Gerald watched me hit Claire, and whatever restraint he had left snapped completely. "I must have been out of my mind to let Adam marry you!" he shouted.

Adam's mother, Matilda Bennett, helped Claire to her feet. Claire's eyes were bloodshot and brimming with tears, but she shook her head and put on a brave face.

"Please, don't blame Lena," she said. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have opened my mouth and made things worse. She's hurting, and I pushed her when I shouldn't have. The baby's right here. Let's not keep fighting because of me."

Watching Claire like that only made Adam feel worse. He turned to her gently. "Claire, this isn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong."

Then he turned toward me. "Lena, this is our son's one-month celebration, and you pick today to bring up divorce. What, you think because I love you, you can pull whatever you want and I'll just put up with it?"

Gerald stepped forward, glaring at me. "Are you really set on this? I bet there's someone else. That's the only explanation. Why else would you be this heartless, demanding a divorce at your own child's celebration?"

Claire's eyes widened, like something had just fallen into place. "That's it, isn't it? No wonder you're so desperate to leave. You have someone on the side. How can you do this to your son? To Adam?"

Adam's whole body went rigid. "Lena, you better not actually be seeing someone."

I listened to Claire call him "Adam" over and over like she owned the name, and my expression didn't change.

"Whether there's someone else isn't the point," I said. "The point is that Adam and I are getting divorced."

That was the last straw for Gerald. He pointed toward the door and roared at me. "Fine! You ungrateful wretch. You're not welcome here anymore, and take your parents with you.

"You want a divorce so badly? Fine. I'll see you in court in five days. And I'm going to make sure you pay back every cent you've squeezed out of my son."

Mom and Dad opened their mouths to say something, but one look from Gerald and Matilda shut them down cold.

The second we stepped out of the hospital room, Dad grabbed my arm. "Lena, what is going on with you?" he asked. "You and Adam used to be so happy together. How do you go from that to divorce papers? And on a day like this?"

He let out a heavy sigh, his eyes going distant. "I still remember when you two first got together. You were glued to his side every second of the day, and he was your whole world. You knew how hard he worked, so you'd make dinner and have it ready when he got home.

"You even taught yourself how to give massages so you could help him unwind after a long day. Things were so good back then. How did it end up like this?"

The words hit me harder than I expected. Before I could stop them, tears slid down my face.

I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand and kept my voice steady. "Dad, that's all in the past now."

I pulled free from his grip and walked toward the elevators without looking back.

Downstairs, my old college friend Derek Lacey was leaning against his car, waiting for me. I climbed into the passenger seat.

He took one look at my face and smirked. "You've been crying, huh? Sounds like that party was even more fun than I expected."

I managed a tired laugh. "Don't tease me. I'm going to need your help in court in five days."

I put my earbuds in, pulled up the recording on my phone, and made myself listen to it again.

I didn't want to impose on Derek any more than I already had, so I asked him to drop me off at a hotel.

I couldn't tell what time I finally fell asleep. Sometime well past midnight, I drifted off without realizing it.

The next afternoon, a frantic knocking on the door jolted me awake. The second I opened it, a crowd of people pushed their way inside.

"Ms. Reeves, can you tell us why you asked for a divorce at your son's one-month celebration?"

"There are rumors that you were unfaithful during the marriage. Is that true?"

"You've been with Mr. Hargrove since before he made it big, and now you're walking away. Do you feel any guilt at all?"

Camera flashes exploded in my face one after another. Recorders and microphones were shoved so close I could feel them against my skin. Half of them had their phones out, livestreaming, recording video, every single one of them desperate to squeeze some scandal out of me.

The commotion drew more onlookers within minutes, and once they heard what was going on, they stared at me with open contempt.

A female reporter elbowed her way to the front, her tone sharp and accusatory.

"Ms. Reeves, sources close to the family say Mr. Hargrove was sleeping in a separate room during your postpartum recovery. Does that mean the marriage was already falling apart? And the fact that you chose the baby's one-month celebration to file for divorce, was this planned from the start?"

That was when it clicked. Everything I'd done the day before had been recorded and posted online. It had blown up overnight. In the span of a single evening, the entire internet had decided I was the villain.

I didn't even have to guess who was behind it. It could only have been Claire.

I looked at the wall of cameras pointed at my face and spoke calmly. "I have nothing to explain."

That set them off instantly.

"Unbelievable. If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe a woman like this actually existed. She stuck it out through the hard years, and now that the money's rolling in, she wants a divorce?"

"She obviously has another man. She probably couldn't keep it in her pants after the pregnancy, and her husband wasn't enough anymore."

"You know what, that actually makes sense. I feel sorry for the guy. Imagine when that kid grows up and finds out what kind of mother he has. It'll be humiliating."

I was drowning in the noise when my parents arrived with Adam.

He looked nothing like he had the day before. The anger was gone, replaced by something raw and urgent. He pushed through the crowd to reach me, and when he spoke, his voice was low and gentle.

"Lena, are you okay?"

I looked into his eyes, and all I saw there was worry. I shook my head but didn't say anything.

Dad stepped forward, his expression stern. "Lena, your mother and I were up all night trying to make sense of this, and we still can't figure out why you'd do this to Adam. Frankly, we started wondering if maybe you really are involved with someone else.

"So last night we rushed a paternity test. Adam is Lucas's biological father. What possible reason do you have to ask for a divorce?"

He tossed the paternity report on the floor in front of me. I bent down and picked it up.

Mom chimed in, her voice softer but just as insistent. "Lena, Adam saw the livestream of you being ambushed by reporters. He was so worried something would happen to you that he came running.

"His parents tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. He's always thinking about you, every single moment. You can't keep hurting him like this. Please, just be reasonable. Apologize to him and make this right."

But no matter how hard they pleaded, none of it reached me. I held up the paternity report so everyone could see it, and tore it to pieces.

Dad was shaking with rage. He raised his hand and slapped me across the face with everything he had.

"Lena! How long are you going to keep this up? Adam has given everything for this family, and you still can't see that? The paternity test is right in front of you, and you're still trying to tear this family apart?"

The slap rang out sharp and loud. He hadn't held back at all, and within seconds the side of my face was swollen and red.

The crowd around us erupted.

Some of them pointed at me and called me heartless. Others shook their heads into their phone cameras, muttering about what kind of person would do something like this.

The tenderness that had been in Adam's eyes when he arrived was gone now, completely replaced by anger. I watched as the last trace of hope faded from his expression.

"Adam, I'll see you in court." I pressed my hand against my burning cheek. My voice was quiet, but he could hear every word.

Adam finally snapped. "Fine. You got it, Lena. I'll see you in court."

I didn't look at him. Instead, I turned to the crowd still pressing in around me. "Move."

Mom and Dad tried to grab hold of me, but I shook them off and pointed at the door. "All of you, get out. You're not welcome here."

…

For the next five days, I turned off my phone and stayed in the hotel room alone. On the day of the hearing, I walked into the courtroom right on time.

Adam was sitting at the plaintiff's table with Lucas in his arms. The baby kept sneaking glances in my direction. Claire was pressed close to Adam's side, watching me with undisguised hostility.

Both families were seated in the gallery. Mom and Dad looked defeated, sighing under their breath. Gerald and Matilda glared at me without blinking.

The moment I sat down, Mom leaned over and whispered urgently.

"Lena, you need to apologize to Adam right now and beg him to forgive you. Your father asked around, and with the way things stand, you're going to walk out of here with nothing."

Claire shot to her feet and pointed at me. "Lena, stop being so stubborn! Adam said if you apologize, he's willing to pretend none of this ever happened. Do you really want to lose everything and get thrown out on the street?"

Gerald slammed his hand on the bench. "For the sake of your child having a proper family, you still have a chance to back down. Otherwise, I'll make sure you don't even have a roof over your head."

I leaned back in my chair and tapped my fingers against the table. I didn't say a word.

The judge struck his gavel and looked at me, his expression serious.

"The defendant, Lena Reeves. The plaintiff, Adam Hargrove, has alleged a pattern of emotional neglect during the marriage. Based on the evidence presented, the court finds that you bear clear fault in this marriage.

"Under the applicable statutes, unless the defense has new evidence to submit, the ruling will be that you leave this marriage with no share of the marital assets."

Everyone in the courtroom who knew what I'd done was seething. The way they looked at me, they would have thrown the book at me if they could.

The judge glanced at me again, visibly unimpressed by my silence, and raised the gavel to finalize the ruling. That was when my lawyer stood up.

"Your Honor, the defense would like to submit new evidence."