Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Chapter 18
Serenity
Embarrassment flooded over me. How could Brandon just show up like that? What was wrong with him? How could he possibly believe that I’d ever want to get back with him after everything he’d done?
I’d seen his true colors, so nothing would ever change my mind, but now I was back to playing this little game of his, and it made me so angry.
Stone stood at the window, watching Brandon leave. I hurried into the kitchen, hoping to salvage our meal. I’d enjoyed working on it, and now it was probably ruined.
I slipped the omelet back into the pan and turned on the cook-top, hoping I could heat it up again without too much trouble. It was a simple meal, so it should still taste good.
Stone came into the kitchen, and I finished warming everything up before setting it on the table. With the omelet, bacon, hash browns, tomatoes and cheese, it looked pretty good. The toast popped up, and I quickly brought it over to butter.
“This looks amazing,” Stone said. “Thank you.”
“Of course. Help yourself.”
We began to eat, and I savored each bite, grateful it had turned out so well. Nearly finished, Stone cocked a brow. “So. What do you think Brandon really wanted?”
I shook my head, sorry we had to talk about him. “I don’t know. To be honest, I think he takes delight in messing with me. But he should know by now that I’d never consider getting back together. It blows my mind that he’d even suggest it. After what happened, I could never trust him again.”
Stone nodded. “I agree. There’s got to be something else he’s after.”
I shook my head. “You don’t think making my life miserable is enough?”
He shrugged. “Could be, but I think there’s more to it. It’s too bad you didn’t try to touch him. Now that would have been telling.”
My eyes widened. “Dang. I didn’t even think about it.”
His lips twisted. “It’s okay. You’ll have to remember it for next time though, since it’s obvious he’s planning on seeing you again.” His brows drew together. “So tell me. It sounded like you already had a divorce agreement drawn up, but he wouldn’t sign it, right?”
“Yeah… pretty much.”
“Why wouldn’t he sign it?”
I set my fork down. “He wants half of the settlement money from the accident. I guess he forgot that I used most of it to pay all the hospital bills along with my lawyer’s fees. Technically, he should only get what’s left over after all the bills were paid, but now he’s suing me to try and get more. He must think suing me for mental cruelty would entitle him to that.”
I shook my head. “I also paid off this house and bought a new car… that I had to sell. I lost my job after the accident, so I decided to start my own business. That took every last penny I had, but I thought it was a good investment, you know?”
Stone raised a brow. “So basically, if he signed it now, what would he get?”
“We’d split the market value of this house… that’s it. I don’t mind doing that. He took everything he wanted and left the furniture… that sort of thing. He also cleared out our shared checking account, but there wasn’t much in it, so I didn’t bring it up.”
I picked up my fork, but I’d lost my appetite, and I pushed my remaining food around on my plate for something to do. “But what I really want is to have him out of my life. I’m sure once I get my business up and running I could qualify for a loan to pay him off, especially with the money I’m getting from Vanetti. But if it goes to trial, most of that will be gone, too.”
“You need to withdraw your proposal and write up something new.”
I set my fork down. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Half the equity in the house would be better than the market value. Then you should threaten to counter-sue him for mental cruelty. See how he likes that.”
“Yeah. Maybe. But that just takes more money away to pay my lawyer.” I rubbed my forehead, feeling another headache building. “I just want this to be over. I’m so tired of it dragging on and on.”
He huffed out a breath. “I’m sure you are, but he’s dragging this out no matter what you want.”
“Okay. I’ll call my lawyer tomorrow and see what he says.”
“Just out of curiosity, did you get the locks changed on your doors?”
I sucked in a breath. “Uh… no. He gave me back his keys, so I didn’t think I needed to.”
Stone raised a brow. “I didn’t think you trusted him.”
“I don’t… but…” I glanced away, worry tightening my chest. What if Brandon had a spare key I didn’t know about? He could come into the house anytime he wanted. Take whatever he wanted. “You’re right. I should have changed them.”