Her gaze dropped deliberately to Madeline’s stomach before she added, “Gregory needed someone who could match his ambitions, and you clearly have different priorities now.”
Madeline looked at her calmly and then smiled, not out of weakness but because she already knew how this story would unfold.
Inside the courthouse, her lawyer, Victor Bennett, met her quietly and said, “Once we begin, there is no turning back, so you must be absolutely sure.”
She nodded without hesitation and answered, “I did not come here to turn back.”
The hearing moved quickly, reducing years of marriage into signatures and formal words that felt strangely hollow compared to what had truly happened.
Gregory acted composed and reasonable, while Ashley sat in the background like someone already celebrating a victory she believed she had secured.
Madeline spoke only when necessary, answering each question with calm clarity that unsettled Gregory more than any argument could have.
When the judge finalized the divorce, Gregory visibly relaxed, believing the situation had ended exactly as he wanted.
Outside the courtroom, he stopped her and said with a controlled tone, “I hope you can accept reality now and focus on the baby.”
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