I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw open the door and reveal that I knew everything—that I had heard them plotting, that I knew she was Elias’s real mother, that Adrian had built a life with her while I thought I was his wife. But my voice betrayed me. I could only nod weakly, wiping away my tears. “Okay,” I whispered, voice barely audible.
“Good,” she said, offering a small, false smile that made my skin crawl. “You have to stay strong. For Elias.”
Then she turned to Adrian, brushing his arm with an intimacy that made my chest seize. “Let’s go. The doctors are waiting.”
When they left, silence swallowed the room. That’s when I broke. Completely.
I grabbed my phone, hands trembling so violently it was a struggle to press the numbers. I called my lawyer. “I want a divorce,” I said, my voice shaking, barely holding together.
There was a pause on the line. “Mrs. Calder, are you certain? Your prenuptial agreement forbids divorce without your father’s consent. Your family—”
“I don’t care!” I cut him off, my heartbeat thundering. My voice steadied now, sharp and determined. “Draft the papers. I’ll get my father to agree. Just make sure Adrian never finds out. Do you understand?”