Page 215 of The Marriage Clause

A laugh comes out of me and dies almost immediately because this isn't funny. This is a baby. Everett's baby.

Ours.

That word damn near breaks me.

Because only a few days ago he stood in the foyer and told me the trust was releasing us from the arrangement that was supposed to feel merciful. And now I'm sitting in a guest bathroom with a positive pregnancy test and no idea what to do with any of it.

Does he even want to be a father? How is he going to take this? And now with seeing Sienna and him leaving together in his towncar, this could throw everything off.

My phone vibrates on the sink.

I flinch hard enough that it almost slides into the basin.

Christian.

I stare at his name for two rings. Then answer.

"Hello?"

"Aria." Lawyer-steady. But something warmer in it, as if we were in-laws once upon a time or something. "I have the papers for you to sign for the divorce per Everett request to get this expedited. Would you be able to come in this afternoon to my office to sign them."

"That was quick."

"The prenup you and Everett had makes this whole thing pretty straightforward, which was the plan. I think you’ll find that everything in the divorce decree is how it was agreed upon."

I look at the test.

"Yes, I can come by today."

"Thank you. I’ll see you soon.

I sit there another thirty seconds with the phone in one hand and my other palm flat to my stomach. Then I stand, wrap the test in toilet paper with absurd care, and tuck it into one of the drawers in the bathroom. Throwing it away just feels too aggressive.

Christian's office smells like coffee and paper and the kind of money that doesn't advertise itself because it assumes you'll notice.

His assistant takes one look at me and says, "He's expecting you," in a tone that confirms I look exactly as bad as I feel.

Christian is standing when I walk in. Tie loosened. Jacket off, and his sleeves rolled up.

He looks tired too but offers a smile.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. Everett thought it would be best to get everything in order as soon as possible," he says.

I think about Sienna and how I’m sure he no longer wants our marriage held over them.

"Right, I’m sure I understand why."

"You do?" He asks, as if I was let in on a secret I shouldn't have been.

Christian is one of the nicest brothers in the group and whatever I know, it’s not important enough that I drop that on him. He doesn’t need to know how much I hurt. This is just his job.

He gestures to the chair across from his desk but I don’t take a seat, I just walk up and see the document in front of me.

The folder in front of him is cream-colored. Thick and official in a way that I guess I wasn’t expecting.

I already hate it.

"What am I signing?" I ask.