Chapter 2
Julian didn’t flinch. He kept adjusting his tie, as if the word “divorce” was nothing more than background noise. Then he turned and gave her a look—half amused, half cold.
“This is about last night, isn’t it?” he said with a smirk. “You’re mad I didn’t come running when you called?”
Katherine didn’t answer. But her chest tightened so hard it hurt to breathe.
Julian’s voice was casual, like they were discussing the weather. “Eloise told me the Lewis Group deal went through. She said you helped seal it. You’ll get your bonus. Don’t worry.”
Katherine froze.
So Eloise was behind the dinner after all.
She was the one who insisted Katherine attend, saying it would help Julian’s business. Katherine hadn’t wanted to go, but Julian’s approval always meant everything to her. So she forced herself to smile and drink, even though she couldn’t handle alcohol. She had thought she was doing something good for him—for them.
And in return, she was drugged and thrown into a stranger’s bed.
To Julian, it was probably just an unfortunate accident. A small mistake his sister made. Nothing worth his attention.
Katherine gave a soft, bitter laugh. “Let’s not pretend. You know exactly what happened to me. And once the story gets out, you won’t want me around anymore. You’re a Nash. You have a name to protect. How could you let someone like me ruin your image?”
Julian stepped closer. He was taller, colder, his shadow falling over her like a wall.
“Tainted?” His voice was low, sharp. “You used a bone marrow transplant to marry into the Nash family. Did you ever think you were pure to begin with?”
For a second, Katherine couldn’t move. In three years of marriage, he had never stood this close. But it wasn’t intimacy. It was cruelty wrapped in proximity.
She wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or both. She thought about how she used to watch him from across the room, wondering if he’d ever look at her like she mattered. But now… now he looked at her like she disgusted him.
What had she ever meant to him?
Julian checked his watch, brushing past her emotions like they were dust on his sleeve. “Forget breakfast. Just send lunch to my office.”
He walked out like nothing happened.
But this time, Katherine didn’t move to the kitchen.
This time, she didn’t follow his routine.
She walked out the door.
Without a word, without a look back.
Hours passed.
In Julian’s sleek office, his assistant, Cayson, stepped in at noon with a lunchbox. Julian glanced at it once, noticing right away that it wasn’t Katherine’s cooking.
His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. He picked at a few bites, chewing like the food had turned to sand in his mouth.
He didn’t like the taste. He never had. But somehow, Katherine’s cooking always made the day easier to bear. He had never said it out loud. He’d never needed to.
But now, the food was different. Everything was different.
And when he returned to his desk, something caught his eye.
A file.
He opened it.
Divorce papers.
There was no dramatic note. No screaming or tears. Just the simple, neat paperwork waiting on his desk, staring back at him.
Cayson stood in silence, unsure of what to say.
Julian looked down at the papers for a long moment, then gave a cold laugh and picked up the pen.
He signed.
No hesitation.
As he pushed the folder toward Cayson, his voice came out sharper than expected. “Send them to her.”
Cayson nodded, but paused at the door. “Sir… you didn’t tell her it was you last night, did you?”
Julian’s hand froze.
His mind drifted back to that night. He hadn’t gone to the hotel expecting to find her there. He was just trying to prevent a scandal. He never thought she would be the one inside that room—drunk, weak, crying his name over and over again.
She had clung to him like he was the only thing keeping her alive.
And for a moment, something inside him cracked.
He didn’t plan it. He didn’t stop it. He let go of all reason, all control.
And now?
He thought it didn’t matter. That Katherine was the type of woman who could be paid off. He thought she’d take the money and move on.
But she didn’t.
Julian looked at the door long after Cayson left.
And for the first time, the silence around him felt like it was pressing in—cold and endless.