The voices were painfully familiar. I had just heard them on the phone the night before.
11:19
There was Lily, clutching a folder, skipping alongside Christian. The young, beautiful girl was a vibrant splash of color, bright and confident. Christi-
an was leaning in, listening to her, a small smile playing on his lips.
I don’t know what she said, but the smile on his face deepened.
“Miss…” The young secretary tried to stop me as I walked directly towards them, but it was too late.
“Christian.”
Hearing my voice, they both turned. I clearly saw the flicker of surprise and astonishment on Christian’s face.
I asked him if his meeting was over. If it was, it was time to discuss our business. “I got here at ten. I’ve been waiting for two hours.”
“Who told you I was in a meeting?” he asked, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion.
I was taken aback. I looked at him, and the puzzlement in his eyes seemed real.
We both realized what had happened at the same time.
I didn’t say anything. Christian’s gaze swept across the office, cold and serious. The employees all bowed their heads, not daring to speak.
The young woman who had led me to the waiting room shrank back, her head bowed. But just before she did, her eyes darted towards Lily.
Of course.
In this entire office, the only person who could pull a stunt like this was Lily.
“I forgot to tell everyone the meeting was canceled. I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sorry, Mr. Frost,” Lily said, biting her lip and looking up at Christian
with wide, innocent eyes.
He had always been lenient with her. This time was no different. He didn’t say a word of reprimand.
“Come in,” he said, looking at me, dismissing the incident.
As I walked past Lily, I saw the pride and defiance in her eyes.
6
“Have a seat.”
Inside his office, Christian treated me like a guest.
I glanced at the sofa. It was piled with cute, fluffy stuffed animals. The bookshelf that once held my favorite novels was now a snack rack.
The door to the private lounge was ajar. Through the crack, I could see a woman’s clothes casually thrown on the end of the bed.
Christian looked at me, his expression unreadable.
I felt a pang of awkwardness and quickly looked away. “Where’s the agreement?”
He handed me the divorce papers from his desk. As I reviewed them, his eyes never left my face.
“We’ve been together for so many years. I won’t be stingy. You can have your pick of the cars and houses. If you have any other demands, you can
make them now.”
Was this supposed to be compensation? The thought flickered through my mind, but it didn’t slow me down.
The assets Christian was giving me in the agreement were more than I could spend in several lifetimes. He had always been generous.
“This is fine. I’ll just take the villa we’re living in now,” I said.
I signed my name cleanly and handed the papers back to him.
Christian seemed to have more to say. I saw his lips part, then close again as I acted. He stared at the papers in my hand, as if he couldn’t believe
the entire process had taken less than five minutes.
I stood up. “The cooling–off period is a month. I’ll contact you then.”
Chapter 1
I stood up. “The cooling–off period is a month. I’ll contact you then.”
I turned to leave.
“Claire.”
“Is there something else?”
11:19
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?” Christian’s brow was furrowed, his eyes filled with disbelief, his tone a questioning probe.
I looked at him, confused. Seeing that he was serious, I thought for a moment and then asked, genuinely, “At this point, you don’t actually expect
me to wish you and Lily a lifetime of happiness and a house full of kids, do you?”
I may have moved on, but I wasn’t that generous.
“…” He was speechless.
Christian’s gaze was like a deep, dark pool, his emotions impossible to read.
As I reached for the doorknob, I heard his voice again. “Claire, in the end, I’m the one who wronged you. I’ll continue to cover your mother’s medic-
al expenses.”
Chapter 2
7
The mention of my mother made me freeze.
If there was one person who didn’t want Christian and me to divorce, it was her.
Christian and I had started out together when we were seventeen. In the hardest of times, we shared a single box of takeout, and he would alwa- ys pick out all the meat for me. In the dead of winter, he’d ride a scooter as a delivery driver to save money, not for himself, but to buy me a simple,
plain ring.
