Chapter 3

Harrison had been gone for ten straight days—standard for him. But this girl was clearly more restless than the rest.

Every night, she called me from his phone.

I listened to their live show more than once. Eventually, I just used it as white noise to fall asleep.

I think she expected me to explode. But I honestly didn't have the time.

Harrison had his new girlfriend to keep company; I had my business empire to defend.

I'd been busy with a major client—Harrison's sister, Victoria.

She'd lost the inheritance battle because of her gender and had been abroad for years. Now she was back with serious capital and looking for her first partner.

That partner was me.

After the first time Harrison publicly humiliated me, she asked why I was wasting myself in a marriage like this.

My first answer was love. Because love was everything, I was willing to do so much for him—working the social circuit, giving my all in business, and abandoning my self-respect, pride, and dignity until I'd become insignificant in his life.

Recently, Harrison's mind had clearly been elsewhere. Years of indulgence had hollowed him out.

Ten straight nights of partying, so it made sense that when he showed up, he looked terrible.

He pinned me against my office desk, demanding to know why I'd approved a new project without his consent.

Because I didn't want irrelevant people involved in my projects, of course, and also because I was structuring assets for the divorce.

I looked up at him and said nothing.

That girl, Olivia, chose that moment to push the door open, twirling Harrison's key card in her hand.

She'd swiped her way through our entire building. I could picture her strutting in.

She smiled at me and said, "Mrs. Vane, did you like that sapphire from last time? Harrison was going to give it to me, but I thought it was too small, so I told him to give it to you instead. Been sleeping well lately? Like my little lullabies?"

Harrison turned to look at her, his face unreadable. After a long pause, he said, "What kind of code are you two speaking?"

I pulled out my phone and played the audio right in front of them. When their voices came through, Harrison's face changed. He spun around and said to the girl, "You sent her this? Are you insane?"

Then to me: "And you record your calls?"

I laughed. "I record all my calls. Isn't that what you taught me? Document everything with clients. Don't tell me you didn't know she was calling me. I don't believe she could take your phone every night without your permission."

I stood up and met his gaze. "So were you trying to humiliate me? Or test me? Or both?"

The suggestive audio was still playing. Harrison suddenly smiled. "Whatever you think it is. So what are you going to do now? You're not really thinking of divorcing me, are you? Alexandra, the cold shoulder doesn't work on me. Provocation does—but don't use the wrong method."

What I really wanted to know was whether this relationship had ever been genuine, or if it had rotted away without me noticing.

The reason I'd stayed so long in this quagmire was my lingering unwillingness to give up.

But in that moment, I suddenly let go. He was just a bastard. And bastards don't have real hearts, do they?

I smiled to myself.

Harrison asked, "What are you smiling at?"

I pulled a divorce agreement out of my drawer and laid it flat on the desk.

"I'm smiling because today, whether it's cold shoulders or provocation, you're going to have to take your medicine."

Harrison flew into a rage and stormed out of the office. At the door, he turned and said, "Alexandra, you've lost your bet. I'll divorce you."