I Left Him after He Chose The Sister-in-law

"Leonidas, if you dare walk out that door, I’m filing for divorce. Right now."

Clementine’s voice sliced straight through the hush of the candlelit ballroom, her microphone screaming feedback as the words burst out. Every guest, decked out in their finest couture and silk, froze mid-conversation. Shock hung thick in the air.

Behind them, the LED screen that had glowed with *Happy Second Anniversary* now blared bright: *Congratulations on Your New Union, Mr. Lopez.*

Those dazzling words cast a harsh spotlight right on the woman in white, curled soft and safe in Leonidas’s arms.

"You done making a fool of yourself?" Leonidas asked. He hoisted the fainted Samara closer as he stepped forward, his huge frame towering over Clementine. "On our own anniversary, you really gotta turn us into the main circus act?"

Quiet snickers and biting whispers rippled through the crowd. Some guy even lifted his champagne glass like he was cheering. "Clementine’s at it again with her over-the-top drama."

"Didn’t she fake a broken wrist last month just to drag Leonidas home early? What’s her stupid game this time?"

Through all the snickering, Clementine just tilted her chin up. Her voice stayed just as calm as it ever was. "Let’s get divorced. Three’s a crowd, and I’m bowing out."

"Clem, don’t be rash. Uncle’s just stuck between a rock and a hard place…" Mckenna Lopez murmured, trying to nudge her into backing down.

"Stuck between a rock and a hard place? What a pretty little excuse!" Clementine’s lips curled into a cold, sharp smile. "Does that cover all the little ‘helping sessions’ Leonidas’s given his sister-in-law, huh? Like when her bathroom floor was ‘too slippery’ and he had to help her? Or when he fed her medicine mouth-to-mouth?"

The whole ballroom went dead quiet.

Everyone knew Clementine had a reputation for throwing all caution to the wind and causing a scene, but this was the first time most of them had seen it live—this woman who truly didn’t care what she said out loud.

Some people even started pitying Leonidas, wondering how he put up with her crazy antics all these years.

"That’s enough," Leonidas growled, his voice barely holding back a roar of rage.

Mckenna hurried after him as he walked away. "Uncle, you really gonna leave Clem here all alone like that?"

"Our marriage is none of your goddamned business," Leonidas shot back icily. He didn’t even glance over his shoulder as he kept walking.

Mckenna stayed rooted to the spot. The chandelier light glinted off her gold necklace when she tilted her head, and her polite, put-together mask never slipped. When she turned back to the crowd—she looked so much like Leonidas, it was almost uncanny—a strange little glint sparked in her eyes. She offered the crowd a soft, apologetic smile. "Please forgive us. My uncle just can’t bear to see any harm come to my brother’s widow. Let’s get back to the evening, shall we?"

Clementine stood alone under all the bright, blazing lights.