Chapter 1
Richard Lane said, "Sign it. Victoria is pregnant."
On the night of my birthday, Richard pushed the divorce agreement across the table. I didn't take it.
Then, Richard and Victoria's wedding photo popped up in the company group chat, with Victoria's caption: [Forever starts today.]
The next day at work, my desk had been emptied. I'd been arranged to work in the cleaning room.
Victoria leaned against the doorframe, her nails painted blood-red. "Grace, do you like the place HR assigned you?"
"Ms. Nolan, you're suspected of embezzling three million dollars from the company." When the police showed up, Richard stood at the door and didn't even spare me a glance.
My mother-in-law, Mary, cornered me at the mall and slapped me. "Richard supported you for eight years. Have you ever given him a child?"
My son, Ethan, yelled at me over the phone, "You old hag! Dad was right to leave you!"
At the shareholders' meeting, Richard proposed to vote me out. Everyone raised their hands. Not a single person objected.
What they didn't know was that I still owned 51% of the shares.
*****
Today was my birthday.
"Sign it." Richard pushed a document across the table, drumming his fingers on the surface.
I looked down and saw the title on the cover: Divorce Agreement.
The "Happy Birthday" banner was still hanging in the living room, and the candles on the cake hadn't even been lit. He couldn't even wait for a better day.
"Victoria is pregnant." Richard turned his face away, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry, but the baby can't grow up without a proper status."
I looked up at him.
His eyes darted, his throat worked as he swallowed, and then he added, "Don't worry, you'll get everything you're owed. Not a single dollar less."
I stayed silent.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table. I picked it up and saw a photo pop up in the company group chat. It was a wedding photo of Richard and Victoria. They were holding hands.
Victoria: [Forever starts today.]
No one said a word in the group chat. Nobody dared to say anything.
There were three hundred people in the chat group, and the whole chat was dead silent.
I zoomed in on the photo. Richard was wearing the tie I'd given him last year, and Victoria's diamond ring sparkled so bright that it hurt to look at.
"Did you check the group chat?" I asked.
Richard froze for a second, and then took out his phone. The blue light from the screen washed over his face. I caught his eyes flicker before he quickly locked his phone.
"Well... Maybe Victoria is too excited," he muttered.
"Right." I got to my feet. "She has every reason to be."
*****
As I stepped into the elevator, my phone buzzed nonstop with messages from Nina. [?]
[What's up with that photo in the group chat?]
[Grace, tell me the truth.]
I didn't reply. I grabbed a cab and headed straight for the other apartment Richard and I bought together. I couldn't face Richard right now.
The cab pulled up outside the building. I paid the fare and headed upstairs.
I stuck the key in the lock, but it wouldn't turn.
I tried again, but still failed.
Then the door was opened from the inside.
Victoria leaned against the doorframe, wearing my slippers, her nails freshly painted a bold red. She tilted her head at me, a smug smile tugging at her lips. "Grace, you're back."
"The lock's been changed."
"Yep." She rested her hand on the doorframe, blocking half the doorway. "This apartment belongs to Richard and me now. He said it's better if you don't live here anymore."
She spoke in a soft, coaxing tone, as if she were soothing a child.
"Where's my stuff?" I asked.
"All packed up for you, right next to the garbage bins downstairs," Victoria said, fluttering her lashes at me. "Relax, I even folded your clothes for you."
I turned and walked downstairs.
Three cardboard boxes sat crookedly by the garbage bins. The lid of the top box was flipped open, and a few pieces of clothing dangled out, already gathering dust.
My phone rang.
Nina's voice exploded through the speaker. "Where the hell are you?"
"Downstairs," I said.
"Which building?"
"Their matrimonial apartment."
There was a brief silence on the other end, and then the rapid clack of high heels echoed through the phone.
When Nina showed up, I was perched on a cardboard box.
She glanced at the boxes, and then at the lit window upstairs. Her face turned bright red, and she spun around, ready to barge in.
I grabbed her arm. "Don't."
"Grace!" Nina jerked her arm away, her eyes shining with tears. "Tell me, why? You stuck by Richard for eight years and helped him climb up from a basement. His company, his shares, and the apartment he lives in now—"
"Let it go."
"How can you just let it go?"
The window upstairs swung open. Victoria leaned halfway out, holding a glass of red wine, and dangled it toward us. "Grace, looks like it's about to rain. You'd better head home early."
Nina was shaking with rage. I grabbed her wrist and hauled her into the cab.
In the back seat, Nina kept ranting nonstop.
I stared at the raindrops sliding down the window, and then suddenly said, "Can you look into the company's ownership structure for me? And... the info of Daniel Grant."
"Daniel Grant? That investor of yours?" Nina asked.
"The sooner, the better."
Nina paused, and then slowly sat up straighter. She gave me a look, didn't ask anything else, and started scrolling through her contacts.
The rain pattered against the window, noisy and relentless.
My phone lit up.
Richard: [Grace, I'm sorry. But I really love Victoria. Do you get it?]
He really loved her, huh?
I'd like to see how much he loved her.
"Nina," I said.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Send it straight to me when you find anything."