"Have a gr8 day!"

Fitz chuckled to himself as he read the text from Olivia, her text speak so unusual for her.

"Did you just say great with an 8?"

"What! Its text talk! Get with it, old man!"

Fitz was sitting inside the conference room alone while his lawyer went to grab coffee. Mellie and her lawyer were set to meet them here in ten minutes for the first set of papers to be signed to start the divorce process. Even though he had desired this divorce for awhile, he always imagined a feeling of regret or nostalgia to come over him when the proceedings were to begin. Right now, he was on a high and was surely flying higher. He had his Livvie and today marked the day that everything with her would soon come to fruition. This was a great day, a day for celebration and positivity and not for reminiscing on the horrible past.

He continued to waste the time on his phone.

"Old man? You weren't calling me that last night (; "

":o Governor! That is highly inappropriate!"

"You know I love being inappropriate (;"

"Aren't you supposed to be getting divorced or something? Pay attention."

"I'm bored. Entertain me."

"Can't. Some of us are actually working to get you elected."

"Rude!"

"Watevr! TTYL. BYE."

"Bye SB."

He placed his phone on the table and tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. A few minutes went by and his phone vibrated again.

"3"

He was about to reply when the door , his lawyer, Mellie and her lawyer Josie walked in and took their seats. Fitz watched Mellie closely to size up her mood and he couldn't read her. She was refusing his gaze and had her arms folded across her chest defensively. He just wanted to sign these papers quickly and get back to the trail. He hated leaving the campaign for personal matters such as this, but things had to be done. He wanted this divorce to be well on its way by the time, god willing, he was preparing for taking the office.

"Let's get this show started, shall we?" Trent joked with a smile. "I assume you have your files on hand?"

"Yes, everything we agreed upon at the original meeting stands." Josie pulled a packet of files from her briefcase. Mellie was staring out the window, her mind clearly racing. They were sitting opposite each other and Fitz felt the need to reach out to her. This was a pivotal moment in both their lives, and he didn't want the animosity between them.

"Hey," He whispered to her as the lawyers went over the legalities. She didn't pay him any mind. "Mel—"

"Do not talk to me you fucking sleaze!" She spat at him. Her words were so venomous he fell back in his chair.

"Well, that was a bit much, don't you think?"

"Ha! You have no idea."

"Mellie, I know this is hard on you. Hell, this is hard on me too and I'm the one who pushed this divorce. But this is in the best interest of our entire family. I don't want us to come out of this as enemies. I value the relationship we have and I know that I can't eradicate you from my life completely. I don't want to erase you from my life." Fitz meant every word. His night with Olivia had placed a lot of things into perspective for him. He had spent so many years hating Mellie for all the things he didn't have instead of taking responsibility for actions he set in motion. He was realizing that he truly was in love for the first time in his life and that there was no time to waste on hate. Hate solves nothing, only love can heal. Love would heal him, his relationship with Mellie and would bring Olivia to him. Love would patch the ancient wounds on both of their souls. He felt like a brand new man and that he had discovered the secret of the universe.

"Screw you, Fitzgerald!"

"What?" He was confused by her response. Did she not hear anything he had just said?

"I said screw you, asshole!" She screamed it this time stopping Josie and Trent. "Josie, rip up the papers."

"What?"

"Can no one fucking hear today? I said rip the papers!" Josie sat there stunned. Mellie rose from her seat and headed for the other end of the table.

"Mellie, what are you doing?"

"Are you blind too?"

"Mellie, stop and think about what you are doing! We already planned this! We agreed to keep this civil!"

"I am done being civil with you! Civil for twenty whole years and what do I get? I made you, Fitz! You are where you are right now because of me and me alone! Not Big Jerry, not Cyrus and certainly not that little whore!" Fitz felt the color drain from his face. Oh no.

"W-what are you talking about?" She had the papers in her hands now and with one glorious sound his secured future was snatched in two. "Mellie!"

"I know! I know everything! You are a liar and you will pay! I will not go down quietly. You want to leave me? You really want to go to war with me? That is my house! Divorcing me comes complete with a film crew, national news networks and a court room. You really want this? You want your little harlot? You think you can just ditch me and move some little girl into my house? You must not know me very well!" Everyone in the room was stunned. In a matter of minutes Mellie had transformed into Medea. His life went from an inspiring fairy tale into a Shakespearean drama instantly. Mellie's eyes were black with rage and her breathing was heavy. For the first time in years, Fitz was afraid of her.

"The choice is yours, Mr. Grant." She grabbed her purse and stormed out the office. Josie gathered her materials quickly.

"Umm...I'll contact you? I have no idea what is going on." She stumbled out as she left.

"What the hell just happened?" Trent turned his chair to face Fitz who was staring at the end of the table as if Mellie was still there.

"I think my wife just declared war." Fitz said in a daze.

"But why? Everything was set! You both wanted to do this amicably and without any negativity. Everything down the middle!"

"She found out..." Fitz put his head in his hands. "Shit, how did she find out?"

"Fitz, you told me there was nothing to worry about. You told me there was no other woman..."

"I didn't lie to you."

"Well then what is she—"

"She isn't just another woman."

"Jesus fucking christ, Fitz! This is something I needed to know! This changes everything! I set this entire case up thinking you were squeaky clean! A mistress changes everything! The cards are all in her hand now! With your running for President and her desperation to be First Lady, she could end you. The PR hail storm she could rain upon you with this revelation? I can't save you from this." Fitz could only think about Olivia and warning her. This wasn't about him, but her. He could care less about losing the presidency or his career, he just wanted to spare her the scrutiny. It would destroy all her hopes of the continuing her career or even living a normal life. These allegations would destroy Olivia.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I have to go. I'll call you when I figure this shit out."

Fitz was restless the entire day. He needed to speak with Olivia, but they had him running around doing interviews and meeting with campaigners at different stations around the city. He hadn't had a chance to slip her a text or call since his phone died that morning. Mellie was probably back on the trail now and he had no clue what she had planned. She was a madwoman this morning; a woman scorned. He wanted to spare everyone of this, so desperately wanted to keep things from escalating to this point. Everyone would suffer from the divorce going to court and getting into the hands of the media. Karen and Jerry would be teased in school: kids of the cheating governor, the spawn of a sleaze. Olivia's life would be dissected and tarnished forever. Fitz would never be able to work in politics again, the backlash from losing the election and being outed as a cheater would be beyond repair. Mellie would be portrayed as foolish for standing by the man that cheated her out of everything she had worked for.

It was half past four when he was finally in the car headed for the hanger to meet the plane. There was a charger in the car and Fitz was praising god as he hooked his phone up and watched the iPhone surge back to life. He had three missed calls from Cyrus and two texts from Karen and Jerry. He was disappointed that he had none from Olivia, but he remembered that he never responded to her last one.

"She knows. Be careful. Don't worry."

Fitz prayed that she read his message before Mellie got her first.

It was late when Fitz returned to the hotel. He was shuffled off to a benefit dinner the moment he stepped off the plane. He was physically and emotionally exhausted from the day, but he had to see Liv and make sure she was alright. Seeing her was the worst possible decision he could make but he could care less. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he was praying it was her.

"Liv?"

"You really shouldn't shout out names when answering the phone. And I got you this smart phone for a reason. It tells you who is calling." Cyrus chastised on the other end.

"Cy, I can't talk now."

"Too bad. Come to my room, now."

"I can't—"

"You can, will and are ordered." Fitz groaned as the call went dead and he took his detour to room 465. He didn't need to knock, the door flying open the moment he stood in front of it. When he walked past Cyrus he felt a rush of relief to see Olivia sitting on the couch. He sat in front of her on his knees.

"Liv! I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" She looked lost, no true emotions on her face.

"I'm alright."

"We need to devise a strategy. Mellie has gone rouge and right now she has a pretty good lead on us." Cyrus said getting right down to business.

"Cy, we need the room."

"Fitz, we can't just sit around while Mellie has all the power! The fate of the race is in her hands!"

"Cyrus!" Fitz boomed making Olivia jump. "I understand that perfectly, but right now I do not want to talk about Mellie. I need to talk to Olivia, alone. Take my key and go to my room. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Fitz took the hotel room key from his pocket and tossed it at Cyrus. He left without another word.

"What did she say to you?" He took her hands in his and kissed them gently. She was just staring at the wall. "Livvie, talk to me."

"She just said the truth. That what we are doing is morally wrong and that I'm breaking up a family."

"Liv, you know that is not true! Don't let her words get to you."

"No, no. Mellie is right. I am going against everything I believe to be with you. I am breaking up a family that is twenty years in the making. Even if those things are true, I still don't care. I still want to be with you." Fitz sighed out of relief at her words, so grateful that she was still on board with him. "I love you, Fitz."

"You have no idea how much I love you, Livvie." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. Something was off. She was hugging him back, but the reciprocation was weak. She felt distant, like she was going through the motions, a feeling he was all to familiar with considering his marriage.

Mellie had gotten into her head somehow, regardless of her declaring she still wanted him. Mellie had a plan to drive them apart and it seemed she knew getting into Olivia's head was the perfect way to plant her seed.

Olivia's eyes were wide open that night as Fitz slept soundly behind her. She snuggled deeper into the comfort of his arms, but she felt so out of place. Mellie's words were swirling around in her head like a bee to a freshly blossomed flower. Olivia wanted her to be wrong, god did she need her to be wrong. Her words were so harsh and full of unwarranted truth. She thought being in his arms would make it all mute, but here she was still thinking about it.

"Mellie, you are going to have to fill me in because I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Really, Olivia? So you want to pretend that you aren't sleeping with my husband?"

Olivia felt her body tense and the room lift from its center.

"W-what?"

"What is it with people and their hearing today? Are you an idiot? Do not play dumb with me Olivia Pope!"

"Mellie, honestly, I have no idea what you are talking about!" A harsh cackle left Mellie and Olivia looked on in fear. She was afraid of Mellie in this moment, a frightening dark power radiating from her.

"Olivia, I never viewed you as the ignorant romantic type, but mother did always say to not judge a book by its cover."

"Mellie—"

"Shut up, whore!" Olivia sunk into her chair and looked at her hands. "I trusted you. I had Cyrus bring you in because he told me you were the best of the best and you could get my husband elected. You promised me that you would get us into the White House! Yet here you are sneaking your way into the position I have worked so tirelessly to uphold."

"Mellie, I had nothing to do with the divorce!"

"Did I ask you to speak?" Olivia shook her head like a child. "It doesn't matter what your intentions were. You can save all your declarations of love and the overused "we never meant for it to go this far" because quite frankly, I do not care. What I care about is getting what I rightfully deserve. I deserve the White House and I will stop at nothing to get there."

"Mellie, do you hear yourself? The presidency isn't everything! Think about yourself about your husband! Neither of you are happy together so why force it?"

"You really don't get it, do you? Cyrus was wrong about you. He told me you were tough and calculating and refused to work with emotions. Yet, here you are begging me to consider my poor weak excuse of a husband's feelings. You are weak Olivia, too weak to be with someone like Fitz. He needs structure and commands. I had to mold Fitz into the man he is today and without me he will fall apart. He does not need you! You are a blip on the radar, something he isn't used too. I let the puppy off the leash and he came home with a chewed up stick thinking it was something special.

"With time, he will forget about you and whatever this little thing the two of you have going on. You are destroying my family, something I spent a lot of time to build. What kind of a woman can sit there so oblivious to what she is doing to someone else? He belongs with me and he will realize that very soon and if he doesn't I will make sure he doesn't step near the gates of the White House. Do you want to have that responsibility on your shoulders, Olivia? Do you want to be the reason Fitz does not achieve his destiny? Do you want to have your entire way of living obliterated? Because believe me, I will destroy you. I will discover every little detail about your life since the moment you took your very first shit. I see through your act, Pope. You want everyone to believe you are one of the big bad dogs but in reality you are a scared little puppy, just like him. So you end this and you end this right now. Do you understand me?"

Olivia sat in stunned silence, the tears edging out the corners of her eyes.

"I asked you a question!"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I understand."

Mellie talked to Olivia in the same tone and demeanor her father had. The superiority and way he was able to break her down...She hated this feeling of weakness, the feeling of not being sure what to do. She trusted Fitz with every ounce of herself, but the fact that Mellie was able to scare her so easily frightened her. The prospect of her entire life being shown to the world frightened her. She spent her entire life to build her life back from the ashes, just as Mellie had to build Fitz into the perfect candidate. Mellie had all the power in her hands. She giveth and was more than willing to taketh away.

A/N: Do you think Mellie is bluffing? I love HBIC Mellie, its really fun to write! Leave your thoughts!