Behind The Proposal novel Chapter 52

"Soph-"

"No!" She turned and glared at him. "I want you out of my house. I'll apply for divorce as soon as I possibly can. In the meantime, there's a post-nup in there somewhere, just to make it clear that I'm not asking for anything, other than for this to end and never see you again. Sign it and send it back to me."

His blood ran cold. It was all so final and she wouldn't listen to him. There was nothing he could say to change her mind and it left a hollow ache in his chest that made it difficult to breathe. This couldn't be happening.

Then she turned and walked down the hallway, leaving him standing there staring after her. She picked up her bag and walked back out of the front door. Jasmine nowhere to be seen. He knew there was no point going after Sophie. By the resolute tone of her voice, her mind was made up and she was cutting him out of her and Jasmine's lives completely. He'd been so looking forward to seeing his daughter again, but apparently he wasn't going to, not tonight, maybe not ever again.

He turned around and took a tentative step into the spare room again, taking in all of his belongings, with a yellow envelope and her wedding rings sitting on top of one of the suitcases. He picked the rings up, squeezed them in his fist. He needed to think about this. He needed to find a way to convince her to stay married to him. In the meantime, he had to go.

He packed his belongings into his car and drove in a daze to the one and only existing Sanderson hotel in the city. He had to be in Cairns on Thursday. He might as well move there now, instead of in three months as he'd planned. Until he figured out a way to get Sophie back.

The next day, after very little sleep, Tom managed to corner his brother in his office. He closed the door and stalked around him like a caged lion as Gabe lounged in the chair. He was more than furious at Gabe. His brother had singlehandedly destroyed Tom's marriage, and Tom wasn't going to let him off easily.

"Ah, so you've finally returned home," Gabe smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "You look pretty terrible. Your wife keep you up late?"

He wanted to throw himself at his brother and beat the crap out of him, like they'd done in their younger days, but he drew in a deep breath and controlled his temper. This was the difference between his hot-headed brother and himself, he'd grown up. He had control. "You're fired, and you will never work for this company again. I want you out of here. Now. I don't care where you go, but I don't want to see you. Ever."

Gabe closed his mouth and glared at him, then stomped towards the door. "At least you got what you wanted, right?" he snarled and walked out, obviously glad to have had the final word.

Tom was livid. He closed his eyes and threw his fist into the wall, sending plasterboard flying and sharp pain through his hand and up his arm. Great move that was. He retrieved his handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his bloody hand as he replayed Gabe's words in his head.

You got what you wanted.

But he hadn't. Not really. He had the hotel the way he wanted it, but he no longer cared about that. It wasn't enough. What he wanted was Sophie and Jasmine. They were his entire world, and he'd screwed up. He wanted to blame his brother, and to some extent he could, but there was no denying the fact that he had screwed up. It had started out as something else entirely. He had used Sophie for his own selfish needs, despite the fact that he had genuinely cared for her from the moment she'd tripped into his life. What he hadn't counted on was their marriage being so... right. He hadn't counted on falling for her. It had been love at first sight, but he'd been too blind to see it. He should have told her that before he'd left. He just hadn't known how.