Chapter 15
I walked out of the courtroom doors and stepped into the grand hallway,
where the bright morning sunlight was streaming through the massive stained-glass windows.
Jerome walked right beside me,
his leather briefcase swinging at his side,
a look of pure satisfaction radiating from his face.
"That was a masterpiece,
Avery,"
he commented quietly as we walked toward the exit,
"you handled yourself with absolute perfection in there."
"Thank you,
Jerome,"
I replied,
feeling a deep,
profound sense of peace washing over my entire body.
As we approached the main elevators,
we encountered a scene of absolute chaos near the security desk.
Kayla was standing there,
surrounded by court officers,
screaming at the top of her lungs into her cell phone.
"I don't care about the contract!"
she shrieked into the receiver,
her face twisted in an ugly mask of pure rage and panic.
"Cancel the custom SUV order immediately!"
she demanded,
pacing back and forth across the polished marble floor.
"What do you mean the deposit is non-refundable?!"
she yelled,
stamping her high-heeled shoe against the ground.
"He doesn't have the money!
The inheritance is gone!
He is broke!"
she screamed,
causing everyone in the lobby to stop and stare at her performance.
She hung up the phone violently,
turning around only to spot me walking toward the exit doors.
Her eyes flashed with sudden,
vicious malice,
and she took two aggressive steps toward me before a security guard firmly blocked her path.
"You think you won,
Avery?!"
she shouted across the lobby,
her voice echoing off the high ceilings.
"You think you're better than me?!"
she sneered,
her composure completely gone.
"He never loved you!
He was sleeping with me in your bed for months!"
she taunted,
trying desperately to hurt me with her words.
I stopped walking,
looking across the distance at her,
and I felt a wave of profound amusement.
"I know he didn't love me,
Kayla,"
I called back,
my voice calm,
polite,
and entirely unbothered by her venom.
"But he doesn't love you either,"
I pointed out with absolute clarity.
"He loved his grandmother's seven million dollars,"
I explained,
"the money that now belongs entirely to me."
"Have fun paying off those credit card bills,"
I added with a gentle,
pleasant smile,
"and good luck with your fresh start."
Kayla looked as if she had been slapped across the face,
her mouth falling open in shock as she realized the brutal truth of her situation.
She was pregnant with the child of a man who was now deeply in debt,
her dreams of a wealthy lifestyle were shattered permanently,
and her luxury apartment lease would soon be canceled.
She had traded her dignity for a phantom fortune,
and now she was left with nothing but the consequences of her own greed.
I turned away from her,
walking through the heavy glass exit doors and stepping out into the fresh,
crisp afternoon air.
The sky was a brilliant,
cloudless blue,
and the world looked completely different than it had just two hours ago.
I was no longer Avery Collins,
the discarded,
heartbroken ex-wife.
I was Avery Collins,
a wealthy,
May you like
independent woman with a bright future,
and my life was finally beginning.
