CHAPTER 4
846 Words
CARMILLA'S POV
I sat in the living room of what I once called my home. Silas was sitting across from me, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.
He looked like he had already won. Next to him sat Lila, her hand resting conspicuously on her stomach, watching me with a look of fake pity.
I sat beside my father’s lawyer, Mr. Sterling. It was finally happening…a long overdue divorce.
"Let’s make this quick, Carmilla," Silas said, checking his gold watch...the one I’d bought him for our third anniversary.
"I have a board meeting, and Lila needs to rest. We’ve already agreed to give you the house. It’s more than you deserve after everything that happened with the accident.”
An accident he had caused? I was so sure that he had no f*****g idea that it was us in that car. He must have been in such a hurry to get with that b***h that he left us there!
How didn't I realise that I had married a sick son of b***h?
I felt the familiar sting of tears, but I blinked them back. The old Carmilla would have apologized. The new me just looked at the stack of papers on the table.
"I don't want the house, Silas," I said, my voice flat.
Silas laughed, his laughter sounding like he nearly pitied me.
"Oh? Going for the bank accounts then? Good luck. I’ve worked hard for that money while you were playing housewife."
Mr. Sterling cleared his throat, sliding a document across the table.
"Actually, Mr. Cooper, my client is prepared to waive all claims to your personal savings and the marital home. She only wants two things."
Silas narrowed his eyes, suspicious.
"What things?"
"Full custody of Elias," I said, staring him dead in the eyes. "And the ownership of the Blue Horizon textile mill."
Lila whispered something in Silas’s ear. Silas smirked. The Blue Horizon mill was an old, struggling branch of Cooper Fabrics.
It was currently losing money and was considered the "black sheep" of the company. Silas had been trying to sell it for months.
"The old mill?" Silas chuckled. "Fine. Take it. It’s a sinking ship anyway, just like your son’s future. If you want to waste your time with a mute kid and a broken factory, be my guest."
He grabbed a pen and signed the custody and transfer papers before Mr. Sterling could finish his sentence. He was so desperate to get rid of us that he didn't read the fine print.
He didn't see that the mill owned the patents for the high-end waterproof fabric he needed for his next big contract.
By signing it away, he had just cut off his own supply line. But that was a problem for future Silas.
"Is that all?" Silas asked, standing up. "Are we done? I have a life to get back to."
"Not quite," Mr. Sterling spoke sternly.
"Sign the final page, Mr. Cooper. The one that says you forfeit any right to the Willows name or estate."
Silas paused, his pen hovering. "The Willows name? What are you talking about?"
"The news hasn't reached your tiny
office yet?" Mr. Sterling asked, a mocking smile touching his lips.
"Miss Carmilla isn't just your ex-wife. She is the sole heiress to the Willows dynasty. And as of ten minutes ago, she is Rafael Hawthorn’s fiancée."
The silence that followed was deafening. Silas’s face went from smug to pale, then to a sickly shade of gray. Just like Rafael knew when to walk in, he walked with his assistant following behind.
“Am I late?” Rafael asked as he walked up to me.
“Clearly,” I folded my arms.
Silas looked at me, then at the ring on my finger, then at Rafael.
"Heiress?" Silas stammered.
"Carmilla... you... you’re a Willows? You lied to me for years?"
"I didn't lie," I said, standing up and smoothing out my skirt.
"I just chose a man I thought loved me over my family's wealth. It turns out that it was the most foolish decision I'd ever made."
Lila’s face had turned white. She gripped Silas’s arm, her eyes darting between us. The power dynamic in the room had shifted.
"Sign it, Silas," I said quietly. "Sign it and go back to your 'empire.' Enjoy it while it lasts."
His hand shook as he scrawled his name on the final page. He looked like he wanted to say something...to apologize, to beg, to explain...but the cold glare from Rafael kept him silent.
As we walked out of the room, leaving Silas staring at the papers in shock, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.
I was free. But as we reached the elevator, Rafael caught my arm.
"You did well," he said, his eyes searching mine. "But don't get comfortable. Silas is a cornered rat now. He’s going to get desperate."
"Let him," I said. "I have the Willows power now. What can he possibly do?"
Rafael didn't answer. He just led me out to the car.
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