Ficorpio
Chapter 1
In the sixth year of my secret marriage to Adrian Sterling, we decided on an equally private divorce.
That way, his young girlfriend wouldn’t be branded as the other woman who had stolen another woman’s husband.
“I don’t want anyone to know we were ever married,” he said.
I nodded without a word and added another zero to my share of the divorce settlement.
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Is money the only thing you care about?”
A soft laugh escaped me.
“After all these years of marriage, no one knows me better than you.”
Adrian was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning.
“Which one of you is the patient’s family?” the nurse asked.
Lily Parker and I stood at the same time.
“I am.”
“That would be me.”
The nurse frowned. “Well, which is it?”
Lily hurried forward. “Me. You can tell me whatever I need to know.”
The nurse began explaining what to watch for while staying with him overnight. Lily listened carefully to every word.
I turned my attention to Adrian.
His breathing was labored, his brow tightly furrowed. The corners of his eyes were red, but his lips were bloodless.
I hadn’t seen him like this in years.
Alcohol tolerance could be built up to a point, but biology mattered more. And Adrian happened to be allergic to alcohol.
Tears glimmered in Lily’s eyes as she cupped his hands between hers to warm them.
When the other woman was this devoted, being the legal wife left me in a rather awkward position.
I was debating whether to leave when she spoke.
“This is all my fault. If it weren’t for me, he never would’ve drunk so much.”
My assistant had already told me what happened before I arrived.
At the dinner, a man had approached Lily and tried to pressure her into drinking. Adrian had stepped in.
The man had sneered, “If you’re too scared to drink, she’d be better off with me.”
Adrian was long past the age when he let pride provoke him into reckless decisions.
But that night, for whatever reason, he’d taken the bait and challenged the man drink for drink.
Anyone who knew Adrian knew he couldn’t hold his liquor.
But if he decided to risk his life outdrinking you, there was no guarantee you could beat him.
Back when he was young, wild, and convinced he was invincible, stunts like that had landed him in the hospital several times.
The last time had been during the second year of our marriage.
He’d been vomiting blood in the hospital while I got into a car accident on the interstate.
After that, he’d stopped.
“Ms. Bennett,” Lily asked, “did he used to protect you like this too?”
I forced the corners of my mouth upward.
“You stay with him. I’m going home.”
“Ms. Bennett.”
Urgency sharpened Lily’s voice.
She bit her lip, as though gathering the courage to say what came next.
“I told Adrian I wanted to get married.” She paused. “He said yes.”
Chapter 2
Two days earlier, I’d realized I’d left something important at the office and turned the car around.
The light in Adrian’s office was still on when I passed by.
Lily sat sideways on his lap, her arms looped around his neck as she nestled against his chest.
“Adrian,” she said sweetly, “I want to get married.”
I wasn’t in the habit of eavesdropping, but those words stopped me in my tracks.
A lazy smile curved Adrian’s lips. His eyes were half-lidded as he ran his fingers through Lily’s long hair, again and again.
“What is it? Getting impatient to be a bride?”
“I am not!” Lily huffed. “I just want to marry you.”
She gazed up at him. “Adrian, will you marry me?”
Standing outside the half-open door, I looked straight at Adrian.
He fell silent for a long time.
The smile slowly faded from his face as he met my eyes.
Then he answered softly, “Yes.”
“Ms. Bennett, Adrian doesn’t love you anymore,” Lily declared. “I’m the one he loves now.”
She looked at me, nervous yet triumphant.
I lowered my gaze.
“Then congratulations.”
Adrian Sterling returned to the office the following afternoon.
He called me into his office the moment he arrived.
When I opened the door, he was leaning against one hand, exhaustion etched across his face as his thumb pressed hard into his temple.
The hangover had triggered another migraine.
“Put the Brightcrest project files in order and hand the account over to Lily.”
The abrupt command left me staring at him for several seconds.
“What?”
He didn’t repeat himself. He simply fixed me with a heavy, implacable stare.
“The Brightcrest deal is important, and Lily is just starting out…”
“So she needs an opportunity,” I finished for him. “A major win. Something impressive for her resume.”
I fell silent again.
“Claire Bennett, I’m not asking for your opinion.”
Adrian struck the desk with his knuckles. He was already losing patience.
I drew a deep breath and slowly unclenched my fists.
“Fine. But I have one condition.”
He lifted his chin, signaling for me to continue.
“The existing team stays in place. Lily replaces me as project lead, but every member receives the full profit share and bonus they were promised. Not a cent less.”
“Fine. You have my word.”
Once I had his answer, I turned and left.
It took me an hour and a half to organize everything and explain the handover to the team.
Their eyes held pity, sympathy, outrage, and barely restrained anger.
I rapped my knuckles against the table.
“Keep your personal feelings out of this. I don’t want to hear anything about loyalty to me. It’s a job. Do the work and get paid.”
Then I gathered the files and returned to Adrian’s office.
Lily was there.
Chapter 3
She was smiling as she held a cookie to Adrian’s lips.
Adrian hated anything sweet. He frowned, but accepted it with a look of helpless indulgence.
The moment Lily saw me, she hurriedly straightened.
“You two have business to discuss. I’ll leave.”
“No need.”
Adrian took the box of cookies from the desk and handed it back to her.
“Go eat over there.”
Then he looked at me, his tone sharp.
“Next time, knock before you come in.”
Hadn’t I knocked?
Apparently not.
It was an old habit.
“There won’t be a next time.”
“What?”
I placed the stack of project files on his desk. Under his suspicious gaze, I pulled out the single sheet hidden at the bottom and set it in front of him.
Across the top were the words: LETTER OF RESIGNATION.
Adrian went still for two seconds.
When he looked up again, his eyes were ice-cold.
“What is this supposed to mean?”
“Are you threatening me?”
I paused.
“You’re reading too much into it. I prepared this letter a while ago. I was only waiting until the Brightcrest project was finished.
“Now that I’ve handed it over, all my outstanding work is complete.
“It’s the right time for me to resign.”
Adrian stared me down, his expression dark.
Lily seemed frightened by the tension.
“Ms. Bennett, I won’t take the project. Please don’t be angry.
“I know I’m not qualified. I only wanted the chance to learn from you.
“I’ll step away. This is my fault. I’m sorry.”
Adrian’s expression grew even colder.
He caught Lily by the arm.
“If you want the project, it’s yours.
“You don’t owe anyone an apology.”
His gaze snapped back to me.
“You want to resign? Fine.
“Do you really think this company can’t function without you?”
He picked up a pen and scrawled his signature at the bottom of my resignation letter.
Then he threw it at me.
“Get out.”
I lowered my eyes to the page where it had landed across my shoes.
“There’s one more thing.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
“Since you and Lily are getting married, shouldn’t we end our marriage first?”
Even Lily’s quiet sobbing stopped.
She clutched Adrian’s arm, watching him with nervous anticipation.
His entire body went rigid.
Slowly, he turned his head toward me.
“What did you say?”
“I said we might as well get divorced while we’re at it.”
Adrian sent Lily Parker out of the office.
She was clearly reluctant, but she didn’t argue. As she left, she glanced at me as though she wanted to say something, then thought better of it.
Adrian and I stood facing each other.
He broke the silence first.
“How long have you been planning to resign?”
“Six months.”
“So you’ve been preparing to divorce me for the past six months too. Is that it?”
I neither confirmed nor denied it.
Adrian gave a scornful laugh. “Claire Bennett, what makes you think you have the right to ask me for a divorce?”
I met his gaze. “Does that matter now?”
“You’re right. It doesn’t.”
He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a divorce settlement agreement.