The contrast with James’s relentless control was staggering.
Olivia took a shuddering breath, looking at the papers on the table.
"I want the divorce I have been asking for," Olivia said, her voice finding a new, hardened edge. "I want my name back from his lies. I want my money back. I want to protect the bakery. I want justice."
She looked up into Leo’s icy blue eyes. "I want James and Amanda to stop making me look like the guilty one."
Leo listened.
Then, a slow, quiet smile spread across his face. It wasn't a sweet smile. It was controlled, fiercely protective, and incredibly dangerous.
He leaned down and pressed a fierce kiss to her forehead.
"Then we get you justice," Leo said quietly.
Olivia stayed in Leo’s arms, the undeniable proof of James’s cruelty spread across the table behind them.
And for the first time since everything fell apart, Olivia believed someone might actually mean it.
Chapter 23
Olivia
The conference room was functional and sterile, smelling faintly of lemon polish and bitter coffee, but Olivia felt altogether different sitting in the leather chair than she had just weeks ago.
She opened her notebook on the polished mahogany table. Beside it sat the thick folder Leo had brought her, filled with hard copies of the evidence. She was still hurt. She was still scared. But the paralyzing fog had lifted. She had seen James and Amanda’s cruel, calculating words. She knew they had laughed about deceiving her. She knew they had planned to shred her reputation.
She was no longer willing to let them write the ending to her story.
Her lawyer, a sharp-eyed man named Mr. Davis, sat across from her. He folded his hands over his legal pad and outlined their strategy.
They would file for divorce, citing marital misconduct. They would request an equitable distribution of property and seek temporary orders to freeze the contested assets while the case was pending. They would pursue aggressive discovery, forcing James to produce every bank statement, corporate expense report, and hidden transaction record he possessed.
"Furthermore," Mr. Davis said, tapping his pen against the table, "we will prepare your own claims against Amanda. Specifically, alienation of affection and criminal conversation."
Olivia looked up from her notebook. "What does it mean to sue Amanda?"
Mr. Davis explained clearly. "In North Carolina, alienation of affection is a civil claim a spouse can bring against a third party who willfully interfered with the marriage and contributed to the loss of marital affection. Criminal conversation is a related claim, filed when you have evidence of sexual relations outside the marriage. We have that evidence."
He leaned forward, his tone turning strategic. "Suing Amanda is not just about holding her accountable. It counters your husband's entire narrative. James is claiming Leo caused the end of the marriage. Your evidence will show James and Amanda had already destroyed the marriage long before you ever knocked on Leo’s door."
The logic strengthened Olivia’s spine. James had tried to weaponize the legal system against Leo, but the truth could be used as a weapon, too.
She felt focused. The grief was there, but clarity had taken the front seat.
"I want the divorce," Olivia said, her voice firm. "I want my financial rights protected. I want my bakery safe. I want Amanda sued, and I want James to stop using Leo as a scapegoat." She looked Mr. Davis in the eyes. "I don’t want him punished because I’m hurt. I want him exposed because he used my trust as a hiding place."
Mr. Davis offered a respectful nod. "We are going to fight for every piece of that."
He flipped to the next page of his notes, and his expression turned grave. "But we need to address the signature issue."
Olivia felt a familiar knot form in her stomach.
"It remains our biggest hurdle," Mr. Davis explained. "We still have no solid proof that you did not sign those specific documents knowingly. The evidence we recovered from James and Amanda is damning, but it does not directly mention the financial paperwork. James implied he was preparing for a future with Amanda, keeping separate savings, but there is no explicit message where he admits he tricked you into signing the transfers or misused your signature pages."
The frustration bubbled up, burning the back of Olivia's throat.
"The handwriting experts cannot prove the signatures were forged," the lawyer continued, delivering the harsh reality. "If James argues you signed the documents voluntarily, even if you later regretted it, the financial recovery becomes much harder. We need evidence of misrepresentation, document substitution, or coercion. Without that, you may still be at risk of losing part of the money James moved. And depending on how the assets are tied together, the bakery could still be financially exposed."
