Chapter 3

3.

Alexandra Dickerson, founder of the Dickerson Law Firm, was my college classmate. When she heard I wanted a divorce, her face went blank with shock.

"Layla, what happened? Why would you want a divorce?"

I took a sip of my coffee. "Albert cares about nothing but Margot. Where does that leave me?"

Alexandra pulled me into a hug and murmured gently.

"Back then, when Mrs. Gilbert told Margot to pick one of the Gilbert brothers to marry, she kept waffling, never able to decide. Now, in her own roundabout way, she's ended up getting both of them."

"Your marriage to Albert is legal. If you divorce, he's entitled to half of your assets. Do you really want to just stand there and watch that money land in Margot's hands?"

"You could keep the marriage going. You could use your rights as Albert's wife to make Margot cough up everything he ever gave her."

Listening to Alexandra think everything through for my sake, I couldn't stop my eyes from stinging. But I didn't want this marriage that was a marriage in name only anymore.

So I poured it all out, eight years of the Gilberts looking down on me.

When she'd heard it all, Alexandra held my hand, indignant on my behalf. "Albert's no prize. What gives him the right to trample all over your feelings like that?"

"If you've really made up your mind, I'll respect what you want."

I looked at her and smiled, and said with everything I had, "Thank you."

After a whole morning of legal consultation, my nerves finally loosened a little, so I went to walk around the mall.

I'd just bought a bunch of chicory when I ran into Albert helping Margot try on gowns. The salesclerks were all praising them, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, so well matched.

"Albert, this gown is exactly my taste. Will you buy it for me?"

Albert doted on her, giving the tip of her nose an affectionate flick. "Buy it. Anything you set your eye on, I'll buy it for you."

"This gown really suits you."

Something competitive rose up in Margot's mind.

"Albert, did you ever go shopping for gowns with Layla?"

A scornful little smile came into Albert's eyes.

"With taste as tacky as hers, I won't even get started. Going out with her, I'm just embarrassed to be seen."

Margot wrapped her arm around Albert's, close and familiar. "Albert, aside from your older brother, you're the best person to me in the world."

Standing there in the flower shop, hearing all of this, my throat ached so sharply I couldn't get a word out.

When we were newly married, I saw couples in love strolling the streets, and I envied them so much. I said so the moment I got home, and his face filled with impatience.

"Shopping is such a waste of time. Who has the leisure for that? You, honestly, always making trouble out of nothing."

I didn't want to buy anything. I just wanted him to come with me.

So in his eyes, I was just making trouble out of nothing.

I stood frozen there holding the roses, still not processing it, when someone grabbed me. It was Margot.

She gave the gown on her body a little show-off swish. "The bond the two of us have had since childhood is something your eight years of marriage could never match."

"And just so you know, he handed his paycheck card over to me. He said you don't know how to manage that kind of money, so it's better off with me."

Then she looked at the roses in my hand. "Chicory is the flower I hate most. Remember to throw it out."

And with that she left, harmless as anything, blocking Albert's probing look on her way.

I walked over to the stairwell, wrapped my arms around my knees, and broke down sobbing.

After we married, he never once brought his salary home. Every expense in that house was paid with my money.

Once I couldn't help asking him about the paycheck card, and he told me the money had already been handed over to someone who managed it professionally. I actually believed him.

So that professional someone was Margot.

From now on I wouldn't spend a single cent on him. I wiped my eyes dry and went back to the villa in the suburbs.