Chapter 2: Mr. Hale, Leave Now or I'll Sue You for Harassment

Grandpa Hale opened his mouth to argue, but the words dissolved into a heavy sigh. "You're certain about this?"

"I'm certain."

He shook his head slowly. "Wendy. Whatever happens, my door is always open to you."

Her chest tightened with gratitude. "I know."

He pressed his pocket watch into her hand. Wendy recoiled. "Grandpa, I can't take this."

"Do you think of me as some stranger?" he said, feigning offense. "Refuse this, and don't bother calling me Grandpa anymore."

She had no way to say no to that. She accepted the old man's most treasured possession.

She spent one night in the hospital and was back at Hale Manor by early morning, paperwork in hand, standing at the front gate. She turned down Grandpa Hale's offer to have a car take her to the registry she wanted to walk out of this on her own two feet.

She didn't have to wait long. Nathan's car pulled up, fresh from the office, his grandfather having summoned him home. His face was already thunderous. He rolled the window down when he spotted her.

"Had enough yet, Wendy? You think dangling 'divorce' in front of me scares me? Nothing you do gets my attention. Nothing."

He made no effort to hide his disdain.

Wendy actually laughed. "Mr. Hale, give me half an hour today, and you get the rest of your life free of me. That's a good deal for you."

"You actually want a divorce?" He still didn't buy it. The woman who'd once begged to marry him, suddenly wanting out? He decided the whole thing was a performance and went inside to grab his things before returning to the car, unbothered.

Wendy reached for the door handle. Didn't open it.

Nathan arched a brow, waiting for her to beg.

Three years had built up a solid immunity to his particular brand of cruelty.

She stepped back instead. "Please don't block the driveway, Mr. Hale."

Before he could parse that, a horn sounded behind him.

Hale Manor sat out in the quiet suburbs nothing out here but the estate. Whatever car that was, it was here for someone in this house.

A cherry-red sports car, loud in every sense. Nathan found it obnoxious on sight.

"It's fine," Wendy said, almost sympathetically. "Mr. Hale has been rude for a while now I'm used to it."

She turned and walked toward the red car without waiting for a reaction.

The door didn't open again. Nathan smirked. "Some people think a lot of themselves."

The driver's door of the red car swung open, and a woman with short black hair stepped out, brushing her hair back with a grin as she crossed toward Wendy.

"You're seriously going to make a lady open her own door?"

Jordan Cross popped the passenger door and looked at the friend she hadn't seen in years, lips curled into a smirk.

Wendy stared at her, stunned, until Jordan practically pulled her into the seat.

Jordan slid in, tilted Wendy's chin up, and teased, "Your jaw's about to hit the floor."

Wendy snapped out of it, pinched her own arm to check she wasn't imagining things, and asked, "What are you even doing here?"

She'd already resigned herself to calling a cab she wasn't about to give Nathan the satisfaction of watching her beg for a ride. She never expected to run into Jordan instead.

They'd grown up together. Wendy had always been the frail one, an easy target, and Jordan had made a habit of throwing punches on her behalf whenever anyone tried anything. Jordan left the country back in high school, but they'd stayed close right up until Wendy's wedding.

"Got back yesterday for work," Jordan said, reaching over to buckle Wendy's seatbelt for her. "So where to?"

"Ashwood Civil Registry."

Jordan floored it. The sports car peeled off, kicking up a cloud of dust that drifted straight into Nathan's car, whose window hadn't been rolled up in time.

He coughed, glaring after the disappearing car, silently cataloguing every reason Wendy would regret this. Whatever she thought she was doing, he wasn't going to make it easy on her later.

"So what's the registry visit for?" Jordan asked.

Wendy didn't dress it up. "Divorce."

Jordan barked out a laugh. "That guy back there is your future ex-husband?"

Wendy smiled too, though it didn't reach her eyes.

Jordan caught it instantly. The grin dropped. "Was he not good to you?"

She smacked the steering wheel. "I knew it. That absolute"

"It's over now," Wendy said quietly, not wanting to let anything ugly ruin the reunion. "Let's not talk about it."

"Fine. We won't."

Jordan cranked the music hard rock at first, then a few quick taps switched it to something soft and slow, piano. Half for Wendy's taste, half to keep her own temper in check.

It didn't last. Jordan cut the music off entirely. "I knew that guy was bad news. What were you even thinking back then? You'd rather lose me than not marry him?"

"I never lost you."

"No, you didn't lose me I'm the one who cut you off, remember?"

Wendy reached over and ruffled her hair. "Still as fiery as ever."

Jordan swatted her hand away, muttering, "I'm going to deck him the next time I see him. I can't believe he did that to you."

"Don't," Wendy said, eyes on the road ahead. Then, quieter: "Do you even know what he did?"

Jordan hesitated. "Don't let it get to you."

The whole drive to the registry, Jordan filled her in everything she'd pieced together over the years from mutual contacts, even after cutting Wendy off in anger over the marriage in the first place.

When they parked, Jordan caught Wendy's arm before she could get out. "I've got the door."

Wendy watched, half amused, half exasperated, as Jordan came around and opened it for her like she'd made a whole production of it.

She stepped out smiling until she spotted Nathan's smug expression waiting outside, and the smile vanished.

Jordan slid an arm around her waist and murmured, "Careful. He's not a good person."

That's when Wendy noticed the photographers crouched in the bushes.

She and Jordan traded a look. "Need backup?" Jordan asked.

"Play along with me," Wendy said.

She walked past Nathan without so much as a glance, laughing and chatting with Jordan the whole way into the building.

Nathan couldn't find a flicker of regret on her face. He turned his sneer on Jordan instead. "She needs an escort to get divorced? What is she, twelve?"

Jordan's temper flared instantly, and she took a step forward but Wendy pulled her back, smiling sweetly at Nathan. "Ignore him. He's ancient no match for you."

Nathan's expression darkened. "Wendy, don't bother provoking me. I'm not going to stop you."

He still believed, somewhere underneath the anger, that this entire stunt was a bid for his attention.

Wendy didn't correct him. She filed the paperwork and walked in beside him. The office was quiet the whole process took under five minutes.

Nathan walked out holding the finalized certificate, and found none of the satisfaction he'd expected.

He was still processing that when camera shutters started clicking around him.

Reporters surged forward. "Mr. Hale! Can you confirm the divorce? What led to this?"

He rounded on the nearest one. "Who told you I was here for a divorce?"

Almost nobody knew about his marriage in the first place.

The reporter clapped a hand over his own mouth and tried to bolt.

Nathan caught him by the collar. "Who. Told. You."

The man broke into a sweat and said nothing.

Wendy stepped out just as the scene was unfolding and offered, lightly, "Maybe it was your fiancée who tipped them off, Mr. Hale."

"What fiancée" Nathan started, then stopped cold. He let go of the reporter, pulled out his phone, and dialed Cassidy.

The reporters swarmed Wendy instead. "Did you two just finalize a divorce?"

"We heard Mr. Hale filed because you were unfaithful care to comment?"

Wendy laughed outright. "Rumors are free these days, huh?" She pointed at the nearest camera. "Sir, I'm not a public figure. That's a violation of my image rights."

The photographer, disappointed, lowered his lens.

"As for why we split," she said, turning to loop her arm through Jordan's, "you can guess. I wanted it. I didn't want him anymore."

Nathan, overhearing, felt something catch in his throat. Since when did Wendy have that much bite?

She walked off with Jordan, leaving the reporters and a furious Nathan behind.

A young intern nearby tugged her senior's sleeve. "Are they... together? Like, together together?"

"Don't start rumors," the senior hissed.

"I'm serious, look at them! One's gorgeous, one's gorgeous maybe marrying Mr. Hale turned her off men entirely"

Her voice trailed off as the senior's expression shifted from annoyance to something more thoughtful.

A few bystanders glanced their way. The senior grabbed the intern and hustled off before the rumor could take root. No real story here, but I can always invent one.

Wendy, oblivious to the gossip brewing behind her, slumped back into the passenger seat, her earlier smile gone the second she sat down.

Jordan snatched the certificate from her hand and tossed it into the back seat, then pinched Wendy's cheek. "Come on, I'm taking you out. Drinks."

"Not the bar. Too loud."

"Who said bar?" Jordan smirked, mysterious. "There's a whole lineup of good-looking people waiting for you there."

Wendy laughed weakly. "I'm really not in the mood"

"Wait, who's that?"

Not far off stood a man and a woman. The woman was strikingly pretty, mascara running, clearly humiliated. The man beside her was tall, sharp-featured, carrying himself with a cold, detached elegance. He watched her cry without a flicker of expression.

Jordan clicked her tongue. "How long have you been off the grid? You don't recognize Julian Vance?"

Wendy blinked. She really had been out of the loop.

"Your ex-husband's sworn rival," Jordan said, putting extra weight on ex. "They've been at each other's throats for years."

Wendy studied the pair something about the scene felt uncomfortably familiar.

"Enjoying the view?" Nathan's voice cut in. He'd wandered over and was leaning against the car window, smug.

Jordan reached to roll the window up. Nathan grabbed the edge before it could close, forcing Wendy to physically pull Jordan's hand back.

He looked pleased with himself certain, deep down, that this was all an act. Three years of obedience didn't just vanish overnight.

He leaned down, voice low. "You really want to embarrass me like this? Fine. Wait and see."

Jordan couldn't hold back. "Nathan. Wendy has nothing to do with you anymore. Touch her and see what happens."

Nathan's voice went cold. "You think you can protect her forever? This is my city. I say the word, and she gets doused with water tomorrow morning, or run down by a car the day after."

Wendy didn't wait for Jordan to act. She grabbed the water bottle sitting in the cupholder and hurled it out the window.

The cap wasn't screwed on tight. It burst open and soaked Nathan head to toe.

Even she hadn't expected that. She blinked, then said, perfectly calm, "Mr. Hale, if you don't leave, I'll be filing a harassment complaint."

His pride wouldn't let him linger like a scorned man arguing in a parking lot. He turned and walked off without another word.

Jordan didn't start the car right away. "Don't worry. He wouldn't actually try anything."

Wendy was quiet for a long moment. "He wasn't joking."

Three years hadn't taught her everything about Nathan Hale, but it had taught her that much. He didn't just threaten he followed through, and worse than promised.

Jordan's brow furrowed. "Come with me. Let's leave the country."

Wendy shook her head. Her mother was still here. She couldn't just abandon her to the Miller family alone.

"Then what you're just going to let that brat walk all over you?" Jordan flipped her hair, frustrated. "I can't watch you every hour of every day."

Wendy's gaze drifted to the crying woman near Julian Vance, now walking off alone. Julian stood still for a while, then lit a cigarette.

Her phone rang. Wendy held up a finger for quiet and answered.

It was her father, Franklin Miller a man who never called her, which made the call itself unsettling.

"Wendy! What did you do?! Get over there and apologize to Mr. Hale right now!"

She pressed her lips together. "Dad. We're divorced."

"Divorced" Franklin's voice cracked into a shout. "Do you understand he just pulled out of our business deal? Are you out of your mind? Can't stand to see me doing well, is that it?"

Jordan's jaw tightened. Wendy hadn't expected Nathan to move that fast.

Franklin kept ranting until the silence on the other end got to him. "Get back there and apologize right now, or I stop covering your mother's medical bills."

Wendy's breath caught. Jordan grabbed the phone before she could respond. "You miserable excuse for a father Wendy gave up three years of her life for you and your son, and you don't have an ounce of gratitude in you." She hung up.

Wendy looked up and found Nathan watching her from a short distance, smiling.

He hadn't left. He'd stayed just to watch her reaction.

Something in her snapped. She threw the car door open, marched up to him, and demanded, "Nathan. Do you really have to do this?"

He looked delighted at how angry she was. "You brought this on yourself."

He leaned in, voice low and vicious. "This is just the start. Your mother's in my hospital, isn't she? Better start preparing for a funeral."

He walked off, pleased with himself.

Ice spread through Wendy's chest. She watched him head toward Julian Vance, pulled out her phone, and threw it at him without thinking.

It struck him in the leg. His knee buckled, and he grabbed the nearest person to catch himself a woman walking by, who went down with him in a tangle of limbs, her clothes torn half off in the fall. She shrieked, scrambling to cover herself while shoving him away.

Wendy stood frozen, a wave of guilt and panic crashing over her. She bolted back to the car and said to Jordan, who hadn't caught up to what just happened, "Drive. Now.”