Chapter 6
Kiera POV:
After he hung up, I stood in the middle of the living room, the silence of the large house pressing in on me. My eyes landed on the wall opposite the fireplace. It was covered in my paintings.
For months, I had been painting, pouring all my hopes and dreams for our baby onto canvas. Whimsical animals, soft landscapes in pastel colors, a starry night sky. I had planned to hang them in the nursery.
My family had sent over the best, most non-toxic paints from Europe. My mother had commissioned a famous carpenter to build a custom crib. All of it was waiting, gathering dust, in the room that was supposed to be filled with life.
Now, looking at the paintings felt like staring at ghosts.
A cold, decisive calm settled over me.
"Maria," I called out. The kindly maid appeared, her eyes full of concern.
"Yes, Mrs. Carlson?"
"I want you to take everything out of the nursery. The crib, the toys, the clothes. Everything. Pack it up and put it in storage."
Maria's eyes widened in alarm. "But, Ma'am… the baby…"
"There is no baby," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. "Please, just clear the room."
She looked like she wanted to argue, to offer comfort, but something in my expression must have stopped her. She just nodded silently and went to do as I asked.
I turned back to the wall of paintings. My work. My love. My wasted hope.
One by one, I began to take them down. The gentle canvases felt impossibly heavy. I didn't look at them as I carried the armful to the study, stacking them against the far wall, their hopeful images turned to face the cold plaster. My soul, hung on these pristine white walls, now lay in a silent, hidden pile.
When the wall was bare, I felt nothing. Just a vast, empty space where the art used to be.
I walked to the study, my steps measured and deliberate. I took out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't used in years. It belonged to my family's top lawyer in New York, a man who had handled Barlow family affairs for three decades.
"Mr. Davies," I said when he answered, his voice sharp and alert even late at night. "It's Kiera Barlow. I need you to draw up divorce papers."
There was a brief, stunned silence on the other end of the line. "Kiera. Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine," I lied smoothly. "I need them by tomorrow. And I need you to come to the villa to deliver them in person. I want this done quickly and quietly."
"Of course," he said, his voice all business now. "What are your terms? With Mr. Carlson's assets, you are entitled to…"
"I want nothing," I cut him off. "No alimony, no property, no shares in his company. I want a clean break. The only thing I'm keeping are the assets that were in my name before the marriage."
Another pause. "Are you certain, Kiera?"
"I have never been more certain of anything in my life," I said. "And Mr. Davies… this conversation is protected by attorney-client privilege. No one is to know about it. Especially not my parents. Not yet."
"I understand," he said. "I'll be there tomorrow afternoon."
I hung up, feeling a strange sense of lightness.
The next day passed in a haze. I didn't eat. I didn't sleep. I just waited.
Ethan came back in the late afternoon, looking rumpled and tired, but with a distinct, satisfied glow about him. The smell of Chanel's cloying perfume clung to him like a second skin.
He stopped short in the foyer, his eyes widening as he saw a man in a sharp suit leaving the house. It was Mr. Davies.
"Who was that?" Ethan demanded, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Business," Mr. Davies said curtly, not breaking his stride. He nodded at me, a silent confirmation, and was gone.
Ethan turned to me, his face a thundercloud. "What business? Who was that man, Kiera?"
I just looked at him, saying nothing. I was so tired of his voice.
He ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "Look, I know you're upset. I shouldn't have stayed out all night."
I watched him, a detached observer studying a curious species of insect. He looked exhausted. Dark circles under his eyes, a faint stubble on his jaw. He'd clearly been up all night, tending to his precious Chanel.
"Did you sleep well?" I asked, my voice polite and distant.
The question seemed to throw him off. "What? No, I didn't sleep at all. Chanel was in a lot of pain, she had a nightmare about the… accident. I had to hold her all night until she calmed down."
He said it without a trace of shame, as if describing holding his wife was the most natural thing in the world. He even managed a small, fond smile at the memory.
That smile. It broke something deep inside me.
When was the last time he had smiled at me like that? I searched my memory, digging through layers of polite indifference and distracted nods.
It was over a year ago. Before Chanel had reappeared in his life like a ghost from a past he refused to let die. It was on a quiet Sunday morning, before the money and the fame had completely consumed him, when he'd looked at me across the breakfast table and smiled, just for me.
Now, that smile belonged to someone else.
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