Chapter 7 7

The envelope hit Arron's chest and fell to the stone floor, a few of the photos scattering at his feet.

Just then, the glass door to the conservatory was pushed open. Cleveland stood there, his face dark with suspicion. His eyes immediately locked on the incriminating images on the ground.

Arron just shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips. He bent down, collected the envelope and the photos, gave Cleveland a mock salute, and sauntered out into the garden, whistling softly.

The silence he left behind was heavy and suffocating, broken only by the low hum of the ventilation system.

Cleveland bent down and picked up one photo Arron had missed. It was of him and Seraphina, laughing, on the balcony of the Tribeca apartment. He crumpled it in his fist.

"Are you conspiring with him now?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. "Is this your new strategy?"

Hadley laughed, a bitter, humorless sound. "Forget him. Why don't you explain where the ten million dollars for Seraphina's new home came from? Because it looks an awful lot like marital property to me. That's a financial breach, Cleveland. A big one."

He took a step toward her, reaching for her, but she sidestepped him.

"It was a PR expense," he said, a note of desperation creeping into his voice. "She knows things about a deal I made. It was hush money. It had nothing to do with us."

The lie was so blatant, so insulting, that all the fight went out of her. It was replaced by a profound, bone-deep weariness. She was so tired of this.

"I want a divorce, Cleveland," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "A real one. Sign the papers, or I'll submit this evidence of financial misconduct to the court. And to the press."

His face contorted with rage. He was losing control, and he knew it. "The Jacobson family does not do scandalous divorces! You will not drag our name through the mud!"

He fell back on his favorite weapon. "You think you can survive out there without me? Without my name? You won't last one social season in this city. You'll be nothing."

As he spoke, a shrill, custom ringtone cut through the air. It came from the private phone in his jacket pocket. Seraphina's ringtone. Hadley had heard it countless times in the dead of night.

He glanced at the screen. His expression shifted. He answered it immediately.

"What is it?" His voice was sharp, but softened instantly. "Okay, okay, calm down... Where are you?... I'm on my way. Don't move. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

He hung up. He didn't even look at Hadley. He just turned and walked toward the door.

He paused at the threshold, his back still to her. "Make an excuse for my grandfather," he said, his voice cold and distant. "And don't cause any more trouble tonight."

The glass door slammed shut, and his figure disappeared into the darkness.

Hadley stood alone in the cold greenhouse, the moonlight pooling on the floor around her. A self-mocking smile twisted her lips.

She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Julian.

Prepare to file. I want him ruined.