"If any part of the settlement troubles you, let me know," Cayden added. He regarded the quiet, obedient woman before him with the same distant calm he used during business negotiations.
Georgia dropped her gaze and read through the document as quickly as she could. Cayden had offered her generous compensation, including a valuable shop facing a busy street, a villa downtown, and fifty million dollars in cash. The entire settlement was worth no less than a billion dollars. She could spend the rest of her life in comfort without ever worrying about money.
One billion dollars would repay her for enduring a marriage of three years without love or sex. Anyone looking at the arrangement would say she had received more than enough.
Georgia knew the sensible choice was to accept the offer without objecting. But she had not married Cayden for his money in the first place.
Silence dragged on until Cayden placed a cigarette between his lips and lit it. He inhaled slowly before looking at her through narrowed eyes. "Tell me if you want anything changed in the agreement."
Georgia raised her head and held his distant gaze. "Cayden, did you ever care about me at all during our three years together?"
"Not once."
The answer came at once, firm and merciless, and crushed the final hope she had kept alive. Pain spread heavily through her chest.
"Now I understand," she murmured as her lashes lowered to conceal the hurt in her eyes.
The weakness passed quickly, and her familiar gentle smile returned. "I cooked your favorite dishes. Could you stay and share one final dinner with me?"
Cayden only frowned and offered no reply.
Georgia swallowed her tears before carrying the dishes from the kitchen and arranging each plate in front of him.
At that moment, Cayden's phone began ringing.
"Cayden, I'm in so much pain. Will you please come to the hospital and stay with me?" a woman asked softly through the phone.
Georgia stood near enough to hear every word. Her hands closed into tight fists.
"All right. Try to be good until I arrive," Cayden replied. "I'll be there shortly. Tell me what you'd like to eat, and I'll bring it with me."
Georgia had never heard him speak to her with that kind of tenderness. The light faded from her face as she realized that love could make someone treat two people in completely different ways.
When Cayden moved to leave, she hurried forward and caught the hem of his shirt. Her plea carried the same quiet obedience she had always shown him. "Cayden, will you stay until we finish dinner? Please, just this once."
"Georgia, don't turn this into a scene." Cayden removed her hand without care and walked away without looking at her again.
Georgia pressed a hand against the pain in her chest. Her control finally broke, and warm tears streamed down her cheeks.
Three years ago, Cayden had approached her and proposed marriage. She had loved him quietly for years, so accepting his proposal had required no thought at all.
After marriage, they had treated each other with courtesy and kept their distance. She had given up her own life to become a housewife and devoted herself to caring for his every need. Cayden had never shared her bed as a true husband, yet even that empty marriage had once been enough to make her happy.
Cayden's grandfather had died two weeks earlier. Georgia had stood beside Cayden and handled the funeral arrangements. Once the funeral ended, Cayden began returning home less often. Tonight, he even asked for a divorce because Isabel Brooks, the woman he had always loved, had come back to the country.
Georgia remained alone in the living room and let grief swallow the passing hours. By the time she forced herself to stand, stiffness had spread through her entire body. She gathered the untouched food and dumped it into the trash. The abandoned meal felt too much like her broken marriage.
The shower didn't help her relax. When she lay in bed, Cayden's familiar scent surrounded her, making it impossible to sleep.
A sudden chime from her phone broke the silence.
For one hopeful second, Georgia believed Cayden had sent her a message. Instead, she opened a series of photographs delivered by an unfamiliar number.
Every picture showed Cayden resting comfortably against Isabel's shoulder with his eyes closed.
A message appeared beneath the photographs. "Cayden is in love with me. Holding on to him will change nothing, so stop embarrassing yourself, Georgia."
Georgia tightened her grip on the phone and saw how close they were. The ache inside her chest soon grew too painful to bear.
She stayed on the bed until morning arrived. Ian Dale, Cayden's assistant, later entered the room carrying the divorce agreement.
Sympathy crossed his face when he noticed how pale and exhausted Georgia looked. Still, he forced himself to deliver the message.
"Ma'am, Mr. Marshall asked you to sign this. He'll accept any terms you wish to add."
Georgia said nothing for a long while. Then she picked up the pen and placed her signature on the document. She did not want any compensation from Cayden and chose to leave with nothing. His wealth was never the reason she had married him, after all.
Ian stared at her in surprise. "Ma'am, are you certain you don't want any of the settlement?"
She answered with a quiet hum.
Georgia left soon afterward. A few changes of clothes were all she packed before leaving the home she had shared with Cayden for three years.
All the happiness she had carried into the marriage was gone. Nothing remained for her to take when she walked away.
Beyond the front door, a hollow feeling settled inside her. She no longer knew where she belonged. Even so, she understood that her life had to go on.
Cayden had never loved her, and she refused to keep chasing someone who didn't want her.
Georgia pulled out her phone and called her closest friend, Jake Mitchell. "Jake, my marriage is over. I'm divorcing Cayden."
Jake arrived without keeping her waiting. His car stopped beside her and sent a cloud of dust across the road.
"Love only makes fools out of people. Leaving that marriage might be the smartest decision you've ever made," he remarked.
"Enough with the nonsense. Start driving." Georgia took out her phone, entered the surveillance network, and deleted every record that could reveal her whereabouts.
She gave the house one final look, then faced forward and left without a moment of doubt.
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