"Take everything. Make sure she leaves empty-handed. Have Jasper grab her driver's license too."
Cindy's voice crackled through my phone speaker. The audio file ended.
Downstairs, the front door slammed open.
I sprinted down the staircase. Hugo stood in the foyer, shaking rain from his black umbrella. Cindy clung to his left arm, her designer bag swinging against her hip. Jasper walked in right behind them, his eyes glued to his phone screen.
Hugo tossed a thick stack of papers onto the glass console table. "Pack your things."
I grabbed the top sheet. *Divorce Settlement Agreement.*
My eyes scanned the bottom of the page. My signature was already there. Forged in dark blue ink.
"You signed away my marriage?" I asked, staring at the paper.
"It expedites the process," Hugo replied, loosening his tie. "You get nothing. No alimony, no company shares, and no house. You are leaving tonight."
"You cannot legally enforce a forged document!"
"Try fighting it in court with zero dollars." Hugo smirked, crossing his arms. "My lawyers will bury you in paperwork until you starve."
"I gave you five years of my life. I built the foundation formula that saved you from bankruptcy!"
Cindy stepped forward, resting a manicured hand on Hugo's chest. "You mixed some powders in a bowl, Renee. Hugo did the real work. He marketed it. He sold it. Who will believe you anyway? The whole town knows you are mentally unstable. You drained the company accounts. Hugo is just protecting his assets."
"My assets!" I shouted. "I built this company!"
"Stop screaming," Jasper complained from the hallway, rubbing his temples. "You always give me a headache."
I spun toward my son. "Jasper, they are throwing me out on the street. Do you hear them?"
"I hear you acting crazy again," Jasper muttered, not looking up from his screen.
I pushed past them and ran down the hall to the study. I needed my ID. I needed my passport. I could go to the bank in the morning and freeze the joint accounts in person. I yanked open the bottom drawer of my desk.
Empty.
I ripped open the top drawer. Nothing.
Jasper leaned against the doorframe, twirling a silver key around his finger.
"Where are my documents, Jasper?"
"Safe," he answered flatly.
"Give them back."
"Cindy said you might try to run off and empty the remaining credit lines. I locked your ID and passport in her safety deposit box."
The betrayal hit me like a physical punch. I stumbled back against the desk.
"You gave my passport to your father's mistress?"
"She is not a mistress. She is going to be my stepmom."
"I am your mother," I whispered.
"Cindy is my mother now," Jasper shot back, his tone freezing the air between us. "Just leave. You are ruining everything. Stop delaying our life. We are a family of three now, and you do not fit anymore."
A strange sound bubbled up my throat. I didn't scream. I didn't cry.
I laughed.
It was a dry, scraping noise that echoed in the small room. Jasper frowned, taking a half-step backward.
"You think this is funny?" he asked.
"I think it is clear," I told him, dropping my hands to my sides.
Hugo marched into the study. He grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the hall.
"Get your clothes and get out," Hugo commanded.
"I need my design tablet," I said, pulling against his grip. "My sketches."
"Company property," Cindy chimed in, blocking the path to my studio. "Everything in that room belongs to Gallagher Cosmetics. You take a single pencil, and I will call the police for theft."
"Those are my personal notebooks. My handwriting is on every page."
"And my company logo is on the cover," Hugo stated. "Leave them."
I grabbed my small carry-on suitcase from the hall closet. I threw in two pairs of jeans, three shirts, and a sweater. No makeup. No tools. Nothing that could prove I was the genius behind the brand.
Hugo shoved me out the front door.
The freezing rain instantly soaked through my thin blouse.
"Do not come back," Hugo warned.
The heavy oak door slammed shut. The deadbolt clicked.
I stood on the porch, water pouring down my face. I gripped the handle of my tiny suitcase and dragged it down the driveway. The wheels rattled over the wet pavement.
I had zero dollars. No identification. No shelter.
I walked down the affluent street of the Platinum Estate. The storm raged, but a few neighbors stood under their covered porches, watching the spectacle.
"Look at her," Mrs. Gable whispered loudly to her husband, pointing from her porch. "Hugo finally kicked her out."
"Good for him," the man replied, shaking his head. "I heard she tried to steal that poor boy's college fund just to spite the father."
"Cindy told my daughter that Renee threw a glass at Jasper yesterday. Completely unhinged."
I kept my chin up. I did not look at them. I refused to give them the satisfaction of my tears.
Headlights cut through the dark street. A black luxury SUV rolled toward me, its tires splashing through the puddles.
The car slowed down as it passed. The tinted rear window rolled down halfway.
Jasper sat in the backseat, wearing his new gaming headphones. Cindy sat next to him, laughing at something on her phone. Hugo drove, his eyes completely ignoring me in the rearview mirror.
They drove past, kicking a wave of muddy water over my shins.
The taillights faded into the storm.
I stood in the middle of the road. The freezing rain washed away the last drop of my grief. The desperate need to fix my family evaporated. The soft, forgiving wife died right there on the asphalt.
They wanted to take my money, my home, and my son.
They wanted me to disappear.
I squeezed the plastic handle of my suitcase until my knuckles turned white.
I will not disappear. I will tear their perfect new life apart, piece by piece. I will take back every single thing that belongs to me.
A sleek silver sports car suddenly pulled up to the curb, its tires screeching to a halt inches from my legs.
The passenger door swung open.
"Get in," a deep voice ordered from the shadows of the driver's seat.
