Chapter 8 - The Price of Treason
Adrian fell to his knees on the cold marble floor, his hands clasped together in front of his chest like a beggar.
"I was wrong, Claire!" he sobbed, tears streaming down his unwashed cheeks. "I was an idiot! Celeste meant nothing to me! She was just a distraction... a stupid, meaningless distraction! I love you! I’ve always loved you!"
I looked down at him kneeling at my feet, feeling nothing but a profound, empty pity for the man I had once believed was my soulmate.
"You didn't love me, Adrian," I said quietly. "You loved my father's name. You loved the corporate jet. You loved the prestige of sitting in a corner office on Park Avenue that you didn't build."
"I loved our baby!" Adrian cried, reaching out to grab the hem of my dress. "I swear to God I loved Daniel! If I had known what was happening that night, I would have crawled through fire to be by your side!"
"You had seven missed calls, Adrian," I said, my voice cutting through his sobs like a cold winter wind. "Seven. You saw my text message saying something was wrong. And you typed back: 'Can this wait? I'm in meetings.'"
Adrian choked on his own breath, his eyes wide with horror as his own words were thrown back into his face.
"You were in a private hot tub at a resort in Napa with another woman while I was bleeding in an emergency room," I continued, taking a step back so his hands couldn't touch my dress. "You traded your son's last moments for six days of vanity."
"Claire... please..." he rasped, his face pressed against the marble floor. "Don't ruin me. The district attorney called my lawyer this morning. They're opening a criminal investigation into the offshore transfers. I could go to prison!"
"You should go to prison," I replied coldly. "Because stealing from my father's trust is a felony. And breaking my heart was your choice."
I looked up at the two security guards.
"Throw him off the property," I ordered. "And if he ever comes back to this gate, shoot to kill."
The guards hoisted Adrian up by his arms, dragging his screaming, weeping body out through the grand wooden doors, slamming them shut behind him.
May you like
I stood alone in the quiet marble foyer, listening to the heavy silence settle over the house.
I took a long, deep breath of clean air, feeling the heavy, suffocating weight of my marriage finally lift from my shoulders forever.
