Chapter 7
"We were married for seven years, and you hid this from me the whole time?" Stella demanded.
"Did you ever ask?" I shot back.
She froze.
I watched the elevator numbers tick down.
"Stella, did you ever once ask me what I did all day?" I said. "Did you ever care about anything I did, besides running errands and cooking for you?
"All I ever was to you was a free nanny.
"I'm just the ex-husband you figured should be forever grateful just because you handed me a house and a car."
The elevator reached the basement.
The doors slid open.
I stepped out.
"Arturo," Stella called out, her voice echoing behind me.
I didn't stop.
"How much money have you really made?" she called after me.
I stopped and turned around.
As the elevator doors were closing, I met her gaze.
"As for that question—" I started.
The elevator doors were closing fast.
"You don't have the right to ask me that anymore," I said.
The doors slid shut.
I turned and walked toward the parking lot.
My old Jetta was parked in the corner.
I slid into the driver's seat and just sat there, zoning out for a while.
My phone buzzed.
It was a message from Amari. [Did she chase after you in the elevator just now?]
I didn't reply.
She sent another message. [She looked seriously pissed when she came out.]
Then she sent a voice message. I tapped to play it.
Amari was practically cracking up. "Arturo, you're something else.
"You pitched your proposal right in front of Mr. Moody, and Stella looked like she was about to explode, but she had to act like nothing happened."
I turned off my phone and started the car.
The engine groaned, old and worn.
But inside, I felt calmer than I ever had before.
It was eleven o'clock that night.
Jessica was already asleep.
I was sitting at the table in the living room, going over the feedback from today's presentation.
The doorbell rang.
Who would come by at this hour?
I got up and went to open the door.
Stella was standing outside.
She'd changed out of her work clothes, her makeup was gone, and her hair was down.
She was holding a bag.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"These are Jessica's things," Stella said.
She passed me the bag. "I grabbed some of her old toys and picture books from my place."
I took the bag, but didn't ask her to come inside.
"Thanks," I said, keeping it brief.
"Wait," she said.
She stayed put. "I need to ask you something."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Arturo." She lowered her voice. "Did you design that hotel in Evergreen Ridge?"
I leaned against the doorframe, saying nothing.
"That Silver Award at last year's Coastal Region Design Awards, that was your doing, right?" she pressed.
"Have you been checking up on me?" I asked.
"I'm your ex-wife."
"Yeah. Ex-wife."
I made sure she heard it loud and clear.
"So it's got nothing to do with you anymore," I added.
She bit her lip. "How many projects did you take on in those seven years?"
"That's none of your business."
"How much did you make?"
"I told you, it's none of your business."
"Arturo!" Her voice spiked and then dropped fast, probably because she remembered Jessica was sleeping. "You lied to me for seven years."
I looked at her. "What exactly did I lie about?"
"You were earning all along. You had your own thing going. Why did you pretend to be broke? Why didn't you tell me?"
I set the bag down on the shoe cabinet by the door.
"Because you loved feeling superior," I said.
Her face went pale for a second.
"Because every time you told people, 'My husband stays home with the kid,' that sense of superiority made you feel good," I said.
"I wasn't—"
"You were."
I looked her straight in the eye. "Stella, it wasn't that you didn't love me. You just never let me be your equal."
Her lips trembled.
"You needed someone weaker around you, so you could always feel superior," I said. "The moment I stopped playing the weak one, you couldn't handle it."
The hallway was dead silent.
All I could hear was her ragged breathing.
"So you chose to divorce me," I said.
I took a step back.
"Goodnight," I said.
The door closed.
I didn't hear her footsteps for a long time.
After a minute or two, I finally heard the click of her heels.
They faded into the distance.
*****
A week later, Maynard Studio officially landed the Westside Arts District project.
The design fee was 2.1 million dollars.
Once I added in the construction phase fees, the total package was pushing 3 million dollars.
The signing ceremony took place at Everstone Properties HQ, sealing the deal for everyone to see.
Besides Ayaan and Amari, Everstone Properties' chairman, Hector Howell, was there too.
And Stella was there too.
She was dressed in a gray cashmere coat, her hair pulled back, and she wore pearl earrings.
She looked perfectly put-together.
But even standing among all those people, her eyes never left me.
During the signing, Hector and I shook hands.