She Built His Empire, Then Watched It Burn

4: 4

“Kindness?”

I repeated the word, and then a laugh broke out of me while the tears slowly filled my eyes.

“I have a breast lump they think could be malignant. Next week I go into the hospital for a biopsy.”

“I was kind to her. Have you ever once been kind to me?”

“The doctor said the biggest cause of this condition is emotional stress.”

I pulled the report out of my bag and threw it down in front of him.

The pages fanned open.

The words “suspected malignant lesion” were right there, plain to read.

Maxwell froze, his eyes dropping to it before he could stop himself.

My voice shook.:

“I used to think that even if you didn't love me, there were still four years between us.”

“Now I finally understand. You don't just not love me. You don't have a shred of human decency left.”

“I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were sick. If I'd known, I never would have...”

Ruby started crying again, reaching out to grab my arm.

“Don't touch me.”

I shoved her away hard.:

“You don't get a say in this.”

“Annette!”

He thought I was about to hit Ruby, and suddenly threw out a hand and shoved me.

Hard.

I stumbled back several steps, and the small of my back slammed into the corner of the coffee table.

A stab of pain went straight through me.

I braced myself against the table, barely staying upright, and tasted something salty and metallic in my mouth.

The soup thermos toppled over on the floor.

Brown broth washed over my slippers.

The tops of my feet flushed red in an instant.

Maxwell stood stunned for a second, as if even he hadn't expected to push me.

But only for a second, before he spun around to steady Ruby.

“Are you okay? Did she scare you? Did you get burned?”

Ruby leaned into his arms, shaking her head as she wept.:

“I'm fine, I just don't want her getting so upset she makes herself worse...”

“It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come.”

“It's not your fault. She's just impossible.”

Maxwell patted her back to soothe her, and from start to finish he never looked at me once.

Holding the coffee table, I slowly straightened up.

The pain in my back kept surging up in waves, but it was nothing next to the pain in my chest.

I looked at the tension in his profile, and all at once I went calm.

“Maxwell.”

My voice was very quiet, but very clear.

He didn't turn around, still coaxing the woman in his arms.

“Maxwell.”

I called out again.

He turned, impatient.:

“What now?”

“This divorce is happening. I've decided.”

“The three hundred thousand you owe me, wired to my account within three days. If it's a cent short, I'm taking you to court.”

“This apartment is mine. Tonight, you and her, both of you get out.”

Maxwell's face went white in an instant.

“Are you insane? You'd back me into a corner over something this small?”

I took a step forward and stared into his eyes.

“It was never today's one thing that broke me. It's that you made me believe I'd found real love, and in the end I found out it was a scheme you'd planned out from the start.”

“And now, I'm done acting it out with you.”

Ruby tugged at Maxwell's arm.:

“Max, it's all my fault. Why don't I get down on my knees and apologize to her...”

“No need.”

I cut her off coldly.:

“If you like picking up trash, go right ahead. Just don't come to my home to put on your poor-little-victim act. You disgust me.”

“Watch how you talk!”

Maxwell took a step forward and suddenly raised his hand.

I didn't flinch.

I just looked straight at him.

His hand stopped in midair, the knuckles white, and in the end it didn't come down.

But the very last thing I'd still been holding on to died completely the moment he raised that hand.

“Get out.”

I pointed at the door, my voice level.

Maxwell's expression shifted again and again.

Finally he clenched his teeth and forced out a single line through them.:

“Fine, Annette, don't come crying to me. Without me, you'll be sick and in the hospital with no one to look after you. Let's see how you get through that!”

He grabbed Ruby and slammed out the door.

The crash was loud enough to set the chandelier swaying.

In an instant the living room went silent, nothing left but the mess of spilled soup across the floor.

I stood there for a long time.

My phone rang, jarring in the quiet.

It was my lawyer.

“Ms. Swanson, Mr. Dickerson just contacted me. He says he agrees to the divorce, but he wants the assets divided over again. He says... he says you were emotionally unstable during the marriage, that it caused the breakdown of your relationship, that you're the party at fault, and that you should walk away with nothing.”

Whatever the lawyer said after that, I could no longer make out.

I looked down at my own hands. My fingertips were still trembling.

I walked slowly to the window and pulled back a corner of the curtain.

Under the streetlight, Maxwell had Ruby in his arms, comforting her.

His hand patting her back over and over, tender beyond belief.

I gave a small laugh, took out my phone, and dialed another number.

“Hello, Lawyer Chavez, go ahead and file the suit for me.”

“Besides the money he owes and the apartment, every core project proposal his studio put out this past year, I wrote all of them. The original drafts are with me. He has no idea.”

“I want him to have nothing.”

I hung up and leaned against the window.

The night wind slipped in through the gap, cold enough to cut.

The phone screen lit up. A notification from the hospital.

I could complete my admission paperwork tomorrow morning.