"The company belongs to my father. What exactly do you think you'd walk away with?"
"How about I give you all the savings?"
Benedict pulled out a contract as he spoke.
"You signed this yourself. It states that Barnes Group covers your mother's medical expenses."
"On the condition that you fulfill your role as Mrs. Barnes. If you file for divorce, the company has every right to terminate payment for your mother's treatment and recoup every cent already spent on you."
He walked up to me and slapped the contract against my face. "Leaving with nothing and calling yourself noble? Is that it?"
"If we actually divorce, you won't just leave with nothing. You'll owe us. You won't see a single dollar. You'll be paying us back."
"Now, get on your knees in front of Abigail and apologize. Do that, and I might forgive you this once."
"Benedict, let it go." Abigail stepped forward. "She's probably just upset because you haven't spent time with her lately."
"Women just want their men around more, that's all."
"Why don't you spend the next few days with her instead?"
"Abigail, you're too understanding for your own good. She's not worth a fraction of you."
Abigail smiled coyly. "Different strokes for different folks. If every woman were the same, how boring would that be?"
Benedict tapped the tip of Abigail's nose. "You little temptress."
He turned and glared at me. "Get out. If it weren't for Abigail putting in a good word, I wouldn't have let this slide."
I looked at him. "Benedict, calculate exactly how much I owe the company."
"Have it sent to me before tonight."
Benedict's expression darkened. He took a step toward me.
I opened the camera on my phone. "Go ahead. Try hitting me again. I'll make sure you learn exactly how expensive every bruise costs."
"Don't look at me like that. The moment I decided to divorce you, it stopped mattering who you are out there or how much power you hold."
"To me, you're nothing."
"Benedict, I am getting this divorce."
By the time I reached the lobby of the building, my back was soaked through with sweat. Years of being beaten down and humiliated had left me terrified he would hurt me again.
I hadn't expected that when I actually stood up to him face-to-face, he wasn't nearly as powerful as I'd imagined.
Freedom felt closer than ever. But I hadn't expected that the moment I got home, the people Benedict sent were already there.
"Ma'am, Mr. Barnes had this gown prepared especially for you."
"He mentioned you rescued a drowning child and hit your forehead in the process. How brave of you."
The same routine, all over again.
Every time Benedict hit me, if I ended up injured or visibly bruised, he'd put on a show like this.
He called it compensation.
But every gown was the wrong size. This one, like the others, was clearly too small. It was cut for Abigail's frame.
The jewelry that came with it looked familiar too. Before I left the office, it had been draped around Abigail's neck.
I sent Benedict's people away, and then I laughed.
In the first two years of our marriage, I'd fought back against his humiliation. His first response was to have bodyguards put me under house arrest.
I kept fighting. Then he started using my mother's safety as leverage.
I'd been worried just moments ago that bodyguards would show up to restrict my movements. It seemed I'd been overthinking it.
In Benedict's mind, the woman I was now would never dare defy him.
Even after I'd stood my ground today, he still held the trump card: my mother. As long as he had that, he could act without fear.
He believed he could control me whenever he pleased.
My laughter turned to tears.
I cried until I couldn't breathe.
The old me had been so desperate for freedom. But I had never wanted to buy that freedom with my mother's life.
It turned out grief had a way of arriving late.
But now wasn't the time to let sorrow consume me. I had to leave.
Benedict wouldn't sign the divorce papers willingly, and filing for divorce right now would only create more complications.
So I'd disappear completely. Go somewhere he'd never find me, then file after six months of separation.
My mind was made up. I gathered the few things that were truly mine and walked out of that cage.
Benedict, the son of the city's wealthiest man, was busy preparing for that evening's gala when I left.
As dusk settled, the Barnes estate glittered with lights and overflowed with distinguished guests.
Benedict was the center of it all, the star around which everyone orbited.
In public, I'd always been the one on his arm. His reputation in the outside world had always been sterling.
Only I knew how filthy and disgusting he truly was.
Benedict kept glancing at his watch.
"Where's Mrs. Barnes?"
"She said she was coming. Should I run by the house and check?"
Soon his phone rang. The assistant on the other end could barely string a sentence together, stammering several times before finally getting the words out.
"Mrs. Barnes isn't home. She never touched the gown."
"There's a divorce agreement on the table."
His phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor. In that instant, it hit him that this time, I was really leaving.
His chest seized. For the first time in his life, he understood that a person could actually suffocate from the pain of a single moment.
The color drained from his face, and his body swayed sideways before he could stop it.
Gasps erupted around him.
