“Amandine…”
“I can’t live with you like this, Gavin. I’m not happy.”
His Adam’s apple worked. “Are you…are you truly unhappy? With me?”
She nodded, closing her eyes with the pain of her heart splintering. “I’m miserable, Gavin. I can’t live my life feeling…unwanted.”
It took a while before he finally said, “I see. I’ll have my lawyer call yours.”
When she opened her eyes, he was gone.
* * *
Gavin stumbled into the Bentley waiting outside. “Office,” he croaked.
If Thomas noticed anything odd, he didn’t comment. The car pulled smoothly away.
Gavin’s head rolled listlessly until it rested against the back of the leather seat. His gut twisted as he replayed her words. He’d never known he’d made her so miserable. She knew she was risking a nasty legal battle by trying to take the baby with her, and still she didn’t care, so long as she could be free of him.
He racked his brain. Where had he gone wrong? Had his mother been right, and it was a case of too little too late? Was it something Catherine had said?
He’d focused most of his life on work, trying to multiply his wealth and his clients’ in every way he knew how. He was good at it too, and beating the market—winning—ma
de him feel like a god. It was as addictive as cocaine, and he craved the high from each victory.
But it wasn’t worth making Amandine miserable.
His mother was right. What could he do with another twenty billion? He should’ve paid more attention, listened to his gut, and realized Amandine was not at all like the other women out there, like Damien had said. It shouldn’t have taken this long for Gavin to realize he’d been a bad husband, who took advantage of Amandine’s good, accommodating nature.
He sighed. No matter how much Gavin wanted to hold Catherine responsible for poisoning his marriage, he ultimately had nobody but himself to blame. If he hadn’t been so blind, Catherine wouldn’t have been able to influence Amandine. And Amandine wouldn’t have decided to cut her losses.
What should I do?
He was good at finding out what needed to be done. But now no matter how he examined the problem, there was only one course of action left for him to take, except it would’ve been preferable to stick his finger in a live socket.
Closing his eyes against the ache in his heart, he pulled out his phone and dialed Craig’s number.
“Gavin. What’s going on?” Craig asked, not wasting time with how are you?s. Clients didn’t call this late at night when they were doing well.
“Amandine wants to leave me. Told me to keep all my money.”
“Congratulations.”
A bitter taste spread in his mouth. What kind of lawyer congratulated his client on an impending divorce he didn’t want? “I intend to provide a large settlement for her.”
“Why? I thought you said she didn’t want any money.” Gavin could hear a fiduciary scowl in Craig’s voice.
“It’s something I’m offering. That’s the least I can do.”
“All right. Depending on how much is on the table…could be a pretty smart strategy. That way she can’t change her mind about money later and claim you took advantage.”
Gavin’s hand tightened around the phone. He hated Craig’s reasonable voice. Never mind he was just doing his job. “She can have half my assets.”
Craig sputtered. “Half! That’s way too much, Gavin. Half a percent is plenty enough, given the prenup.”
“Just do it. That’s why I hired you.”
“You hired me to give you good legal advice.”