Chapter 7 - The Desperate Plea
Vincent pulled out a chair, but Eleanor stopped him with a sharp flick of her wrist. ""Stand, Vincent. You haven't earned the right to sit at our table.""
Vincent flinched, but he obeyed, clasping his hands in front of him like a disciplined schoolboy. ""Claire... I made a terrible, unforgivable mistake. I don't know what came over me. Sophia... she manipulated me. She played on my nostalgia, my guilt about our past. I swear on my life, it meant nothing.""
I looked at him, feeling surprisingly little anger. The fiery agony of yesterday had cooled into a calm, detached pity. ""It meant enough for you to buy her a condo six months ago, Vincent. It meant enough for you to parade her down Michigan Avenue in the coat I bought you.""
Vincent’s breath hitched. ""I was an idiot. A blind, conceited idiot. But I love you, Claire. I’ve always loved you! We built a life together. You can't just throw away five years of marriage over a momentary lapse of judgment!""
""A momentary lapse doesn't last six months, Vincent,"" I replied evenly. ""And it doesn't involve forging corporate invoices to fund your mistress's lifestyle.""
""I broke it off with her!"" Vincent burst out, his voice cracking with desperation. ""She’s gone! I told her to get out of the penthouse. She was using me, Claire! The minute the accounts were frozen, she showed her true colors. She packed her bags and left for her sister's house in Indiana. She never cared about me. Only you ever cared about me!""
""And yet,"" Eleanor remarked dryly, sipping her water, ""you only realized that once the well ran dry. How convenient.""
""Mother, please!"" Vincent pleaded, turning to her with tears streaming down his cheeks. ""Talk to Dad! He’s stripping my name from the executive board. If this leaks to the press, my career in this city is finished. I won't be able to get a job managing a warehouse, let alone a corporation!""
""Your father isn't punishing you, Vincent,"" Eleanor said, her voice steady and unyielding. ""You punished yourself. You broke the law, you betrayed your marriage, and you disrespected the family name. The only reason your father hasn't handed the embezzlement files to the State Attorney is because Claire asked him not to.""
Vincent turned back to me, his eyes wide with a pathetic glimmer of hope. ""You did? Claire... honey, thank you. I knew you still loved me. We can fix this. I’ll go to counseling. I’ll sign whatever you want. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.""
He reached out to touch my hand, but I pulled it back, resting it safely in my lap.
""I didn't stop your father because I love you, Vincent,"" I said softly, delivering the truth like a surgical blade. ""I stopped him because I wanted a clean, uncontested divorce. If you fight me on the divorce, or if you attempt to contest my ownership of the logistics patents, Richard will hand those embezzlement files to the police within the hour.""
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Vincent froze, the blood draining completely from his face. ""Divorce?""
""Attorney Vance will deliver the papers to your empty penthouse tomorrow morning,"" I said, rising gracefully from the table. ""You will sign them. You will surrender all claims to the Gold Coast property, you will forfeit your licensing rights, and you will walk away with your personal savings and whatever dignity you have left.""
