Chapter 35
OLIVIA
God, I'm an idiot. A pregnant, hormonal, rage-filled idiot who's about to blow up her entire life in a hotel hallway. And you know what? I don't give a damn.
My heels clicked against the marble floor as Aria and I approached room 1030. Each step echoed my heartbeat—fast, furious, ready for war. My palm was sweating against Aria's hand, but I squeezed tighter anyway. She was my anchor right now, the only thing keeping me from completely losing it.
"We're doing this together," I told her, my voice steady despite the hurricane inside me. "I handle David, you handle that secretary. One punch each if we need to, then we run like hell."
Aria gave me a look. "Liv, we're both pregnant. We can't just—"
"Watch me." I cut her off. "That bastard made me feel worthless while he was screwing his assistant. He's lucky I'm only planning one punch."
The truth was, my hands were shaking. Not from fear—from pure, unfiltered rage. Three months of his parents criticizing every breath I took. Three months of him working late. Three months of me blaming myself for not being attractive enough, not being good enough, while he was sticking it to his twenty-something secretary.
We stopped outside 1030. The hallway suddenly felt too quiet, too elegant for what was about to go down. I raised my fist and knocked. Two sharp raps that sounded like gunshots in the silence.
My heart hammered against my ribs. This was it. No going back.
The door opened, and there she was. Bella. David's precious assistant.
She wasn't stunning. That's what killed me. She wasn't some bombshell that made sense of why my husband threw away our marriage. She was just... ordinary. Pretty enough, sure. Young, with that dewy skin that hadn't seen thirty yet. But ordinary.
Except for that look. That soft, helpless, save-me vibe that apparently drove men wild. The same energy Emma Grant weaponized so well. These girls who played weak while destroying marriages—they had it down to an art form.
"Ms. Redwood..." Bella's voice came out breathy, shocked. "What are you doing here?"
Ms. Redwood. Not Olivia. Not even Mrs. Coleman. She knew exactly who I was and still chose to screw my husband.
"What am I doing here?" I kept my voice level, but inside I was screaming. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing."
Aria stepped forward, phone strategically angled. Smart girl. "My friend is looking for her husband. Where's David Coleman? Tell him to get his ass out here."
Bella's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Then footsteps behind her, and there he was. My husband. The man who saved me from a burning building. The man who promised to love me forever.
The man who was currently banging his secretary in a hotel I was paying for.
"Sweetheart?" David's face went from confused to terrified in about two seconds. "Aria? What are you both doing here? Olivia, you should be home resting—"
He reached for my hand. The audacity of this man.
I yanked away so hard I almost fell backward. "Don't you dare touch me."
"Olivia, please, let me explain—"
The slap echoed through the hallway. My palm stung, but God, it felt good. His head snapped to the side, a red mark already blooming on his cheek.
"David Coleman," I said, my voice deadly calm. "You're really something, aren't you? Using my money to rent hotel rooms for your mistress?"
He touched his cheek, eyes wide. Behind him, Bella made a small noise, pressing herself against the doorframe.
"It's not what it looks like—"
"Save it." I was done. Done with his lies, done with his excuses, done with feeling like I wasn't enough. "I know exactly what this is."
My hand moved again, but this time Aria caught my wrist. "Evidence first," she whispered. "Then we run."
Right. Evidence. Because apparently catching them in a hotel room together wasn't enough these days.
I smiled at David. Not a nice smile. The kind of smile that made him take a step back.
"You know what the funny part is?" I said, loud enough for anyone in nearby rooms to hear. "I actually blamed myself. Thought maybe I wasn't pretty enough anymore. Maybe the pregnancy made me less attractive. Maybe I was too moody, too demanding."
Bella shifted uncomfortably. Good. Let her squirm.
"But it wasn't me at all, was it?" I continued. "You're just a pathetic excuse for a man who thinks with his dick instead of his brain. A man who wouldn't even have a job if I hadn't given you one at MY company."
"Olivia, please, the baby—" David started.
"Don't you dare mention my baby." The words came out as a snarl. "You lost the right to care about this child the moment you decided to destroy our family."
I turned to Bella, who was trying to shrink into the wallpaper. "And you. You cheap little whore."
She opened her mouth, probably to deny it, but I wasn't done.
"Tell me, Bella, does it turn you on? Fucking a man who lives off his wife's money? A man who only has a corner office because I put him there?" I stepped closer, and she pressed back against the door frame.
Her face went red, then white. Good.
"I hope he's worth it," I said. "Because when I'm done with the divorce, he won't have a penny to his name. Let's see how attractive he is when he can't afford your hotel rooms."
David's face went white. "Olivia, you can't—"
"Watch me." I pulled out my phone, making sure they both saw me recording. "Smile for the camera. My lawyer's going to love this."
Just then, another guy's voice came from inside the room. "Ms. Redwood? What are you doing here?" A guy in a business suit stepped out from behind David, his face going from confused to panicked. "You even hit David? Is there some kind of mix-up here?"