Chapter 46 Chapter 46: Divorce? Part 2
Cathy's P.O.V
The question hits me like a slap. I opened my mouth to answer, to say that Xavier married me because he loved me, because we were happy together, because he wanted to spend his life with me.
But the words won't come. After everything I've seen, after everything that's happened, I don't know anymore. Did Xavier ever really love me? Or was I just fooling myself this whole time?
"I thought it was because he loved me," I finally whispered, hating how pathetic I sound. "But I don't even know anymore."
Hunter's jaw tightens. He looks angry, but I can tell the anger isn't directed at me.
"Xavier married you because of his grandfather's will," he says, and each word lands like a hammer blow. "The old man left specific conditions for the Dalton fortune. All Dalton heirs must be married for at least five years and produce a legitimate heir from their marriage before they turn thirty. Only then can they inherit their family fortune."
I stare at him, trying to process what he just said. My brain feels like it's moving through molasses, slow and thick and unable to grasp the meaning behind his words.
"What?" I breathe.
"Xavier's grandfather was traditional," Hunter explains. "He believed in family values, in legitimate marriages and heirs. So he put it in his will that any grandson who wanted to inherit had to be married for five years minimum and have a child with his wife before turning thirty. If they didn't meet those conditions, the money would go to charity instead."
He looks at me with something like pity in his eyes.
"Xavier was twenty-four when you two got married. He needed to find a wife quickly, someone he could control, someone who wouldn't ask too many questions. Someone innocent and trusting who would believe whatever he told her."
My hands clench into fists on my lap. No. No, this can't be true. We dated for a year before he proposed. We were happy. We were in love.
Weren't we?
"He chose you because you were perfect for what he needed," Hunter continues, his voice soft but relentless. "You were young, from a normal family, not part of high society. You didn't know how the wealthy operated or what games they played. You believed in love and fairness and honesty. You were exactly the kind of person who would fall for his act and not question it."
I shake my head, but even as I do, pieces start falling into place. The rushed proposal right after graduating college. The way Xavier's family had been so cold to me at first, like they knew something I didn't. The prenuptial agreement Xavier had insisted on, the one his lawyers had pushed through so quickly I barely had time to read it.
"That's why he's been so desperate for an heir," Hunter says. "He's almost thirty now. If he doesn't have a legitimate child soon, he loses everything. All that money, all that power, all the prestige of the Dalton name. It would all be gone."
"Caroline," I whisper, the realization hitting me like a freight train. "That's why he brought in Caroline. That's why he's been so obsessed with her pregnancy."
"Exactly," Hunter confirms. "You couldn't get pregnant, so he found someone who could. Someone who would carry his child and give him the heir he needs to inherit. And once the baby is born and he's secured his fortune, what do you think happens to you?"
I can't answer. I can't speak. I feel like I'm drowning, like the walls are closing in around me and there's no air left to breathe.
Six years. Six years of my life given to a man who never loved me. Six years of believing I was building a future with someone, only to find out I was just a means to an end. A requirement to be checked off a list. A tool to be used and then discarded.
"He never loved me," I say out loud, and hearing the words makes them real in a way they weren't before. "Not even in the beginning. It was all a lie. All of it."
"I'm sorry," Hunter says quietly. "I wish I could tell you something different. But you deserved to know the truth."
I look at the phone again, at the gallery full of proof of Xavier's betrayals. How long has this been going on? How many women have there been? How many times has he lied to my face while sleeping with someone else?
And the worst part, the part that makes me want to scream, is that I never suspected. Not once. I believed every word he said, every excuse he made, every late night at the office and business trip and important meeting. I trusted him completely.
I was such a fool.
"Xavier's grandfather," I say slowly, my mind working through the implications. "The will said the heir had to be legitimate. From his marriage."
"Yes," Hunter confirms.
"So Caroline's baby..." I trail off, looking up at Hunter with wide eyes. "If it's not from me, from our marriage, then it doesn't count. Xavier won't inherit."
Hunter's expression is grim. "That's right. Which means Xavier is going to have to make a choice very soon. And I don't think you're going to like what he chooses."
The truth of his words settles over me like a heavy blanket. Xavier married me for money. He stayed with me for five years to meet his grandfather's requirements. And now that I can't give him the one thing he needs, the legitimate heir, I'm worthless to him.
That's why he didn't hesitate last night. That's why he told me to get out of the car and watch if I wanted to. Because to him, I don't matter anymore.
I never did.