Chapter 2
Victoria rose from her chair, towering despite her small frame. She had always known how to fill a room with menace.
"Not so fast." She snapped her fingers at the lawyer. "The secondary documents."
A second stack of papers appeared. I recognized them immediately. The prenuptial amendment, the property waiver, and—there it was—the adultery confession.
"Sign these as well," Victoria said. "You will relinquish the apartment, the car, the jewelry, and the monthly allowance."
She ticked each item off on her fingers like a shopping list. "And you will sign the confession stating that you committed adultery during the marriage, which caused emotional distress to my son."
In my previous life, I had refused this part. I had screamed that I never cheated. They had used that refusal to paint me as difficult, vindictive, and unstable. The story that reached the public was that I had been unfaithful and violent.
This time, I picked up the property waiver and signed it without reading.
Nathan blinked. "You're not even going to contest the apartment?"
"I don't want it."
Victoria's smile widened. "The jewelry?"
"Take it." I unclasped the diamond bracelet from my wrist and set it on the table. The necklace followed. Then the ring.
A small pile of glittering stones sat between us like an offering.
Sophia's eyes fixed on the diamonds with a hunger she couldn't quite hide.
"Good," Victoria said, satisfied. "Now the confession."
I looked at the document. The words were vicious. Carefully chosen legal language that accused me of infidelity, emotional abuse, and "violent episodes resulting in bodily harm to a third party."
If I signed it, they could use it in any future proceeding. It would follow me like a brand.
"No."
The word dropped into the silence like a stone into still water.
Victoria's smile vanished. "Excuse me?"
"I said no." I pushed the confession back across the table. "I gave you everything else. But I won't sign a lie."
Sophia's lower lip trembled on cue. "Elena, please. I'm not trying to hurt you. I just need people to know the truth. You pushed me. My baby—"
"You were never pregnant, Sophia."
The room went still.
Sophia's hand flew to her stomach. "How can you say that? Nathan, she's denying it again. She always does this—"
"I'm not done." My voice cut through hers without rising.
Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Elena. Don't start."
"Start what?" I met his gaze. "You brought me here to end a marriage. Fine. It's ended. But you will not make me confess to things I didn't do."
Victoria slammed her palm on the table. "You ungrateful wretch. After everything this family did for you. We pulled you out of nothing. Gave you a life. And you can't even show basic decency?"
"Decency," I repeated. I almost laughed.
"Mrs. Carter, you locked me in a storage room for two days because I served tea at the wrong temperature. Your son hasn't shared a bed with me in over a year. And your sweet little Sophia has been sleeping in my husband's apartment since before our first anniversary."
I looked at all three of them.
"You want to talk about decency? Let me show you what I found."
I pulled out my phone.
---
"Not so fast." She snapped her fingers at the lawyer. "The secondary documents."
A second stack of papers appeared. I recognized them immediately. The prenuptial amendment, the property waiver, and—there it was—the adultery confession.
"Sign these as well," Victoria said. "You will relinquish the apartment, the car, the jewelry, and the monthly allowance."
She ticked each item off on her fingers like a shopping list. "And you will sign the confession stating that you committed adultery during the marriage, which caused emotional distress to my son."
In my previous life, I had refused this part. I had screamed that I never cheated. They had used that refusal to paint me as difficult, vindictive, and unstable. The story that reached the public was that I had been unfaithful and violent.
This time, I picked up the property waiver and signed it without reading.
Nathan blinked. "You're not even going to contest the apartment?"
"I don't want it."
Victoria's smile widened. "The jewelry?"
"Take it." I unclasped the diamond bracelet from my wrist and set it on the table. The necklace followed. Then the ring.
A small pile of glittering stones sat between us like an offering.
Sophia's eyes fixed on the diamonds with a hunger she couldn't quite hide.
"Good," Victoria said, satisfied. "Now the confession."
I looked at the document. The words were vicious. Carefully chosen legal language that accused me of infidelity, emotional abuse, and "violent episodes resulting in bodily harm to a third party."
If I signed it, they could use it in any future proceeding. It would follow me like a brand.
"No."
The word dropped into the silence like a stone into still water.
Victoria's smile vanished. "Excuse me?"
"I said no." I pushed the confession back across the table. "I gave you everything else. But I won't sign a lie."
Sophia's lower lip trembled on cue. "Elena, please. I'm not trying to hurt you. I just need people to know the truth. You pushed me. My baby—"
"You were never pregnant, Sophia."
The room went still.
Sophia's hand flew to her stomach. "How can you say that? Nathan, she's denying it again. She always does this—"
"I'm not done." My voice cut through hers without rising.
Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Elena. Don't start."
"Start what?" I met his gaze. "You brought me here to end a marriage. Fine. It's ended. But you will not make me confess to things I didn't do."
Victoria slammed her palm on the table. "You ungrateful wretch. After everything this family did for you. We pulled you out of nothing. Gave you a life. And you can't even show basic decency?"
"Decency," I repeated. I almost laughed.
"Mrs. Carter, you locked me in a storage room for two days because I served tea at the wrong temperature. Your son hasn't shared a bed with me in over a year. And your sweet little Sophia has been sleeping in my husband's apartment since before our first anniversary."
I looked at all three of them.
"You want to talk about decency? Let me show you what I found."
I pulled out my phone.
---