Security moved toward Eric. Eric looked around for someone to sympathise with him, but nobody moved.
As he was being escorted out of my room, Eric turned back and looked at me.‘Claire, don’t do this!’
I stared down at my belly, at the little one I had been trying to keep safe for months. I was not going to let anyone stop me. I stood up, turned to my dad, and said, ‘File for divorce.’
The room was silent. My dad nodded once. “Already done.”
I blinked. “What?”
He opened the folder, pulled out several sheets of paper, and laid them on my nightstand.
The lawyer started today.
For the first time in 24 hours, I felt more than just fear. I felt relief. But then my dad’s phone rang. He looked at his screen, and his expression changed.
‘Dad?’
He answered the call and listened for a moment before slowly lowering the phone. My dad’s face paled.
“Claire.”
My stomach twisted. “What happened?”
He spoke in a low voice. “The investigator found out who Vanessa’s father is.”
Nobody spoke.
“Who?” I asked.
My dad swallowed hard and said a name that caused everyone in the room to turn white.
Vanessa wasn’t only Eric’s mistress; she was the daughter of the billionaire who bought Eric’s company three months ago. According to the investigator, the billionaire had no clue that his daughter was sneaking around with a married man.
The silence after that was different; it had weight. It changed the dynamic of the room.
“Does he know about the kids?” I asked.
“The investigator doesn’t believe so,” my dad replied. “Vanessa appears to have kept that separated. Her father thinks her constant traveling for work.”
Megan sat like a statue.
“Does Eric know who her father is?”
My dad’s face changed.
“That’s the interesting part.”
I waited for an answer.Eric’s acquisition occurred three months prior, surprisingly quickly. Eric’s company has been struggling for more than one year, hence why this is not random. I expressed to my father that I did not think Eric would have made this acquisition without having some understanding of who Vanessa was and that Eric likely utilized this relationship to support the acquisition without revealing any personal connections between the two parties.