The gavel slammed down again. “Court is adjourned.”
It was over.
As the bailiffs moved in to escort us out, Richard suddenly shoved his chair aside and lunged toward the aisle, trying to intercept me.
“You think you’ve won, Sarah?!” he spat, his face purple with rage, no longer hiding the monster he was. “You think some dead billionaire’s money makes you safe from me?! You’re nothing!”
Before he could take another step, two armed court deputies blocked his path, hands resting on their holstered weapons.
But it wasn’t the deputies who silenced him.
A tall, elegant woman in a sharp navy suit stepped out from the gallery. She walked with the calm authority of someone who held all the cards. She stepped directly between me and Richard.
“I am Ms. Sterling, lead counsel for the Thorne Estate,” the woman said coldly. “If you so much as breathe in her direction again, Mr. Sterling, I will make sure you don’t have a single penny left to buy a toothbrush in the federal penitentiary.”
Richard froze, finally realizing he was utterly defeated.
Ms. Sterling turned her back on him and looked at me. Her eyes softened. She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a thick, sealed envelope.
“Sarah,” she said gently. “Margaret wanted you to have this as soon as the gavel fell. My car is waiting downstairs to take you to your new home. It’s time to go.”
The car did not take us back to the sterile, cold penthouse I had shared with Richard.
Instead, the black SUV wound its way out of the city, driving for an hour until we reached the rolling green hills of the countryside. We pulled through a set of wrought-iron gates and stopped in front of a stunning, sprawling cottage wrapped in ivy.
But it wasn’t the house that made my breath catch.
Attached to the back of the property was a massive, magnificent glass greenhouse, gleaming in the afternoon sun.
Emma pressed her face against the car window. “Mommy, look! It’s like a fairy tale!”
