Chapter 4 4

Emely didn't leave the premises. She couldn't. Her legs gave out in the lobby, and she sat on a bench near the revolving doors, gasping for air. The security guard watched her suspiciously, hand hovering near his radio.

Twenty minutes later, Kody and Annie walked out. They were laughing.

Emely saw them head toward the curb where the valet had just pulled up a silver Porsche 911.

Her Porsche. The one she had bought for Kody's thirtieth birthday.

Rage, hot and blinding, surged through her veins, overriding the shame. Emely pushed herself up and ran out the doors.

"Hey!" she screamed.

Kody froze, his hand on the car door. He looked around, annoyed, until he saw her barrelling toward him.

"That's my car!" Emely yelled, stepping in front of the vehicle. "Give me the keys!"

Passersby stopped. Phones came out. The cameras were like little black eyes, recording her breakdown.

"You're making a scene," Kody hissed, stepping toward her. "Go home."

"I bought this car!" Emely slammed her hand on the hood. "It's in my name!"

"Wrong," Kody sneered. "You put it in the company's name for tax purposes. Remember? It belongs to Wright Enterprises. Which means it belongs to me."

Emely stared at him, the realization crashing down on her. He had planned this. He had been planning this for years. Every asset, every gift, every shared account-he had slowly, methodically moved them out of her reach.

"You thief," she spat.

Annie stepped out from behind Kody, looking terrified in a very performative way. She placed a hand on her flat stomach. "Kody, please. The baby."

The world stopped spinning.

Emely looked at Annie's hand. "Baby?"

Kody stiffened. He stepped in front of Annie, shielding her. "Don't look at her."

"We broke up twenty minutes ago," Emely said, her voice sounding hollow, like it was coming from someone else. "How can there be a baby?"

Kody adjusted his tie, regaining his composure. "We've been together for six months, Emely. Everyone knew. Except you."

Six months. While Emely was visiting her father in legal depositions. While she was stress-eating in the dark. While she was planning their wedding.

Emely started to laugh. It was a jagged, ugly sound that tore at her throat. Tears streamed down her face, hot and humiliating.

She reached up and unclasped the thin gold chain around her neck. The engagement necklace. A tiny diamond chip that looked pathetic now.

"Here," she said. She threw it. It hit Kody in the chest and bounced off, landing in a puddle of gutter water. "Keep your trash."

Kody looked at the necklace in the mud, then back at her. He didn't pick it up. He just smirked, opened the car door for Annie, and got in the driver's seat.

The engine roared. The Porsche peeled away, the tires spraying dirty water all over Emely's legs.

She stood there, dripping, alone in the middle of the busy street. The crowd dispersed, bored now that the show was over.

Emely's phone rang in her pocket. It was the special ringtone she had set for her father.

She wiped her face with a shaking hand and answered.

"Dad?"

"Emely?" It wasn't her father. It was her mother, Martha. And she was screaming. "Get to St. Jude's. Now. It's his heart."