The conference room at Harrison & Cole sat forty-two floors above Manhattan, wrapped in glass and rain. Water streaked the windows in restless lines, blurring the skyline into something cold and silver, as if the city itself did not want to witness what was about to happen.
Inside, everything was polished to perfection. The mahogany table gleamed under recessed lights, the leather chairs smelled expensive and old, and the faint bitterness of stale coffee clung to the air like the last breath of a long argument.
Emily sat at one end of the table with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She wore a simple cream sweater, black trousers, and no jewelry at all, not even the wedding ring that had once felt heavier than gold.
She looked calm from a distance. But calm was not the same thing as unhurt, and the quiet inside her had not come from peace.
It had come from exhaustion.
Across from her, Ethan Carter checked his watch for the third time in less than two minutes. He looked exactly like the version of himself the financial magazines loved—clean jawline, perfect navy suit, expensive steel watch, and a confidence so sharp it seemed almost rehearsed.
Vanessa sat beside him, long legs crossed, a pale pink designer coat draped over her shoulders like a trophy. She barely looked up from her phone, though every so often her lips curved in a small private smile, the kind that said she already believed she had won.
Two lawyers sat nearby, one for each side, though only one of them seemed remotely comfortable. Ethan’s attorney kept arranging the papers in front of him with too much care, as if precision might make the ugliness of the room feel more legal and less human.
Emily’s attorney, an older woman with silver hair and steady eyes, glanced at her once. Emily gave the faintest nod.
That was enough.
“Let’s not drag this out,” Ethan said at last, sliding the divorce papers toward her with two fingers. His tone was casual, almost bored, as if he were passing across a lunch menu instead of the formal end of a marriage.
The packet stopped in front of Emily with a soft whisper against the wood. At the top of the first page, in bold, undeniable letters, were the words: Dissolution of Marriage.
Emily let her eyes rest on the title for a long second. Then she looked up at him.
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