Chapter 7

Conor stared at me as if I had spoken in tongues. His face was a canvas of shock, disbelief. He had truly underestimated the depth of my resolve. My outburst seemed to short-circuit his carefully constructed calm. His gaze fell to the stack of official documents I' d placed on the table earlier. Not the charity papers. The divorce papers.

He reached for them, his hand hesitant, as if the paper itself might bite him. Just as his fingers brushed the edge of the stack, his phone buzzed, vibrating insistently. He snatched it up, a flicker of irritation in his eyes. He saw the caller ID. His expression instantly softened, transforming into one of immediate, consuming concern. Hillery.

The shift was jarring. My anger, still a raw wound, sharpened into a cold, hard point. He looked at me, a brief, apologetic glance, then back at his phone. "Hillery? What's wrong?" His voice was already laced with the kind of frantic worry he never showed me.

He listened, his face paling, his jaw tightening. His eyes, usually so controlled, widened with alarm. "What? A hit-and-run? Hillery, are you hurt? Where are you?" He was already halfway out the door, his concern for her overriding everything else. He didn' t even glance at the divorce papers, now scattered on the floor. He didn't even notice.

He was gone. Again. Off to save Hillery, leaving me in the wreckage of our shattered life. He probably thought this was just another "fight," another dramatic outburst from his "emotional" wife, something that would blow over with time. He still hadn't processed the signed documents, the undeniable proof of our separation. He truly believed I was still his, still waiting for him to return from his latest rescue mission.

I watched the empty doorway, a bitter smile on my lips. My divorce was official. The papers, signed and filed in his name months ago at my lawyer's insistence, were now legally binding. I had just completed the last step, filing the final dissolution papers this morning. He was legally a free man. And he didn't even know it.

I retrieved the divorce papers, carefully picking them up from the floor. They were no longer a threat, but a shield. I tucked them away safely, a quiet promise to myself.

Then I pulled out my calendar. Hillery's "engagement party" – a lavish affair Elsworth had arranged to publicly legitimize her and, more importantly, distance her from Conor – was three days away. My lips curved into a slow, chilling smile.

I had been following Conor's movements, piecing together the bits of information that slipped through his carefully constructed walls. He'd been spending all his time with Hillery, securing her alibi, pulling strings to get her out of the hit-and-run charge. He was consumed by her, blind to anything else. That was his weakness. And my opportunity.

The next evening, just before the "engagement" dinner, Conor finally returned. He stormed into the mansion, his face a thundercloud, his eyes blazing with an unfamiliar fury. He looked disheveled, stressed, like a man on the edge. He spotted me in the living room, calmly reading a book.

"Jacey!" he snarled, his voice a raw, guttural sound I'd rarely heard. He strode towards me, his hand reaching out, not gently, but roughly, grabbing my arm. His grip was tight, painful. "What have you done?!"

I winced, pulling back. "Done? What are you talking about, Conor?"

"Don't play innocent!" he spat, his face inches from mine. "Hillery has been accused of a hit-and-run! She says you framed her! That you planted evidence! That you drove her car into that... that pedestrian!" His accusation was wild, baseless, but his eyes were filled with absolute conviction.

"I did no such thing!" I cried, genuinely shocked by the absurdity of his claim. "What kind of monster do you think I am?"

"The kind who is jealous!" he retorted, his voice dripping with venom. "The kind who would do anything to hurt Hillery!" He was speaking, really speaking, in full, furious sentences. His words flowed, uninhibited, fueled by his desperate need to protect her. The irony was a bitter taste in my mouth. He could barely string two sentences together for me about his own life, yet for Hillery, he was a torrent of outraged defense.

"I am innocent, Conor," I said, my voice shaking. "I was at the gallery, remember? You abandoned me there!"

"She's facing serious charges, Jacey! They're saying she left the scene of an accident!" His voice was frantic, desperate. "You need to confess! Tell them it was you! Tell them you were driving!"

My jaw dropped. He was asking me to lie, to take the blame for Hillery's crime, to sacrifice myself for her freedom. For her, he would sacrifice me, his wife, to save her reputation. This was his ultimate betrayal.