Chapter 2
“Where did you get that?”
Victoria touched the emerald and smiled.
“Oh, this?”
“Richard gave it to me.”
Richard didn’t deny it.
He didn’t even look guilty.
That was the moment something inside me changed.
I stopped feeling broken.
I stopped feeling afraid.
I became calm.
I picked up the pen.
I signed the agreement.
Richard smiled.
“Good choice.”
I looked directly at him.
“No, Richard.”
“Your mistake was believing this was the end.”
For the first time, his confidence disappeared.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Ten minutes later, I walked out of the courthouse.
Cold rain poured from the sky.
My coat was soaked within minutes.
I stood there holding the same one-hundred-dollar bill Richard thought represented my value.
I almost laughed.
Then a black Mercedes stopped in front of me.
Richard was inside.
He lowered the window.
“Look at you,” he said. “Do you finally understand what you are without me?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
My answer surprised him.
“I understand exactly what you are without me.”
Before Richard could respond, a powerful sound cut through the rain.
Three black SUVs entered the courthouse entrance.
They surrounded his car.
Professional security stepped out.
Everyone stopped and watched.
Then the center vehicle door opened.
A man stepped into the rain.
Tall.
Elegant.
Powerful.
Alexander Vance.
The billionaire founder of Vanguard Global.
A man whose decisions could change industries.
A man that CEOs and politicians waited years to meet.
But he wasn’t looking at Richard.
He was looking at me.
Not with pity.
With recognition.
As if he had been searching for me for years.
He removed his expensive coat and placed it over my shoulders.
“You shouldn’t be standing here.”
I stared at him, confused.
“Do I know you?”
A strange sadness appeared in his eyes.
“No.”
A pause.
“But your mother saved my life fifteen years ago.”
My heart stopped.
“My mother?”
Alexander looked toward the courthouse.
“The woman everyone forgot.”
Then he looked at Richard.
“The woman your husband thought had no one.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
Alexander looked at him calmly.
And for the first time that night, Richard Sterling looked afraid.
“I am the person who makes sure people pay for what they take.”
Richard forced a laugh.
“Clara is nobody.”
Alexander glanced at the emerald necklace around Victoria’s neck.
“That is your biggest mistake.”
“You didn’t just betray your wife.”