Chapter 5 - The Eviction
When I returned to the townhouse at 2:00 p.m., the front door was unlocked.
Alexander was standing in the center of the living room, surrounded by three packed leather suitcases. His tie was gone. His hair was wild. The confident, untouchable aura he had worn that morning had been completely annihilated. He looked like a man who had stepped off a curb and been hit by a freight train he never saw coming.
"Victoria," he gasped as I walked in, his voice cracking. He took a step toward me, holding out his hands in a desperate plea. "Victoria, please. The board... they forced me out. They invoked the morality clause. I've lost everything."
"You lost the company," I corrected him, walking past him to place my handbag on the console table. "I still have my shares."
"How could you do this?" he shouted, tears of pure, selfish frustration welling in his eyes. "You sent those photos to the entire board! You humiliated me! Over one stupid mistake!"
"It wasn't a mistake, Alexander. A mistake is forgetting to pick up dry cleaning," I said, turning to face him. "Bringing a twenty-four-year-old girl into my bed, letting her wear my clothes, and allowing her to text me at midnight is a choice. A choice you made because you thought I was too soft to hold you accountable."
"I love you!" he pleaded, dropping to his knees on the Persian rug. "She meant nothing! It was just a game! Please, Victoria, call Arthur. Tell him we're working it out. Tell him you forgive me."
I looked down at the man I had married. I felt no pity. I felt no anger. I felt nothing but a profound, satisfying emptiness.
"The townhouse is in my family's trust, Alexander," I said, gesturing to his suitcases. "Your access codes to the building have already been revoked. The joint accounts are frozen pending the divorce proceedings. My lawyers will contact you on Monday."
"Where am I supposed to go?" he sobbed, burying his face in his hands.
May you like
"I don't know," I said, walking toward the master bedroom. "But I hear the Plaza has some lovely rooms. Just make sure you bring your own silk. I'm having everything in this house incinerated."
I walked into the bedroom, closed the heavy oak door, and locked it behind me.
