Chapter 10
“Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t get a job at any design firm in the city p>
Cedric felt no remorse.
His family had more than enough money to support Liliana for the rest of her life. If she was going to defy him, he wasn’t going to play nice.
This wasn’t about punishing her; it was about teaching her a lesson, forcing her to come to her senses.
“What are you so afraid of?” Juniper demanded, flooring the accelerator, high on adrenaline. “You’re the wife! The cheating husband and his mistress shouldn’t have the upper hand here p>
*Some wife I am*, Liliana thought, but she said, “Angering Cedric isn’t a smart move, not for me, and definitely not for the Preston family.” If this divorce turned into a public scandal for the Forrests, things would get much more complicated than just the two of them.
“Liliana, have you told your family you’re getting a divorce?” Juniper asked, stopping at a red light.
Liliana shook her head. “No p>
Her father would be the first to object, and her mother, ever the peacemaker, would side with him. Her mother’s entire philosophy revolved around being a dutiful, submissive wife. It was that constant lecturing, combined with her own naive belief that Cedric’s coldness was just a personality quirk, that had allowed her to endure two years of neglect. Now, with the affair out in the open, those two years felt like a tragic joke. No one in her family would understand. She had to finalize the divorce before they found out.
“Okay, then we’ll keep it quiet for now,” Juniper conceded. “Have you drafted a settlement agreement? You can’t walk away with nothing. You need to ask for the house, a car, and at least a few million in cash p>
“I… I’ll think about it,” Liliana murmured, the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. Juniper could see her friend was overwhelmed and dropped the subject.
Back at the apartment, Liliana opened her laptop. “I’m going to start sending out my resume. I need to find a job as soon as possible p>
“Do you need my help?” Juniper asked. With her connections, she could easily get Liliana an interview.
“No, I can do this on my own p>
She was confident. Despite her two-year hiatus, her portfolio from college was strong, and her final
project had won a prestigious
award To her
elief she
received
several replies inviting her to interview. The small victory gave her a much-needed boost of morale.
The next morning, with Juniper’s help, she bought a new suit, ready to face the world. The busyness was a welcome distraction, but thoughts of Cedric and Sylvia soil intruded, a dull, persistent ache. The woman she barely knew, yet who made her feel so inadequate. She couldn’t help but wonder what her life would be like now if she had never married him.
On Friday, she had a series of interviews lined up.
At her first one, after introducing herself, the interviewer asked, “Miss Preston, your resume has a two-year gap since graduation. What have you been doing p>
Liliana wasn’t surprised by the question, but shame still crept in. “I… got married.” The interviewer’s expression turned sympathetic. “There’s a golden window for starting a career. If you had applied right after graduation, we would have been thrilled to have you. But now… I’m sorry p>
It was a polite rejection.
Liliana was prepared for rejection, but not like this. “You haven’t asked me a single question about my design skills. Are you turning me down just because I have no professional experience and tim married p>