She reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
My breath stopped.
A jade bracelet.
I recognized it instantly. My mother's bracelet. The only thing she'd left me.
Damian had told me he was keeping it safe. Instead, he'd given it to her.
The realization barely had time to register.
Eleanor opened her fingers.
The bracelet slipped from her hand, struck the floor, and shattered into pieces.
Something inside me shattered with it.
"You broke it." My voice came out raw, barely human. "You're dead."
I slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I had.
She let the momentum carry her to the ground, crumpling with a theatrical cry of pain.
And of course, that was the exact moment Damian came rushing in.
He dropped to his knees beside her, hands cradling her face. "Ellie! Are you okay?!"
Eleanor looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears, the picture of wounded innocence.
"Damian, I remembered you said this was Hilda's mother's keepsake. I just wanted to give it back to her so she could have something to remember her mom by. But she accused me of stealing it and tried to beat me to death."
"She printed another set of divorce papers too. She said if I ever come near you again, she'll divorce you."
Her lower lip trembled. "Maybe I should just resign. That way she can't come after me anymore."
Damian's face twisted with rage. He shot to his feet and turned on me.
"Hilda, I've had it with you!"
"I let Ellie hold onto the bracelet for safekeeping. She was kind enough to bring it to you so you could remember your mother, and you repay her by slandering her?!"
"You really don't know what's good for you, do you? That's it. You can forget about your salary for the entire year!"
He ripped the divorce papers from my hands.
"What is this little act of yours? You keep waving these papers in my face, threatening me over and over, because you think I'd never actually sign them!"
"You want a divorce? Fine. You got one."
He scrawled his name across the signature line.
Then he hurled the papers at me. They hit my chest and fluttered to the floor.
"Don't forget, you work at my company. Without the title of my wife, you're nothing but a pretty face collecting a paycheck."
His voice turned cold. "One more thing. You just hit Ellie, and I want you on your knees apologizing to her. Otherwise, you're not walking out of here today."