Chapter 5 - Shattered Illusions
Three days later, a torrential rain washed away the last of the winter snow in the city.
I was sitting in my penthouse office, looking over the final divorce settlement papers that Marcus had drafted.
The intercom on my desk buzzed.
"Ms. Vale," the lobby concierge said hesitantly. "There is a man down here demanding to see you. He claims he is your husband. Security is holding him, but he says he won't leave until he sees his children."
I sighed, closing the file folder. "Send him up to the private lobby. Have security stay with him."
When the elevator doors opened on my floor, Grant stepped out, dripping wet.
He looked like a ghost of the arrogant man he had been just days ago. His expensive suit was wrinkled and soaked. He hadn't shaved. His eyes were red and hollow.
"Evelyn," he breathed out, rushing forward, only to be stopped by two heavy-set guards.
"Keep your distance, Grant," I said, standing behind the heavy oak reception desk.
"Please," he begged, his voice breaking. "I was wrong. I was so stupid. My mother... she manipulated me! She hates you, she always did. She paid that doctor to fake the test so I would leave you. She wanted me to marry some heiress from the country club."
"I know," I said flatly.
"Then you know it wasn't my fault!" he cried out, desperate for a lifeline. "I was tricked! I love you, Evelyn. I love our boys. Please, let me see them. Let me be a father to them."
I looked at him for a long, silent moment.
I remembered the way he had shoved a suitcase into my ribs. The way he had smelled of whiskey while he threatened to ruin me.
"You aren't a victim, Grant," I said softly, but my words carried the weight of a judge passing sentence.
"When your mother told you I cheated, you didn't even ask me for my side of the story. You didn't demand a second test. You didn't even look at your babies."
He sobbed, wiping his face with wet hands. "I was angry..."
"You were cruel," I corrected him. "You threw a woman who had just given birth, and two helpless infants, out into a blizzard. If I hadn't had my own resources, we could have frozen to death."
"I wouldn't have let you die!"
"You wouldn't have cared!" I raised my voice, the raw anger finally bleeding through my composed facade.
"You stood there and laughed while your mother spat in my face. You are weak, Grant. You are a weak, pathetic man who has never fought for anything in his life."
I slid a thick document across the desk.
"These are the divorce papers. You will sign away all parental rights. In exchange, I will not pursue criminal charges against you for domestic endangerment."
"I won't sign them!" he yelled. "I have a right to my sons!"
"You have no rights," I fired back, my voice turning to ice.
"You signed a prenuptial agreement that you were too arrogant to read. It explicitly stated that in the event of a divorce, all assets acquired prior to the marriage remain the sole property of the original owner. You own nothing."
He stared at the papers, realizing that I had cornered him entirely.
"If you fight me in court," I warned, "I will ensure that every news outlet in the country knows what you did. You will never get a job. You will never show your face in public again. Sign the papers, Grant, and crawl back into the miserable hole you dug for yourself."
May you like
Defeated, broken, and completely destroyed, Grant picked up the pen with a trembling hand.
He signed his name, officially erasing himself from my life.
