Chapter 2

For three years, I'd been far too accommodating. When he skipped dinner, canceled our anniversary trip, or told me Claire Sutton was only a friend, I always let it go.

I had let so much slide that he eventually mistook my patience for having no boundaries at all.

My phone vibrated again.

A new message from Edward appeared. [Grace, come home now. I can pretend none of this happened.]

Pretend none of this happened?

I stared at the message until my stomach turned.

The man couldn't even apologize. Edward never said, "I was wrong." Instead, he offered to overlook the situation as though I were the one who had done something wrong. As though he were graciously giving me another chance to remain Mrs. Stone.

I replied, [No need.]

Then I opened my notes app and began making a list.

The divorce agreement Edward had signed covered only property division. He would keep the house, the cars, and his shares in Stone Holdings, while our marital savings would be divided equally.

It looked fair on paper, but I knew better. Most of Edward's assets had been placed in trusts before our marriage, which meant our marital property represented only a fraction of his actual wealth.

He assumed I understood none of that. He probably thought I would take a substantial payout, sign the papers, and leave quietly.

What he didn't know was that I had spent an entire year tracing his assets, documenting tax irregularities, and uncovering corporate violations. I knew where his money had gone and which rules he had broken.

I had enough evidence to turn him from a respected businessman into the subject of a criminal investigation.

I had spent a year sharpening the blade. Now it was time to show him the edge.

*****

The next morning, I met Summer Lynn at the café downstairs from her law firm.

Summer had been my college roommate and was now one of the best divorce attorneys in the city. She had handled more than a hundred divorce cases with a 97% success rate.

The remaining three percent weren't losses. Her clients had settled before the cases reached a final ruling.

Two Americanos were waiting on the table when I arrived.

Summer pushed one toward me. "You're really going through with this? I saw Edward's post. My first thought was that something had to be wrong with his head."

"Nothing's wrong with him." I took a sip of coffee. "He was testing my limits."

"What limits?"

"He wanted to know whether I'd actually dare divorce him." I slid my list across the table. "He thought I wouldn't. He thought I couldn't live without him."

Summer took the list and began reading. By the second page, her eyes were widening. "Grace, when did you find all this?"

"Over the past year."

"A year?" She drew in a sharp breath. "You knew about the affair a year ago?"

"One year and three months ago, to be exact." My voice remained calm. "When Edward went to Valoria, Claire traveled with him. His assistant accidentally emailed me their itinerary. He recalled it two minutes later, but I'd already seen it."

"Then why did you wait until now?"

"Because that wasn't enough evidence." I set down my coffee. "One itinerary proved nothing. Edward could claim his assistant had made a booking mistake. I needed more, enough that he couldn't explain his way out of it."

Summer studied me for a long moment, her expression complicated. "Grace, you've changed."

"I haven't." I gave her a small smile. "I've finally stopped pretending."

Yeah, I'm done pretending.

For three years, pretending had become second nature. I pretended to be gentle, generous, and unaffected. When Edward stayed out all night, I smiled and said it was fine. When he forgot our anniversary, I told him I understood.

When he came home carrying another woman's perfume on his clothes, I pretended not to notice.

I had turned myself into the perfect Mrs. Stone: gracious, composed, and seemingly incapable of anger.

But Mrs. Stone wasn't who I really was.

I got angry. I got hurt. Some nights, I sat alone on the balcony with a glass of wine, wondering why the man I loved had treated me this way.

I had never been meek or obedient. I had only loved Edward enough to hide every sharp edge, smooth away every part of myself he disliked, and become the kind of woman he said he wanted.

And after I had remade myself for him, he cheated anyway.

So I had decided to become myself again.

Summer slipped the list into her bag. "What do you want?"

"First, I have proof of his affair. Under marital property law, that should affect the division of assets. I want the Cedar Heights villa, which was purchased during the marriage with marital funds."

I continued, "Second, I want 15% of his shares in Stone Holdings. That's the price of betraying our marriage. Third, he posts a public apology, pins it to his profile, and leaves it there for at least a month."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "Fifteen percent? Stone Holdings is worth at least 670 million dollars. Fifteen percent of that is around 100 million. He's going to lose his mind."

"Maybe he should've thought about that before he cheated. Besides, I have something that'll give him much more to worry about."

I reached into my bag, took out a flash drive, and pushed it across the table.

"Edward's tax records from the past three years. Stone Holdings is involved in fraudulent corporate invoicing totaling more than 27 million dollars, and he has two undeclared offshore accounts."

Her face went still. "Grace, where did you get this?"

"Through legal channels." I met her gaze. "His assistant once sent documents to the wrong email address, and I happened to see them. As for the offshore accounts, Edward saved the details in his notes app."

I added, "The password was my birthday. I suppose he never imagined I'd check his phone."

But I had checked.