Chapter 4
Olivia met me for dinner at the hotel restaurant,
carrying a thick stack of printed documents,
which contained the final divorce petition.
We sat in a private booth in the back,
ordering expensive steaks and red wine,
celebrating the impending destruction of my marriage.
She slid the paperwork across the table,
pointing to the specific clauses we drafted,
which highlighted his financial misconduct.
She explained that transferring marital funds,
to support an affair partner and an illicit child,
constituted a massive breach of fiduciary duty.
The judge would absolutely ruin him,
awarding me the lion's share of the assets,
and forcing him to repay the stolen fertility money.
I signed the petition with a smooth black pen,
feeling a heavy weight lift off my chest,
as I officially began the legal separation.
Olivia smiled as she packed the papers away,
telling me she would file them on Monday morning,
giving us the entire weekend to set the stage.
I asked her about the private investigator,
the one she recommended to gather the final proof,
and she handed me a small yellow envelope.
Inside were high-resolution photographs,
taken over the last three months,
showing Kevin walking into Sierra's townhouse.
There were pictures of him carrying groceries,
kissing my sister on her front porch,
and holding her pregnant belly in the sunlight.
My hands shook slightly as I held the photos,
the visual evidence of their betrayal,
hitting me harder than the hospital conversation.
I saw my mother in one of the pictures,
standing right next to them on the lawn,
laughing like they were a perfect family unit.
I traced the outline of Kevin's smiling face,
remembering how he told me he was at a conference,
on the exact date printed in the photo's corner.
I slid the pictures back into the envelope,
my heart hardening into an unbreakable stone,
vowing to show no mercy to any of them.
Olivia asked how I wanted to deliver the blow,
suggesting we could serve him at his office,
which would cause a massive public humiliation.
I shook my head slowly,
formulating a much more devastating plan,
wanting to destroy all three of them at once.
I told Olivia I wanted to host a dinner party,
a special celebration to welcome the new baby,
and invite my mother, sister, and husband.
I would pretend everything was perfectly normal,
cooking a grand meal for my loving family,
before serving them the absolute truth on a platter.
Olivia grinned like a wicked mastermind,
calling the plan beautifully vindictive,
and promised to have a process server wait outside.
We finished our wine in a toast to justice,
enjoying the taste of absolute freedom,
knowing the countdown had officially started.
I went back up to my hotel suite,
looking out at the glowing city lights,
feeling like a general preparing for a final war.
My phone vibrated on the nightstand,
showing another text message from Kevin,
saying he missed me and the apartment felt empty.
I replied that I would be home on Sunday,
May you like
and that I had a huge surprise planned for everyone,
which was the truest thing I had said all week.
