room. The curtains were drawn tight

dresser, reached all the way to the back

round and walked out of the room. Her steps were sl

e top of the stairs a

ing. Every eye in the room was glued

e refusing to bend. He thought this was just an extre

doctor and a few maids. He stood dead cent

ttom step, Anders let ou

ders sneered. "With your spending habits, Aretha? You won't e

he listened to his arrogant, condescending humil

argue. She

whipped the manila envelope dir

document paper rained down like snow, slapping against

lf-step back. His eyes dropp

he very top of the first page w

signature line, the name Aretha Hines

His chest seized. He snapped his head up

ne could believe that Aretha-the woman who had worshipped t

h a mix of fury and panic. "What the hell is thi

he massive floral arrangements, the expensive balloon

bove a whisper, yet it cut through the room like a razor blade. "And

ke a physical blow. Both of their faces

ooked panicked. If the media got hold of thi

ay something, to defend himself against the sudden, cr

give him the c

way with nothing," she told Anders, her voice devoid of

away wit

red Anders's delusion that sh

of her thin trench coat tighter around her neck a

k out that door, don't you ever think about coming bac

pause. She did

e heavy mahog

e foyer, whipping her dark hair around her face and blo

her with a deafening thud, locking

at the signed divorce papers at his feet. A sudden, sharp pa

down the long, tree-lined dri

y stand straight, but as the cold wind hit her face,