Chapter 10

A month later, Marcus showed up at Nana's house, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Clara! Get out here!" he yelled. "Come out! Are you too scared to face me?"

Nana had just left to buy groceries, so the house was quiet. I took my time walking downstairs and stepped outside to face him.

"What do you want?" I asked.

He looked terrible. His face was unshaven, his clothes were rumpled, and he carried a grim, desperate energy.

"You stole my clients and spread rumors about me," he accused, his voice trembling with anger. "Are you trying to ruin me? I knew it—you're completely vicious. Marrying you was the biggest mistake of my life!"

I offered a cold, unbothered smile. "I only took back the resources I brought into our marriage. What exactly is wrong with that?"

"We were married once," he pleaded, staring at me intensely. "Couldn't we just end this peacefully?"

"You have the nerve to talk about peace?" A wave of pure disgust washed over me. "I will never forget what you put me through postpartum. Marcus, I am going to hate you for the rest of my life. If you had just agreed to the divorce in the beginning, I might have let it go. But you had to drag it out and make it as ugly as possible. Did you honestly think I'd let you off easy?"

I had given him every opportunity for a clean break, and he had thrown it away.

His eyes were bloodshot. For a brief second, I braced myself, thinking he might actually hit me. Instead, his legs gave out. He dropped to his knees right there in the yard and started slapping his own face.

"Forgive me! I was wrong!" he sobbed. "I never should have cheated on you. Please, Clara, ask them to come back. I can't make it without you. I can't go back to having nothing!"

I looked down at the pathetic man kneeling in the dirt. "Do you really think I would ever forgive you? Marcus, I wish you would drop dead."

He stared up at me, stunned into silence.

Just then, Sierra waddled up the driveway, looking frantic. She glared at me, her eyes wide with the desperate fear that we were about to reconcile.

"Get up!" she shrieked, grabbing his arm. "She's toxic! She's always wanted to destroy you!"

Marcus turned his rage on her. "Get away from me!" he roared, shoving her away.

Sierra fell backward, hitting the ground hard. She let out a piercing scream as a dark pool of blood began to spread beneath her.

Marcus froze, staring at the blood in absolute panic.

I didn't reach for my phone, and I didn't call for help. I simply turned my back on the two of them and walked down the street to find Nana.