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I remain frozen in place, my mind unable to comprehend what’s happening.
I’m not sure how long I stay on the sofa, unmoving, but Vicente comes and sits beside me. Placing my hands in his, he gives me a kind smile.
“I spoke with my lawyer. He sent an email to Owen’s lawyer and set up a meeting with them tomorrow at ten in the morning. Do you feel like you can handle meeting with our lawyer today?”
“What about Ava? I don’t want her to know about this,” I say, my voice breaking.
“Please believe me when I tell you there’s no way he can get through us to get to Ava. Even if it means giving him my entire fortune—Ava is not going anywhere.”
Vicente pulls me into his arms, holding me close.
I breathe a little easier knowing I’m not facing this alone.
“I spoke with Mrs. Evans. She's happy to spend the night in our home,” he adds.
Home. That palace doesn’t feel like a home—but this man sure does.
“Thank you,” I murmur against his neck, inhaling his familiar scent.
He pulls away to face me, a frown forming on his handsome face.
I chuckle. “For what?”
I press my index finger on his lips and continue, “For loving me. For showing me with your actions. Every single day.”
He smiles as he presses a kiss to my ring finger. “I told you, wife. You and Ava are my entire universe. I’d do anything for you.”
He grabs my hand, removing it from his face before leaning in. Our lips tangle in an unhurried kiss. The more his lips explore mine, the more I feel peace seeping through me.
This man has me like no one has ever had me before.
I’ll be grateful for his presence in my life for the rest of my days.
“Mr. and Mrs. Godoy, please have a seat,” Vicente’s lawyer says, greeting us the moment we walk into his office.
“Patrick, we don’t have much time for pleasantries. Please explain how we can get rid of this ridiculous request,” Vicente cuts in, his tone firm.
I squeeze Vicente’s hand and frown at him. Where are his manners?
“I’m sorry,” he says as he releases a breath. “It’s just…as you can imagine, we’re beside ourselves.”
“I understand. No need to apologize,” the lawyer says, his tone calm. “If it’s alright with you both, I need to know every single detail about Mrs. Godoy and Mr. Clarke’s relationship.”
I take a deep breath. If I want to fight Owen—leaving him no chance of getting away with whatever he’s planning—I need to spill my guts to the lawyer.
“I met Owen during the winter of 2017. I was here for the holidays, hoping to practice my English, so I signed up for an English as a Second Language class at Lion University. We met at a pub one night—he was with a group of friends, and I was with some of my classmates. You could say it was lust at first sight.”
Vicente clears his throat as he tries to remove his tie.
“All I’m trying to say is that there wasn’t a real connection between us—it was only physical.”
I can hear Vicente inhaling deeply through his nose, and although I know Owen didn’t mean anything to me, this cannot be easy for Vicente to hear.
“We hung out for about six months, always meeting in pubs or clubs. I never met his family, and he never introduced me as his girlfriend. I knew we were a no-strings attached thing.”
I pause, a vivid memory surfacing—the day I told him I wanted to stop seeing him.
“As I spent more time here in London, I started making new friends. And since I knew things weren’t really going anywherewith Owen, I decided to let him know I wasn’t interested in hanging out anymore.”