Valerie sat rigidly in the courtroom, her gaze fixed on Leon across the polished oak table that separated them like a chasm. For a fleeting moment, it felt as though she was seeing him for the first time—not the man she had married twelve years ago, but a stranger cloaked in familiar features. His sharp jawline, once softened by laughter, now carried a smugness that twisted her stomach. Twelve years, two children, Steve and Rose, and now this bitter, jagged ending. His eyes gleamed with a triumphant glint, as if he’d won some grand prize. That smugness cut deeper than his infidelities, deeper than the countless humiliations she’d swallowed to keep their family intact.
Leon leaned back in his chair, his tailored suit crisp, exuding an air of victory. He was leaving her for Annabelle—young, radiant Annabelle, who Leon believed understood him in ways Valerie never could. Valerie, who had poured her soul into their home, into raising their children, into building a life she thought they both cherished.
“Valerie, you okay?” her lawyer, Dana, whispered.
Valerie managed a tight nod, though her throat burned with unshed tears. She couldn’t afford to unravel here. Not in front of him.
The judge’s gavel struck, a sharp crack that echoed in the hushed courtroom. “The court grants the divorce as stipulated,” the judge intoned, his voice clinical. “Custody of the minor children, Steven and Rose, is awarded to Ms. Valerie Carter, with Mr. Leon Carter to provide child support as outlined.”
The words washed over Valerie like a distant tide. It was over. But as the judge prepared to adjourn, the gavel’s echo still lingering, Leon cleared his throat.
