Mr. Davis responded that James’s statements were now a permanent part of the record, and they aligned with the mountain of evidence already submitted. Mr. Davis boldly stated they would proceed with the fraud and financial misconduct claims, seek severe sanctions, pursue the recovery of the hidden assets, and continue with the civil claims regarding Amanda’s involvement.
The judge was practical, swift, and unmoved by James’s pathetic attempt to recant. He simply stated that the testimony and the evidence submitted created severe, undeniable issues regarding gross misrepresentation, financial misconduct, and a complete lack of credibility on the part of the respondent.
The judge granted Olivia’s petition for divorce immediately.
He issued final orders granting Olivia sole, temporary control and protection of the bakery. He ordered the immediate freezing and forensic accounting of the disputed funds. He granted full discovery into James’s hidden accounts, ordered that attorney’s fees and sanctions would be formally considered at the next hearing, and rejected James’s laughable attempt to paint Olivia as the party at fault.
James sat at the table, completely destroyed.
He had walked into the courthouse fully expecting Olivia to be humiliated.
Instead, Amanda had viciously betrayed him through video evidence. His own pathetic panic had made him confess to financial misconduct on the record. His attempt to recant had made him look even more unstable and deceptive. The judge no longer saw him as a credible human being, let alone a credible witness. Olivia’s lawyer now had enough ammunition to move against him criminally.
Olivia had her divorce. Her bakery was protected.
James stood up, his own attorney wouldn't even look him in the eye.
He watched Olivia across the room as she gathered her things.
She did not look triumphant. She did not look like she was gloating. She looked shaken, emotional, and profoundly relieved.
That made James angrier than anything else. He had wanted her entirely broken. He had wanted her crawling back to him, begging for his mercy.
Instead, she was leaving the courthouse with solid legal ground beneath her feet, free of him.
As James walked toward the doors, a chilling realization settled into his bones. Leo had simply handed James the rope, and James had destroyed himself.
Chapter 28
Olivia
The doors of the courthouse clicked shut behind her, but the sound didn't make Olivia flinch this time.
She stood on the wide stone steps, the afternoon sun warming her face, still trying to process the magnitude of what had just happened inside that room. The divorce had been granted. The judge had issued protective orders securing her bakery and freezing the contested assets. James’s credibility had been utterly annihilated by his own frantic, pathetic confession on the record.
For a long moment, Olivia could barely believe it.
She was free.
The emotional reaction hit her in suffocating waves. First came a relief so intense it almost made her dizzy, forcing her to grab the stone railing to steady herself. Then came the disbelief that a day she had dreaded for months had actually ended in her favor. Then, a sharp, familiar pang of grief for the years she had lost to a lie. And finally, a rising, luminous joy, because James no longer had the power to define her life.
She looked up.
Leo was standing near the bottom of the steps, waiting for her.
The moment Olivia saw him, the last ounce of her tension snapped. She walked down the steps and went straight into his arms.
Leo caught her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly against his chest. Olivia buried her face in his shoulder, gripping his jacket, and finally felt as if the world had stopped spinning beneath her feet. The fear was not gone, but it no longer owned the room inside her.
"I'm divorced," Olivia whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears.
Leo’s arms tightened around her. He pressed a kiss to her hair. "You're free, Liv."
***
Two hours later, Olivia and Leo pulled up to Leo’s house.
Olivia thought it would be a quiet evening. She expected just her parents, Leo, and maybe a small dinner around the kitchen island.
