Page 103 of Carrying Your Lies
I don’t dignify her with a response. Instead, I study Savannah as she stares out the window, turned away from us. Her lips are set into a frown, and her eyes are downcast.
If only I could read her mind because she’s shut me out again.
“How about Elizabeth?” Emery drawls.
My eyes flit over to her. “No.”
The bitch smiles at my snappy reaction. “What’s wrong with Elizabeth? That was your mother’s name.”
Savannah eyes me at the statement. She takes pity on me at the mention of my mother. After the half-truth I told her, she knows it’s a sensitive topic.
“I said no. I’m taking my food to go. I have a meeting.” I need to get out of here before I snap her fucking neck.
“I’m not hungry. I have my car, and Hux keeps texting me.”
“Maybe our daughter will love diamonds as much as your mother.”
I stop looking for a waiter and look at my wife. The devil dances in her eyes as she gets me where she wants me. The statement seems innocent enough, but the glint in her eyes tells me she’s got another game going on.
“I hope she’ll be as beautiful as your mother.” She turns to Savannah. “I saw a picture of her once. She was stunning! Her eyes were so bright. Almost like adiamond.“ She tilts her head as she looks back at me. “Isn’t that right, Xavier?”
My nails dig into my skin under the table while I maintain a blank expression. “She was a cheat.”
“So are the three of us.” She turns to Savannah. “His father was a diamond maker. Did he tell you that?”
Savannah feigns boredom, but I can tell she’s uncomfortable. “Yes.”
Emery sighs. “It’s such a shame. He was a talented man. Was brilliant at his job. If only he could have kept his wife happy. Maybe his life would have amounted to more than just diamonds. Can diamonds really replace a wife or mother?”
I tolerate a lot of her bullshit, but not her blaming my father for what happened. He was a good man. He loved her. He loved me. He protected me.
I no longer need protection because no one is as powerful as me. Emery is never going to be my shield. I thought she was the queen to my king, guarding me from being knocked off the board. But she has only ever been a fucking problem. Her alcoholism, her clinginess and now the knowing glint in her eyes. Her only plan is to make my life a living hell, but I’m done.
I throw a few bills onto the table and slide out of the booth. I stare down at Emery. “I want a divorce.”
Not willing to test my patience any longer, I walk out of that shitty diner and get into my car.
Fuck the scrutiny.
Fuck the immaculate game plan I had.
Which fool said you should admit defeat once you lose the queen in a chess game? The king is still the fucking king. He will conquer. He will rule. He doesn’t need the queen to save him.
It’s time to sacrifice the fucking queen.
32
Ourlawyerreadsoverthe divorce terms while I zone out, and Emery sits with her arms crossed. She thought I was making an empty threat when I announced the divorce nearly two weeks ago. She laughed in my face when I told her about our appointment today, thinking I wouldn’t go through with it.
“These are the same agreements you both signed in the prenup. Mr Rivers has offered to give you more than you’re entitled to as you helped him build the company.”
My wife scoffs. “I don’t want it. I want sole custody of my child, and that’s it.”
The middle-aged man looks at me for a response.
I turn towards Emery, who remains sitting forward. “Take it as a gesture of goodwill.”
“Goodwill? You’re not trying to buy my silence?”
