“Are you? I’m not.”
He shrugged, as if to say,I don’t care.
And she hated that she’d done that to him, to them. To herself.
“Look, Josh—”
“I really don’t want to talk about this tonight. Or ever. We will get a divorce. I will not accept any settlement from you.”
“It’s the least I can do—”
“No it’s fucking not,” he roared. “The least you could have done wasnothing. And instead youlied to me, worse than I ever could have imagined. And all of that was made possible by your father’s wealth and privilege. So you’ll understand why I don’t want a cent of his fortune.”
“It’s nothisfortune. It was, technically, my grandfather’s fortune,” Monica said, desperate to not let this spin completely out of control. “But I’m not even talking about any of that. I’m talking aboutmymoney, which isn’t really a fortune, exactly. The money I have earned over the last three years was earned inside our marriage. California is a community property state. Ergo, you’re entitled to half ofmyproperty.”
“I don’t want your fuckingproperty,” Josh snarled.
All the work and effort of the last thirty hours…it was as if it had never happened.
He hated her, and she deserved it.
“But you wanted seed money. You wanted a restoration garage with staff and you wanted—”
“I wanted a lot of things. Now, I just want to move on.”
“I don’t believe you.” Fuck it. If he was already mad at her, again, then there was nothing to lose. “I don’t think either of us are ready to move on. When I look at you, all I see is what we didn’t get to have. Days and nights together. The careers we dreamed of. Adventure and family and—”
“You’ve landed on your feet.” He shrugged again, and his voice was cool now. Careful. “What part of your career isn’t what you dreamed of?”
She swallowed hard. “I’ll never take over Fischer Racing. That door is closed.”
Josh’s brows slammed together, his cool expression turning furious. “Why?”
“The company is going public. The board will hire the next CEO.”
“But you—” He stopped and scrubbed both his hands over his face. “Your father fucked you over, too.”
She nodded, slightly. This wasn’t about her. “It’s fine.”
“It’snot.”
“I’m a shareholder. I have a seat on the board. That is my birthright.” Her voice cracked, and she yanked herself back together. “Nothing more was ever guaranteed.”
“Jesus.” He stared at her, his gaze dark and searching and judging.
She’d never felt more vulnerable. “That wasn’t why I left you.”
Would he believe her?
“But you let me think it was.”
She had to make him think the worst of her. It was the only way he would leave.
A muscle twitched on his temple. “That’s quite the act of self-sabotage.”
“I thought I was keeping you out of jail,” she snapped. “Love made me stupid, I guess.”
He rolled his shoulders and nodded. “Yeah.”
