Chapter 5

The next morning, Emilio marched into my hospital room as if he were entering a boardroom negotiation.

He was wearing a fresh bespoke suit and gripping a leather briefcase. There were no flowers. No soup.

"I've been thinking," he said, pulling up a chair with a sharp scrape against the linoleum. He didn't ask how I was feeling. "This situation... it's messy. Hayden is very stressed. The media might catch wind of the accident."

"The assault," I corrected, my gaze fixed on the wall behind him.

"The accident," he emphasized, his jaw tightening visibly. "Look, Elana. I know you're hurt. But we need to be practical. I can't have you running around telling people I pushed you. It would ruin the company."

He clicked open the briefcase and pulled out a checkbook. With a flourish, he scribbled something and tore it out. He slid it across the tray table.

I looked at it. Five million dollars.

"This is for a new apartment," he said. "Get something nice. Take a vacation. Go to Zurich for a few months. When you come back, we'll talk about... restructuring our arrangement."

Restructuring. As if our marriage were a failing subsidiary.

"You think you can buy my silence?" I asked.

"I'm buying your comfort," he said smoothly. "And your cooperation. I'm willing to be generous, Elana. But you need to stop this divorce nonsense. It looks bad."

I picked up the check. The paper felt crisp between my fingers. Five million dollars. The price of a dead baby and a fractured spine.

I ripped it in half. Then in quarters.

Emilio's eyes widened. "What are you doing? That's five million dollars!"

"I don't want your money, Emilio," I said, my voice dangerously calm. I reached into my bedside drawer and pulled out the crumpled divorce agreement I had drafted. "I want your signature."

"I'm not signing that."

"Sign it," I said, "or I send the hospital report to the press. 'CEO Pushes Pregnant Wife to Protect Mistress.' How will that look for the stock price?"

Emilio paled. He knew I had him. For the first time in our marriage, I held the power.

He snatched the paper from my hand. "Fine. If you want to throw a tantrum, fine. We'll separate for a year. But don't come crawling back when you realize you can't survive without my credit cards."

He signed it with angry, jagged strokes, then tossed the pen down.

"Happy?"

"Ecstatic," I replied.

He stood up to leave, adjusting his tie in the reflection of the window. "You're making a mistake, Elana. You're nothing without me."

Just then, his phone rang. He answered it impatiently.

"What?"

His face went gray. All the arrogance drained out of him in a heartbeat.

"What do you mean the blueprints are gone?" he shouted. "Who leaked them?"

He listened for a moment, then looked at me with wide, terrified eyes.

"The server logs... they show access from my account? That's impossible!"

I watched him panic. I knew exactly what was happening. He had given Hayden his passwords months ago. She had access to everything.

"I have to go," he stammered, hanging up. He looked at me, distracted. "Company emergency. We'll talk later."

He bolted from the room. He didn't even look back.

He didn't know it was the last time he would ever see me.

I got dressed. Every movement sent a spike of agony through my back, but the pain was a reminder. A fuel.

I took a taxi to the house. It was empty. Marcus was gone.

I went to the bedroom. I didn't pack clothes. I didn't pack jewelry.

I took a large black trash bag. I walked around the room, sweeping everything into it. The wedding photos. The gifts he had given me to apologize for missed anniversaries. The teddy bear he had bought "for our future kid" five years ago.

I dragged the bag to the curb. I left it there for the garbage truck.

I went to the study. I took my architectural portfolio. The only thing in this house that was truly mine.

My phone buzzed. Ayla.

"The flight leaves in three hours," she said. "I have a car waiting outside. Are you sure about this?"

"I've never been more sure of anything," I said.

I walked to the front door. I took the key off my ring. I placed it on the console table, right next to the ripped pieces of the five-million-dollar check I had brought back with me.

I opened the door. The rain had stopped. The air was cold and crisp.

I stepped out.

I didn't look back at the house. It wasn't my home. It was just a building where I had wasted five years of my life.

I got into the waiting car.

"To the airport," I told the driver.

As the car pulled away, I rolled down the window. I watched the city recede. I watched the skyline where Emilio's office tower stood, now a monument to his impending ruin.

I touched my flat stomach. A silent goodbye.

I pulled the plane ticket from my pocket. Zurich. One way.

The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the road. But ahead, in the distance, I could see the runway lights flickering on.

"Goodbye, Emilio," I whispered to the wind. "Goodbye to all of it."

I closed my eyes and, for the first time in forever, I breathed.