Chapter 4

The news reached Nathan's ears that very evening.

He barged into my study while I was in the middle of signing a legal document.

"Diana, that new academic facility... you paid for it?"

"Yes."

"Twenty-three million dollars?"

"Over the past six years, it's actually quite a bit more than that."

He stood on the opposite side of the mahogany desk, his chest heaving violently.

"Where the hell did you get twenty-three million dollars?!"

I set my fountain pen down and met his frantic gaze.

That question cut deeper and felt far colder than seeing him show up with Chloe at the conference.

"Nathan, you've been married to me for twelve years. Did you truly have no idea what I did with my time?"

He froze.

"The Vance Education Foundation was established by my father. I have overseen it for eleven years. Its annual cash flow runs well into nine figures."

"What...?"

"Did you genuinely believe that all I did was sit at home, nurse our child, cook your dinners, and wait for you to come back?"

His expression swung wildly from shock to total bewilderment.

"You... you never told me."

"You never bothered to ask."

His phone rang loudly—it was Chloe calling.

I couldn't hear the voice on the other end, but Nathan's face darkened with every passing second.

He ended the call, his voice tight and hoarse.

"Chloe says the parents are ripping her apart online. People are calling her a home-wrecker, saying she has no business showing her face at the school. Did you plan this? Did you deliberately slap your name on that building just to publicly humiliate her?"

I slipped the signed paperwork into a manila envelope.

"Nathan, I fund that school because I want to. There are three thousand students there, and my capital ensures they have world-class facilities. This has nothing to do with Chloe Hall."

"Then why the hell did you pick this exact moment to go public?!"

"I didn't pick it. The board made the announcement on their own schedule."

He didn't believe me.

He had never believed me.

"What is your endgame here? Are you trying to force me to cut ties with Chloe?"

I stared into his eyes.

Twelve years together, and I couldn't recall the last time those eyes had looked at me with genuine respect.

"Nathan, you flatter yourself."

"I'm not trying to force you into anything."

"Because whatever you choose to do no longer matters to me in the slightest."

I pulled the settlement agreement from the drawer and dropped it onto the desk between us.

"This was drafted three months ago. The asset division is on page four. I am only taking what was mine before our marriage. I won't touch a single penny of our marital property."

He looked down at the paperwork, his fingers trembling faintly.

"Full custody of Leo goes to you."

That snapped his head right back up.

"What?!"

"Aren't you and Chloe doing a wonderful job raising him? He clearly doesn't need me."

"Diana, have you lost your mind?! That is your flesh and blood!"

"I'm well aware."

My voice was terrifyingly calm, even to my own ears.

"But my flesh and blood looked me in the eye in front of a crowd and said, 'Don't come here and embarrass me. Can't you understand plain English?'"

"My flesh and blood knocked a drink out of my hand into the dirt."

"My flesh and blood calls another woman his auntie and beams like a fool in her arms."

"He doesn't need me as his mother, Nathan. He wants Chloe."

The study fell so quiet that the faint ticking of the wall clock echoed like a hammer.

Nathan stood paralyzed, utterly speechless.

After a long stretch of silence, his jaw moved stiffly.

"I'm not signing this."

"If you won't sign, I will file for a contested divorce."

"Diana!"

He slammed his fist onto the mahogany desktop, knocking over the pen holder and sending pens scattering across the hardwood.

"You think getting a divorce means you win? You think donating a damn building means the whole world is going to take your side?!"

I knelt down calmly, picking up the pens one by one and setting them back into the holder.

"Nathan, I don't care about winning."

"I'm just refusing to lose any more of myself."

He glared at me for several seconds before spinning on his heel and slamming the door behind him.

From the driveway below came the roar of an engine, followed by the high-pitched screech of tires burning rubber.

He was gone.

I sat alone in the quiet study, looking at the unsigned divorce papers on the desk.

Outside the window, the moonlight hung pale and cold.

My phone buzzed.

It was a text from an unsaved number.

"Ms. Vance, this is Chloe Hall. Can we meet?"