We lunch and chat, mostly about my life back home, my plans for the future. I avoid talking about my marriage, but ask about their families and who they recommend to manage my money and so on. After all, I’m going to need advisors of my own soon.
Ethan calls to let me know that the process of claiming my trust will take much less time than anticipated. Doris can’t mess it up by filing motion after motion while she’s in jail in America when she needs every bit of money and mental energy to defend herself and her family. She’s probably going to throw Parker under the bus, but the latter won’t go quietly. She’s easily crazy and angry enough to go scorched earth on everyone.
“Even the probate in Nesovia will be shortened. There’s so much interest and speculation that even if the court justifiably delays the process, it’ll look really bad. Those people are way too image-conscious. Why don’t they always do the right thing?” I can hear the head shake in Ethan’s voice.
“So it doesn’t matter if I’m married or not? Or reach thirty or not?”
“Doesn’t look like it. Technically you don’t have to maintain your marital status until you get control of your trust, especially if there’s no one challenging it, like your aunt. And Ares can’t touch anything, since he signed the prenuptial agreement. I expect it to take maybe two, maybe three more months? Then you’ll be fully in charge.”
“Thanks. That’s good to know.” My voice is slightly hollow. Once Ares gets his promotion, we really have no reason to stay married. “Hey, when do most law firms announce promotions and stuff?”
If Ethan’s surprised by the question, he hides it well. “Our firm announces publicly in the next two weeks, before the month is over. Huxley & Webber do, too. Don’t know about other firms.”
“You sure about Huxley & Webber?”
“Oh yeah. Rivals,” he says. “We all know about each other so we can rub it in each others’ faces.”
“Oh. That’s…soon.” I thought—I washoping—it wasn’t for another month or two…or a couple of years. I clear my throat. “Just in case… Um. Can you prepare for a divorce?”
This time an edge of surprise comes through. “I’m sorry?”
“It’sjust in case. Ares and I…might not have a reason to stay married anymore.” He might not become a partner, even though he seemed fairly certain all he needed was a respectful wife. I bite my lip, hating myself for wishing even for a second he wouldn’t get promoted. Just what kind of shitty person am I? I got what I wanted when I married Ares. I should want him to get everythinghewants.
“Uh… Yeah. Of course. But maybe you should wait until you’re sure about it first. It’s not a cheap process. If you still want to proceed, I can start, though. Anyway, take a few days to think about it.”
We hang up, but my phone rings again soon. Wondering if Ethan forgot something, I answer it without checking the screen.
“Not bad, my dear,” comes Zoe’s voice, tinged with a hint of reluctant respect. “You’re much more resourceful than I expected.”
I stiffen. “A girl learns fast when she never had much to work with.”Thanks to people who turned a blind eye, like you.
“They aren’t going to pay for poisoning you, though. And how about their supplier? It’s someone fairly close to you. And me, of course.”
Is she implying Harvey was Doris’s poison dealer? And does she think I’ll believe her? A woman who drugs her son and leaves him in a forest alone is just as capable as Harvey of handing out poison for the right price. Thank God Ares has a wonderful stepmother in Akiko, and his father is sane. “I honestly don’t care, Zoe.”
“Don’t you want to know about your parents’ deaths?”
The air in my lungs freezes. I take a moment to gather myself. I can’t afford to show any cracks to Zoe. “The food poisoning?” Despite my resolve, my voice is shaky.
“Yes. Don’t you want to know if it was just bad luck…or something more sinister?” she says, drawing out each syllable.
My first gut reaction isyes. Unequivocally yes. I’d love to know if anybody played a hand in taking my family away from me. Then I’d love to make them pay.
And yet…
I clench the phone until my knuckles whiten. Zoe expects me to jump at this chance, especially when I’m riding high after dispatching Doris and her family.
Zoe’s doing this because it benefits her. She wants to dangle this in front of me and manipulate me. She wouldn’t have bothered otherwise, just like she looked the other way while Doris and her family abused me.
Loathing and resentment surge inside. I draw in air slowly to calm the churning emotions. As much as I’d love to know the truth, I’m never going to give Zoe any power over me. Mom and Dad aren’t coming back. The only one with the motive to hurt them is Doris, and she’s already sitting in jail, awaiting trial. Even if she doesn’t get sentenced for poisoning my parents—assuming she actually did that—she’ll still rot in prison. “It doesn’t change the past,” I say coldly.
“Well, aren’t you the Machiavellian one? I like that about you. Sentimentality issocheap.”
“Too bad, because I don’t like anything about you. By the way, what I said applies to you too. You can call and bug me all you want, but you’ll never have Ares’s respect and love again. He despises you.”
A sharp inhale, followed by a low hiss, full of venomous fury. If we were facing each other in person, she’d probably slap me. “Don’t get too cocky,” she sneers. “Do you honestly believe I have no reach outside of Nesovia? Do you think just because you’re in America, you’re untouchable?”
“Why not?”
