Chapter 4

Alexia POV

The rain had finally stopped, but a deep, aching dampness lingered in my bones.

I spent the next two days moving through the world in a haze of numbness.

I packed my life into two lonely suitcases. It was devastating to realize how little I had to show for ten years of marriage.

With nothing left to do, I went to the office-Jacob's company-one last time.

I needed to sign the exit papers for some minor consulting work I had done years ago. I just wanted a clean break.

The lobby was alive with a hushed frenzy.

People were whispering behind their hands, eyes glued to their phones.

I ignored them and took the elevator straight up to the legal department.

Jacob's mother was waiting.

She sat in a high-backed leather chair, looking every inch the queen on a throne. Jacob stood beside her, his shoulders slumped, looking exhausted.

"Alexia," she said. Her voice was cold, impeccably polite. "We need to talk."

"I'm just here to sign the NDA release," I said flatly.

"We're dissolving the pre-nuptial agreement terms regarding the trust fund," she announced. "Given your... abandonment of the family."

I looked at Jacob, incredulous. "Abandonment?"

He couldn't meet my eyes. He stared at the expensive carpet. "It's complicated, Alexia. With the IPO coming up... we need stability. Cassandra... she's going to be the face of the charity arm. It looks better if..."

"If I disappear," I finished for him.

"If we formalize the separation," he corrected weakly. "Cassandra fits the family image right now. She connects with the public."

"So you choose her," I said, the words tasting like ash. "You're trading me in."

"It's for the company," he muttered. "And for Anton. She gets along with him."

I laughed. It was a dry, hacking sound that scraped my throat.

I reached for my left hand. I twisted the diamond ring. It was tight, clinging to me like a parasite.

It left a angry red mark as I yanked it over my knuckle.

I slammed it onto the mahogany desk with a sharp crack.

"I accept," I said.

Jacob looked up, startled. "You do?"

"I accept your 'judgment,'" I said. "But here is my condition."

Before I could finish, the door burst open.

Cassandra rushed in, hysteria clinging to her like perfume. Her wrist was bandaged in heavy white gauze, pristine and spotless.

"Jacob!" she wailed. She threw herself onto the sofa in a theatrical display of grief. "I saw the news! They're saying I broke up your marriage! I can't take it! I want to die!"

She held up her wrist, displaying it like a trophy. "I tried! I tried to end it so you could be happy with her!"

Jacob's mother stood up, her face twisting in performative fury. She pointed a manicured finger at me. "Look at what you've done! You pushed this poor girl to the brink! You heartless woman!"

I looked at the bandage. There wasn't a single drop of blood seeping through.

In a flash, I remembered the nights I sat on the bathroom floor, biting a towel so I wouldn't scream from the searing nerve pain in my hand.

The pain Jacob had ignored. The pain they had all ignored.

"Stop it," I said. My voice was low, but it cut through the noise and silenced the room.

I looked directly at Jacob's mother.

"I accept the dissolution," I said, my voice turning to steel. "But you will buy me out. You will pay me for every song I wrote that you put Cassandra's name on. You will pay me for the hand your son let rot. And you will pay me for ten years of being a servant."

"We never used your songs," Jacob said, blinking in confusion.

"Check the metadata," I said coldly. "Check the timestamps."

I turned to the lawyer, who had gone pale. "Draft the settlement. Full damages. Or I go to the press with my medical records and the original audio files."

Jacob stared at me. He looked like he was seeing a stranger standing in his wife's skin.

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

"Try me," I said.