Chapter 5

Harley POV

Our old hangout was a cute café in my mother’s old neighborhood. It was a cute place with the stereotypical 60’s décor, black and white checkered floors, and red vinyl seats in every booth. They served the juiciest burgers there and they made the best pies. As Lacey and I made our way there, I was already looking forward to a thick chocolate shake.

When Lacey and I walked into the café, Angela stood up from a corner booth. It looked like we could speak privately there. Lacey ran to her, “Angie!” She hugged her tightly as Angela struggled, “Can’t breathe!” Lacey let go and I hugged her, “I’m so happy to see you.” We all sat down and a waitress came to take our drinks orders. She left some menus for us and walked away.

As soon as she was gone, Angie asked, “So what’s going on? You sounded almost distraught on the phone.” I held back the tears and chose anger instead as I answered, “He told me he wants a divorce. I’ve decided I’m going to give it to him, but on my terms… not his.” She smiled, “That’s my girl. Do you realize he was keeping all your friends away from you?” I nodded, “I lost a lot of me over the last two years. I kept trying to change myself to make him love me.”

Angela shook her head, “Girl, you should never have to do that for anyone. I’m happy to have my girls back though. So, what did you want to meet for?” I answered, “I’m going to start my own jewelry making business. I’m going to design them and make them. It needs to be a pretty good size building and probably have a condo or apartment over it. And it needs to be in a good area.”

Angela smiled widely, “I have the perfect building. It’s actually just a couple of blocks from here. It’s in a high-end shopping area and it has a three-story penthouse above it. I know you will love it.” I asked, “What is the price on it?”

She smiled, “That’s the crazy part. The lady who is selling it has to split the profit with her ex, so she is selling it cheap… only sixty-thousand dollars.” My eyes nearly bugged out of my head, “I can write a check or get the cash from the bank for that price. I’m tempted to buy it right now.”

Lacey laughed, “Let’s eat some lunch and then we can go see it.” Angela smiled, “This contract is exclusively mine, sweetie. No one else can even show it. There isn’t even a for sale sign on the building. It will be there.” I nodded, “Okay. I just want to start my new life. I want to be myself again.”

The waitress came to take our orders and I told her to just bring the ticket for all of us to me. The ladies balked, but I shut it down quickly, “It’s the least I can do for the only two people left who care about me. I love both of you so much.”

Lacey sighed, “Honey, you have more people who care. You just don’t see it. You’ll see; once word gets out that you are getting a divorce, more of your friends will come out of the shadows.” Angela agreed, “Yeah. Most of our friends had no choice. Your security guards at the gate were telling us that your old friends were not allowed on the property.”

I seethed, “Let me guess… my mother-in-law?” Angela nodded, “Yep. I guess our income bracket wasn’t high enough.” I was so angry, I wanted to go to her house and throttle her, “She had no right to do that. I need to get out of that house, ASAP. Angela, do you have any moving companies that will be available today? If I get this storefront with the penthouse, I want to move all my stuff today.

“Then we can all go shopping for furniture. I’m only taking my office furniture with me.” Lacey asked, “Why not plan on moving all your stuff tomorrow morning, we can get your new furniture today and spend the night in the new place tonight. We can watch movies and eat ice cream with junk food all night.” I smiled, “I do like that idea. Angela, would you like to join us?” Angela smiled, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Our lunches arrived and we ate silently. I kept thinking of all that I needed to get done until my phone rang. I smiled, “He must have been told of the divorce papers we sent.” I took a deep breath and answered the phone, “Victor?” He immediately started yelling, “Do you think you’re worth this much money? You don’t deserve the title of Mrs. Cross”.

I laughed, “I never had that title, Remember? You made me keep my maiden name. You didn’t want anyone to know you married me. Well, sign those and you will be free to give the title to Daya. She’s the one you always wanted, right?” He gasped, “How did you know of her?”

I huffed, “You haven’t kept any of your exploits private. Do a basic G****e search. I have enough evidence that I could easily get more than what I’m asking for. You’ve treated me like shit for the last time. Sign it and we can be done.

“I’ve already emailed my resignation letter to HR. I will come into the office on Monday to clear my desk. I will ask security to come with me, so you can be sure I’m not taking company secrets.” He asked, “And what do you plan to do to support yourself? You can’t do anything.” I laughed, “You never even tried to learn anything about me. How would you know what skills I have? All I can say is watch me.”

He asked, “You didn’t answer my question. What are you going to do?” I started crying as I answered, “That is none of your concern. Trust me, your company secrets are safe. I have no need for them. You have benefited from my work for the last five years and you are telling me I can’t do anything. I will prove that I am much more valuable than you ever gave me credit for.”

He asked, “Where are you? We need to talk about this.” I rolled my eyes, “Talk to my attorney. I have nothing left to say.” I handed the phone to Lacey, and she answered, “Lacey Gordon, attorney at law. How can help you Mister Cross?” She looked at me and noticed I had started crying again. She started getting angrier as she let him speak.

When he finally stopped ranting, she answered, “Mister Cross, I could be much more ruthless. The way you treated your wife was nothing short of emotional abuse. The way your mother isolated her from all her friends made it even worse. It would only take one psyche evaluation to get the expert opinion we would need. I would dare you to find another expert who would find anything else.

“Your wife overheard your conversation with your friend at the office. I believe his name was Liam. She knows you never loved her and never will. You have been openly cheating on her and letting the world know by being seen publicly with many women on your arm. Are you seriously going to push this? Any judge will give her anything she asks with the evidence we have.”

Victor was quiet, “I will talk to my attorney and let you know.” He ended the call and she smiled, “It felt good to knock that smug bastard down a few pegs. He needed it.” She pulled me into a side hug, “No more crying sweetheart. He’s not worth it.”

I took a calming breath as I wiped my tears again, “You’re right. Are you ladies ready to go? I’m ready to go look at my future.” I kept thinking back to when we were kids and he and his brother, Daniel, were coming to our house. I was madly in love with both of them.

Daniel, Victor’s older half-brother, is an unbelievably handsome man. He stands around six feet, six inches, he has very well-kept shoulder-length brown hair and the most striking cornflower blue eyes. His skin is bronze from being in the sun for extended periods of time which only makes his eyes stand out more.

While Victor took over the family business, Daniel chose to start his own company and has been so successful that DC Tech Company has surpassed his father’s company in revenue and clientele. To be honest, I have been secretly crushing on him since the first time I met him as a kid.

To be honest, I would have given anything to marry him instead of Victor. I don’t understand why Theodore was in such a hurry that he couldn’t wait for Daniel. I shook my head a little, clearing all my thoughts, bringing my attention back to my friends.

Angela hugged me and smiled, “Let’s go look at your future home and business.”