I looked at the woman who had once told me I had caused my husband’s affair by failing to stay attractive while raising his children.
Then I looked at the page carrying her signature.
‘Did I sign that?’ I asked.
Her mouth closed.
My attorney spoke before Patricia could recover.
‘We also have the incorporation documents, transfer authorizations and the employer’s payment instructions.
Nobody is asking Mrs.
Hartwell to accept our interpretation here.
A court can do that.’
The word court changed Garrett.
His embarrassment became anger.
He took one step toward me.
Adrian moved between us without touching him.
Until then, Garrett had barely acknowledged the man who had arrived with me.
Now he looked directly at Adrian.
Recognition came slowly.
Adrian Vale did not need to introduce himself.
Garrett had apparently seen him often enough in business publications to know exactly who he was.
Garrett’s eyes narrowed.
‘So this is what this is.’
I said nothing.
He looked at my dress, the car, Adrian, then back at me.
‘You found someone rich.’
Adrian’s expression did not change.
‘Rebecca works with me.’
Garrett gave a short laugh.
‘Of course she does.’
Adrian looked toward the folder.
‘She’s very good at it.’
That was all he said.
No threat.
No display.
No promise to destroy Garrett.
He did not need one.
The part Garrett could not understand was that Adrian’s money was not the weapon.
The folder was.
And I had paid for the lawyer who built it with money I had earned myself.
Garrett turned back to me.
‘You planned this.’
‘You invited me.’
‘To a wedding.’
‘On our anniversary.’
His face hardened.
‘You could have stayed home.’
I looked toward the garden, where Evan and Emma were now standing beside Adrian near the terrace doors.
They were old enough to know the adults were angry but not old enough to understand why.
‘I stayed home for four years,’ I said quietly.
‘While you told everyone your version.’
Garrett lowered his voice.
‘You think some papers change what happened? You had no career.
You couldn’t support the kids.
I did what I had to do.’
There it was.
The story he had told himself so often that he no longer heard the cruelty in it.
‘You lied under oath,’ I said.
Tessa was close enough to hear.
