Chapter 5 - The Siege of Lincoln ParkI stared at him through the narrow gap in the door, my jaw tightening in quiet, disbelief-laced frustration.
"You bought the building?" I repeated flatly.
"The owner accepted two million dollars over market value fifteen minutes ago," Daniel explained, taking a half-step closer to the door, his breath pluming white in the unheated hallway. "I own the deed, Emily. But I didn't come here as your landlord. I came here as your husband."
"You are not my husband, Daniel," I said, my voice smooth and razor-sharp as a diamond. "You were served with uncontested divorce papers three days ago. In sixty days, the judge will sign the final decree."
Daniel pressed his broad hand flat against the heavy oak wood of the door, his long fingers trembling against the dark grain.
"I didn't sign the petition, Emily," Daniel choked out, his voice cracking with a raw, agonizing emotion that sent a cold shudder straight down my spine. "I tore it into pieces in my office. I will fire Arthur Vance. I will sue every lawyer in the city. I will never sign those papers."
I looked through the gap at his pale, bloodshot eyes—seeing no longer the arrogant, untouchable Don who threatened me with divorce whenever I asked for his attention, but a man drowning in the wreckage of his own pride.
"You don't understand, Daniel," I whispered gently. "It doesn't matter whether you sign the papers or tear them up. The marriage didn't end when the courier dropped that folder on your desk. It ended the night you walked out of the hospital to be with Vanessa while I sat alone in a cold room."
Daniel bowed his head, a heavy, shuddering breath escaping his lips. "I destroyed her, Emily," he wept softly, tears finally cutting clean tracks through the rain on his face. "I publicly ruined her at Michael's gala on Saturday. I pulled every dollar from her movie. I banned her from every property I control in Illinois. She means nothing to me! She never meant anything to me!"
"And that makes it worse, Daniel," I replied, my voice filled with a quiet, profound pity. "You ruined a woman you claimed was your friend just to prove a point to me. You treat people like chess pieces you can move, sacrifice, or destroy whenever your pride is wounded. I don't want to be a piece on your board anymore."
I began to slowly push the door closed.
"Emily, please!" Daniel pleaded frantically, his fingers digging into the edge of the wooden frame to stop the door from shutting. "Don't lock me out! I can't sleep in that mansion! Every room smells like you! Every corner reminds me that I let the only good thing in my life walk away!"
"Go home, Daniel," I said softly, my hazel eyes meeting his through the narrowing space. "Learn how to be human before you try to be a husband."
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I gently disengaged his fingers from the doorframe, pushed the heavy oak door shut, and turned the deadbolt with a sharp, final CLICK.
Outside in the quiet corridor, I heard the most feared crime boss in Chicago collapse flat against the wooden door, letting out a low, agonizing sob that echoed down the stairwell into the cold night air.
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