Chapter 3

He rushed over and grabbed my wrist, his eyes bloodshot.

"You want a divorce now? So you can go find Leopold Dickerson? Do you love him that much?"

I tried twice to pull free and couldn't, so all I could do was look up at him.

"Bradley, do you even understand? The problem between us has nothing to do with Leopold Dickerson!"

But he wouldn't listen. He just kept talking over me.

"When Leopold Dickerson walked out on you, I was the one who married you. I was the one who kept you from losing face in front of everyone."

Looking at him, I suddenly felt I didn't even have the strength to fight anymore.

"Whatever you say, Bradley. I'm really tired."

I pulled my hand back, turned, and went into the bedroom.

That night, I barely slept.

Early the next morning, I went to the board meeting.

I had just sat down when Director Finch spoke up, his tone snide.

"Ms. Baxter, that deal you couldn't close last night? I closed it. You can forget about the chairman's seat."

I looked down at my phone. I had messaged the client last night, and they had only just replied.

"Ms. Baxter, we need a partner who can tell what's urgent from what's not, not someone who lacks even the most basic professionalism because of some personal drama. I'm sorry. The deal is off."

The light from the screen made my eyes sting.

Director Finch stood up, smiling like he already had it in the bag.

"In that case, the chairman's seat..."

The door was kicked open.

"Who said you could sit in the chairman's seat?"

Bradley stood in the doorway, in a sharp suit.

He walked in, looked around the room, and finally fixed his eyes on me.

"The Weiss family put a $500 million investment into the Baxters. Whoever I say gets the chairman's seat gets it."

I looked at him, and suddenly my nose stung.

He had come after all. He still knew this company was what my father had left me.

But the next second, he turned to the side and pulled Freya James out from behind him.

"I want her in that seat."

Freya James stood there in a business suit, a smug little smile in her eyes.

I stared at him, my mind gone blank.

Just then my phone buzzed. A message from Bradley.

"Beg me. In front of everyone, beg me. Say you'll never make trouble again, say you don't love anyone but me. Say it, and the chairman's seat is yours."

I gripped the phone, my knuckles white.

There were more than twenty people in that conference room—old-timers who had worked with my father for decades, and shareholders just waiting to watch me make a fool of myself.

Bradley stood across from me, a faint, unreadable smile at the corner of his mouth.

The phone buzzed again.

"Timer starts now. If you haven't done what I said within ten minutes, Freya James gets the seat today."

Looking at the face in front of me, I suddenly felt like I hardly knew him.

He knew what the company meant to me, so he wanted me to admit out loud that everything I had was something he'd handed to me.

But right now, I had no other choice but to beg him.

I turned toward those twenty-some faces, then slowly looked at Bradley.

"Bradley, please give me the chairman's seat. I won't make trouble anymore."

The words were barely out when laughter broke out behind me.

"Ha, climbing to the top on a man really is different—she'll even throw away her dignity."

"Bottom line, she just lives off a man, doesn't she? Why bother playing the strong career woman?"

"Forget it, forget it, she's got someone backing her. I won't fight her for the seat."

Every word landed like a slap across my face, until my vision went black.

I don't know how long it was before the people in the room finally drifted out, one by one.

I slowly stood up, took out my phone, opened my contacts, found the lawyer's chat, and sent one line.

"Attorney Lambert, draft a divorce agreement for me. I don't want a single cent of the Weiss family's assets. As soon as possible, please."

After I sent it, I closed the chat, typed the hospital app into the search bar, and booked a miscarriage procedure for that afternoon.