جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

GRACE'S POVI wasn't snooping. Let me be clear about that from the start, because when this all comes out and it will come out… I need to remember I wasn't looking for anything. Carter left his laptop open on the kitchen island when he went to shower, and I just wanted to order Thai food because he'd promised us dinner at home for once and I knew he'd forget to actually arrange it. That's the kind of wife I was. The kind who smoothed over the gaps, who anticipated needs, who made our life look effortless from the outside.The screen was already awake when I sat down. His email was open, which wasn't unusual. Carter never logged out of anything, never worried about privacy because why would he? He owned three homes, a hedge fund worth nine figures, and apparently my complete trust. The preview pane showed his inbox and I wasn't reading it, not really, just scrolling to find his Seamless app when I saw the subject line: "Saturday night… you're an animal."My hand stopped. The sender was

GRACE'S POVI didn't sleep. Couldn't even pretend to try. Instead I sat on the couch with my laptop until the sky started turning gray, going through three years of my life like I was excavating an archaeological site. Every text message, every photo, every casual mention of working late or meeting clients. I built a timeline in a spreadsheet because that's what you do when your brain is trying to protect you from feeling too much—you organize the pain into columns and rows until it looks manageable.Stella's name appeared forty-seven times in Carter's texts over the last eighteen months. Forty-seven times he'd made plans with my friend, and I'd never questioned it because why would I? She was my friend first. We'd met doing a campaign for an activewear brand back when I was still modeling, back when she was the girl who always stood just behind me in group shots, the almost-pretty one who booked catalogues instead of runways. She'd been so sweet back then, or I'd thought she was. Alw

CARTER'S POVDavid called me at six in the morning, which meant either very good news or very bad news. I was at the gym… the one advantage of Grace kicking me out was being able to work out at five without her asking when I'd be home… when my phone lit up with his number."Tell me she signed," I said instead of hello."Not yet. Her attorney responded yesterday saying they're reviewing the offer." David's voice had that careful tone lawyers use when they're about to deliver bad news. "Carter, I need to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me."I stopped mid-rep on the bench press, racked the weight. "What?""Is there anything else she could find? Anything we haven't accounted for in the settlement?" He paused. "Because ten million is a lot of money to offer someone who technically gets nothing under the prenup. If she's smart—and her lawyer is definitely smart—she's going to wonder why you're being so generous."I grabbed my towel, wiped my face while I thought about how

CARTER'S POVThe Hastings Club looked the same as it always did… dark wood paneling, leather chairs that cost more than most people's cars, oil paintings of dead rich men who'd probably been just as morally bankrupt as the current members. I showed up at seven because Marcus had texted that morning saying we needed to celebrate, that drinks were on him. I knew what he really wanted was confirmation that Grace had signed and this whole mess was behind us.The bar was nearly empty, just a few older guys nursing scotch and talking quietly about market trends or yacht maintenance or whatever rich men talked about when their wives weren't around. Marcus was in our usual corner booth, already on his second drink judging by the color in his cheeks. He grinned when he saw me, stood up to clap me on the back like I'd just closed a major deal instead of ending my marriage."There he is. The free man." He pushed a glass of eighteen-year Macallan toward me, the expensive stuff the club kept in re

GRACE'S POVI stared at the test until the lines blurred, then came back into focus, then blurred again. Two lines. Pregnant. I was pregnant with the baby of a man who'd married me on a bet, who'd rated me like cattle, who'd documented my measurements and my vulnerabilities and used them to win fifty million dollars.The second test was still in the box. I ripped it open with trembling fingers, read the instructions even though I'd taken enough pregnancy tests over the last two years to have them memorized. Two years of trying, of hoping, of thinking something was wrong with me because month after month the tests came back negative. And now, now when my marriage was over and my husband had revealed himself to be a monster, now my body decided to cooperate.I took the second test. Set the timer again. Paced the bathroom in circles so tight I was basically spinning. Three minutes felt like three hours. When the alarm went off I grabbed the test so fast I almost dropped it in the toilet.