Page 11 of Break Me Not

“What? My own wife doesn't wanna hear from me?”

I looked over my shoulder, making sure Jen was still on her break.

“Ex-wife, and remember phone calls violate the restraining order.”

“You know I don't give a shit about the restraining order,” he said.

Yes, I do know.

“So what do you want now?” I asked, impatience leaking into my tone. “Money not enough?”

“Did you move on from me so fast? You fought me so hard to keep a good image for Claire, yet here you are coming home in the middle of the night⁠—”

Panic shot up my spine, but I pushed it off and forced a chuckle out of my mouth. He wanted me scared, and I wasn't going to give him that.

“So now you’re stalking me again?”

“I just don't understand. We had everything. And you ruined it.” His tone turned dangerous. “You ruined me. You put lies in people's heads, now they⁠—”

“You got the money. You got the house. The only thing I got out of this divorce was Claire, and I care about keeping her safe. Something you never even thought about,” I spat. “You're the one who ruined us. And when you couldn't deal with the consequences of that, you lashed out. That has nothing to do with me.”

My ex-husband, Trevor, was stupid and ignorant. I had fallen for him when we were young and made the mistake of having unprotected sex. That's how Claire was conceived, but I never once regretted her. Only her father.

He roped me into a marriage with lies about family stability, and facing pressure from his family and mine, I couldn't help but say yes.

And then everything went to shit.

He grew resentful as I built a career without him. He cheated. He hurt. He stole.

I waited until Claire was out of high school to file for divorce, but it only went through three years later after much fighting. Our little girl was an adult now, but I still did everything in my power to keep him from her.

Trevor never got over it, though. The rage simmered over the years until we got here.

“You know, for such a high-end gallery, your security is really shitty.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. I started wildly looking over my shoulders, scared that he was somehow still lingering in the dark, maybe behind one of the artworks, just waiting to jump out at me.

I knew he knew where I lived. I planned to get a better place as soon as I had a chance. Hopefully with the help of the money from the auction, I could finally live in peace.

Or as close to it as this asshole would let me.

“You're going too far. What do you even want?”

“Like I said, I let you ruin my life for too long. I settled on the divorce. Took the pity money you sent my way. But I won't let you continue like this, spreading your lies.”

Pity money. A good sum that came out of my pocket in an attempt to get him off my back.

“I haven't been talking about our divorce to anyon⁠—”

“They all know! My coworkers. My family. Fuck, even Claire’s high school friends’ parents. All of them have been reaching out to me!”

I shut my mouth, not knowing what to say.

I stayed true to my word. I never told anyone what happened between us. At least the truth. If they figured it out, it was from rumors or someone with inside knowledge.

“It wasn't me. Now, I suggest you stop this before it gets serious.”

“I'll show you serious. Do you think you can just ruin my life like this and move on? Well, you have another thing coming.”