Chapter 39
Chapter 39
“Claire, I’ve made up my mind. I still can’t get over Theo.”
Right under her message was a screenshot of a return flight ticket.
Theo’s throat tightened. He stared at the image, his eyes full of emotion he couldn’t quite hide.
He and Ruby had been childhood friends–inseparable for as long as he could remember. For years, he thought marrying her was a given, the next step everyone expected. But then Patricia showed up and everything changed.
He’d figured he and Ruby were over for good. He never imagined things would circle back like this.
Patricia tucked her phone into her bag. “If we don’t get divorced, how else are you going to make room for your darling childhood sweetheart?”
Theo took a slow, heavy breath. “Patricia, I never thought we’d end up here.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Don’t give me that. You saw this coming, but you just didn’t care enough to stop it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have cheated, right?”
“If it weren’t for-”
“If it weren’t for me being too much, you wouldn’t have gone looking for someone else? Seriously, Mr. Newton. You’re not some clueless kid. You went to the best schools. Don’t you think using that excuse is a little pathetic?” Patricia cut him off, not interested in hearing any more of his half–baked justifications.
Every extra word felt like an insult to her ears.
There was nothing left to say. Theo knew he was cornered.
If they didn’t split, Patricia would leak those pictures of Kelly, and the scandal would hit the company
anyway.
If he gave her what she wanted, at least he could buy some time, keep the divorce quiet for now.
“Fine. We’ll get divorced, but you can’t make it public right away.”
“Two hundred million. That’s my price for keeping quiet,” Patricia said calmly.
Theo just stared, the defeat written all over his face.
It was humiliating, how their marriage had turned into nothing but a business negotiation.
“Fine. The house, the cars–you can have them all. If you want something else, just say it, as long as it’s reasonable.”
“Sell the house and give me the cash,” Patricia replied. She needed money if she was ever going to get her life back. Heading overseas for rehab meant a long stretch without income, and she wasn’t about to play the understanding ex–wife. Every penny counted.
“Three hundred million, then. Take it or leave it.”
When they’d gotten married, the Newton family put on the city’s most extravagant show–luxury hotel,
15:41 D
Chapter 39
the best wedding planners, a guest list stacked with the city’s elite. But that wedding was all for show, and she’d stood there alone, every powerful family watching her become the punchline.
Now, they were ending things in a damp, tiny motel that barely cost fifty bucks a night.
From start to finish, the whole thing felt like a cruel joke.
“Wait outside for me?” Patricia glanced at Jackson. He nodded and gently helped her into her wheelchair. As they passed two men in the hallway, both stared at her, eyes wide, like they’d just seen a ghost.
Her legs…
Inside, Theo dragged the unconscious man off the bed and into the bathroom, then called his assistant to bring clothes and sort out Kelly.
By the time everything was cleaned up and Kelly was packed into a car to go home, it was already four–thirty.
Any longer and the civil affairs office would be closed.
Patricia shot Jackson a look. “Go hurry them up.”
She wasn’t about to give Theo a chance to back out.
Jackson nodded, about to head back in, but Theo stepped out first.
The two of them headed straight to the registration office. Theo didn’t say a word the whole drive, his grip on the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. There was a moment where he looked like he might just drive off the road, desperate for any kind of escape.
His feelings for Patricia were a tangled mess.
