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“Terrance,” I say, my voice splitting the sharp air in the room. “I didn’t provoke you. You hit me. You beat me. You broke me down to nothing and left me a shell of the person I used to be.” My voice is shaking, but I’m determined to continue. “You have to realize that this is wrong. You can’t keep treating people like this, no matter what your reasons are.”
Terrance stares at me for a beat, and then he looks away. His attorney clears his throat and speaks for the first time.
“Can I have a moment with my client?” his attorney asks. He and Terrance shift from the desk, huddling in the far corner from us. Their hushed murmurs are inaudible. A few moments later, they return to the table.
“We understand that this situation is difficult,” his attorney states after settling back into his chair. “But we are willing to agree to your terms. We will accept the proposed settlement and sign the papers to finalize the divorce.”
Relief washes over me. I can finally start to rebuild my life. It’s been a long, difficult road, but I know that in time, I will heal and be even stronger than before.
I take a deep breath and stand up. I offer Terrance a weak smile. He nods, and I turn to leave. The door barely closes behind me before the dam breaks. Tears cascade down my face like a waterfall. My attorney draws me into a hug, and I sob against her shoulder.
“You did it, Charlotte,” she whispers.
I release her, wiping the last tears he’ll ever cause from my face.
And for the first time in seven years, I’m free.
CHAPTER 2
CHARLOTTE
PRESENT DAY
The sun shines through my open patio doors as the sound of the waves from the Pacific Ocean crashes against the beach in the distance. The early morning sun peaks through my curtains as they sway against the breeze coming off the water.
I roll over and feel the soft cotton sheets against my bare skin. My eyes lock onto the empty half of the king-size bed. The only other occupied space on the bed is from a tightly coiled black kitten—the only worthwhile companion I have found in the last few months.
“Meow,” Shadow calls out when he notices I am awake. He pads over to me with an exaggerated stretch, butting his head against my face with a loud purr rumbling from his chest. I peer over at my phone on the nightstand and groan when the time pops up on the screen.
“Seriously, Shadow?” I grumble. “I don’t have to get up for work for another three hours. Can’t you go back to sleep?” He paws at my face. “I’ll take that as a no.”
I stretch leisurely on my king-size bed. My satin sheets feel cool and smooth against my skin. Shadow follows suit, making a grand spectacle of stretching and rolling by my feet. He brushes against my bare legs as I force myself up.
“You’re hungry, I get it,” I scoff before heading to the kitchen. I make quick work of Shadow’s breakfast while I let my coffee maker brew. The sweet smell of coffee fills the small space that surrounds me. Taking my cup, I grab a blanket and my phone from my bed, step out onto the open patio, and settle into one of the rattan deck chairs to watch the sunrise. Its beautiful kaleidoscope of oranges and pinks brightens up the sky. The best view money could buy, and I got it with Terrance’s money.
I let out a deep sigh and close my eyes, feeling the warm sun on my face. I hadn’t heard nor seen him since our settlement, not that I was concerned with his life in the least bit. Terrance came from money, and his family, well, they’ve likely already started searching for the next Mrs. Roberts. I had none of those things when we met. I’d been working two jobs, living in the tiniest studio apartment I could afford, barely making ends meet until he stumbled into the bar where I’d been working at night. From then on, he came in every night until I fell for the monster I didn’t know he was.
He’s in the past now—a fading memory I was actively working to distance myself from each day. The first step was buying my townhouse far from Los Angeles and his family. I settled into a quiet ocean town two hours up the coast, as remote as you could be in California. While the spousal support would set me up for the next couple of years, I’d opted to work. Relying on that money would be a crutch, so I found a remote position working as a billing agent for an online pharmacy. It wasn’t the grandest job, but it paid the bills to where I didn’t need to dip into my alimony savings.
Shadow jumps onto the chair, sniffing around and at my coffee cup. I take another sip before setting it down, then pick up my phone to check my messages. Most are work emails from the East Coast offices, but it’s a message from my friend, Minny, that grabs my attention.
I click on the notification and scan through the messages she sent me while I was asleep. An image pops up on the screen. Her smiling face is set against the backdrop of an airport. I stare at it, realizing she’s at LAX.
Charlotte: Are you in LA?
The three little dots pop up immediately before her reply comes through.
Minny: I’m a little closer than that. You should come downstairs.
Another image pops up, and this time, the front of my townhouse is on display.
She couldn’t be here, could she? I get up and walk over to the patio railing, peering down to the street below.
And there she is, looking up at me with a knowing smile.
“What are you doing here?” I call out. Thankfully, the buildings on either side of me are vacant.
“I was in town?” She shrugs. “How about you let me in, and we can finish this conversation with some of that coffee I smell? I took a red-eye, and damn, my body knows it.”
