He Framed Me for a Ring That Was Never Real Chapter 09
I ignored his ranting.
I walked into the bedroom and pulled out the suitcase I had already packed.
When I wheeled it back into the living room, Spencer finally froze.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving you and this home.” I took out the divorce settlement agreement he had thrown at me earlier, placed it in front of him with a pen, and said, “I signed it.”
I had written “Audrey Bennett” on the signature line.
The only difference was that I had crossed out the clause stating, “Audrey voluntarily waives all rights to the marital estate.”
Beside it, I had added one line: “I request an equitable distribution of all marital assets under New York law.”
“No way!” Spencer snatched the agreement and glared at me. “You’re not taking a single cent from me! You destroyed my reputation! You’re a vicious woman!”
“You destroyed your own reputation.” I stared straight at him. “Spencer, if you don’t want this to get any uglier, sign the agreement. Otherwise, I’ll give every detail of your financial control and emotional abuse to the media outlets already interested in the Callahan family scandal.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Try me.” I did not look away.
We stood there locked in a standoff, neither of us willing to back down.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Thinking it was his parents or Aunt Denise, Spencer yanked the door open in irritation.
My mother stood outside.
She saw the wrecked living room, then the suitcase beside my feet, and stopped cold.
“Audrey, what are you doing? Don’t be reckless!” She rushed inside and tried to grab my suitcase.
Spencer immediately turned to her.
“Linda, talk some sense into her! She wants to divorce me over one little misunderstanding. She’s trying to destroy this family with her own hands!”
In an instant, he slipped back into the role of the innocent victim.
My mother immediately took his side.
She grabbed my hand and kept pleading with me.
“Audrey, every marriage has problems. Spencer knows he was wrong. Just forgive him this once. How are you supposed to live after leaving him?”
“Mom,” I cut her off, “when all of you forced me to apologize for something I didn’t do, why didn’t any of you stop to think about what would happen to me?”
Her face flushed.
“That… that was because we were deceived too. Besides, Spencer was only trying to protect his cousin. He cares too much about his reputation. Can’t you try to understand him just this once…”
“Understand him?” I laughed as my eyes stung. “I’m supposed to understand him, but who ever tried to understand me? Mom, you’ve never cared about what I went through. You only care whether your son-in-law is rich, whether I make you look good in front of your friends, and whether Erin’s job will be affected.”
“I…” My mother had nothing left to say.
I stopped looking at her and turned back to Spencer.
“You have one day to decide. If you haven’t signed by this time tomorrow, we’ll settle it in court.”
With that, I wheeled my suitcase out of the apartment without looking back.
My mother chased after me, calling my name, but I did not stop.
When I stepped outside the apartment building, sunlight fell across my face, and I drew in a deep breath.
I was finally free.