At Leonard’s funeral, Brandon performed his role well. His voice trembled at the right moments, and he used a silk handkerchief to wipe his eyes.

But he spent much of the time scanning the room—studying the businessmen who had attended, evaluating their watches and suits, already thinking about the future.

Two days later, Olivia returned home after completing cemetery paperwork.

Her suitcases were waiting in the foyer.

They hadn’t been packed carefully. Clothes were crammed inside, shoes shoved into corners, as if someone had thrown everything together quickly just to get it out of the house.

Brandon walked down the staircase holding a glass of champagne.

He looked relaxed. Comfortable.

As if the situation had already been settled in his mind.

“It’s time for us to move on,” he told her calmly.

Olivia stood still while he explained.

Now that his father was gone, the inheritance belonged to him. Seventy-five million dollars had significantly changed his plans for the future.

And she didn’t fit the image he wanted to project anymore.

She had been helpful while his father needed care, he said. A practical arrangement. But that part of life was over.

He pulled a check from his pocket and dropped it on the floor in front of her.

Ten thousand dollars.

Payment for her efforts.

He asked her to leave before his lawyer arrived.

Security escorted Olivia out of the house while rain poured down.

She stood on the sidewalk with her carelessly packed luggage and watched the front door close.

Brandon watched from the balcony above, sipping champagne.

That night Olivia slept in her car in a grocery store parking lot.

Ten years of marriage. Three years of devoted caregiving.

And all she received in return was a check on the floor and a walk into the rain.

Three weeks later, divorce papers arrived.

When Leonard’s attorney later contacted them for the official reading of the will, Brandon called Olivia with the impatient tone of someone handling an annoying task.

“My father probably left you a photo or something sentimental,” he told her. “Just show up, sign whatever they need, and that’s it.”

The meeting took place in a polished conference room.

Brandon sat confidently at the head of a large table surrounded by financial advisors.

When Olivia entered, he motioned toward a chair at the back.

“Just sit there and stay quiet,” he said.

She did.