Chapter 3

For a long moment, I looked at him. I felt nothing, not even anger.

There was only sheer exhaustion.

I crouched down and opened the suitcase.

Not much was inside.

After five years with Neal, I only had a few changes of clothes.

Mimi was determined to humiliate me.

She did not even bother to bend down. She stuck one foot into my suitcase, then kicked my clothes around and ground them beneath her fancy heel, scattering them across the floor.

Once she had done enough damage, she finally seemed satisfied.

She nestled into Neal’s arms and lifted her chin to look at me.

“Fine. No key. Now, get out. I don’t want to look at you anymore. Neal didn’t sleep at all last night. He must’ve been worrying about the company. We need to get some rest now.”

I looked at the clothes scattered around me. Most had been too badly torn up by her heels to wear. The inside of the suitcase was wrecked too. There was no point in packing it all up again.

I turned to Fleming, the butler. “It’s all ruined. Could you have someone clear it away, please?”

He gave me a sympathetic look and nodded.

Just before I reached the gate, Neal called out, “Erica!”

I stopped but did not turn around.

“Apologize for kicking that ring, and I’ll make Mimi move out. But if you walk out that door today, I’ll stop paying for your mom’s medication tomorrow. You can forget about the bone marrow as well. Don’t think I wouldn’t do it!”

My mother’s death certificate was still in my bag.

At that moment, Neal’s threats seemed like a joke to me.

I turned and met his eyes.

He was leaning over the upstairs railing. His face was flushed with anger. I could not understand why.

He had gotten everything he wanted, yet he was still throwing a tantrum like a spoiled brat and trying to make my life miserable.

“You disgust me.”

With those parting words, I squared my shoulders and headed for the door.

Neal froze.

He could not believe what he had heard, or that I could look at him with such open disgust. His heart raced as panic began to take hold.

Beside him, Mimi was still cooing away.

“Erica was completely out of line! How could she say that to you? You look so pale. Did you get enough sleep? Let me help you back to bed.

“The doctor said it was a false pregnancy. I wanted a baby so badly that I started having symptoms. Neal, why don’t we skip the protection this time? I want us to have a baby soon.”

Neal felt unsettled and had no idea how to make it stop.

Looking at Mimi’s young and pretty face, he slipped an arm around her and led her into the master bedroom.

Just before their lips met, Neal closed his eyes. He could only see me walking out of his house with my head held high, without a backward glance.

He recalled the disgust in my eyes and heard those last words again. “You disgust me.”

With a start, he opened his eyes and pushed Mimi’s arms away.

“Get some rest. I’ve got things to do,” he said, brushing her off.

He had only taken a couple of steps when he turned back to Mimi, who was watching him expectantly.

“You should move out for now. This isn’t the right place for you.”

With that, he hurried downstairs.

He did not care that Mimi was upstairs in the master bedroom, furious and smashing things.

He grabbed his keys and hurried toward the garage. On the way, he passed Fleming, who was carrying my suitcase out to throw it away.

He instinctively stopped and ordered him, “Don’t throw that out.”

Fleming nodded.

Neal went on, “I’ve brought other women home plenty of times. She’s always been so understanding. She’ll get over it too this time, won’t she?”

Fleming looked at him, plainly bewildered.

Neal looked away and drove off without waiting for an answer.

It was hard to tell whether he was trying to reassure Fleming or himself.

“I only got angry because she started talking about leaving me. I know she loves me. Her mom’s still in the hospital, and the only thing her dad left her is still at the auction house.

“She wouldn’t just walk away from all that. I’ll turn on the charm and she’ll come around, defintely…”