Chapter 12 - On His Knees
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Adrian stopped ten feet away from me.
He stared at me—at the emerald silk, the diamonds, the absolute majesty of the woman he had tried to lock in a dark study for three days.
Tears welled in his red-rimmed eyes. His lip trembled violently.
"Evelyn..." Adrian choked out, dropping to both knees right there on the polished hardwood floor in front of two hundred of the world's most powerful people. "Please..."
The ballroom descended into an absolute, suffocating silence.
"I was blind," Adrian sobbed, bowing his head until his forehead almost touched the floor. "I was foolish! Celeste lied to me! She tricked me! I didn't know who you were, Evelyn... I swear to God I didn't know!"
I didn't step back. I didn't smile. I stood perfectly still, looking down at him as if he were a wet leaf blown in through an open window.
"You knew who I was, Adrian," I said, my voice carrying clearly through the silent room. "You thought I was a quiet, defenceless woman whose family could not protect her. You thought my silence was weakness, and my patience was stupidity."
"I love you!" Adrian cried out, looking up with tears streaming down his hollow cheeks. "We're married, Evelyn! We built a life together! Give me one more chance... I'll give up the company! I'll do whatever you want! Just come back to me!"
I looked at him for a long, silent moment.
Then, I reached into my small silk evening bag, pulled out a small piece of folded paper, and stepped forward.
I placed the paper gently on the floor in front of his knees.
It was a final decree of divorce, fully executed and signed by a federal judge, severing every legal, financial, and personal tie between us.
"You didn't love a wife, Adrian," I whispered so only he could hear. "You loved the idea of controlling someone superior to you."
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I turned my back on him.
"Dominic," I said as I walked away toward the VIP lounge. "Have the staff clean the floor."
