“I need to know the exact value of what I own,” I replied directly.
There was a brief pause on the line before he asked, “Does your husband know you are calling me about this?”
“No, he has no idea,” I stated.
“I understand completely,” Charles said.
The official financial report arrived in my inbox an hour later, showing an estimated total asset value of $61.4 million. I stared at the screen in complete disbelief as if I were reading someone else’s banking statement. Apex Vanguard had grown exponentially over the years, reinvesting its profits and acquiring major stakes in several regional entities, including a holding group that owned a 2.7 percent stake in Summit Crest Group, where Gavin served as a regional director. While I could not directly fire him, I now held a significant voice among the key investors who could ask the precise questions he wanted to avoid.
Gavin came home at eight that evening and waited until Mia was fast asleep before confronting me.
“It was just a stupid mistake, Nora,” he said nervously.
“A mistake lasts a few minutes, but yours lasted two full years and involved rent payments, lavish gifts, trips, and hotels,” I replied coldly.
“You also changed a lot after you stopped working outside,” he argued defensively.
I looked at him in total shock. “You were the one who begged me to quit my job.”
“I never forced you to stay home,” he retorted.
Something inside me snapped and died right there. Gavin tried to correct his tone, but it was far too late for apologies. My phone vibrated with another message from Charles informing me that an empty apartment was currently available in a residential complex managed by my father’s trust fund.
“I am leaving tomorrow morning,” I told him firmly.
Gavin let out a bitter, incredulous laugh. “With what money are you leaving? You do not even have a job.”
I looked at the spotless kitchen, Mia’s neatly packed backpack, her freshly ironed school uniforms, and the meticulously organized pantry.
“You are absolutely right that I do not work a traditional job,” I said quietly, pulling out my phone. “So you will have to figure out how to handle everything I do around here by yourself.”
The next morning, Mia and I moved into a lovely two bedroom apartment in the Maplewood district. For her, it felt like an exciting adventure, while for me, it was the first night in years that I could breathe without feeling weighed down.
At three o’clock that afternoon, I received an urgent phone call informing me that the recording of the call was already circulating wildly within Summit Crest Group. The core issue was not just the marital infidelity, but the fact that Camila reported directly to Gavin, who had personally authorized her salary raises, bonuses, paid trips, and corporate expense reports. Furthermore, the luxury apartment provided for her appeared to be tied directly to an approved vendor under his direct management, meaning his personal betrayal was about to trigger a massive corporate investigation.
Before the week was over, Gavin showed up at my new front door without his tie, pale and looking desperate as he made a request that proved he still did not grasp the severity of his actions.
“Nora, I need you to lie for me,” he pleaded.
PART 3
I kept him standing in the hallway so his raised voice would not wake Mia up.
“Repeat what you just said to me,” I instructed coldly.
Gavin swallowed hard before speaking. “I do not need you to lie about everything, but I just need you to tell the board that you knew Camila and I were very close.”
“Close?” I asked with a sharp laugh. “Do you want me to pretend I knew about your affair just so it looks like you did not conceal a blatant conflict of interest?”
He stood there in complete silence, unable to look me in the eye.
“Are you about to be fired?” I asked.
“Yes, my job is on the line,” he confessed.
“Then you should explain the whole truth to them,” I replied.
Gavin ran both hands over his face nervously. “I am terrified of losing everything.”
For the very first time since I caught him, he actually sounded genuinely afraid.
“I was terrified too,” I told him honestly. “I felt terrified every time Mia needed new shoes and you said we could not afford them, or every time I wanted to buy something small for myself and felt guilty for spending your money. I worried constantly about what would happen if you left us when I had no income of my own.”
I took a deep breath before continuing. “You built a home where I was forced to feel dependent on you while you spent more money on your mistress than on your own wife and child.”
He lowered his head. “I am so sorry, Nora.”
“You still do not understand what you are actually sorry for,” I said softly, stepping back inside and shutting the door between us.
Camila was suspended two days later, and Gavin was suspended shortly after. A week later, my phone rang from an unknown number, and when I answered, Camila’s voice came through the speaker.
“Nora, it is Camila,” she said hesitantly.
I almost hung up immediately, but she spoke quickly. “Gavin promised me that he was going to divorce you very soon.”
My hand tightened around the phone. “How long has he been telling you that?”
“For over a year now,” she revealed. “He claimed your marriage was long over and that he was just waiting for his next big promotion before making it official.”
The words stung briefly, but they no longer had the power to break me.
“Then you are welcome to keep him,” I replied casually.
Camila went completely quiet on the line. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you can have him, though there is just one small problem,” I added. “He no longer has the high status position that made him so attractive to you.”
It was a sharp thing to say, but three weeks later, Camila stopped replying to his messages, and within two months, she quit her position and moved away to find work in another city. Gavin was officially terminated from Summit Crest Group for severe conflict of interest, personal misuse of corporate resources, and a total lack of transparency regarding department spending. He was not fired for breaking my heart, but because he spent two years abusing his executive authority to enrich a subordinate he was sleeping with.
