3. The Verdict
The heavy oak doors closed behind me, sealing the room off from the rest of the house. Arthur sat behind his massive desk like a judge preparing to pass sentence.
Julian followed us in but didn’t sit. He leaned against a bookshelf, eyes already back on his phone.
“Look up,” Arthur snapped.
I lifted my head and met his stare. He made no effort to hide his disdain.
“Nora, it’s been three years since you married into this family.”
“Yes, sir,” I said quietly.
“You know how Julian has treated you. You understand your position here. You were a mistake—a lapse in judgment. A phase he has finally outgrown.”
Arthur opened a drawer and removed a check. He flicked it across the desk toward me. It slid effortlessly, light as paper, heavy as fate.
$120,000,000.
“You don’t belong in his world,” he said. “Take this, sign the papers, and disappear. This is enough to keep you and your pathetic family in luxury for the rest of your lives.”
The insult pierced like a needle. My body trembled despite my effort to remain still. I looked at Julian, searching for anything—regret, guilt, a flicker of recognition for the nights we once shared.
There was nothing.
He didn’t even blink.
Something inside me shut down. Three years of patience, compromise, and devotion collapsed into a single phrase: a lapse in judgment—priced at 120 million dollars.
A bitter taste rose in my throat. I swallowed it. Then I looked back at Arthur and, to his visible surprise, I didn’t scream. I didn’t plead.
I smiled.
My hand drifted to my stomach, where four tiny lives had only just begun to take hold. The truth I had planned to share with Julian for three days.
Now, it was a secret I would carry forever.
“Fine,” I said.
One word. Flat. Final. As calm as a graveyard.
I picked up the pen, turned to the final page of the divorce decree, and signed my name.
Nora Vance.
I took the check and walked out.
