She needed to know, for her own peace of mind, that the corpse of her marriage was truly, undeniably dead. She wanted to be able to tell herself in the future that she had genuinely tried.
Audrey took a slow, shuddering breath. The weight of her decision felt like an anvil dropping onto her chest.
"Ninety days," Audrey said. Her voice was a flat, dead calm that echoed off the glass walls.
Simon let out a choked, tearing sound of relief, dropping his head into his hands as his shoulders shook violently.
"I will sign the stipulation," Audrey continued, turning her cold, unyielding gaze to Jerome Carter. "I will attend the sessions. But let me be entirely clear. If he violates the custody boundaries, if he misses a single session, or if I reach day ninety-one and my answer is still no, the uncontested dissolution takes effect immediately. No delays. No renegotiations."
"Understood," Jerome said, a flicker of professional respect crossing his features. "We will draft the addendum today."
Audrey stood up. Her legs felt like lead, her entire body numb with the devastating reality of what she had just agreed to. She had bought her peaceful exit, but the price was a temporary return to hell.
She picked up her briefcase, the leather handle biting into her palm. She didn't look at Simon again as she walked out of the freezing conference room.
As she stepped into the elevator, the heavy steel doors sliding shut to isolate her, the numbness finally shattered. Audrey leaned heavily against the polished metal wall, a profound, agonizing ache tearing through her chest.
She had just given her husband ninety days.
And now, the excruciating work of facing the ghost of her marriage was about to begin.
Chapter 21
Audrey
The drive back to the suburbs was an entirely blank stretch of time. Audrey operated the car on pure, mechanical instinct, her mind trapped in the freezing, cavernous conference room she had just left. The ninety-day clock had already started ticking in her head, a deafening, relentless countdown.
When she finally pulled into her driveway and stepped through the front door, the heavy silence of the house was broken by the soft, ambient glow of the kitchen pendant lights.
Miranda was sitting at the marble island, grading a stack of high school history papers with a red pen. Lily was already asleep upstairs, the house settled into its quiet evening routine. Miranda looked up as the heavy oak door clicked shut, her sharp eyes instantly reading the pale, exhausted devastation written across Audrey’s face.
She set the red pen down immediately. "What happened?"
Audrey dropped her keys into the ceramic bowl on the entryway table. Her legs felt completely devoid of bone. Shewalked into the kitchen, pulled out one of the high-backed stools, and sank onto it, burying her face in her hands.
"He cornered me," Audrey whispered, her voice muffled against her palms. "He and Jerome offered a complete, uncontested surrender. He’ll sign the papers, give me primary residence, and walk away from his equity in the agency. No trial. No bloodbath."
Miranda’s brow furrowed, a fierce, protective suspicion instantly hardening her features. "What's the price, Audrey? Men like Simon don't just hand over millions in corporate assets and the keys to the castle without a catch."
"Ninety days," Audrey said, lifting her head. Her eyes burned, but the tears wouldn't come. "Three months of intensive, joint marriage counseling. If I give him that, and I still want out on day ninety-one, he signs without a word. If I say no to the therapy... he'll drag me and Lily through a year-long litigation."
"That manipulative son of a—" Miranda cut herself off, standing up and walking to the wine rack. She pulled down a bottle of cabernet and two large glass goblets, her movements sharp with anger. "He is using his financial leverage to force you back into a room with him."
"I know," Audrey said softly, accepting the heavy glass her sister slid across the marble. "But Miranda... I agreed to it."
Miranda stopped, the wine bottle hovering over the counter. She looked at Audrey, the anger bleeding out of her face, replaced by a deep, grounded empathy. She pulled up the stool next to her sister and sat down.
"Okay," Miranda said, her voice dropping to a calm, steady timber. She didn't judge. She didn't yell. "Walk me through the math, Audie. Why did you say yes?"
"Because of Lily," Audrey confessed, staring down into the dark red liquid. "And because of me. If I walk away right now, when he is begging for a chance to do the work, there will always be a terrifying, tiny voice in the back of my head asking if I amputated too soon. If I let my rage blind me. I need the data to be absolute. I need to be able to look Lily in the eye in ten years and tell her that her mother tried absolutely everything before she tore her family apart."
Miranda reached out, wrapping her warm hand over Audrey’s cold, trembling fingers.
"You're bulletproofing your conscience," Miranda murmured, a sad, profoundly understanding smile touching her lips. "You're walking back into the fire so you can leave it without a single regret. That is incredibly brave, Audrey. But it is going to be agonizing."
"I know," Audrey whispered, a shaky breath rattling in her chest. She took a long sip of the wine, letting the heat fortify her. She stared at the marble countertop, the heavy, unspoken variable in the room pressing against her throat. "And there is a massive complication."
Miranda tilted her head. "A complication?"
