Page 96 of Barging In

She knew she didn’t want that — there was nothing she wanted less — and she was pretty sure he didn’t want that either. There was a rattle in his throat, a slight shake in his hand, and beads of sweat on his skin. Drew wasn’t fighting for their marriage; he was afraid of the consequences of it ending. The thought that he was terrified filled her with determination: She was going to get what she wanted.

“Or we could divorce,” she said, standing with arms akimbo. “I’ll keep the house and the entire wharf — the business and the building — and take nothing else.”

He looked up. At first his tired, slightly drunken expression was inscrutable. Was he upset by her lack of emotion? Puzzled? But then relief flooded his face; to Victoria, he looked like a man getting a last-minute reprieve from death row.

“Deal.” And then he put his hand out, like he expected her to bloody shake on it.

Victoria’s stomach churned. Her blood boiled. How fucking typical of Drew. “This isn’t one of your business transactions,” she growled. “This is our marriage we’re ending — a contract we made to each other.”

He sheepishly withdrew his hand as she took a breath.

Clem had been right; Drew was full of fear. Scared she’d take him for half of everything. A small voice wondered if she still should, to punish him, but that wasn’t like her. As much as she liked the sudden flicker of power, she didn’t want revenge.

“What happened to us? What happened to you?” she said softly.

He shrugged as he collapsed onto the sofa, sloshing whisky over the rim of his glass.

“Knowing I couldn’t give you — us — a child, when you so desperately wanted one. It…”

“Changed you? Yes, I noticed.”

He glared at her. “Do you know what it felt like? Not being able to have kids?”

“Yes, I do,” she snapped. “I knew exactly what it felt like. I was there. It happened to me, too. But that’s always been your problem, Drew: You never notice anyone but yourself. It didn’t only happen to you. It happened to us. And we went through it alone. I needed support, too, but it was all about you. No one ever asked how I felt. No one saw my pain.”

“You should have divorced me when we found out,” he replied wearily. “No one would’ve blamed you. I was always surprised you stuck around. I was grateful you did, though. I couldn’t afford to divorce you.”

“I loved you,” she choked. “What else was I going to do but stay?”

“Loved,” he sighed. “We did love each other, didn’t we? A long time ago.”

“In a different life,” Victoria mused.

“You might not have walked out, but you did leave,” he accused. “Those bloody buildings became your obsession.”

“They weren’t the reason I left,” she replied, eyes fixed on the floor. “And they weren’t the reason I didn’t come back. There wasn’t anything for me to come back to.”

He nodded.“I guess our marriage was over a long time before I realised.”

That was typical Drew, not noticing the really important things until it was too late. She wondered if that was why he’d never tried to fix their marriage — he was too wrapped up in himself to see there was a problem in the first place. But then again, she’d never spoken up, always convinced it was selfish to let others know she was hurting, too. Maybe they were both to blame. The truth was, she didn’t care anymore.

“So, why now?” he asked.

Victoria looked at her feet and sighed. “I’m tired of pretending.”

“You said you kissed someone. Is it serious?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly, “but I’d like to find out.”

She slipped her wedding ring off and placed it gently on the table in front of him.

“Thank you for agreeing,” she said gently.

He stared at the ring for a moment, then gave a drunken, dismissive shrug. She hoped he wouldn’t change his mind about their agreed terms in the cold light of day.

“The house is my personal asset, so I can transfer that to you,” he said. “However, the company owns the freehold over the wharf. I can’t hand it over so easily, butI’m sure I can find a way to make it happen. Keep in mind that you’ll be responsible for all the upkeep, including repairs, maintenance, and insurance. I strongly recommend you hire a property management company to handle it all.”

Victoria nodded. It was as she suspected — at least in part, realising she would become an unwitting landlord. But at least she would be the owner of the beautiful building that felt like her very heartbeat.