Chapter 8 - The Price of Loyalty
Across town, in the gated enclave of Willowbrook, the silence inside Julian and Lena’s luxury townhouse was suffocating.
Luggage was piled high in the grand foyer—not the matching Louis Vuitton bags packed for their tropical honeymoon, but Julian’s clothes, watches, and golf clubs haphazardly stuffed into leather duffels.
"Julian, please! You can't do this!" Lena wailed, clutching at the sleeve of his cashmere sweater. She was wearing an oversized hoodie, her eyes red and swollen, looking like a ghost of the immaculate bride who had sneered at me by the pool just three days earlier. "We took vows! In front of God and five hundred people!"
Julian shoved her hands away with genuine revulsion. "Those vows were made to a woman I thought had class, Lena. Not a sadistic bully who assaults her crippled sister for a cheap laugh!"
"It was an accident! I've told you a thousand times, I didn't think she would actually get hurt!"
"Stop lying!" Julian bellowed, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings. "The whole world saw the video! The audio picks up every word you said! My father had the audio enhanced by a forensic technician. You planned it, Lena. You told your maid of honor ten minutes prior that you were going to 'teach Tessa a lesson about stealing your spotlight.' You are a monster!"
"Your family just cares about money and public relations!" Lena screamed, her face twisting into ugly fury. "You never loved me!"
"You're right about one thing," Julian retorted coldly, picking up his final suitcase. "I do care about my reputation. And my family's firm. Which is why my father filed this petition in county court an hour ago."
He reached into his jacket and slapped a legal folder onto the marble kitchen island.
Lena looked down. The bold heading read: *PETITION FOR ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE BASED ON INTENTIONAL FRAUD AND CONCEALMENT OF CRIMINAL CONDUCT.*
"You're annulling our marriage?" Lena gasped, her breath catching in her throat as if she had been struck. "We’ve been married for seventy-two hours!"
"And that was seventy-two hours too long," Julian said, walking toward the heavy front door. "My lawyers have already instructed the venue and the caterers to freeze all accounts. Any deposits paid by my family are being reclaimed. The lease on this townhouse is in my name, Lena. You have until Friday afternoon to vacate the premises."
"Where am I supposed to go?" she shrieked, following him onto the porch. "Mom's account is frozen! Dad won't answer my calls! Tessa ruined everything!"
Julian turned around on the front steps, staring at her with cold pity. "Tessa didn't push herself into that pool, Lena. You did. And for once in your miserable life, you're the one who has to drown."
May you like
The heavy front door clicked shut behind him, leaving Lena standing alone in the driveway as the flashbulbs of two freelance paparazzi parked down the street lit up her humiliation.
***
