Chapter 8

Kane’s POV

Two days ago, I walked out of this house believing it was my home, believing I had a family. Now, it was nothing more than a mansion built on deceit.

I hadn't even taken three steps into the living room when Claudia's furious voice echoed through the mansion.

“Look who decided to show up.”

I stopped but didn't turn to face her immediately, as she rushed down the stairs wearing a negligee. The exact one I had bought her last year for our anniversary. It looked entirely distasteful to me now.

"Where the hell have you been for the past two days?” she snapped.

"At work." I responded, and walked to the drinks cabinet, poured myself a glass of whiskey, and took a slow sip.

"Is that all you have to say?" Her voice rang out in disbelief. "Two days, Kane. I've been calling you for days, and you've ignored every single one of my calls. I was worried sick, wondering if something terrible had happened to you! And what do I get in return?" She let out a bitter laugh.

"I got thrown out like a stranger by that ragged old secretary of yours, right in front of Jayson!" She continued, her chest heaving as she stopped a few steps in front of me. “Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?”

“No.” I kept my face entirely devoid of emotion, though I smirked inwardly. She had no idea that was just a tiny speck of what was coming.

“Do you even care about me at all?" she asked, her voice dropping.

“I was busy,” I answered smoothly. I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm, holding me back. “Are you finished?”

“No, I'm not finished, Kane!” she screamed, throwing her arms wildly in the air. “You were so busy you forgot our anniversary? It was our five-year marriage anniversary, Kane! You were in the city and you couldn't even pick up the phone? Where were you?”

She stared at me, waiting for the argument she had prepared for. Waiting for me to apologize, the way I always had.

Just when I thought she was done, a well-timed tear rolled down her face, and she threw her arms tightly around my neck. "What happened to you?" she whispered. "You've changed. My Kane cherishes me. He would never go an hour without checking up on me.”

If I hadn't seen her wrapped around Adrian... If I hadn't watched them betray me with my own eyes... I might have believed that tear. I might have fallen for it.

I was wiser now.

“Claudia…” I said, my voice tightly controlled as I kept my disgust from breaking to the surface. I gently removed her hands from around my neck. “It's late.”

Shocked, she peered up at me, her expression instantly darkening as she searched my eyes. "Were you with another woman?”

I didn't deny it.

But the sheer irony of the question almost made me laugh out loud. She had spent God knows how many nights with Adrian, mocking my supposed infertility, yet here she was questioning my loyalty.

"I'm tired, Claudia.”

"Tired? That is not an answer."

“Well, it's the only one you're getting tonight." I walked past her to the bar, grabbing the whiskey bottle and a glass before turning back toward the hallway.

“Kane…!”

"Mrs. Matilda," I called our older housekeeper who appeared from the kitchen corridor almost immediately.

"Sir?"

"Please prepare the east guest room. I'll be sleeping there tonight."

Mrs. Matilda glanced briefly between the two of us, her mouth slightly opened, then nodded and disappeared without a word.

"Did you just order the maid to get a guest room ready?” Claudia repeated the words slowly, as if testing whether they made sense out loud. "In your own house? Away from me? Why? What have I done to you, Kane?”

I allowed my eyes to really look at her. At the woman who had defied our matrimonial bed, who had borne another man's child in secret while I worked myself to the bone to secure our future. The very sight of her made my skin crawl.

“Nothing," I lied. "You've done nothing wrong."

"Then why are you treating me like this?” Her voice cracked, and tears flowed down her cheeks with the effortless grace of a paid actress. "I deserve an explanation. I deserve to know what is happening to my own marriage.”

"You deserve a lot of things," I said quietly. "Go to bed, Claudia.”

"You are becoming your father," she wiped angrily at her eyes. "Every single day. You know that? Even though you swore you'd never be like him.”

The sudden rush of rage that coursed through me at that moment scared even me.

For a split second, I almost blurted out every single truth, unleashed the venom of the hurt she had inflicted on me.

But Richard's warning, Jayson's advice, and the conditions in my grandmother's will flashed through my mind.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The vibration of my phone sliced through the silence between us. I pulled it from my pocket. It was Jayson.

“Hello,” I answered, turning away from her.

“How bad is the atmosphere?” Jayson asked immediately. It occurred to me then that Jayson knew Claudia far too well; he had anticipated exactly how this confrontation would go.

I had been the only blind one, blinded by love.

“Bad,” I muttered.

"Come to the bar," Jayson urged. "Before you do something you'll regret.”

“There's no need.” I hesitated.

“Come now.” Jayson said, more firmly.

"I'm on my way."

I set down the drink I had poured earlier and headed straight for the front door, leaving Claudia standing in the center of the living room, watching me like a hawk.

"Where are you going now?” she screamed, running after me all the way to the door. “Kane, I swear… if you walk out that door, our marriage is over! And don't you dare come crawling back!”

My hand rested on the brass doorknob. For the first time in five years, the heavy shackles around my chest felt loose.

Instead of apologizing, I met her frantic gaze and calmly responded, “If that's what you want.”

With a sharp click of the latch, I stepped out and closed the door behind me.

I had barely taken a step when her voice drifted through the half-open window.

"Hello... Adrian? He's gone."

I stopped.

She couldn't even wait for me to leave. A dry laugh escaped my lips before I walked to my car without looking back.