Playboy's Secret Wife novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: Free to Go

The scraps of paper settled on the carpet.

I looked at them, and then at him.

"That was my only copy of the P.S.," I said.

"You wrote it, so I'd say you can write it again."

He didn't smile.

He walked around the desk and opened the second drawer, and set a thick white folder in front of me.

"Read it before you say anything."

I opened it.

The top page said Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, in plain black type, with my name on one line and his on the other.

The lines for signatures were empty.

Under it was a bank letter on cream paper, with a number that began with a five and had a great many zeros.

"What is this?" I said.

"The second payout."

"It's already in an account in your name, wired this morning."

"The three years are over as of today, as far as I'm concerned."

"Chad is gone."

"The license is on file, and the board stood behind you."

"There's nobody left to make you stay."

"You don't owe me a day."

I stared at the page.

"You're giving me the door."

"I'm giving you the door, and the money for walking through it."

"I'd like you to be the one who decides."

"Lucas, the shares."

He looked away at the window.

"If we divorce tomorrow, the trust says I'm unmarried on my birthday."

"The shares pass to Chad's side of the family, and the family will fight over who that is."

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