Chapter 10
Jonathan's first reaction wasn't to stand up for me.
He didn't bother to explain himself.
He rushed over to steady Emily, who looked like she might faint, and asked softly, "Are you okay?"
In that moment, everyone started looking at him differently.
Standing in a sea of white roses, the sweet scent almost suffocating, I suddenly felt like laughing.
Turns out, the best evidence isn't on paper.
It's in people's instincts.
Jonathan realized something was wrong and turned to me. "Susan, she's pregnant."
"So what?" I asked.
"Let's talk about this at home. Don't make a scene here," he said.
I nodded. "You can flaunt your affair, parade your mistress around, and even let her use her pregnancy to throw a public event. But when I stand up for myself, suddenly I'm the one making a scene?"
People around us started pulling out their phones.
Jonathan's face went ashen. "Stop filming."
But nobody listened to him.
Emily sobbed, burying herself in his arms. "Jonathan, I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted our baby to have a real family."
I started clapping, slow and deliberate.
The crisp sound echoed in the silence, turning every head in the room.
"A real family?" I stared right at her. "No matter how pretty you make it look, stolen goods are still stolen goods."
Her sobs hitched and stopped.
Jonathan barked, "Susan Miller, that's enough!"
I looked at him, feeling like a dull knife was twisting in my chest, but I refused to back down.
"Jonathan, that's nowhere near enough," I said.
I pulled out a legal notice from my bag and handed it to him.
"From today on, I'm filing for divorce, applying for asset protection, and seeking restitution for every dollar you gave Emily from our marital assets," I said.
"And as a shareholder, I'm demanding a full audit of all related expenses for the past three years on that southside project your company is working on," I added.