Chapter 2 - THE COMPANY BEHIND HER NAMEAdrian stared at the second folder as though it contained a loaded weapon.
Adrian Cole said it with one arm wrapped around another woman’s waist.
For several seconds, Olivia couldn’t move.
Her overnight bag slipped from her fingers and landed beside the marble staircase.
At seven months pregnant, bending down had become difficult. Breathing had become difficult. Sleeping had become almost impossible.
But nothing had prepared her for walking into her own living room and finding her husband drinking champagne with Camille Rhodes—the woman Adrian had repeatedly insisted was “just a business consultant.”
Camille wore Olivia’s white silk robe.
That somehow hurt almost as much as seeing Adrian kiss her.
Olivia instinctively placed one hand over her stomach.
Their daughter kicked.
“Adrian,” she whispered. “What are you doing?”
He didn’t look ashamed.
He looked irritated.
On the coffee table sat a thick folder.
Olivia recognized the law firm’s logo.
Adrian pointed toward it.
“Divorce papers.”
The room went silent.
“You asked me to come home early.”
“I wanted this finished tonight.”
Camille leaned against him and smiled.
Olivia stared at her husband.
That morning, Adrian had kissed her forehead before leaving for work.
He had even asked whether the baby had been moving.
Seven hours later, he was throwing away their marriage.
“You planned this.”
Adrian sighed.
“Don’t make it dramatic.”
Olivia nearly laughed.
“You brought your mistress into our home while I’m pregnant and left divorce papers on the table.”
“Our home?” Camille murmured.
Adrian smirked.
“My home.”
Something changed inside Olivia.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Adrian continued.
“The company is mine. The vehicles are mine. My investments are protected. You haven’t earned a paycheck in four years.”
“I left my job because you asked me to help build Cole Development.”
“You were my wife. You attended charity dinners.”
“I reviewed contracts. I met investors. I designed half your residential portfolio.”
“Nothing with your name on it.”
Camille lifted her champagne.
“That’s the important part.”
Olivia looked at her.
“You may want to stay out of this.”
Camille laughed.
“That’s funny coming from someone who’s about to leave.”
Adrian pointed toward the front door.
“You can stay at a hotel tonight. My attorney will arrange temporary support.”
Olivia’s expression hardened.
“And the baby?”
His eyes dropped briefly toward her stomach.
“We’ll figure out custody after she’s born.”
Camille whispered something in his ear.
He smiled.
That smile ended the marriage more completely than any divorce decree ever could.
Olivia wiped a tear from her cheek.
Then she walked toward the side table and picked up her phone.
Adrian scoffed.
“Who are you calling? Your mother?”
Olivia didn’t answer.
She selected one contact.
Jonathan Reed.
The call connected almost immediately.
“Olivia?”
Her voice remained surprisingly steady.
“It’s happening.”
Silence.
Then Jonathan’s tone changed.
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Are you inside the Hawthorne property?”
Olivia looked directly at Adrian.
“Yes.”
“Do not leave.”
Adrian rolled his eyes.
“I’m not interested in your little performance.”
Jonathan spoke again through the phone.
“Twenty minutes.”
The call ended.
Camille laughed.
“Twenty minutes for what?”
Olivia placed the phone on the table.
“You’ll see.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“This is ridiculous. Take your things and go.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I said leave my house.”
Olivia looked around the six-bedroom Georgian mansion.
She looked at the staircase she had restored.
The nursery she had spent months preparing.
The library where Adrian had proposed to her.
Then she looked at her husband.
“This isn’t your house.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What?”
Olivia said nothing else.
Seventeen minutes later, headlights swept across the windows.
Camille walked toward the curtains.
Two black SUVs rolled through the iron gates.
A third vehicle stopped behind them.
Four people in dark business suits stepped onto the driveway.
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What the hell?”
The doorbell rang.
Olivia opened the door.
Jonathan Reed, a silver-haired attorney in his early sixties, entered first.
Behind him came three lawyers and a private security officer.
Jonathan looked at Olivia.
“Mrs. Cole.”
“Jonathan.”
Then he turned toward Adrian.
“Mr. Cole.”
Adrian straightened.
“Who are you?”
“Jonathan Reed. Managing partner of Reed, Mercer & Sloan.”
Adrian froze.
He knew the name.
Everyone in Chicago real estate knew it.
Jonathan opened his leather portfolio.
“I represent Olivia Bennett Cole and the Bennett Family Property Trust.”
Camille slowly lowered her champagne glass.
Adrian frowned.
“What property trust?”
Jonathan removed a document.
“The one that owns this residence.”
Adrian laughed.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“I bought this house six years ago.”
“No, Mr. Cole.”
Jonathan placed the document onto the table.
“You bought the furniture.”
Adrian stared at him.
Jonathan continued.
“The residence at 418 Hawthorne Lane was purchased eleven years ago by Olivia’s late grandfather through Bennett Holdings. Ownership was transferred into an irrevocable family trust three years before your marriage.”
Adrian’s face drained of color.
“That’s not true.”
Olivia finally spoke.
“My grandfather let us live here.”
“You told me it was a wedding gift.”
“It was.”
“To me.”
“No, Adrian.”
She met his eyes.
“To us to live in. Not for you to own.”
Jonathan slid the deed forward.
Adrian grabbed it.
He read the first line.
Then the second.
His breathing changed.
Camille moved beside him.
“What does it say?”
He didn’t answer.
Jonathan did.
“It says your boyfriend has just ordered the legal owner of this property to leave her own home.”
Olivia slowly removed her wedding ring.
She placed it beside the divorce papers.
“You promised I’d walk away with nothing.”
Adrian looked up.
For the first time that night, he seemed afraid.
Olivia’s voice became almost a whisper.
“But, Adrian…”
She glanced at Camille wearing her robe.
“You’re the one who needs to pack.”
And before Adrian could respond, Jonathan opened a second folder.
“There is also the matter of Cole Development.”
Adrian went completely still.
Olivia had thought the house would shock him.
May you like
She had been wrong.
Because when Jonathan placed the second document on the table, Adrian finally realized the mansion wasn’t the most valuable thing he had mistaken for his own.
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