“I know that the current price will likely soar tomorrow but then it’s going to crash, and it’ll be worth nothing,” she told him.
“Please tell me this isn’t something you found out that’s akin to insider trading.”
“Don’t worry my info is completely legit.”
“Alright then why do you say the price is going to crash?” Luke inquired with a light smile her way.
“Because Doreen’s leaving Larry and is going to take him for everything that he’s worth. Watch the prices tomorrow and sell.”
“That’ll put the bust on someone else though Dani. How do you know Doreen’s leaving him anyway?”
“She found out he’s been having an affair with the nanny the last six months and nanny is currently four months pregnant,” she answered laughing at his surprise. “Nothing is worse than a woman scorned Luke.”
“I see; it’ll be a shame to see the company flounder because of their personal issues.”
“You could always buy out Larry. He and Doreen are majority owners in the stock, right? Buy him out, help Doreen stick it to him. She’ll gladly let you make the decisions for her, and you’ll reap all the benefits.”
“Take over his stock, add the company to ours, now that’s certainly a brilliant idea.”
“You may not have known it, but you did marry a brilliant woman,” she teased as he turned back to the stove to finish her omelet. “You might want to act fast though, Doreen’s ready to file the papers for divorce.”
“And how is it that you came to know all this wonderful gossip?” Luke inquired sliding the plate onto the counter in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and dropped a kiss on her neck.
“She asked me for some help a couple weeks ago.”
“Help, with what?”
“Finding a lawyer,” she said knowing he’d find out sooner or later.
“Why would she ask you to help her find a lawyer?” he asked moving to her side so he could see her face.
“Because…well I…” Dani paused not wanting to ruin what they had no matter how much she hated herself and all the lies it was based on.
“What Dani?”
“I…I went to see one.”
“You went to see a lawyer?” he said gripping the edge of the counter to still his hands from pounding on it. “Why…when?”
“Luke, please don’t go overboard about this, okay? I…I went before my birthday and then I stopped back in a couple weeks ago.”
“You what?!” he shouted feeling gutted. She obviously wasn’t planning on sticking around and it killed him especially after the last few days.
“Luke please…”
“No, god damnit Dani, I thought we had this worked out, but you’ve just been biding your time, haven’t you? Keeping me happy so when you left, I’d think it was all my fault, that you weren’t any happier than you’ve been from the beginning, and I’d let you go with all the money. Make sure you were set up for life, right?”
“That’s not what I…” She argued as he left the room, stalking towards the front door. “Damnit Luke would you stop?”
“Why, so you can play me more? None of this is real to you, is it? You simply use whatever lies, whatever ploy you need to in order to pull me further into your grasp. Why bother standing up for me when my brother raged that I’ve been abusing you for years? Huh? You could walk away with everything if you told them the truth,” he yelled at her.
“For the love of god, Luke it’s not what you think,” she tried as his eyes turned hard.
“No? What I think is that you’ve been after the same thing for three years now—to leave, but guess what Dani, you’re not going anywhere. I won’t let you.”
“Luke,” she said taking a step back as he reached out for her. “Don’t do this.”
“I’ll do whatever the hell I want Dani,” he stated grabbing her arms. “You’re my wife and that’s exactly what you’re going to act like.”