Page 41 of Second Chance Husband

I closed the door behind her, needing a moment. My hands shook, my chest squeezing.

“Oh, Paisley. I’m so sorry.” Devney reached out and put her hand on my back, and I let out a shuddering breath.

Addison let out a mutter of curses, before coming to my side as well. She wrapped her arm around my waist and then let out a breath.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that. It’s nothing new. She liked my station with Jacob because it allowed her to be at a higher place in society as well. She got to meet the governor.” I rolled my eyes, before I moved away from my friend and went over to my sideboard to pour myself some water.

“Thirsty?”

“We’re fine,” Devney whispered behind me. “Is she always like that?”

I took a sip of water, letting myself calm down. “Yes. Has been since I was a child. She hated August. Hated the fact that he was just a schoolteacher. In her eyes, he was a nobody. She didn’t see the fact that he worked his ass off and his kids loved him. So she was grateful when that marriage ended. But with Jacob? All of her well-laid plans burst into flames when he chose Lydia over me.”

“Your mother’s a bitch,” Addison said, and I burst out laughing.

“She is. And it’s taken me forever to learn how to stand up for myself to her.” I looked at my friends, shaking my head. “I can stand up to any businessperson. I stood up to Jacob. I can take care of myself and the people in my employ. But my mother walks in, and suddenly I’m a teenager again, hunching my shoulders and scared of what she could possibly say. I’ve continuously been a disappointment to her, even with everything that I’ve done, and it’s never going to be enough for her. I should just be used to it, but I don’t know, something about the way that she looks down at me, even though I’m taller than her, gets to me and I’m suddenly a child again.”

“She’s so wrong about you. You should be proud of all that you’ve done. And Jacob was never worthy of you. He was always a jerk.”

I narrowed my gaze at Devney. “And yet no one told me that.”

“Because he hid it well, and we thought you loved him. Next guy you date, we’ll tell you if he’s an asshole or not,” Addison said, but both of my friends’ eyes were watery.

I finished my water and let out a long sigh. “I have to get back to work. But I’m sorry you had to witness that.”

“I’m sorry it seems that you’ve dealt with that often alone,” Devney whispered.

“What she said,” Addison agreed.

I nodded tightly, and then watched them walk away, leaving me alone with my paperwork.

My paperwork never lied to me—most of it was just numbers and signatures. I could handle that, go over it with a fine-tooth comb, and then head home alone where I needed to be.

I didn’t know exactly what plans my mother had, and I had a bad feeling about some of them. But I would figure them out. I would always figure it out.

I went back to work, and as the sun began to set, I kept the shades open, so that way the world could see the light on in my office and know that I was still up here. Working, never going home.

Others left, and my security team was still around, though they weren’t watching me like a hawk. Instead they kept the building safe, and I would have to go home soon so that way they could get off work. It would be selfish to continue to stay here when they had lives.

I packed up the rest of my files; I knew I would go home and take care of it, maybe pour a glass of wine, maybe take that bath I hadn’t gotten to before. And I would continue to just exist.

“Paisley.”

I looked up at the sharp tone, my hands balling into fists.

“What are you doing here, Jacob?” I asked, wondering why today felt like I had been thrown into another vat of hell. First my mother, now my ex-husband? Why did this feel like a trap?

“You didn’t sign the non-disclosure. I need you to do that.”

I raised a brow, wondering what size balls this man thought he had. “No, I’m not going to sign anything. We’ve already done everything over the divorce, the settlement is done. I’m not signing your silly little non-disclosure.”

“You will. You are no longer my wife, and you will sign it outside of the umbrella.”

The umbrella, AKA, the family. You know, whatever protected them from the onslaught of truths and deniers.

“No, I’m not going to sign anything. And I’m not going to get sued by you if you think that I’ve spilled some form of rumor about you. Because, Jacob darling, once news of your tiny dick gets out there and the lovely cheating scandals, you’re going to want a fall guy. And it’s not going to be me. You don’t get to sue me because you cheated on me.”

Jacob was in front of me in an instant, caging me around my desk.

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