Chapter 5

Chapter 5

ELENA

I sat with that for a moment.

"Alright." Then I said.

His eyes moved over my face. Looking for something, in my face that would give him some sick sign of happiness. I did not let him find it.

"I'll have Ethan draw up the full paperwork," he said.

"Fine," I said.

He waited, like he expected something more from me. An argument. A question. Tears, maybe.

I gave him none of those things.

Then Vivian's name appeared on his phone and he glanced at the screen, before a small smile showed on his face.

He answered. I watched his face while he listened. I was close enough or the silence in the room was loud enough for me to hear what she was saying on the other end of the call. She wanted him to take her to a concert, the last performance a popular theatre was holding, and it mattered greatly to her.

He told her he would be there.

Then he looked at me, and the expression on his face was almost apologetic, as he picked his things up.

"Remember to contact my assistant tomorrow," he said. "She has everything ready for you."

"I will," I said.

He picked up his jacket and left.

The door at the end of the corridor clicked shut behind him as I heard his footsteps departing until it was gone completely. I sat very still for another minute. Then I put my face in my hands and cried. cried until my chest hurt and my throat ached and I had nothing left, to cry about and cleaned up my tears.

The next morning I dressed carefully. Something plain and professional. I was going to handle this with my dignity intact. I was nearly at Adrian's assistant's office when I walked directly into someone coming around the corner. I stumbled. A hand caught my arm before I could lose my balance fully.

"Careful." The voice was familiar to me, like I had heard it before, and I looked up. It was Julian.

He looked exactly the way he always had. A little older around the eyes, something more settled in the way he held himself, but the same easy expression, the same steadiness that I remembered from university. He had always been like that. Reliable in his stillness.

''Elena?" His brow came together slightly as he looked at me. "I thought that was you."

"Julian." I straightened up and gave him a smile. "I didn't know you were here."

"Meeting with someone on the executive floor." He was still looking at me, carefully, his eyes searching for something in particular.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said.

He did not look convinced, but he did not push.

"You look like you're carrying something heavy," he said, which was not quite a question.

I smiled, a fake one this time around. "Just a busy morning."

He studied me for another moment, then reached into his jacket and held out a card.

"I heard you were here from others," he said. "I had wondered but didn't want to assume anything because I know it is not my place." A small pause. "If you ever need anything, for any reason, contact me."

I took the card from him as I read the fine print on it. Julian Hale, CEO, Hale Talent Agency. The design was clean, minimal. The kind that did not need to announce itself.

"Thank you," I said. I meant it.

He nodded, gave me one last look that was too perceptive for my comfort, and walked away.

I stood there for a moment with the card in my hand before tucking it into my bag and continuing down the corridor.

---

The assistant was professional and thorough. He walked through everything that I was getting after divorcing Adrian

The house. Ten million. Standard exit compensation, he said.

I flipped to the last page. Adrian's signature was already there, blaring at me, like a done deal. I thought about the ten million.

It was more money than I had ever had access to in my life. It was the kind of number that was supposed to feel like something. I looked up at the assistant.

"I don't want the ten million," I said.

He blinked. "Mrs.—"

"Only the house," I said. "Converted to cash." I did not want a reminder of the house that I had struggled to build a home in but failed drastically, it was like a permanent reminder that my dreams were nothing but a joke, I did not know if that was cruelty by Adrian’s or he simply did not care what I was compensated with, only the fact that I was compensated and would not be able to take him to court for damages. Selling this house would be a sign that I was finally supporting myself independently and making sure that I had the financial security to raise my child alone. The least the house could go for was $895,000, whatever they sold it for, I knew I would get more than enough to live out the rest of my life and my child would have a trust fund inbuit for him, call it a final gift from the father who was never in his life

A long pause. He excused himself to confirm with Adrian if that change was acceptable by him. When he came back her expression was neutral which meant he had agreed, whatever it took, to make me sign it.

I picked up the pen and signed my name slowly, where my signature was required. Then I set the pen down and stood up.

I sent my resignation from the car. When I got home, I packed everything that I had brought into the marriage, Plain things, simple clothes and some books, and put it all in a suitcase and headed for the airport.

The airport road was clear for the first twenty minutes. Julian called to check in, which surprised me, and I answered and told him where I was going, that I was headed to the airport to start a new life for myself. Then Adrian's name lit up my screen. I stared at it through two full rings, unwilling to answer the call, there was nothing else that he was going to say that would make this better, sorry I divorced you, you couldn't meet up? No, I was done with him and there was that, no contact with him was the best decision that I could make for myself.

Then I ended the next call, went into settings, and blocked him. Then his assistant. Then the company line. One by one, methodically, until every channel was closed.

When I was done I sat back and felt something light in me settle. I was not happy but I let myself think forward about my new life and how it was going to look like.

I found myself thinking about violin once more- a childhood dream I had long ago been forced to abandon. Now for the first time in years, I was no longer bound by the role of Adrian’s wife. Maybe it was finally time to pursue that dream once more.

Outside the window, something caught my eye. A familiar shape, a familiar car, two lanes over.

I leaned forward without thinking. The impact came before I could make sense of what I was seeing, and my vision went dark as the familiar feeling of pain spread through me.

White.

Everything was white and blurred and what came next was pain that shot through me forcing my eyes open as I groaned. There was a monitor beeping somewhere from my left.

"She's awake." A woman's voice, brisk, relieved. "Get the doctor."

A face appeared above me. A nurse, then behind her, a doctor, and beside him, a man I did not recognize at all. He was watching me with an expression I could not read.

The doctor held up two fingers.

"Can you see these clearly?"

Yes. Of course I could see them.

"How many fingers?"

"Two," I said. My voice came out strange and hoarse.

"Good." He made a note. "Can you tell me your name?"

I opened my mouth.

And then I stopped.

My name. A cold that had nothing to do with temperature moved through me as I realized that I had no idea what my name was or who I was.

The man beside the doctor seemed quite worried, then the doctor said, “Don’t worry Julian, she just woke up and needs more time to recover.”

Then he turned to me. "Don't force it. There's good news." He paused. "Your baby is safe."

I stared at him.

"My—" The word caught in my throat. "What? I'm pregnant?"

Confused, I turned to the man the doctor had called Julian.

The relief in his eyes was impossible to miss. He looked like someone who had been terrified of losing both me and the baby.

A strange thought slipped into my mind before I could stop it.

"Are you the father of my baby?"

He froze for a moment, then stepped forward and took my hand.

"Yes, dear," he said softly.

"I am."