Page 19 of The Sexy Billionaire

“Right, you’re all booked in with one of the best divorce attorneys in Manhattan. She’s a real bulldog and she’s going to make sure that you are looked after,” Callie explains.

“Thank you. I don’t know how I would get through this if I didn’t have you all.”

“We’ve got your back,” my brother tells me.

I sniffle, trying to hold the tears back as their support warms me.

“So, like, how rich are you?” Savannah asks, which makes me laugh.

Then I go on to explain what the will said and the two of them stare at me in disbelief.

“I know, it’s insane right?” I say, looking between them.

“Um, no, this is amazing, we are so going to explore Europe this summer,” Savannah squeals excitedly.

“Does that mean you’re going to move back to Italy?” Callie asks.

Her question makes me pause. Does it? I mean, there’s nothing here for me now other than my friends and my family; I don’t have a job or a place to live.

“Move back to Italy?”

Callie nods. “You’ve always talked about how much you love it there and when you talk about it, your entire face lights up. Michael hated Italy, and he always refused to go back every time you asked him. Remember how you had always envisioned a gorgeous Italian wedding at Lucia’s estate, and he refused because he was French, and no Frenchman would ever get married in Italy,” Callie explains to me.

She’s not wrong. I had always dreamed of getting married at Lucia’s estate and it broke my heart when Michael refused; he also said that he would rather we spent the money opening our own business than on a wedding and we ended up getting married at a courthouse in Manhattan and Savannah’s family lent us their bar for the reception. It was a low-key, no-frills wedding, not at all where I thought I would ever get married. I guess it was about the people surrounding us, not the location at the time. Even when it came time to choose a theme for our restaurant, I wanted a fusion of Italian and French, but Michael ranted that he was the chef and was trained in French cuisine, not Italian, even though I was. Again, I gave in and he got his way, like he always seemed to do. How was I so blind to all his red flags?

“I didn’t mean to make you sad,” Callie says, noticing my mood dipping.

I wave her concern away. “I’m realizing how much of myself I’d given up in this marriage. I don’t know who I am anymore.All my dreams, wants, and needs were never met, I gave in to him all the time. He got everything he wanted while I sat on the sidelines and then he has the audacity to cheat on me.”

“We could never say anything, Paige,” my brother states.

“You wouldn’t have listened even if we had,” Callie adds.

They’re both right. I was blinded by what I thought love was. How wrong was I?

“We love you, and you seemed happy with Michael, and who are we, the single trio, to tell you what a marriage should be,” Savannah explains. “Michael did you a favor today. You might not see it, or feel it, but there will come a time when you realize that if he didn’t show you exactly who he truly was, you would never have made the decision to leave.”

I grab the open bottle of wine and throw it back. Today has been a roller coaster ride and I’m not sure what is up or down anymore. My entire existence has been ripped from me and now it feels like I’m about to morph into a different person. Firstly, I’m a countess and secondly, I’m rich.

“I can get you on the next plane to Florence if you need,” Smith tells me.

“Why would I leave?” I ask him.

“To get away from Michael,” he adds.

“You think I need to disappear halfway across the world, I’m not a coward. I can face that cheating bastard head-on,” I tell him angrily.

“I know you can, Paige, but you don’t have to,” he says, giving me a reassuring smile.

“Oh no, I want that man to see exactly the woman I am, and what he gave up. I want him to realize that cheating on me was the biggest regret of his life and I want him to regret it every day.”

“That a girl,” Callie calls out.

“Does Michael even know you’re a countess?” Savannah asks.

I burst out laughing. “Nope, I went there after getting off the plane to tell him that we were rich but instead …” I shake my head, trying to get the images of him and the sous chef from my mind.

Savannah bursts out laughing. “That is brilliant, that is the best revenge, being a rich bitch, sorry, a royal rich bitch.” This has us all cackling. “Now let’s get fucked up and put all the thoughts of Michael out of your mind,” Savannah says, holding up a new bottle of wine.

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