Stand for Love Ch. 12

Adrian prayed for his husband to say something. The silence was killing him more than anything else that was happening. His trembling was making Adrian hurt, deeply hurt and the pain of seeing him vulnerable was going straight to his heart. Seeing his husband like that was the greatest torture of all. He wanted to run to him, hug him, kiss him and...tell him the truth. But he knew his husband was never gonna believe him with evidence which Victoria and Jake had destroyed.

Seeing Adrian looking so pitiful and staring at his husband made Noah groan in irritation. He wondered what the hell was taking his mother long to bring the divorce papers. He needed to get it over with and make his brother happy. Fuck! Was that too much to ask?

"What's taking mother so long?" Noah groaned, clenching his fists.

George sat on the couch, listening to what the family members were saying and raining down insults on Adrian. It made him wonder...made him fume...made him so irritated with everyone in the living room. Adrian was a good boy and he didn't deserve everything that he was being given. He deserved to be treated like a prince, a king, a god and to be praised for being faithful to Nicholas.

All those things that were said against him made George really mad. He had no intimate relationship with Adrian but he'd never been as mad as he was. He suddenly began trembling in anger as a great powerful force made him charge up...his fists were trembling terribly...his eyes, oh his eyes had never watered like the way they were at that particular time. His jaws shook and though Adrian had told him to keep quiet, he was ready to shout at everyone and insult them. He didn't care the consequences later but that was what he felt at that time.

Time was running faster for Nicholas. The pain was getting intense and his headache was splitting, making his head pulse with each beat. He felt like his head was about to be divided in half. As if that was not enough, his muscles contracted and any slight movement he made was torture. He'd never thought he'd experience such pain at that particular time. He'd really hoped that everything would go back to normal after his confession to Adrian but now it was all over.

Still deep in his thought, Nicholas closed his eyes as he heard footsteps coming from the stairs indicating that his mother was coming back with...with divorce papers that were gonna end his relationship with Adrian and forever break the vows they'd made to each other. Speaking of vows, Nicholas realized that all the vows Adrian had made to him were all lies. They were just nothing but a bunch of lies. Thinking about the vows made him quiver and fume.

He heard his mother's footsteps get near and in no time, he felt her standing in front of him.

Taking a deep gloomy sigh, he brought his water filled eyes and stared at her, holding the papers with the pen at him. He moved his eyes from her and then to the papers that she was holding. They were clearly divorce papers and awaited his signature.

Instead of moving his hands to sign the papers, Nicholas felt a sharp pain in his chest which made him weaker than before. His hands began trembling and his headache just went to another level. He looked at the papers with a tear going down his cheek.

That tear, Adrian thought, his own tear tracing his cheeks. He wanted to go forward and lick Nicholas' tear from him. The tear was a clear indication of what Nicholas felt deep inside of him. It was clear he felt the pain caused by Victoria...the hatred planted in him by Victoria and Jake and the anger which was also planted by a terrible lie.

Had Victoria been a good mother, she'd have seen beyond that pain and told her son everything, releasing him from every pain and hatred that he felt in his heart but no. Adrian was really hoping that Victoria would change but a woman like her wouldn't change. Thinking about it actually brought back the mood he was in the past 5 days. He had to stand for his love and make Victoria realize that she was just a bitch, a big bitch who had actually thought that she'd weaken Adrian like she'd weakened Nicholas. Evidence or no evidence, Adrian was gonna stand for love and put Victoria in her place.

"Sign the papers son," Victoria muttered, taking the papers further. "Please,"

That plea was the deal breaker for Adrian. His eyes filled with tears and they flooded his face as soon as he closed his eyes. The scene before him was painful.

"Do you want to release yourself from that boy?" Victoria snapped. She had no idea why she snapped but Nicholas was becoming a pain to her. He was supposed to be signing and not grieving. Fuck!

"Sign it and release yourself from that devil."

Nicholas painfully opened his mouth but no word came out of it. Victoria was really angry. She felt she needed to provoke Nicholas to sign the divorce.

"Do you want to live with a cheat, a whore and..." She paused and gulped. "...just take a good look around you and tell me what you think." She yelled. "Look!" She slowly touched his face and fixed his eyes on everything.

"Look at your family." She pointed around, showing him the sad expressions on his family faces. They were really angry, angrier than they'd ever been. They wished he'd just comply and sign the papers that were held out in front of him.

"Look at yourself." Victoria yelled, making Nicholas feel even worse than he felt. "And look at your money." Victoria angrily pointed to the money on the floor. It was so much for Nicholas that he trembled. Maybe she was right. He needed to divorce Adrian and make everything right. "He just tried to steal your money."

On the other hand, Adrian's anger kept overflowing. He was going from medium to high, building up deep inside of him. He wanted to yell...he wanted to slap her bitch mouth...he wanted to call her a witch...he wanted to humiliate her and he was dying to make her pay. Evidence or no evidence, Victoria was crossing the limit. He was still the fierce Adrian who had made them work like slaves and made them dance to his tunes.

Adrian had to stand up to Victoria and even if he left, he'd leave with a light heart and everything would rest on the members of the family. Shouting at him was one thing but yelling at his husband was another. Her voice could clear be heard throughout the house, bringing unwanted attention.

Feeling his anger building like a volcano, ready to explode, Adrian looked around and saw the maids gathering. It was time to stand up to his mother in law in front of the entire family. As the anger built in him, he felt his body tremble and his muscles contract painfully. With a racing heart and a whole new power giving him strength, Adrian furiously rubbed his tears off and abruptly started moving towards his husband and Victoria leaving anyone who saw him surprised.

"Sign the divorce..."

"Stop you no sense, Victoria." Adrian yelled, rushing towards her.

That word hit Victoria like a thunder storm. She quickly turned, venting and panting and saw Adrian rushing towards her. He came closer to her and stood there looking really confident and without any form of respect. He was trembling and the look in his eyes gave Victoria chills but he still didn't have the evidence so he was nothing to her.

Looking at Adrian, only one question rang in everyone's heard, "Did they hear the right thing from him?"

Nicholas couldn't believe it but it was happening. The pain and anger he felt in him just vanished like that. His mouth and eyes gaped at the scene before him. Victoria and Adrian were standing face to face like enemy rivals. He wondered what exactly had been going on. He'd never seen Adrian look at anyone with so much hatred. He couldn't believe it.

"Did you just call me...?"

"Victoria?" Adrian asked, confident and disrespectful. He enjoyed the look on her face. "Isn't that your name, Victoria?" Adrian said it slowly and sweetly, leaving everyone who heard him speechless and dumbstruck. They still couldn't believe any of it.

In front of Adrian, Victoria gasped. "How dare you?"

Powered by anger, Victoria quickly raised her hand and directed at Adrian's face, ready to smack him for trying to act smart with her.

"I'll show why they call me iron..." Victoria trailed, paused and looked angrily at what had just happened. Right in front of her family members who were gaping at what they saw, Adrian caught her hand and gripped it so painfully. She looked at her hand wide eyed.

Gripping Victoria's hand painfully, Adrian got near her face and looked angrily at her. "Don't you dare, ever in your life try something like this again?"

After that warning, he let go of Victoria's hand and slightly pushed her, letting her take a few steps backwards. She was more than surprised at what had just happened. Her brain couldn't believe it and the pain on her hand was just too much to bear. She couldn't believe what Adrian had done in front of the family members. It was almost impossible and she couldn't just believe. Maybe she'd underestimated Adrian but she had won the game already.

Noah looked at the situation happening right in front of him. Adrian had just embarrassed his mother by calling her by her maiden name. What kind of disrespect was that? He couldn't allow it to happen as the anger in him intensified.

"How dare you Adrian?" Noah snapped, starting to rush to Adrian. He clenched his fists and got ready to punch the boy for disrespecting his mother. "Now I'm gonna have to..."

"Why?" Adrian quickly turned and signaled Noah to stop in his tracks. "Can't she handle herself?"

"What?" Arianna snapped. "Just who..."

"I'm your brother's husband." He snapped at Arianna, making her remain quiet. "You might be older than me but I'm sorry to say none of this is your business so I'd remain quiet if I was you."

That warning was enough to make Arianna quiet. Somehow she was scared of Adrian and feared him a lot. She'd never seen him like that before. He was clearly turning into something else. If he was married then he had to respect his mother in law as per tradition, right.

"Nicholas," Victoria rushed to him and held him, shaking him slightly. His eyes were glued on Adrian who seemed mad and disrespectful. Somehow, he was scared of Adrian and knew that something was up because Adrian had constantly respected his mother but now it was a whole different thing for all of them. What was worse was the authority with which he spoke. He'd made his brother and sister shut up and now what was next? He looked at Adrian with constantly but the boy didn't even seem to notice him.

"Nicholas," Victoria yelled. But he was too lost to even hear her voice. "Did you hear what he just said to me? He just called my name and disrespected me. What else do you want as proof to know that he's not good?"

But Victoria just got more annoyed when she saw that her son didn't even pay any attention to her. What was really wrong with him? Maybe he was just a stupid man who couldn't even stand up to the boy he'd married and brought into the house.

Victoria quickly moved to Adrian and stood right in front of him, glaring at him with her breaths becoming violent. Her hatred for the boy just went to another. She couldn't stand his sight anymore. Now she was gonna throw him out.

"This is the height of it all." Victoria snapped, gripping his arm tightly. "Now I'm going to throw you out of this house for good." She yelled. "Now come with..." She paused, quickly looked at her hand which she used to grip Adrian and saw him removing her from him in disgust. She was more than mad and everyone just stood and watched while everything unfolded.

"Get your hands off me," Adrian said angrily as he threw her hand away.

Her look just went from wow to whoa! It was really beautiful to see. She had triggered the mood he was in and he just didn't care about what everyone thought of him right there. He was more than happy with the situation even though he was not providing the evidence for everyone to see.

Tracing her body, Adrian's eyes went to her hands on the divorce papers that she was holding in her shaky hands. Then he smiled, moved towards her and slowly got the divorce papers from her.

"You wanted me to sign this, right?" Adrian said, holding the papers close to her. "Well, guess what? I'll willing sign them and I'll leave the house with the money just like you had said."

Nicholas felt like a sharp arrow had just pierced his heart. He snapped out of his mood and looked at Adrian with total concentration. After insulting his mother he was now going to sign the divorce papers? Nicholas was supposed to somehow feel good but he felt like the biggest asshole on the earth. He had no idea what he felt anymore.

Adrian smiled mockingly, taking the pen from her hand. Then with one final glare of irritation and an emotional look at his husband, he furiously signed the papers bringing some form of happy to people standing in the living room. He slowly looked at George and saw him quickly get up with a grimace on his face. It was clear that he was really confused.

For the first time George had loved that Adrian stood up to Victoria. He was filled with so much happiness but what Adrian had just done scared him a lot. He'd just signed the divorce papers, making Victoria and Jake as the winners of the game. Now what he just done?

Moving his eyes away, Adrian stared at his husband. He was looking pitiful and tears had built in his eyes, making him look vulnerable and pitiful. It was clear that there was pain in his heart and his whole body trembled.

Adrian sighed deeply and then moved his eyes around before going to Victoria. He noticed that Jake, Noah, Arianna, Clara, and Emily might have been a little too happy he did that. From Victoria's eyes, he could tell that she was jumping with joy and singing in her heart. Her eyes were glued on the divorce papers which Adrian had just signed.

Seeing those papers signed by Adrian, Victoria was on cloud 9. Her breaths became fast as her heart pulsed in joy, racing over a few miles. A sharp deep vibration of pleasure and ecstasy filled her entire body. She felt tears building in her eyes as she now felt like her breath were leaving her. She wanted to gasp but she had her hand on her mouth, glancing at the signed papers.

Finally, she enthused, after months and months of waiting, Adrian had signed the papers. They were now free from him forever. Actually she never thought he'd do it but it went better than she thought. Finally, she'd won the game and Adrian had lost. She told him she was the queen of that game.

Jake on the other hand was at the verge of crying. Tears were almost coming out of his eyes. Finally, Nicholas was free and they'd be able to get married to each other. It was worth the wait after all. He just wanted to scream and jump in excitement. He wanted to jump and feel good about everything that was going on.

Looking at Victoria, Adrian could very well see that she was not sure. Her eyes were literally on that paper, wondering if the signature was real.

Adrian chuckled, getting the divorce papers closer to her eyes. "Wanna take a closer look." He smiled. "Here you go." He literally held the papers on her face so that she was able to see clearly.

Victoria's heart jumped with joy at that lovely signature. She was more than happy...more than joyful and more than...Victoria felt her heart ripping once she heard the tearing of a paper. Her eyes widened in fear and her heart hurt a lot when she realized that Adrian had torn the papers in half.

Adrian enjoyed the look on Victoria's face. He was really happy. He'd just played a game and she'd foolishly followed through. Now she was looking like a fool, he enjoyed it a lot. He took the two parts of the papers and ripped them into shreds just like she'd done to his evidence.

"Divorces papers..." He said hoarsely, holding the shreds in his hands. "...my foot."

Then he threw the papers in her face and felt the anger emanating from her. Everyone was confused at what had just happened. It kept making them wonder if Adrian was still the same or just an impostor. For the first time no one was able to utter a word, not even Noah.

"How dare you..."

"Why are you acting as if you were the one who was getting divorced?" Adrian asked, folding his arms. "And why did you act like your life depended on it." He breathed violently. "My husband was the one who was supposed to act like that and not you. I married your son so you've got no right to do what you just did."

"What?" Victoria gasped, slightly closing her eyes. "Did you all hear him?"

She quickly moved and looked at everyone. "He's practically insulting all of us and you're standing here doing nothing."

She was really shameless, Adrian thought angrily. "Look, whatever..."

"Adrian!" He heard granny's angry voice. His eyes widened and he looked at her in fear of what she was going to say. He respected her a lot and he didn't want to disrespect her or anything. Adrian dropped his eyes to the floor.

For Victoria, hearing her mother in law's voice was the real deal. She knew that her mother in law never took any foolishness from anyone. She was pretty sure that Adrian hadn't seen that coming. Now he was gonna feel her wrath and the extent of her anger. With a deep sigh, Victoria smirked at Adrian, folding her arms on her chest. She stood closer to Adrian, smiling mockingly as she saw her mother in law's begin moving towards Adrian. He was screwed.

Taking a few, angry confident steps, Elena's eyes were only on one boy, Adrian. She took a closer at him and her anger intensified. Maybe she should have done what she was going to do long time ago before all that no sense got out of hand and reached the extent it had.

As she got closer, everyone else was quiet, wondering what she was gonna do to Adrian. Her eyes were still fixed on the angry looking boy in front of her. He had his eyes dropped on the floor and he kinda looked scared.

Looking at his granny getting closer, Nicholas couldn't do a thing. The last time she'd done something like that and snapping she ended up blessing Adrian and kissing him. But now the situation was different and she was probably gonna slap Adrian and throw him out of the house, divorce or not. Speaking of divorce, Nicholas was happy Adrian had torn it again. He was pissed at Adrian but he still loved him too much to separate from him.

"Why is granny pissed at Adrian?" George thought, scared and shaking. "She was in on it right?"

Reaching Adrian, granny took a good look at him and breathed violently. Then she raised her hand so high, ready to slap him that it got everyone happy but not as happy as Victoria. She couldn't wait for that hot slap to reach Adrian's stupid face. She got ready to receive some drama.

Fuming, breathing violently and adding more power to her hand, granny surprised everyone when she quickly turned and backhanded Victoria across the face, so hard it sent her flying to the floor. She was holding her cheek and wincing before she even reached the cold floor.

What happened made everyone shocked and to some extent curious. They wondered what was really going on. It was like everyone was against Victoria and called her a culprit. That got Nicholas wondering and he got scared when a thought hit him like a thousand electric volts.

"Why did his granny hit his mother like that?"

George was happy and he smiled brightly. The old bitch had finally got something that she should have been given a long time. He was more than happy. Adrian on the other hand, quickly raised his face to see Victoria on the floor holding her cheeks and it had bruised up. He felt really happy.

"Why did you slap me, mother." Victoria mumbled, holding her hurting cheek as a tear left her eye. "You were supposed to..."