Fourteen Days

Chapter 4 Reclaiming the Soul

The morning after the fire, the villa was quiet. My burner phone buzzed.

A positive pregnancy test. Two pink lines.

The text: *I'm giving him the one thing a pretty vase never could. A legacy. The Kensington heir.*

A year ago, I would have dropped the phone. I took a screenshot and sent it to my lawyer with one line: *"Add this to the file. Title it 'Willful Infliction of Emotional Distress.'"*

I blocked the number.

An hour later, I sat across from my lawyer, Eleanor.

"Are you certain, Chloe? This divorce agreement leaves you with nothing. You're entitled to half."

I picked up the pen. "I don't want his money. I want my life back. His money was my salary for playing a role, and that role is over."

I signed the name I had before him: *Chloe Vance*.

Eleanor slid over the second document: the *Notice of Copyright Reversion and Universal License Withdrawal*.

"Once we file this, every piece of art attributed to you reverts to you. Every print, license, and exhibition copy becomes a multi-million-dollar infringement. He'll be exposed as a fraud."

I signed the second document and returned the pen.

My final stop was a quiet café. On my laptop, I unlinked the joint accounts, deleted my social media, and activated my new identity.

A passport and accounts waited in a country Arthur had never heard me mention.

I packed one carry-on. The designer clothes and shoes stayed. I took my worn leather-bound case with my grandmother's sable brushes.

I was halfway down the grand staircase with my suitcase when the oak front door opened.

Arthur stood in the doorway, briefcase in hand. Home hours earlier than expected.

He looked from my face to the suitcase, and his fingers tightened around the briefcase handle.

"Chloe? Where are you going?"