CHAPTER FOUR

{Ava’s POV}

Divorce.

The word echoed in my mind like a death knell as I stared down at the papers still sitting on my hospital bed tray three days later. The black ink seemed to blur and sharpen with each passing moment, the legal terminology swimming before my eyes.

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.

Irreconcilable differences.

Division of assets.

I should have expected this. Part of me had even wanted it—dreamed of being free from a marriage built on resentment and lies. But I never imagined it would happen like this. Not hours after I’d nearly died bringing his daughter into the world. Not with him standing there, cold and unmoved, while I held our newborn baby against my chest.

Not with another woman waiting just outside the door.

The nurses had been kind, tiptoeing around the obvious tension, pretending not to notice that my husband hadn’t returned since that first devastating visit. Three days had passed. Three days of me recovering alone, learning to nurse alone, changing diapers and soothing cries alone.

Three days without a single word from Adrian Cole.

He hadn’t even asked about our daughter. Hadn’t asked what I’d named her.

Nova. I’d named her Nova Cole, after the stars—because even in the darkest night, stars still found a way to shine.

“Mrs. Cole?” A nurse poked her head into my room, her expression apologetic. “Your mother-in-law called. She wanted to remind you about the baby’s welcome party this afternoon at the Cole estate. She said a car will be here to pick you up at two o’clock.”

My stomach dropped.

Eleanor’s party. I’d completely forgotten about Eleanor’s insistence on hosting a “proper welcome” for her first grandchild. She’d arranged it weeks ago, before Nova was even born, declaring that the Cole family had standards to uphold and traditions to honor.

The nurse must have seen something in my face because her expression softened. “Are you sure you’re up for it? You just gave birth three days ago. Most mothers would still be—”

I held up my hand, cutting her off gently, and signed slowly, knowing she wouldn’t understand but hoping my expression conveyed enough.

I’ll be fine. Thank you.

The nurse hesitated, clearly wanting to argue, but finally nodded and left me alone.

I looked down at Nova sleeping peacefully in the bassinet beside my bed. So tiny. So innocent. So completely unaware of the broken family she’d been born into.

“We have to go, baby girl,” I whispered, my voice hoarse from disuse. “We have to show them that we’re strong.”

Even if I had no idea how to be strong anymore.

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The Cole estate looked exactly as it always did—imposing, pristine, overwhelmingly grand. Manicured gardens stretched in every direction, fountains bubbled with crystalline water, and the mansion itself loomed like a monument to old money and older expectations.

I’d never felt welcome here. Not once in the entire year I’d been married to Adrian.

Martha had helped me get ready at the hospital, helping me into a simple but elegant dress that hid how exhausted and broken I felt. She’d even helped me with Nova, swaddling her in the expensive white lace gown Eleanor had sent over—because heaven forbid her granddaughter appear at her own welcome party in anything less than designer perfection.

The car pulled up to the main entrance, and I saw them immediately.

Adrian stood on the front steps, devastating in a charcoal suit that fit him like it had been painted on. The late afternoon sun caught in his dark hair, and for just a moment, my traitorous heart stuttered in my chest.

He looked so much like the man who’d saved me that night a year ago. The man I’d fallen in love with before everything shattered.

But then I saw who stood beside him, and reality crashed back down.

Lily.

She was everything I wasn’t—tall, willowy, elegant in a way that seemed effortless. Her honey-blonde hair fell in perfect waves down her back, and her designer dress probably cost more than my father’s monthly salary. She had her hand tucked possessively into the crook of Adrian’s arm, and she was laughing at something he’d said.

Laughing.

When was the last time I’d seen Adrian laugh?

The driver opened my door, and I forced myself to step out, cradling Nova carefully against my chest. My legs still felt weak, my body still aching from the delivery, but I kept my spine straight and my chin up.

I would not let them see me break.

Adrian’s eyes met mine across the distance, and something flickered in his expression—so quick I almost missed it. Surprise? Guilt? But then it was gone, replaced by that familiar cold indifference.

He didn’t move toward me. Didn’t offer to help. Didn’t even acknowledge his daughter.

Instead, Lily’s perfectly painted lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Oh, Ava,” she called out, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “You poor thing. You look absolutely exhausted. Childbirth must have been so hard on you.”

Her eyes raked over me, taking in every imperfection—the dark circles under my eyes, the way my dress hung a bit loose because I’d lost so much blood, the trembling in my hands.

“I can’t imagine going through all that,” Lily continued, stepping closer while keeping her grip on Adrian’s arm. “Especially all alone. It must have been terrifying.”

The emphasis on “alone” was deliberate. Cruel.

I felt my cheeks burn, but I kept my expression neutral. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

“Lily, that’s enough,” Adrian said quietly, but there was no real reproach in his voice. No defense of me.

“I’m just saying,” Lily shrugged, “it’s such a shame that she had to go through that without her husband there. But I suppose that’s what happens when a marriage is built on… well.” She trailed off meaningfully, her eyes gleaming with malice.

Before I could even think of how to respond, Eleanor’s voice rang out from the entrance.

“There’s my granddaughter!” Eleanor descended the steps in a cloud of Chanel perfume and pearl jewelry, her arms already reaching for Nova. “Let me see her. Let me see my precious girl.”

I reluctantly handed Nova over, watching as Eleanor cooed and fussed over the baby with more warmth than she’d ever shown me.

“She’s beautiful,” Eleanor declared, then glanced up at Adrian and Lily standing together on the steps. Her smile widened with genuine pleasure. “Don’t they make such a lovely picture, Ava? Adrian and Lily?”

My chest tightened painfully.

Eleanor turned back to me, still holding Nova. “You know, I always thought Adrian and Lily would end up together. They’re so perfectly matched—same background, same breeding, same… well, everything really.” She adjusted Nova’s blanket with practiced hands. “Look how well they complement each other. This is what the Cole family is supposed to look like. This is the kind of woman who belongs at Adrian’s side.”

The implication was clear. I was the mistake. The outsider. The woman who would never belong.

“Mother,” Adrian said, a warning edge to his voice.

“Oh, I’m just being honest, darling,” Eleanor said breezily, her eyes still on Lily with unmistakable approval. “Lily understands our world. She knows how to be the wife of a Cole. She would have been perfect for you.”

She said it so casually, as if I weren’t standing right there. As if my heart weren’t breaking into smaller and smaller pieces with every word.

Lily’s smile turned sharper. “Eleanor, you’re embarrassing poor Ava.” But her tone suggested she was enjoying every second of my humiliation.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stepped forward and signed to Adrian, my hands moving  despite how they trembled. I need to speak with you. Privately.

Adrian looked at me, his expression unreadable. For a long moment, I thought he would refuse. Thought he would just walk away and leave me standing there like I was nothing.

But then he nodded curtly. “Fine.”

He murmured something to Lily—something that made her laugh and touch his arm again—before following me into the house.

I led him to the library, the same room where we’d signed our marriage certificate a year ago. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

The door clicked shut behind us, and suddenly we were alone. Truly alone for the first time since the hospital.

Adrian crossed his arms, leaning back against the heavy oak desk. “What do you want, Ava?”

His tone was cold, but I ignored it.

I took a breath, steadying myself, then signed slowly and clearly.

I agree to the divorce.