Divorce Me? Pay Ten Billion Dollars First

he marble countertop, whiskey and shar

d, Harris Byrd, lying naked on a hotel bed. Another woman pressed agains

himself. The location tag read The Greenwich Hotel. The time stamp was yesterday afternoon, wh

rs. Below the woman's smiling lips

llege "friend." The bri

counter, sending plates crashing to the floor. Four years. Four years of shrinking herself, of biting h

like it could split her open. The woman who had folded herself into smaller and smaller shapes to fit inside Harris Byr

ail, then deleted the original from the shared alb

vibrated.

other-in-law was calling. Harris had noticed the photo was gone, called his mother i

d ring, her voice perfec

e was clipped and imperious. "Com

urse,

go's face was already waiting on the large monitor,

" Margo began. "I assu

said n

her tone matter-of-fact. "I've also known that this marriage was

tened. Margo had

n, you walk away with one million dollars." Margo paused. "For a girl

lanned eviction. Kasie felt something cold crystallize in her chest. The

g. "That's generous, Margo. Hold on, l

ed fast, pulling up credit card statements, scrolling through charges she'd never questioned. Hotels she'd never visited. Jewelry stores she'd never received a

been using company money to fund his girlfriend. That's embezzlement, Margo. The SEC cares ab

g certainty

s. She typed in the address of the New York Times business desk. Her finger hovered over send. "Here's my offer. Ten billi

't dare," M

y m

then mottled with rage. A

ve a whisper. "Ten billion. Half the pr

seconds. Sig

r, the agreement appeared on Kasie's screen. Ten billion dollars. Half of all marital propertie

orwarded both to her encrypted email. Th

g business wit

ed. "One month. You play the lov

dream of ups

the window and looked out at the rose garden she'd tended for four years. N

phone and typed a

ready. Com

had changed. Then she

n the first ring. "K

the way people sound when the shock has burned through everything else.

ound that wasn't a word. Low, feral, the kind o

at your wedding!" Leighton's voice cracked, then hardened. "Tell

A five percent stake. She thinks she bought my silence. But she actually signed a do

de Margo Byrd blink. That documen

you ready. The wa

or four years. Wha

nd I never saw that photo. And while Harris thinks he's safe,

rrow morning. But Kasie... I feel like you're being targeted. I feel like it'

ld instantly. The ca

y lit study, Margot's w

rden and felt the ground beneath

standing i