Neglected Wife's Bitter Sweet Revenge

r Fro

de her gasp. His eyes, dark and stormy, were fixed on her, completely ignoring me. "Who ar

. "Mr. Harmon, I'm Eleanor Vance, Elinor's divorce attorney." She said

ould you? Or did you already have him lined up, waiting in the wings?" His gaze flickered to Eleanor, then back to me, full of contempt. "So quick to discard me, yet so eager to find comfort elsewhere." He l

e in the wrong-it was too much. A white-hot rage, unlike anything I had ever felt, surged through me. My hand mov

side, a crimson mark blooming on his ch

leanor interjected, her voice sharp with indignation.

necting with Eleanor's jaw. The sound was sickening. Eleanor stumbled backward, collapsing into a stack

his violence, so raw and unrestrained, paralyzed me fo

ting agony, far worse than any dizziness I had felt before. My breath caught in my throat, a

r?" he choked out, his voice laced with uncharacteristic fear. "What's wrong?" He rushed forward, pushing Eleanor's unconscious form aside. "El

y abdomen was still there, a constant, nagging reminder. Braden was beside me, his hand clasping mine, his face

"are you okay? I'm so sorry. I shouldn't

e old Braden, the caring, gentle Braden, had finally returned. Perhaps the raw shock

ilence. "Braden, darling, I told you she was just be

nt glint that belied her injured appearance. "It was just a little fall, Braden. She's fine. We should go. Your gran

but his gaze rema

up a crumpled stack of documents, the very ones that had scattered across the coffee shop floor. "Braden acciden

asn't about concern; it was about confirming my departure, about securing her place. I watched as a

th an undeniable steel. "You saw the papers in the coffee shop, and you

to confront her. "What? Of course not, Elinor! I just... I was worried about Braden. He's so upset.

finally looked up, a frown deepening on his face. "

unspoken truths. Three people, caught in a web

ld, detached. I met his eyes, my own devoid of any lingering affection. "I want a

smile, or even a cruel one. It was... relieved? He reached out, his hand gently stroking my hair. "E

the sterile room, shattering the fragi

he dizzy spells, the nausea, the sudden aversion to certain smells... I had dismissed them as stress, a

nothing. I still want a divorce." My voice was f

k and a barely concealed excitement. "Braden, you have to keep her! Think of the family legacy! Think of

cold anger I recognized. "Destany, be quiet," he

y, replaced by a bruised, wounded expressi

ed, his voice echoing off

vindication mixing with a bitter understanding. She truly had wanted me gone. She had seen the divorce papers as her golden ticke

o think about this," he said, his voice now calm, almost persuasive. "A baby changes everything. I know things have

uine remorse, or another one of his manipulations? Was the ba

e heavy with certainty. "It won't erase the years of neglect, the pub

ave the right to talk about love? You were never supposed to be more than a convenient solution, a way to appease Grandfather. But then you tried to make me feel something. You tried to make me love you.