Chapter 47 Chapter 47: Blurred Lines
Cathy's P.O.V
I start to laugh. It's a strange, hollow sound that bubbles up from my chest before I can stop it.
"This is absurd," I say, shaking my head. "Hunter, this is completely absurd. Xavier couldn't have just pretended to love me for six years. Six entire years, just for the sake of some inheritance. That's not possible."
I look at Hunter, searching his face for some sign that he's exaggerating or that I've misunderstood what he's telling me. But his expression remains serious, almost sad.
"I know him," I continued, my voice getting stronger, more insistent. "I've lived with him for six years. I've shared a bed with him, shared my life with him. I know Xavier, and he isn't like that. He's not some cold, calculating monster who would marry someone just to check a box on his grandfather's will."
Even as I say the words, doubt creeps into my mind. The photos on Hunter's phone flash through my memory. Xavier holding hands with other women. Xavier kissing them. Xavier enters hotels with them.
Hunter leans forward, his eyes locked on mine.
"Then tell me something, Cathy," he says quietly. "Why is everyone in that family so obsessed with a baby? More importantly, why are they all obsessed with producing a Dalton heir?"
The question hits me like a bucket of cold water. I open my mouth to answer, but nothing comes out.
The Dalton heir.
My face drains of color as the realization washes over me. I've heard that phrase countless times. Every single time I visited Xavier's family, someone mentioned it. His mother would make pointed comments about when I would finally give them an heir. His father would talk about the importance of continuing the Dalton bloodline. Even his grandmother, in her quiet, polite way, would ask when we planned to start a family.
The Dalton heir. The Dalton heir. The Dalton heir.
And last night. Oh God, last night.
Xavier's words echo in my mind, clear as day. "I can't let any hooker pollute Caroline's womb when she's carrying the Dalton heir."
That's what he said. Those exact words. Before he pulled Caroline into his arms. Before he kissed her. Before he did what he did while I stood outside in the snow.
The Dalton heir.
"You see it now, don't you?" Hunter says gently. "You see how everything revolves around that one thing. The heir. The inheritance. The money."
I sink back onto the bed, my legs suddenly too weak to hold me up. My mind is racing, connecting dots I never wanted to see.
Hunter continues, his voice steady but filled with anger on my behalf.
"Them not having a baby made Xavier desperate. He's been going on dates for over a year now, Cathy. Over a year. Sleeping around with multiple women at once, trying to see who could produce an heir for him."
"A year?" I whisper, my voice barely audible.
"At least," Hunter confirms. "Maybe longer. I only started gathering evidence about a year ago, but for all I know, this has been going on since the beginning."
Since the beginning. Since we got married. Since he slipped that ring on my finger and promised to love me forever.
All lies.
"And now," Hunter says, "it seems Caroline is finally about to give him what the Dalton family wants. What they've always wanted. A legitimate heir to inherit the fortune."
I look up at Hunter, my eyes burning with unshed tears.
"How much?" I ask. My throat feels tight, like someone is squeezing it. "How much really is Xavier's inheritance? How much money is worth throwing away everything we had? How much is worth six years of lying to someone's face?"
Hunter's jaw clenches. He looks almost reluctant to answer, like he knows the number will break something inside me.
"Ninety billion," he says finally. "Ninety billion dollars."
For a moment, I didn't react. The number is so large it doesn't even seem real. Ninety billion. I can't even comprehend what that much money looks like, what it means, what it could buy.
And then I start to laugh.
It's not a happy laugh. It's hysterical, manic, the kind of laugh that comes when you realize just how much of a fool you've been. I laugh until tears stream down my face, until my sides hurt, until I can barely breathe.
"Ninety billion," I gasp between laughs. "Ninety billion dollars made him forget everything. Made him forget me. Made him forget our vows, our promises, our life together. Ninety billion dollars."
The laughter fades into something darker, something that tastes like ash in my mouth.
I understand now. I understand everything with a clarity that's almost painful. I'm no longer useful to the Dalton family. I can't give them what they need, what Xavier needs. The heir. The legitimate child that will unlock ninety billion dollars.
That's why Xavier has been distant lately. That's why he's been staying at the office later and later. That's why kept this pregnancy a secret until Christmas. I'm not part of the plan anymore. I'm just an obstacle, a problem to be dealt with, a wife who failed to fulfill her purpose.
And that's why he didn't hesitate last night. That's why he told me to get out of the car without a second thought. Because Caroline is giving him what I couldn't. Caroline is carrying the key to his fortune, and I'm just the woman standing in the way.
Xavier is slowly tossing me aside, piece by piece, until there's nothing left.
I stood up from the bed suddenly, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. Anger surges through me, hot and fierce, burning away the hurt and confusion and self-pity.
"I'm done," I say, my voice shaking with rage. "I'm done with this. I'm done with such a scam. I'm done living a lie and being humiliated by a man who never truly loved me."
Hunter stands up too, watching me carefully.
"I'm going to go demand a divorce right then and there," I continued, pacing back and forth across the small bedroom. "Xavier can have his precious heir. He can live his happily ever after with Caroline and their baby and his ninety billion dollars. I don't care anymore. I just want out."
I start toward the door, my mind made up, my heart hardened with determination. I'm going to go back to that house, look Xavier in the eye, and tell him I want a divorce. I'm going to walk away from this nightmare with whatever dignity I have left.
But before I can take more than a few steps, Hunter grabs my hand. His grip is firm but not painful, stopping me in my tracks.
"Cathy, wait," he says urgently.
I turn to look at him, frustration written all over my face.
"What?" I snap. "Don't try to talk me out of this, Hunter. I've made up my mind. I'm getting a divorce."
"That's not what I'm trying to do," Hunter says quickly. He's still holding my hand, his dark eyes intense as they search my face. "But before you go storming in there demanding a divorce, I need to ask you something important."
"What?" I repeat, trying to pull my hand away, but he holds on.
Hunter takes a deep breath, and I can see something like concern, maybe even fear, flash across his face.
"Did you ever sign a prenup?" he asks.
The question catches me completely off guard. I blink at him, confused.
"What?"
"A prenuptial agreement," Hunter clarifies. "Before you married Xavier, did you sign any legal documents about what would happen to assets in case of divorce?"
My mind goes blank for a moment. Then, slowly, a memory surfaces. Xavier's lawyer, a stern man in an expensive suit, sitting across from me at a polished conference table. Papers spread out in front of me. Xavier's hand on my shoulder, reassuring me that it was just a formality, that every wealthy family did this, that it meant nothing because we'd be together forever.
"I..." I start, then trail off.
"Did you sign one or not?" Hunter presses, his grip on my hand tightening slightly.
I think back to that day. The lawyer had explained something about protecting family assets. Xavier had smiled at me, kissed my forehead, told me we had nothing to worry about because we'd never get divorced. I'd been so in love, so trusting, so eager to start our life together.
I'd signed without really reading it. I'd signed because Xavier asked me to, because I believed him when he said it was just a formality.
"Yes," I whisper, and the word feels like a death sentence. "Yes, I signed a prenup."
Hunter's face goes pale. He lets out a breath that sounds almost like a curse.
"Do you remember what it said?" he asks, and there's something in his voice that makes my stomach drop. "Do you remember the terms?"
I shake my head slowly. "I didn't really read it. Xavier said it was standard, that it was just to protect his family's business assets. He said I'd still be taken care of if anything ever happened."
"Cathy," Hunter says, and the way he says my name makes me want to cry. "If Xavier's lawyers wrote that prenup, and knowing what I know about the Dalton family, there's a very good chance that you're going to walk away from this marriage with almost nothing."
The words hang in the air between us like a guillotine about to drop.
"What do you mean, nothing?" I ask, but I already know. I can feel it in my bones, in the pit of my stomach.
"I mean that if you demand a divorce right now, in the state you're in, angry and hurt and not thinking clearly, Xavier is going to use that prenup to make sure you leave with as little as possible," Hunter explains. "Maybe just enough to avoid looking like a complete monster, but nowhere near what you deserve after six years of being his wife."
I pull my hand from his grip and wrap my arms around myself.
"So what am I supposed to do?" I ask, and I hate how small my voice sounds. "Just stay married to him? Pretend that everything is fine while he parades Caroline and his baby around?"
"No," Hunter says firmly. "Absolutely not. But you need to be smart about this, Cathy. You need to think strategically. If you're going to divorce Xavier, you need to do it right. You need to protect yourself."