After He Used Our Daughter, I Destroyed His World Chapter 05
Kate’s POV
I needed to sever the final tie. I needed to breathe again.
I met David Hayes at an restaurant. He was my former gallery partner, the only person who still believed in my art.
“To your new beginning, Kate,” David smiled warmly.
He slid the sleek leather binder across the table.
I picked up my pen. My chest felt lighter for the first time in weeks.
But as I raised my glass to toast, my eyes flicked to the darkest corner of the restaurant.
My blood instantly turned to ice.
It was Alan.
He was sitting intimately with Lillian.
She was giggling, leaning across the table, intimately feeding him a bite of food from her fork.
A violent wave of pure nausea crashed over me.
Right at that exact second, Alan turned his head. Our eyes locked across the room.
The smug, relaxed expression vanished from his face in a flash.
He sprang up from his chair, reacting wildly like a startled bird.
He grabbed Lillian’s arm and stormed frantically toward our table, gasping for air.
“Kate!” he hissed. His eyes darted wildly to David, then dropped to the open contract on the table.
“New York? For three years?” Alan yelled. His voice aggressively shattered the quiet dining room.
Wealthy patrons turned their heads, staring at us.
Alan didn’t care.
He aggressively pointed an accusatory finger right at my face, playing the ultimate victim.
“You are incredibly selfish!” he bellowed, blaming me loudly. “You planned this all along, didn’t you? You’re completely prepared to abandon your husband and your daughter!“.
Lillian stood slightly behind him. She crossed her arms, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips,
I looked at my cheating husband. I looked at his arrogant mistress.
I didn’t scream. I didn’t cry.
I simply scoffed, completely disdaining the idea of arguing with him.
I picked up the heavy gold pen.
Without breaking eye contact with Alan, I signed my name on the final line of the contract.
I closed the folder, slid it back to David, and stood up.
“Enjoy your meal,” I said coldly.
I grabbed my coat and walked out, leaving him standing there in total, seething humiliation.
A few suffocating days passed.
My phone rang in my empty apartment. It was my divorce lawyer.
“Mrs. Sterling, we have a serious problem.”
My stomach tightened. “What is it?”
“Alan is actively transferring his assets and absolutely refuses to communicate with our office,” the lawyer informed me.
He was playing dirty. He was trying to drain our accounts and freeze me out.
As I hung up the phone, my screen lit up with a new notification.
A social media alert.
It was from Lillian’s public account. She had intentionally leaked her exact location online.
It was a high–end private equestrian club located in the wealthy suburbs.
She was daring me to come find them.
I grabbed my car keys. I drove straight to the suburban club.
I walked straight into the clubhouse.
Before I could even reach for the brass handle, a voice drifted through the thick wood.
It was Lillian. “Your wife is leaving anyway,” she pressed him. “Why don’t you just divorce her and marry me?” she demanded.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
A harsh, cruel scoff pierced the air.
It was Alan.
“Divorce? Marry you? Dream on,” he sneered dismissively.
Lillian gasped in shock.
“She hasn’t been able to live without me for years,” he boasted confidently.
“She’s a soft, family–oriented woman. As long as I just coax her a little, she will definitely compromise for our daughter,” he added.
My chest violently heaved.
Twelve years of marriage. Twelve years of sacrificing my dreams.
And this was what I was to him.
A subservient toy. A pathetic, useful accessory he could manipulate at will.
Suddenly, the private room erupted in loud cheering and raucous hooting from his friends.
Through the crack in the door, I saw it.
Alan grabbed Lillian and kissed her publicly, right in front of everyone, sparking the cheers.
The absolute disrespect burned through my veins like battery acid.
I didn’t shed a single tear. I was completely done crying.
I lifted my leg.
With every ounce of rage and betrayal in my body, I violently kicked the door to the room wide open.