Chapter 12 - Olivia’s Version
The book deal was real.
So was the advance.
Two million dollars.
Olivia had sold her version of the scandal before the criminal case even finished.
Nathan wanted to sue.
Emma surprised him.
“No.”
They sat in the bookstore office while rain hammered the windows.
Nathan stared.
“She’s profiting from our marriage.”
“She’ll profit more if we try to silence her.”
“She signed confidentiality agreements.”
“Some may be unenforceable if they cover misconduct.”
“She’s going to talk about you.”
“I know.”
“Grace.”
Emma’s face hardened.
“If she identifies Grace’s medical information, we act.”
Nathan nodded.
“But us?” Emma continued. “Let her talk.”
“You don’t care?”
“I care.”
She leaned back.
“I’m just done letting Olivia determine what happens inside my life.”
Nathan watched her.
“That may be the most attractive thing you’ve ever said.”
Emma stared.
Nathan froze.
“Sorry.”
She tried not to smile.
Failed.
“Idiot.”
“I deserved that.”
“Yes.”
The silence between them changed.
Not healed.
Warmer.
That was more dangerous.
Olivia’s publisher released excerpts.
Nathan had complained about Emma’s withdrawal.
Emma had once thrown a coffee mug during an argument.
Nathan had admitted wondering whether they had married too young.
All true.
None complete.
The internet chose sides anyway.
Some called Emma cold.
Others called Nathan emotionally abusive.
Some called Olivia a victim.
Others called her a predator.
Emma hated all of it.
One night she sat staring at comments until Nathan quietly took the phone from her.
She looked up sharply.
He immediately handed it back.
“Sorry.”
Emma stared at him.
“What were you going to say?”
“That strangers don’t deserve access to your nervous system.”
She almost laughed.
“That sounds like therapy.”
“It cost me four hundred dollars.”
“Four hundred?”
“Manhattan.”
“Robbery.”
“Probably.”
Emma locked the phone herself.
“Thank you.”
Nathan nodded.
Then Grace began crying upstairs.
They both stood.
Emma stopped.
“You go.”
Nathan blinked.
“Me?”
“You’re her father.”
He disappeared up the stairs.
Emma remained below.
A strange feeling filled her chest.
Not longing.
Not exactly.
Trust.
A small amount.
So small she almost missed it.
But it was there.
Two days later, Emma received divorce papers.
Not from Nathan.
From Rebecca.
The documents had been prepared months earlier at Emma’s request.
She had forgotten about them during the investigation.
Rebecca placed them on the bookstore counter.
“You need to decide whether you still want to file.”
Emma stared at the signature line.
Nathan was upstairs changing Grace.
“You don’t have to decide today,” Rebecca said.
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because uncertainty is becoming a decision.”
Rebecca studied her.
“What do you want?”
Emma looked toward the ceiling.
Nathan’s voice floated down.
“Gracie, I understand your objection, but this diaper is happening.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Rebecca softened.
“That’s an answer too.”
“No.”
Emma touched the papers.
“It’s the answer I’ve been hiding behind.”
She remembered the ballroom.
The ring.
The airport.
The hospital.
Every apology.
Every boundary Nathan had respected afterward.
Love had returned in pieces.
Trust had not.
Could love without trust become marriage again?
Emma looked at Rebecca.
“If I divorce him, can we remarry someday?”
Rebecca blinked.
“Legally? Obviously.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“I know.”
Emma looked down.
“I think I need the marriage we had to end before I’ll ever know whether we can build another one.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Emma picked up the pen.
Upstairs, Grace laughed.
It was one of her first real laughs.
Nathan laughed too.
Emma’s hand shook.
Then she signed.
Nathan received the papers the following Friday.
Emma gave them to him herself.
He read the first page.
His face went white.
“I understand.”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Don’t apologize.”
“I’m not doing this to punish you.”
“I know.”
“I need to know that if I ever choose you again, I’m choosing freely.”
Nathan closed the folder.
“I understand.”
“You can fight the terms if—”
“I won’t.”
Emma stared.
Nathan continued.
“You asked for no additional assets beyond what’s already legally yours.”
“I don’t want your company.”
“You helped build it.”
“That doesn’t mean I want it.”
“I’ll accept the terms.”
His voice cracked.
“Whatever happens after this… I accept them.”
Emma cried.
Nathan didn’t touch her.
She stepped forward herself.
For the first time since the gala, Emma wrapped her arms around her husband.
Soon to be ex-husband.
Nathan froze.
Then held her carefully.
Neither spoke.
Because some endings were not failures.
Some were the only honest place a beginning could start.
Three days later, another blow arrived.
May you like
Whitmore Global’s board voted.
Nathan Whitmore would not be returning as CEO.
