“You are leaving with exactly what you are wearing on your back, Cassie, and you should honestly be grateful that I am even letting you walk out of this room.” Wesley Rhodes spoke with a chilling level of composure inside the frosted glass office in downtown Philadelphia, sounding as if he were firing a mid-level manager rather than discarding the woman who had spent a decade by his side.
Cassie Miller sat motionless across from a massive mahogany desk that seemed to swallow the small amount of light filtering through the blinds. Beside her, a court-appointed attorney named Mr. Henderson shuffled through a stack of documents with a trembling hand and a face that already accepted defeat.
On the opposite side of the table, Wesley sat flanked by a wall of legal experts and Miranda Frost, the most ruthless corporate litigator in the entire state. “According to the ironclad prenuptial agreement you signed in 2014, you effectively waived every possible right to shares in Rhodes Dynamics, as well as all real estate, investment portfolios, and marital assets,” Miranda said while sliding a heavy leather folder across the polished wood.
Cassie felt a sharp, crushing pressure in her chest that made it nearly impossible to draw a full breath. She vividly remembered signing those papers just one week before their sunset wedding in Charleston, surrounded by the scent of jasmine and the sound of the ocean.
At the time, Wesley had stroked her hair and whispered that the document was merely a boring formality to satisfy his nervous venture capital investors. He told her it was a meaningless piece of paper because their love was the only foundation they would ever need to build their future.
She had believed every word he said back then, just as she had believed every other lie he fed her over the following years. She believed him when he claimed to be working until dawn while she was actually the one stayed up late proofreading his pitches and refining his business strategies.
She believed his promises that they would finally travel and rest once the company reached a billion-dollar valuation. She even forced herself to believe him when he insisted that the constant stream of young, beautiful personal assistants were simply efficient members of his growing team.