Page 1 of The Carver

Chapter 1

Fleur

I arrived at the courthouse on Monday morning. It was overcast, with rain coming and going in waves. With a heavy heart, I walked up the stairs and entered the building to begin my divorce trial. I wore one of the outfits I’d bought for work, a black pencil skirt with a dark blue blouse tucked into the waistband.

My marriage had been over before the paperwork was filed and I’d moved on with a manwayout of my league, but it still made me somber to divorce a man I’d thought I would be buried next to, someone I’d known for years but who turned out to be a stranger.

I walked down the hallway to find the room where I would meet with Adrien and the judge, but I was stopped by a man in a gray suit, glasses, and a briefcase.

“Fleur?”

“Yes,” I said. “How can I help you?”

“I’m Antony.” He shook my hand. “I’m your attorney.”

“Oh…I didn’t ask for an attorney.” I didn’t think it would be necessary for a simple divorce case. I didn’t want Adrien’s money, so there was nothing to contest. It would be the smoothest divorce trial ever recorded.

“Bastien Dupont asked me to take your case.”

I’d told him my trial was today, but I didn’t share any details, like the fact that I didn’t have an attorney. That meant he was one step ahead of me, looking out for me when I didn’t ask him to. “I—I don’t think that’s necessary?—”

“He’s already paid my fee.”

“Oh.”

He moved to the door and opened it. “Shall we?”

I looked in the open door and saw the back of Adrien’s head. He had a man next to him, so I assumed that was his own lawyer. The judge sat at a table that faced Adrien and the empty table beside it—where I would sit with Antony.

I was about to be divorced, and I wasn’t even thirty.

Fucking fool.

I held my head high as I walked into the room, not looking at Adrien as I took my seat and crossed my legs. All I had was my purse with me because I didn’t know what else to bring. I didn’t have a list of things that I wanted, didn’t have receipts for anything, didn’t have any photographic evidence to use against him to get a bigger sum.

Antony took his seat beside me. “I’ll be representing Fleur Laurent for this case.”

I felt Adrien stare at the side of my face, felt him look in the hope I would look back.

I ignored him.

“Alright.” Judge Alberto got straight to the point. “Let’s begin.”

Antony started. “Because the marriage ended due to Mr. Laurent’s multiple infidelities, Fleur is asking for half of the communal property they’ve earned throughout their marriage?—”

“Whoa, I did not say that.” I looked at my lawyer. “I don’t want anything.”

“You’re entitled to it?—”

“I don’t want it.”

Antony continued to look at me, like Bastien had given him instructions that were to be followed.

“Perhaps you should speak to your client in private,” Judge Albert said. “Take a recess?—”

I looked back at the judge. “I don’t want anything—except my clothes and personal belongings that are still at the house. I married him because I loved him, and his punishment is to know he betrayed the only woman who actually loved him for himself. I don’t care about his money—and I’ll prove it.”

Antony released a frustrated sigh, as if he knew he was going to get an earful from Bastien when this was over.

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