Page 4 of Pieces of Us

We got married young. I was fresh out of college and preparing to become a resident at Children’s Hospital.

My first week of residency, my father and hers sat us down and told us what was about to happen.

I was against it. Hell, we both were, but my father could be a total dickhead.

He guilt tripped me by bringing up how he took care of me and that we needed to keep the money in the family.

Needless to say, we got married a few months later, and now, we were divorcing. Our fathers were livid, especially since we never bore them any grandchildren. I did everything in my power to prevent that shit from happening.

Diana had accepted the fact that she carried my last name after year two. However, I just couldn’t get with any of it, but I did try to make it work. I knew we were manipulated into this, and as much as I hated it, I did try to look at her like our marriage wasn’t of convenience.

I even tried to get her pregnant after I finally got my doctorate and became a pediatrician. I loved kids. Diana did not. She let it slip one night when she was buzzed that she hated kids and would have one because her father needed an heir.

After she said that in a not-so-jokingly way, I knew then I had to stop trying. Di wasn’t fit to be anyone’s wife, let alone someone’s mother. She was selfish, ornery, and all about a quick dollar.

When she started cheating, I knew it was time for me to bow out gracefully.

“Give her whatever she wants,” I finally spoke. Shanise, my attorney and cousin on my moms side, whipped her head over to me.

“Mr. Newson, I beg you to reconsider,” she spoke softly through clenched teeth.

“What is there to reconsider? Nehemiah knows just as well as I do that I deserve everything I’m asking for. Honestly, I’m being quite generous, considering he has way more assets and money in a separate account.”

I scoffed. “Deserve? Did you really just say that shit?”

“I sure did!”

“What you deserve is a bullet in your skull, yet you continue to breathe.”

“Nehemiah!” Shanise scolded me.

“Yeah…let that little gangsta out of the cage. You always try to pretend you’re something that you’re not. By night, one way, and by day, another.” She laughed. “I tried to make this marriage work, but you never tried. You emotionally damaged me and made me feel like I didn’t mean shit to you.”

I smirked. “You never tried to do anything. The only thing you tried to do was get access to my money. You put on this facade as if you were trying to make shit work, but I saw through all of that. You openly admitted that you hate children. Even if you don’t have a desire to have them, you literally don’t care for them, even if they didn’t come from you.

You were selfish then, and you’re selfish as fuck now.

Give her what she wants, Shanise. I’m off this shit. ”

Diana’s lawyer cleared her throat, opening her folder in front of her.

“Mrs. Newson—”

“Wilson, Veronica. Just Wilson.” Diana corrected her.

“My apologies. Ms. Wilson will obtain the property in New Haven, the property in Livonia, and the property in Livingston County. She will also receive 50 percent of the 400,000 in you all’s joint account, the Range Rover SE Sport, the BMW SUV, and the 1976 Chrysler Cor—”

“She ain’t touching my shit. She can have everything else, but she’s not getting my car.”

“I bet I will.”

“Diana, you continue to keep trying to push my buttons. I’m being hella nice. Because if we take this shit in front of a judge, I can promise you, you’re going to walk away with nothing but what you walked into this marriage with.”

“You really think so?”

“I fucking know so. I have pictures and videos dating back three years of your infidelity. Just from that alone, I can make you look like scum and walk away with everything I’ve earned.

So, walk light, take your little winnings, and be the fuck gone out of my life.

You got them papers, Ms. Lady?” I gestured to her lawyer and she slid the papers over to me.

“Give me a moment to speak with my cli—” Shanise attempted to say before I cut her off.

“Shani, it’s done.” I could feel her heated gaze on me as I signed my name on the dotted lines.

“You didn’t allow her to finish, Mr. Newson.” Shanise stressed.

“It doesn’t matter. I already know what she wants, and she got it. Her and her father’s greed will be their downfall.”

I slid the papers across the table and stood. I buttoned my suit jacket while I stared at Diana. I wouldn’t lie and say I didn’t love her. We did try to find the light in all of this, but she just wasn’t my person or marriage material.

She wasn’t who my heart belonged to, and she was never supposed to have something as sacred as my last name. That belonged to the one woman who I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing since a few days after that one tragic night… Morgan Prescott.

Even after all these years, I still thought of her.

After that night, I saw her one more time before I was shipped to Atlanta.

That night, she cried in my arms while I kept mine at bay.

We promised to keep in touch, and we did for all of seven days before her line was disconnected.

I asked my sister, Shelby, to go by her house to see what was happening, and when she told me that their home had a for sale sign and looked vacant, my heart broke.

It was one of the reasons I couldn’t connect with Diana. Morgan was my heart, and I spent the first three years after the split trying to find her to no avail. I had no clue what happened to her, but I knew we would see each other again.

Walking out of Diana’s lawyer’s office, I shot a text to Loon, my best friend and driver, to pull the car around.

Yes, I may have been a pediatrician, but my father’s reputation didn’t allow me to move around the city freely.

The man was still carrying that king pin crown and had Shelby, our baby sister Chelsea, and I escorted all over the city, but I made sure to choose someone I trusted to protect me.

Since he made all the other decisions in my life, I made sure he didn’t take away my passion for becoming a doctor and who I wanted at my side to protect me.

“I know Auntie Queenie is rolling over in her grave,” Shanise said, shaking her head as we filed onto the busy streets.

I sighed. “I’m sure she has rolled right out of that motherfucka by now with the way Cole has been moving.”

“What were you thinking, Hemi? That bitch didn’t deserve any of what she was requesting. I could have stopped all of that shit.”

“That material shit means nothing to me, Shani. The only thing I wasn’t letting up on was my Cordoba.

That car was my first whip…a rarity, and it’s sentimental to me.

All that other shit can be replaced.” I watched as Loon pulled in front of the building.

I pulled Shanise into my arms and kissed her forehead.

“Thanks for everything, cuz. I’ll see you at Pops party this weekend. I love you.”

“Okay, I love you too. And don’t forget to pick up the cake! I know how forgetful you can be.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, opening the passenger’s door to the SUV.

“What’s up, Shani!” Loon yelled out to her.

“Hello, Lawrence.”

“Loon, baby. Just call me Loon.” He winked and smiled at her.

This nigga .

“That’s not what your parents named you. See ya, cousin.” Shanise bid me adieu as her car service pulled up.

“Aye, your cousin is fine as fuck.” I looked over at him with a stoic expression. “What? I’m just being honest.”

“Be honest somewhere else, bum.”

Loon chuckled. “How that shit turn out?”

“Fucked up, but I’m just happy to be rid of this shit.”

“I hear that. Where to?”

“Lem’s. I need a drink.”

“Bet.”

Loon pulled from the curb just as Diana walked out of the building. We locked eyes for a split second before I looked away from her, happy that this was an end for a new beginning.