CHAPTER 5

~Emily

“Are you sure about this, Emily?” Martha asked, standing behind me and watching me arrange my clothes into the suitcases.

“I am, Martha,” I replied, my voice betraying me, trembling slightly.

It had been over two weeks since we proceeded with the divorce, and the court would finally be dissolving the marriage today.

And Henry?

I didn’t know when last I saw him around the house and, honestly, I didn’t care. I had stopped caring about anything and everything that concerned him. The only thing I knew was that he had been cooperating with our lawyers.

He had even sent me a text in the wee hours of this morning, telling me not to keep him waiting.

I guessed he also couldn’t wait to end this sham of a marriage.

My train of thought broke as I heard Martha sobbing. I paused what I was doing and turned, my heart breaking at the sight.

“Martha,” I said softly.

“Please, don’t leave.”

“I have to,” I said with resolve.

Deep down, I wished I could stay because of her, but Henry didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve her.

“You can come with me if you want,” I suggested.

“I wish I could.” She held my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as she spoke with a painful smile. “But Sir Henry needs me.”

I thought as much. She would stay, and I completely understood why her loyalty lay with Henry. She had been around him for the longest time, before everything that happened to his parents.

“It’s fine.” I smiled.

My phone suddenly rang on the bed, interrupting the moment.

Picking it up, I saw it was Henry calling, and I ended the call as I faced Martha and said,

“I have to go now.”

I didn’t wait for her response. I reached for my suitcases and zipped them up, having packed everything.

Martha quietly assisted me with one of the suitcases to my car. She stood at the balcony, waving at me until my car was out of the premises.

I exhaled sharply, willing the ache in my chest to stop.

I was yet to figure out how to start all over again, and I certainly couldn’t go back to the hospital to resume working there. My life had always been centered around Henry and the hospital. You can imagine how lost I was right now.

I believed there had to be some way to start over.

The ride to the court took about twenty minutes. I found a spot to park and got down only to see Henry leaning against his car, four cars away from mine.

Sean, his personal driver, stood a few feet away from him.

I walked up to him, my face cold.

“I thought you changed your mind,” he said with a scoff, standing upright. “What took you so long to get here?”

“You should know better. I don’t go back on my word,” I replied, causing something in his eyes, maybe pride, to falter. “Let’s get this over with.”

Henry suddenly grabbed my arm as I was about to walk past him, his jaw just as tight as his grip, causing my face to flush with pain.

“I know you’re eager to get your hands on my money.” His voice was tight with anger. “Trust me, I would fight with every dime I have not to make that happen.”

Never knew he was this stupid.

“Did you even read the divorce papers?” I scoffed, glaring at him.

“I don’t care!” He bit out.

“Well then.” I snatched my hand back. “Do well to read them when you get inside because you sound so ignorant. I do not want your goddamn money.”

“You don’t want my money?” He let out a humorless laugh. “That was the reason you entered my life, Emily. You took advantage of Caroline’s absence, and now you want me to believe otherwise?”

Finally, he had gotten it off his chest. The way he saw me in our marriage, a place snatcher. Funny how he never had much when we met and I had to work myself to the bone in his hospital to earn every single penny. Yet, he saw me as nothing but a gold digger.

The realization cut through my chest like sharp knives, but I maintained a composed expression. I was tired of letting his words break me.

“You are nothing without me, Emily. Nothing.” He added firmly, as though to hit the nail in the coffin.

He walked away, heading toward the building while I stood there, his words ringing in my mind. 

After all these years, an insult to the face was what I got for sacrificing my heart and even better opportunities just to actively support his dreams of becoming the man he is today. 

The orphaned girl who went through college on a private scholarship and walked tirelessly behind scenes to push his career to the peak was nothing. 

***

Henry didn’t even wait for the ink on the divorce papers to dry before leaving the office, his phone already pressed to his ear.

It had been ringing nonstop since the process started.

“I’m done, Caroline,” he said as he walked out of the lawyer’s office. “I’ll come get you… we’ll pick out the outfit.”

I held the lawyer’s smile a second longer than I should have, then reached for my handbag and left.

Outside, the air felt worse, and as I got to the parking area, I literally stopped dead in my tracks.

My car was gone, my suitcases sitting like trash on the ground close to the driveway.

Standing there in the open, my grip tightened around my bag strap and my throat worked as tears stung my eyes.

“Ma’am.” The voice came from behind, and I turned around.

I frowned deeply as my gaze fell on a Herculean man in a sharp navy suit and dark shades.

“My boss would like to see you,” he said, nodding toward a black Rolls-Royce with dark tinted windows parked across the lot.

My frown deepened as I looked back at the man. “Your boss?”

“Yes, ma’am. This way.”

I didn’t move at first as my eyes flicked to the car and back to the man. But then, something inside me forced my legs to move as the man began walking toward the car.

Maybe it was because I had nothing left to lose if this was some sort of kidnapping.

Reaching the car, the man carefully opened the backseat door, and I froze.

Inside the car was Anthony Kingston, looking cold, enigmatic, and expensive.

He faced me, locking his gaze on my red, teary eyes for a moment before his dark eyes briefly moved over my face, taking in more than I was willing to show.

“Tell me, Ms. Moore.” He spoke calmly. However, his jaw was tense. “How badly do you want him to regret today?”

The question threw me off guard, hitting deeper as my lips parted.

“What?” I managed.

“Marry me, and I’ll make him pay.”