Chapter 4 - The New Lady of the House
The attorney placed the divorce papers on the kitchen counter.
Ruby did not touch them.
Lily sat in the breakfast room with headphones on, watching a cartoon on Ruby’s tablet. Ruby had turned the volume high enough to cover the adults’ voices.
Jameson stood near the windows with Celeste.
Evelyn had opened one of the garment bags and was arranging Celeste’s clothes over a dining chair.
It was not an improvised betrayal.
They had planned every detail.
Ruby looked at the attorney. “Who told you this house belonged to Jameson?”
The man cleared his throat. “Mr. Mercer informed me that it is the marital residence.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Jameson interrupted. “The house has increased in value during our marriage. I’m entitled to part of that increase.”
“Possibly,” Ruby said. “But you are not entitled to remove me.”
“I’m not removing you.”
“You told me to leave.”
“To prevent conflict.”
Ruby looked at Celeste. “And bringing her here prevents conflict?”
Celeste walked to the coffee machine as though she already lived there.
“This doesn’t need to become ugly,” she said.
Ruby studied her carefully.
Celeste was younger, perhaps twenty-eight. Her dress was expensive. A thin gold bracelet circled her wrist.
Ruby recognized it.
She had bought it for Jameson’s thirty-fifth birthday after he told her he wanted a gift for his mother.
“That bracelet,” Ruby said. “Take it off.”
Celeste glanced down. “Jameson gave it to me.”
“I paid for it.”
“That’s something you’ll need to discuss with him.”
Ruby almost stepped forward, but Lily looked up from the other room.
She forced herself to remain calm.
“Jameson,” Ruby said, “I want a complete accounting of every dollar taken from our household during your affair.”
“We’ll handle finances through the lawyers.”
“You signed an agreement last night.”
Jameson’s expression flickered.
The repayment agreement lay inside the desk drawer of Ruby’s office.
Evelyn laughed. “Anything signed under emotional pressure can be challenged.”
Ruby turned toward her. “You knew about the debt.”
“Of course I knew. Jameson needed advice.”
“And your advice was to let me pay it before filing for divorce?”
“My advice was for my son to stop allowing you to control him.”
Ruby finally understood.
This was not only an affair.
It was resentment carefully nurtured into a plan.
Jameson had convinced himself that accepting Ruby’s money made him a victim. Evelyn had encouraged him to view Ruby’s success as an insult. Celeste had offered him admiration without responsibility.
Together, they had created a story in which betraying Ruby was an act of freedom.
“You should pack essentials,” Jameson said. “My attorney believes a temporary separation will make the process easier.”
Ruby looked toward her office.
The door was slightly open.
She always kept it closed when Lily was home.
“Who has been in my office?”
No one answered.
Ruby walked down the hallway.
Jameson followed. “Ruby, stop.”
She entered the office and immediately noticed the unlocked filing cabinet.
The deed folder was gone.
So was the key to the safe.
Ruby turned.
Jameson blocked the doorway.
“What did you take?”
“Nothing that doesn’t concern me.”
“The deed concerns me. My passport concerns me. My grandmother’s jewelry concerns me.”
Celeste appeared behind him wearing a cream satin robe.
Ruby’s robe.
Celeste tied the belt around her waist. “Evelyn said I could shower.”
For one terrible second, Ruby imagined grabbing the robe and tearing it from her.
Instead, she looked at Jameson.
He smiled.
It was faint, but she saw it.
He wanted her to lose control.
He wanted witnesses to call her unstable.
Ruby stepped back.
Then she noticed the tiny green light beneath the bookshelf.
The security camera was still recording.
May you like
Jameson had forgotten about the cameras.
Ruby had not.
