CHAPTER 42
Nina stepped out of the house with Jasper and Lynn.
Jasper was grim and silent. Nina felt unsteady, walking on shaky legs—and still in house slippers. The slippers had come with the clothes Nolan’s people brought her.
Lynn locked the door and slipped the keys into her purse. Nina forced a casual expression and, nodding toward the street, lied:
“I’m just up the street,” she said, pointing uphill. “Just a couple houses.”
Lynn glanced at the slippers, at the knit set, pressed her lips together—clearly swallowing another sharp comment. Thankfully, she didn’t say it. She just waved a hand.
“Later, neighbor.”
They stood on the walkway until Lynn’s car disappeared around the corner. Only then did Nina finally exhale.
“God,” she muttered. “I almost died of embarrassment.”
Jasper huffed beside her, hands in his pockets, looking relaxed. The air was cool, and Nina wrapped her arms around herself—partly for warmth, partly to hide the awkwardness.
“She grew up to be an amazing young woman,” Nina said, staring down the street. “Smart. Kind. Sweet. Caring. Sharp-tongued. Maybe it’s even better that I didn’t raise her. Or my family.”
Jasper was quiet for a moment, then said,
“I disagree. I’m sure you would’ve managed. With dignity. In your own way.” He turned to her. “She didn’t take after me. Her personality is… completely different.”
Nina turned, met his gaze. He added, “After getting to know you, I realized she’s all her mother. Just as stubborn.”
At the word mother, something inside Nina snapped tight. Bitterness spread instantly—on her tongue, in her chest. She looked away.
“I don’t think I have the right to call myself her mother,” she said, voicing the thought that hurt the most right now.
Jasper didn’t answer.
Strangely enough… his silence felt like an apology.
***
Nolan’s people came for Nina on the day of the hearing.
A black SUV with tinted windows, two more vehicles behind it. Everything by protocol. Everything serious.
They handed her clothes: a white blouse, a tailored pantsuit, black patent heels. Everything fit perfectly. She didn’t argue—just changed and pulled her hair into a low bun. No jewelry. Not a trace of makeup.
She looked elegant. Cold. Almost untouchable.
And yet… her eyes were empty, tired. As pale as paper. Like a shadow of who she used to be.
When Nina stepped out of the house, her fingers trembled slightly.
She went down the porch steps, holding the railing.
Her nerves were frayed. Before getting into the car, she looked back at the house one last time.
A cleaning crew would come today and erase every trace of her being here.
Irina had left an hour earlier—said a brief goodbye and was gone.
Nina had gathered her things and left a bag by the door to be thrown out with the trash.
When the car pulled up to the courthouse, she started shaking. Her palms were slick, her fingers cramped. Nolan had assured her everything was under control, that the evidence would turn decisively against Frank—but she still couldn’t relax. She knew her husband too well.
One of the guards opened the door. Nina stepped out, forcing herself to stand straight.
Not to show the fear that was tightening her chest to the point of nausea.
Nina hadn’t taken more than two steps when she saw him.
Frank was already there.
Standing in the lobby in a perfectly pressed suit. Smiling at someone, as if no threat hung over his head. As if he were absolutely certain of his own impunity.
Their eyes met.
Nina froze.
And drowned in the hatred she saw in his.
He looked at her like trash—something to be cleaned out of his life.
Like an inconvenience. A mistake. A failure.
He didn’t even bother pretending to be polite.
No smile. No trace of regret. Just cold fury—and something else.
Dark. Possessive. As if she still belonged to him and had dared to defy his orders.
Nina barely stopped herself from walking up to him and slapping his face.
Why couldn’t they have separated like normal people? Just walked away. Each to their own life. Calmly. Without scenes. Without threats and schemes. Without courtrooms.
But no.
He needed to break her. Humiliate her. Make sure she was left with nothing. That no one would protect her. That she was nobody—without money, without connections, without power.
But he’d miscalculated.
Because she was still standing there.
Because, damn it, she’d had the courage to see this through.
And today, more than anything, she wanted to watch him fall.
Frank took a step forward, as if he were about to come at her. His jaw clenched, rage burning in his eyes. But the man beside him grabbed his forearm, stopping him. Leaned in and hissed something urgently, while Frank kept staring at Nina.
She smiled.
Smiled—and with her head held high, walked past with her security and her attorney into the courtroom. The hearing was set to begin in fifteen minutes.
The session started.
Nina sat straight as a wire, fingers digging into the armrests. Her palms were slick, her throat dry. But she didn’t allow herself a single emotion.
This was her fight. And she was ready to win it. Maybe they would have. If everything had gone according to plan.
“Everyone must leave the building immediately. We’ve received a bomb threat. Evacuation is underway. Please remain calm.”
For a second, everything froze.
Then the noise erupted—chairs scraping back, people moving, voices rising. The judge was already gathering documents into a folder. Everyone headed for the exits.
And Nina…
She just sat there. Not believing it. Not understanding.
“Let’s go,” her attorney said quietly, touching her elbow. “Come on, Nina.”
She stood as if in a daze.
They exited the courtroom and ended up outside, on the courthouse steps, where a crowd had already gathered. Fire trucks. Flashing lights. Bomb squad. Emergency crews. Uniforms everywhere.
It was real.
Or at least it looked real.
Nina stood there with her hands clenched into fists, furious. Burning with impatience. She wanted this over today, but no. Some idiot had called in a bomb threat, and Nina was almost certain it was another false alarm. Every day someone reported a bomb at a school or a train station.
She turned her head, and locked eyes with Frank.
He stood a little distance away, talking to someone and… smiling.
Smiling.
The world tilted. Nina felt the blood slam into her temples. She had no doubt who was behind this. How childish.
Her attorney and the guards stood beside her. The attorney narrowed his eyes, looking in the same direction, then clicked his tongue in irritation.
“Clever move,” he said. “Classic. Stall for time. Buy a couple of weeks. Figure out a way out.” He paused. “There’s about a ninety percent chance the hearing gets postponed.”
Nina clenched her teeth.
“I hate him,” she whispered.
She kept looking at Frank.
He knew she was watching.
Their eyes met and he lifted one brow slightly. Mocking her. Playing with her nerves.
“I’ll be in the car,” Nina said. “Let me know when something becomes clear.”
She turned toward the SUV parked by the courthouse.
At that exact moment, her phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number:
Back off, or you’ll regret it. Everyone will learn about your past.
Nina closed her hand tightly around the phone.
He was trying to finish her off. But she wasn’t the same woman she used to be.
Now, she was stronger.