Countdown To Leaving My Husband Novel by Aaren Collins _ Novel




Countdown To Leaving My Husband Chapter 01

Emerrie Archdekin spent her days holed up in her room, taking her medication.
Before she was driven to the brink of madness, she said to Joshua Cauthery this time.
"Joshua, let's divorce."
The car lurched to a violent stop.
The sudden jolt almost made Emerrie retch.
She had suffered from motion sickness since she was a child, and Joshua used to drive steadily just for her.
But somewhere along the way, he had forgotten. He had become reckless behind the wheel, no longer caring how his driving affected her.
It wasn't hard for Emerrie to guess why.
Danielle loved the thrill of speeding; she found it exhilarating.
And for the past year, Danielle had been the one occupying the passenger seat.
Emerrie fought back the sickness churning in her stomach. She fixed him with a cold, unblinking stare, waiting for his response.
She had uttered the word divorce a hundred times over the last year, and every time, he had brushed it off with a casual change of subject.
But this time, he seemed to be angry. His expression darkened with a rare, visible displeasure as he looked at her.
"Do you mean it?"
Emerrie nodded. "I do."
Joshua let out a cold, sharp laugh, the corner of his mouth curling into a sneer. "Fine. Consider it granted."
Half an hour later, Joshua actually pulled up to the courthouse to file for divorce.
As a lawyer, Joshua knew every loophole and shortcut in the system. He bypassed the mandatory mediation entirely and moved straight to the paperwork.
Watching him sign his name without a second of hesitation, Emerrie smiled.
Joshua snatched up his ID and walked out, his pace much faster than hers.
Before he got back into the car, he tossed a cocky remark over his shoulder. "I'll be waiting for you to come crawling back, Emerrie. Just don't expect me to care when you show up crying and begging for a second chance.
Joshua truly believed this divorce was just another hollow threat.
What he didn't realize was that she was determined to see it through.
Joshua had no idea that she was crumbling. Her doctor had been clear: her mental state was deteriorating rapidly. If she didn't get out now, she was going to lose her mind entirely.
The only cure was a clean break—moving away, undergoing intensive psychiatric treatment, and forgetting Joshua ever existed.
That was the real reason she was so desperate to leave.
She had truly loved him. In everyone's eyes, they were the golden couple. But any hope of a future had died the moment he personally sent her brother, Dominic Archdekin, to prison.
A month into their marriage, Joshua's first love, Danielle Baughan, returned to the country, hoping to rekindle their old flame.
Joshua turned her down without a second thought. He told her plainly that the only woman he loved now was Emerrie.
That night, Danielle left in tears.
But the next morning, she showed up at the police station with her clothes torn. She claimed Dominic had raped her and presented forensic evidence to support her accusation.
A formal investigation was launched, and Dominic was arrested and taken into custody.
That same day, the Archdekin Group's stock plummeted. The shock was too much for Emerrie's father, Evan Archdekin. He suffered a heart attack and passed away.
Through tears, Emerrie begged Joshua—the undefeated legend of the legal world—to take on Dominic's case.
She knew Dominic too well—he would never do such a thing.
Gazing into Emerrie's puffy, tear-streaked eyes, Joshua felt a pang of heartache. "Merrie, don't worry. I won't turn my back on Nic. I've got this."
Yet on the day of the trial, the husband she trusted most stood against her, acting as Danielle's lead counsel.
In that courtroom, he tore Dominic to shreds, reducing him to nothing. He used every ruthless tactic in his arsenal to ensure Dominic was sentenced to six years in prison.
When the trial ended, Emerrie confronted him, her eyes bloodshot and stinging. "Joshua, that's my brother! Do you have any idea what you've just done?"
But Joshua's voice was cold, stripped of all feeling. "Merrie, I'm a lawyer first and your husband second.
"Nic committed a crime and must face the consequences. I'm only upholding the law."
Joshua clearly felt no remorse. "Besides, Dani went through this because of her history with me. I owed it to her to take the case."
Emerrie sobbed until the air felt thin in her lungs. "What about me? Do you even care about me?"
Joshua pulled her into his arms, his voice thick with a hollow kind of heartache. "Merrie, we have to keep these things separate.
"Nic has to pay for what he did, but I'll be here. I'll help you get through this difficult time."
At that moment, Emerrie knew there was no future left for them.
Later, she aborted the baby Joshua had been dying to have and had the remains delivered straight to him.
Joshua's eyes burned with a raw pain, yet he maintained a chilling mask of calm. "It's okay. We're still young. We'll have more children."
Following Evan's death and Dominic's conviction, the world treated the Archdekin family like a plague. The Archdekin Group collapsed overnight.
Crushed under a 15-billion-dollar debt, her mother, Ivanna Archdekin, was driven to despair and jumped to her death.
Ivanna had been Emerrie's last lifeline; her death snuffed out whatever light Emerrie had left.

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