Ryan flipped through the pages, his face draining of color.
“Ten million…” he whispered.
Then he tried to recover.
“Emily,” he said softly, stepping closer. “I was stressed. I didn’t mean what I said. I came back, didn’t I?”
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “You came back with your new wife?”
I turned toward him. “New wife?”
Natalie folded her arms. “I met her at a charity gala last month. Ryan introduced her as his wife.”
The room went silent.
My sister walked in and stopped cold. “You have five seconds to leave before I call security.”
Ryan tried one last time. “Emily, please. This is getting out of hand.”
Natalie looked at me. “Do you want security?”
I nodded.
As guards escorted him out, Ryan shouted, “You think money makes you better than me?”
I held my son closer. “No. Your absence did.”
He left.
In the weeks that followed, my lawyers handled everything. Ryan tried threats, apologies, bargaining. I never responded. He had abandoned me during labor, and that mattered.
I focused on my son. On healing. On building a life where love wasn’t conditional.