Whoever had decorated this apartment had poured their heart into it.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Paid in full.
Lucille's name on the deed.
Lucille's bracelet.
Three million dollars.
That was supposed to be my wedding anniversary gift. And then there was the silk robe Lucille was wearing, and Lucille's manicure, and the tea set on the coffee table, and the brand of tea beside it. Every single item was far from cheap.
Every single item.
Reeked of luxury.
I looked down at my own bare nails. No polish, no decoration. Then I looked at my palms, rough with calluses built up over years of hard work. And my clothes, my shoes, head to toe, not even worth a thousand dollars combined.
It all felt so absurd. So absurd that a laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
"Julian."
I cut him off.
"Since you're already married," I took one last look at the marriage certificate in Lucille's arms, "there's nothing left for us to talk about."
I didn't wait for Julian.
I didn't need to hear his explanation.
All I knew was this:
Fifteen years of everything I'd given had become a joke.
And Julian James had made me the biggest fool in it.
I sat in Natalie Ward's law office and placed the photo of the marriage certificate on the desk. I laid out everything I'd learned, detail by detail.
Then I asked her one thing.
"In a situation like this."
"What are my chances?" My voice was steady, like I was making small talk. "Julian and I built the company from nothing. Our shares are equal, assets split fifty-fifty, everything transparent. But then there's Lucille."
I tapped the desk, thinking of the three-million-dollar bracelet and the apartment that cost over a million.
"I don't intend to let anyone walk away with a single thing they don't deserve."
"Climbing over my bones to live the good life? That's not how the world works. That's not how any of this works."
I looked Natalie dead in the eye.
"I want them to pay."
"But," Natalie was seething on my behalf, yet she put on her professional hat, "your company is at a critical stage of its IPO. If a scandal breaks now—"
"I don't care."
"Then that's all I need to hear!"
Natalie thumped her chest.
"I will see this through to the end with you."