't be serious."

"I've never been more serious in my life," she shot back, a fire in her eyes I'd never seen before. "I'm giving you a choice; me or her. You can't have both."

Laughter burst from my chest, sharp and dismissive. The idea that she believed herself to be in any position to issue ultimatums was absurd. "Pick you? Zorina, I would pick Liora over you a thousand times. You knew that the moment I announced our engagement."

Something flickered in her eyes—pain, perhaps, though she masked it quickly. She nodded slowly, as if confirming something to herself.

"Good," she said, her tone colder than I'd ever heard it. "Then this is it. I'll prepare the divorce agreement, and we'll go to the courthouse this afternoon."

My amusement faded, replaced by confusion and irritation. This was becoming inconvenient. "This afternoon? Don't be ridiculous. I can't grant you a divorce right now. Not until I'm married to Liora. Getting divorced before a new marriage is a bad omen."

It was a superstition my grandmother had instilled in me since childhood, one I'd never questioned until now. But more importantly, the timing would be disastrous for my business arrangements with the governor.

Zorina's eyes narrowed, and I saw something calculating enter her gaze. "I don't care about your superstitions. If you refuse to give me what I want, I'll have no choice but to visit the governor myself and tell him I'm divorcing you."

My blood ran cold. She wouldn't. She couldn't possibly understand what was at stake.

"You wouldn't dare," I hissed, disbelief coloring my words.

Zorina's gaze met mine, unflinching, unwavering. "Try me."

For the first time in our marriage, I found myself truly looking at her—really seeing her. Not as the timid, grateful nobody my father had chosen, but as someone with unexpected depths. With power I had never acknowledged.

The room seemed to hold its breath. Mother's face had paled considerably, and even Kaela looked uncharacteristically worried. They understood what I was just beginning to grasp, Zorina wasn't making empty threats.

"This is ridiculous," I managed, trying to regain control of the situation. "You have nowhere to go, no family name to fall back on."

"I don't need a family name," she replied, her voice eerily calm now. "What I need is freedom from this farce of a marriage."

"And what exactly do you plan to tell the governor?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice level.

A small, dangerous smile played at the corners of her mouth. "The truth. That you announced your engagement to his daughter without even informing your current wife. That you've made me a laughingstock in front of Veridania's highest society. That you expect me to play servant to your new bride in my own home."

My jaw clenched so tightly I could hear my teeth grinding. The governor was old-fashioned in his views on marriage. While polygamy was legal, the proper etiquette was to have both wives' consent. Without it, the scandal would be considerable, potentially enough to threaten the business deal we'd spent months negotiating.

"You're overreacting," I tried, adopting a more reasonable tone. "This is simply how things are done in families of our standing."

"Perhaps," Zorina conceded, surprising me. "But I'm no longer interested in being part of this family."

She turned to leave the dining room, her posture straight and dignified in a way I'd never noticed before.

"Where do you think you're going?" I demanded.

She paused at the doorway, not bothering to look back. "To pack my things. I suggest you call your lawyer, Kael. You have until noon to decide whether you want this to be civilized or not."

As the door closed behind her, I sat frozen, my mind racing. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. Zorina was supposed to be grateful, compliant, the dutiful first wife who knew her place and accepted the new order without complaint.

Instead, she'd revealed herself to be something else entirely. Something dangerous.

"Kael," my mother whispered urgently, "you can't let her go to the governor. The scandal would ruin everything."

I nodded slowly, my thoughts calculating rapidly. She was right. I needed to contain this situation quickly.

"I'll handle it," I said, rising from my chair.