Chapter 70
ANNA.
I get my own office as CFO, and it is so damn impressive. Biting against the head of the ball pen, I stare at the divorce papers, reading clause after clause for any holes Sean might use against me. I’m not a lawyer, and though, Neil’s lawyer has gone through this more than a dozen times, I’m just a sucker for details.
And knowing Sean, he will try everything within his power to take everything from me. Everything is mostly Finn.
The door to my office swings open and Sean strolls in, his expression livid as he hands me a letter. I smile, taking it from him. “Why, hello. I wasn’t expecting you back here yet,” I mutter, unfolding the letter and I all but laugh at the contents of it. It’s just one line and one sentence.
He says,
I’m having an affair with my subordinate for the same reason you’re fucking the boss.
My mouth tastes very bitter, and my heart squeezes with so much rage, I visibly shake. But I’m laughing, gripping my stomach. “I wouldn’t expect anything else from you, Sean. Frankly,” I say, squeezing the sheet and tossing it in the trash. “You don’t surprise me anymore. Pathetic.”
He crosses the space very quickly, gripping the edge of my desk. He starts to talk when his eyes land on the divorce papers. He draws back and snatches them, flipping through the pages. “Full custody? You’re bullshitting me.”
“If you think I’m going to let you take my son from me, just to abandon him as you have for several months, then you’re a fucking clown,” I sneer up at him. “And you’re still very fired because that letter was gibberish.”
A muscle works in his jaw. “I cheat one time, and you’re divorcing me? Taking my son from me? Whatever happened to talking things out like you always say? You don’t love me anymore? Because of the boss? We’ve been married for years, Anna. You can’t just throw that all away,” he says, reaching out to touch my sleeve.
“I swear, if you touch me, you will find yourself behind bars.” My voice comes out much calmer than I expected, the raging storm inside me refusing to break through the walls I have built around myself and fortified for days now. “You tore me down, constantly. Manipulated me. Ruined our family. Neglected Finn and I because of your mistress. You didn’t just cheat, Sean. You nearly ruined me. You hit me in front of Finn. You killed our child!” My voice breaks on the last word, and I look out the window to find a few workers looking through the transparent glass that demarcates my office from theirs.
Sarah is one of them. Our eyes lock, and she looks away swiftly. Of course, she’d return to work. I’m a petty woman when I’m mad. I pulled in a few favors to ensure she never gets a job somewhere else. Not in prominent companies anyway.
I want her to sit right there every day and watch me watch her. I want her to be on the edge of her seat every day I walk into the office and leave. Fight with her and pull out her beautiful hair? No. That’s not me. I’m fucking lethal. The scentless poison that kills you slowly, leaving not a scent behind. Just excruciating pain. I spilled coffee on the floor this morning, and she wiped it without me asking. I stepped out the door and she ran up to me, the shameless wench, asking if she could carry the files for me.
As it should be. She doesn’t want to get fired too.
I didn’t even have to lift a finger and she’s already left Sean. Not that I made it very clear. It was a choice between her job and Sean, and she made a choice. That’s who he left me for. That is who he hit me for. That is who he left Finn and me for, and nearly killed me for. A woman who has no interest in him whatsoever when he’s at his lowest point. A woman who would never support him when needs it.
It hurts. Watching him walk in and steal a glance at her, disappointment creasing his features. He thinks I don’t know that the only reason he’s here to apologize to me is because she’s shut him out.
But I’ll get over it. In time. One day, it’ll stop hurting. One day.
Sean sighs, hurt etched on his face. “Let’s try. One more time. I can’t…” He sucks in a sharp breath. “I can’t live like this.”
I let my lips curl up cruelly. “Die then.”
I wait until he’s gone before sagging back in my seat and letting myself go. I don’t weep. I’ve spent the better part of last week doing that. I just…tremble and breathe in until I’m good enough to walk out. I take the elevator, suddenly needing to see Neil right now. Maybe touch him. It helps get the pain away. I hate that I’m using him like this, but I need an anchor or I’m scared I’ll fall.
My finger hits the button, but a foot suddenly wedges between the door and my heart flies to my throat when Sean steps in, angling for me, and his lips slant over mine. I slap against his chest, but he catches my hand, caging me between his hard chest and the wall, and his scent…it confuses me. It smells like home, but I know it isn’t.
Yet, I’ve grown accustomed to this for a long time, and it’s nostalgic. I don’t part my lips, and his free hand rises to my cheek, pressing hard against my jaw so that I open up for him, and he shoves his tongue in, coaxing and forcing me to take him in, breathe his air and scent.
Emotions war within me, and none of them are positive.
He reaches into my jacket, grabs my hips and slams it into his, and I push him as hard as I can. Which isn’t much against someone with the bulk Sean has. It just makes him angrier, his eyes darkening as he grips my wrists, pinning them above my head.
“You can’t leave me, Anna. You love me,” he rasps, leaning in and kissing me mercilessly. His teeth bite my bottom lip and I taste blood on his lips—mine—and his mouth drifts to my neck, even as my muscles lock on themselves, a sob leaving my lips. I yank my knee up in hopes to hit him square in his groin, but I’m off by a few inches and it hits his knee instead. He does flinch, or let go.
Not until the elevator door dings and he is suddenly…thrown off me. I sag, gripping the metal hold to keep from falling and I stare up in time to catch Neil’s fist slamming into Sean’s cheek, his face frozen in rage, and I shut my eyes when he punches Sean again. “You’re a fucking retard!”
Sean’s bitter laugh makes me look up, and he doesn’t bother fighting back. He and I know that he might be bigger than I am, but Neil is larger and packs quite the punch, seeing as Sean’s nose is now broken and there’s blood dribbling from his split lip and nose. “Says the bastard who’s fucking her. What? Does it chaff? She’s my wife after all, and you’ll never mean a thing to her.”
Neil groans, a lethal expression crossing his face. “Get the fuck out or before I call security. The only reason I’m not beating the shit out of you is out of respect for her. Not that you deserve her or anything good in your life.”
Sean inches a menacing step forward but thinks better of it. He looks from Neil to me and back to Neil again and says with so much hate thickening his voice, that I nearly miss the words. “You’ll never be Finn’s father, and she’ll always be mine.”
Neil says nothing, watching Sean limp out of the elevator and the nosy employees watching us with wide eyes scramble down the hallway before Neil can catch them staring. Not that he cares. He’s instantly by my side, turning my head left and right, eyes scanning my body for injuries, and if I’m alright.
“It’s alright,” he says softly, his finger smearing the tear running down my cheek and he takes out a handkerchief, wiping blood from my lips. And when he tugs me into his arms, I don’t resist.