Chapter 3

Hannah looked at the woman before her, and disgust rose in her throat.

"Victoria, drop the act."

Her voice was cold and hard, her eyes blazing. "Where I go is none of your business. Let me tell you something. You can fix a lack of manners, and you can fix a plain face. But there's no cure for a rotten heart. I must have been blind to ever call someone like you my friend."

Victoria clung to Lucas's arm, tears gathering in her eyes, the very picture of a wronged innocent.

"Luke, you and Hannah are the most important people in my life. To keep your family line going, I was willing to give up my pride. I even promised to let Hannah raise the baby. And this is what she says to me..."

Lucas bristled at Hannah's tone. As he pulled his clothes on, he snapped at her.

"Hannah, watch your mouth! Do you have to be so cruel? Vicky has made an enormous sacrifice so we can have a happy family. She's done nothing wrong. You can't have children, and now you'd keep someone else from giving me one? How selfish can you be?"

Each word cracked something in Hannah's chest. She stared at the man she had loved so deeply. He looked like a stranger.

She bit her lip against the grief and asked, her voice shaking, "Lucas, don't you know what kind of person she is? It's all an act!"

He only shook his head, cold and dismissive. "Enough, Hannah. Stop being unreasonable. Everything Vicky did was for us. You should be grateful, not throwing around baseless accusations."

"Grateful?" Hannah laughed in disbelief. "Lucas, were you hiding behind a rock while the rest of humanity learned to think?"

"You..."

He jabbed a finger at her, ready to argue, but Victoria tugged his sleeve and soothed him.

"Hannah's upset, Luke. Don't blame her. She doesn't mean it."

The gentler Victoria seemed, the more his irritation with Hannah grew. He couldn't help adding, "Look at yourself! You're a mess. You can't compare to Vicky. All you've got is a pretty face!"

Watching the two of them cling together, Hannah's temper flared again.

"Lucas, call your lawyer and have him bring the papers. Now. I don't want to see your face again!"

"Hannah, I'm asking you one last time. Are you sure about the divorce?"

"Yes!"

"Then don't come crying to me later."

"I will never regret it."

"Fine!"

He ground his teeth, dialed, and barked into the phone, "Attorney Crawford, bring the divorce agreement and the prenuptial agreement to my home. I'm divorcing Hannah."

The lawyer's calm voice came through the line. "Very well, Mr. Hale. I'll be there shortly."

The answer was so smooth, so ready, that Hannah's heart sank. He had been prepared for this all along.

Nine years. Four courting, five married. And it was ending like this.

She closed her eyes to hold back the tears, but they slid down her cheeks anyway.

She drew a deep breath, turned, and walked into the room. She searched the cabinet and found her identity papers and her marriage record.

As she packed, Lucas kept sneering. "Hannah, I'm waiting for the day you come back crying and begging."

He seemed certain she would.

Victoria sat to one side, wearing a guilty, helpless look. "Hannah, please don't do anything rash. It's all my fault for coming between you and Luke. I never meant to. Please don't be angry."

Hannah wouldn't waste another glance on the pair of them. Once her bag was packed, she sat down on the sofa in the sitting room and waited for Attorney Crawford.

From the bedroom, she could hear the two of them whispering. She no longer cared.

All she wanted was to break free of this heartbreaking marriage as fast as she could.

As she waited, her thoughts drifted back a few hours.

Today she had meant to visit her family and see her younger brother's newborn son.

But fate had other plans.

Halfway there, four tall men in black suits and dark glasses had stepped into her path.

Alarm bells rang in her mind. After years among the Hale family's circle, she guessed they were bodyguards for someone powerful.

One of them stepped forward and bowed his head. "Miss, our master and mistress would like to invite you inside."

His voice was deep, carrying quiet authority. He gestured toward a street corner.

There, parked beside an elegant café, stood a gleaming black Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Hannah knew the café well. It was one of the most famous luxury cafés in Eldermere.

It was a favorite haunt of the wealthy and the fashionable, who loved to be photographed there. It had become a symbol of status.

The café even served a coffee priced at a staggering eight thousand crowns a cup. It had once topped the city's trending lists, and the whole town argued over it. Some were baffled by the price. Others called it a luxury only the rich could afford.

Either way, it had made the café famous.

Hannah's first instinct was to turn and walk away. Entanglements with the rich usually meant trouble, or danger.

But then she thought: I have nothing. Nothing anyone like that could want. Maybe it's only a mistake.

So she steadied herself and followed the bodyguard inside.

At the door, the rich scent of roasted coffee drifted over her. The café was beautiful, with soft lighting in every corner and a hush that felt calm and gentle.

Hannah couldn't help but sigh to herself. It really was a place apart.