Chapter 1 - TWENTY TIMES
By the twentieth strike, I wasn't crying anymore.
I was counting.
And when my husband threw divorce papers at my knees and told me his mistress was pregnant, I realized he had just made the most expensive mistake of his life.
“Sign them.”
Adrian Vale's voice echoed beneath the crystal chandelier.
I stayed on the cold marble floor, one hand braced against the ground as I forced myself to breathe.
The riding crop still hung loosely from his right hand.
Across the foyer, Vanessa Cole watched me with a satisfied smile.
She wore a champagne-colored silk dress, diamond earrings, and the expression of a woman who already believed the mansion belonged to her.
“Did you hear him?” Vanessa asked. “Sign.”
I lifted my eyes.
“Why?”
Adrian laughed without humor.
“You still need an explanation?”
“Yes.”
His face hardened.
“You humiliated Vanessa at dinner.”
I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“She told your board members I was infertile.”
Vanessa sighed dramatically.
“I said people wondered why there wasn't an heir.”
“You said I was defective.”
“Oh, Claire.”
She crouched in front of me.
Her perfume was so strong it made my stomach turn.
“You're too sensitive.”
I looked past her at Adrian.
“And when I defended myself, you brought me home and did this?”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“You slapped her.”
“She slapped me first.”
“She said you attacked her.”
“Of course she did.”
Vanessa smiled.
That smile told me everything.
She had wanted this.
Maybe not simply the fight.
Maybe all of it.
Adrian tossed the folder toward me.
Several pages slid across the floor.
PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.
My name was already typed beneath his.
Claire Vale.
Three years of marriage reduced to twenty-seven pages.
“I'm done,” Adrian said.
“With what?”
“With carrying someone who contributes nothing.”
For a second, the entire room seemed to tilt.
“Nothing?”
“You attend parties. You decorate this house. You smile for pictures. Don't confuse that with building a company.”
Vanessa rose and hooked her arm through his.
“Tell her the rest.”
Adrian glanced at Vanessa's stomach.
Then at me.
“She’s pregnant.”
The grandfather clock at the end of the hall ticked once.
Twice.
My eyes dropped to Vanessa's perfectly flat stomach.
“How far?”
“Nine weeks,” she said proudly.
Nine weeks.
Nine weeks ago, Adrian had taken me to dinner for our anniversary.
He had held my hand across the table.
He had kissed me before bed.
He had told me I was the only person in the world he truly trusted.
I looked at him.
“You've been sleeping with her for months.”
He said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.
Vanessa rubbed her stomach.
“Adrian needs a real family.”
Something inside me went completely still.
Not broken.
Still.
There is a point where pain becomes clarity.
I reached for my phone.
Adrian snorted.
“Calling your lawyer?”
“No.”
“The police?”
“No.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Who, then?”
I opened my contacts.
One number sat near the bottom.
I had not called it for help once in three years.
My father had warned me about Adrian before the wedding.
I had refused to listen.
So Dad promised to stay out of my marriage unless I personally asked him to step in.
Tonight, I was asking.
I hit CALL.
He answered on the third ring.
“Sweetheart?”
My throat tightened.
“Dad.”
His voice changed instantly.
“What happened?”
I looked directly at Adrian.
“My husband just beat me.”
Silence.
Even Adrian stopped smiling.
“And?” Dad asked quietly.
“He wants a divorce. His mistress says she's pregnant.”
Another silence.
Then my father asked the question I knew was coming.
“Do you want me involved?”
I looked at the man I had once planned to grow old with.
“Yes.”
“How involved?”
I took a breath.
“Exactly as involved as you warned me you'd have to be.”
My father's voice became frighteningly calm.
“Are you certain?”
“Completely.”
“Then don't sign anything. Don't leave that house. And don't tell Adrian who I am.”
Vanessa laughed.
I kept my eyes on my husband.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Take back everything that belongs to us.”
Adrian rolled his eyes.
Dad answered with four words.
“Give me five minutes.”
The call ended.
Adrian poured himself a drink.
“Very dramatic.”
Vanessa checked her watch.
“Should we actually wait five minutes?”
I slowly pushed myself upright.
“Yes.”
Adrian smirked.
“Why?”
I looked at the grandfather clock.
“Because I want to see your face.”
Four minutes and thirty-eight seconds later, his phone rang.
Then Vanessa's.
Then the tablet on the console began flashing red notifications.
Adrian answered the first call.
“What?”
His smile vanished.
“What do you mean the credit facility has been suspended?”
Another call came in.
Then another.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Adrian?”
He waved her away.
“No. Absolutely not. Call Mercer back.”
His face went pale.
“What do you mean Mercer withdrew?”
The tablet chimed again.
EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING.
LOAN REVIEW.
ASSET FREEZE.
LEGAL NOTICE.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then at me.
My phone buzzed.
One message from Dad.
Everything protected. Tell him when ready.
Adrian's voice dropped.
“Claire.”
I said nothing.
“Who did you call?”
“My father.”
“I know that.”
He stepped toward me.
“For God's sake, who is your father?”
I smiled for the first time that night.
“You really should have asked that before you hit me.”
Then the front gates opened.
May you like
Three black cars rolled onto the property.
And the man who stepped out of the first one was someone Adrian had spent five years begging to meet.
