Chapter 6 - THE ULTIMATUM AND THE EXIT
By Friday, the legal wheels were already in motion.
I had retained one of the top family law attorneys in the city—a sharp, no-nonsense woman named Victoria Vance—to represent Clara. We filed for a legal separation, temporary full custody of the children with supervised visitation for Lucas, and immediate spousal and child support.
When Lucas was served the papers at his office on Friday afternoon, he lost his mind.
He drove straight to my corporate headquarters, bursting through the security gates in his sports car, demanding to see Clara.
Security guards intercepted him in the lobby before he could even reach the elevators.
Clara and I were standing on the second-floor balcony, looking down through the glass atrium at the scene unfolding below. Lucas was red-faced, shouting at the security guards, waving the legal papers in the air like a madman.
Clara watched him for a long, quiet moment.
There was no sadness in her eyes. No longing. No hesitation. Just a profound, liberating emptiness where the fear of him used to live.
“I used to be so afraid of him,” Clara murmured softly, resting her hands on the glass railing. “I thought if I didn't keep the house spotless, if I didn't keep the kids completely quiet, if I gained five pounds... he would abandon us. I thought I was nothing without him.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “You were never nothing, Clara. You were just sharing your light with someone who didn't deserve to sit in it.”
“I want a divorce, Elena,” she said, her voice steady and resolute.
“Then a divorce is what you’ll get,” I replied. “And my legal team will ensure you get every single resource you need to build a secure, independent future for you and your children.”
Downstairs, Lucas finally realized he was making a spectacle of himself in front of my employees. He shoved the security guard’s arm away, straightened his jacket, and stormed out of the building, slamming the glass door so hard the frame rattled.
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He thought he could bully his way back into control.
He didn't understand that the game had changed entirely.
