Chapter 3 - The Gathering Storm
With the evidence in my possession, I felt a dangerous, powerful kind of calm settle over my mind.
I didn't just want a divorce anymore; I wanted absolute, undeniable destruction of the people who tried to ruin me.
I spent the next three days sitting at my parents' dining room table, refusing to answer Ryan's endless, frantic phone calls.
I hired the most aggressive, ruthless divorce attorney in the city, a woman named Eleanor Vance.
Eleanor reviewed the forged medical documents and the hacked emails with a predatory smile on her face.
"They practically handed us a loaded gun, Claire," Eleanor laughed, tapping her expensive pen against the desk.
"We are going to take everything he owns, and we will ensure his mother sees the inside of a jail cell."
While Eleanor drafted the legal paperwork, Ryan was apparently spiraling into a state of total panic.
He showed up at my parents' house on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, banging his fists violently against the heavy wooden front door.
My father opened the door just a crack, leaving the steel security chain firmly engaged.
"Claire, please! I know I made a mistake!" Ryan yelled, trying to push his face into the narrow gap.
"You didn't make a mistake, Ryan," I said, stepping up behind my father.
"You hired a divorce lawyer behind my back and let your mother announce it to the world while I was carrying your child."
"I thought you were sleeping with Dr. Keller!" he pleaded, tears streaming down his face.
"Dr. Keller is a woman, you absolute idiot," I replied coldly.
The blood completely drained from Ryan's face as the reality of his monumental stupidity washed over him.
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"My lawyer will be contacting your lawyer by the end of the day," I finished.
My dad slammed the door shut, locking the deadbolt with a satisfying, heavy click.
