The Engagement Ring He Forgot, the Fortune He’ll Never Touch cahpter 02

The Engagement Ring He Forgot, the Fortune He’ll Never Touch cahpter 02

I wrenched my wrist free from Bennett’s grip and stepped toward him.

“Bennett, you ate moldy bread because you spent the last of our money paying off your mother’s gambling debts!”

“That night the basement flooded, I had a 102-degree fever. I was scooping water out bucket by bucket.”

“You were hiding in an internet café playing video games because you couldn’t deal with it.”

“So what gives you the right to use everything I went through as a weapon to guilt me into backing down?”

Without warning, I reached out and grabbed the neckline of the custom wedding gown Sierra was wearing.

“Ah!” Sierra let out a terrified scream.

“Adelaide!” Panic flashed across Bennett’s face. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on her!”

Without a second thought, he raised his hand and shoved me hard.

He didn’t hold back. Not even a little.

Caught completely off guard, I stumbled backward.

My body slammed into the glass display cabinet behind me.

The glass shattered instantly. Sharp fragments sliced across my arm and the side of my face.

Blood dripped onto the expensive carpet below.

But what cut deeper than any of that was the small handmade clay figurine inside the cabinet.

Back in the first year of our startup, Bennett had molded it with his own hands and given it to me as a promise.

A promise that he would love me and stand by me for the rest of his life.

Now it lay scattered among the broken glass. It was beyond repair, just like us.

A dead silence filled the room.

Bennett’s gaze landed on the blood running down my face.

For a brief moment, his fingers stiffened.

Then Sierra tugged lightly on his sleeve and let out a soft sob.

The hesitation vanished immediately.

He stared down at me, sitting there amid the broken glass and my own blood.
His face hardened with nothing but irritation.

“This is your own fault, Adelaide.”

“You’re selfish enough as it is. Now you’re acting like some kind of hysterical shrew.”

“You should stay here and think about your behavior.” His voice turned colder.

“Come back and talk to me when you’ve learned to be a little more reasonable.”

With that, he didn’t spare me another glance.

He removed his suit jacket and draped it over Sierra’s shoulders.

Then he wrapped an arm around her protectively and walked out of the villa without looking back.

I sat in the wreckage and didn’t cry.

The cuts on my face throbbed painfully.

That pain in my heart had been there for long. It finally broke open in that moment.

I grabbed a handful of tissues from the table and pressed them against my bleeding cheek.

Then, with my uninjured hand, I picked up my phone and called my attorney.

“Ms. Hartwell.” the person on the other end said, sounding respectful.

I stared at the shattered pieces of the handmade clay figurine on the floor.

My voice stayed calm. “Begin the asset separation process in three days.”

“And freeze every supplementary credit card under Bennett’s name, effective in three days.”

The attorney sucked in a sharp breath.

“Ms. Hartwell… so you’ve made your decision?”

A faint smile tugged at my lips. Fresh blood seeped through the tissue pressed against my face.

“Yes.” My voice was colder than the night itself. “It’s time.”

My eyes turned toward the floor-to-ceiling window.

Outside, Bennett’s taillights were disappearing into the distance.