It would be the last thing the Delcourt name ever did for me.
Ian Rutherford was confident, after I explained the situation and he looked over the prenuptial agreement, that the case would be open and shut—but we would need to prove Christopher’s infidelity in a way that would leave absolutely no doubts.
He helped me to get in touch with a private investigator, Lewis, but after only a week, my patience was already wearing thin. It was maddening, sharing a bed with Christopher every night, acting like nothing was wrong. He didn’t seem to suspect a thing, but it was obvious that he was getting tired of me rejecting his advances.
Too bad for him, because I’d rather sleep with a corpse riddled with maggots than touch that asshole.
Every time I feel myself buckling under the strain, Ithink of my kids and the way their entire world is about to come undone. The least I can do is make sure we have a safe place to land in the wreckage of it all, and that money isn’t something Mase and Ginny will ever have to worry about.
Rutherford was emphatic that Christopher could not know what I was planning, guessing that, if he did, my husband would use all his wealth and connections to make sure the divorce failed—or left me with nothing.
I no longer knew Christopher, which meant I had no idea of the lengths he would go to make sure he won. And with the children involved, I would not risk losing them or the ability to provide them a future.
I will not risk him winning custody and pawning the children off to his mother.
I don’t trust any of the Delcourts, their scruples nonexistent, and I don’t imagine for a second that they would think twice of using the children to force me to dance to their tune.
After dropping the kids off at school, I seek refuge at the local park, planting myself on a park bench looking out over the small pond. On the other side, a mother approaches the edge of the water, her toddler clutching a handful of oats or nuts in a chubby fist. She pulls her arm back, throwing it all toward the ducks gathered on the surface, a giggle echoing on the breeze as the birds dive for the food.
The brave face I’ve been wearing all week falters as I watch them, my insides feeling like they’re withering away into nothing.
Ten years of marriage, of building a life with someone, believing you’re on the same path. A decade of memories and two children.
I’m not sure he was ever on the same page as me.
Hell, I don’t think he was even reading the same book.
My phone chimes in my bag, and I grab it out, hope sizzling in my chest as the PI’s name flashes across my screen. It takes only a second for the hope to die a vicious death, my stomach dropping as I read his message.
Lewis
Lunch @ hotel, walking in alone. Hotel won’t give information. Need to get closer to him.
Damn.I’m not sure why, but I expected this to be easy, especially with how careless he seems to have become. I stare down at my phone, the words blurring as an idea brews in my mind.
I’ve been sitting passively this past week, letting everyone else handle my personal business for me, but the role no longer suits me. I don’t want to sit on my hands and wait for someone else to fight this battle.
Lynley
I might have an idea.
I stareup at the building in front of me, the courage from only hours ago dissipating in the shadow it casts.
I’m notscared, but I still can’t unglue my feet from the pavement. People have to skirt around where I’m imitating a block of stone. My heart is in my throat, knowing that if I walk in there, I might be faced with something I can never unsee.
Or worse—notseeing something horrifying. There’s a good chance that I walk in, and Christopher is doing justas he should be, and thinks I’m here to spend time with him.
A shudder of revulsion rolls through me, remnants of last night running through my head. He was especially determined, as if he could sense that I was pulling away and thought touching me with his disease-ridden dick was the way to get me back on board with our mockery of a life.
I desperately pretended to be asleep, but he actually had the nerve to shake me awake. Luckily, Ginny called out right at that moment, wailing in frustration at the itching happening under her cast. I ended up sleeping in her room. Not because she needed me to, but just to keep a healthy amount of space between Christopher and me.
If he kept touching me, I was likely to puke all over him, and wouldn’t that have been fun to explain?
“Are you alright?” a voice rumbles from behind me, startling me out of my thoughts. I turn and look up.
And up and up andup.
My mouth drops open, eyes widening as I take in the man standing next to me—allof him. He must be part giant, because he’s towering over me, wearing a custom-tailored suit, the material obviously expensive, and the fit doing nothing to hide a tapered waist and brawny shoulders.
