Chapter 113: Terms of Separation

"Attorney."

"I was served with divorce papers."

"Come down to the office. My schedule is full. I can’t do house calls."

Victoria had expected divorce papers from Conrad for years.

That didn’t stop her from sitting very still after she opened them.

Conrad was simply asking for a divorce.

Victoria leaned back against the sofa.

"Well."

She’d imagined this moment before.

Usually, in those imaginary versions, she’d been furious. Sometimes she’d called Conrad immediately and demanded to know where he’d found the audacity after disappearing from their lives without ever having the decency to end the marriage formally.

Apparently, reality was less satisfying.

She wasn’t angry.

At least, not enough.

That was almost worse.

Victoria looked at his name again.

Conrad hadn’t lived with her for years. They rarely spoke except when something involving Dominic or the family required it. She didn’t know where he spent most of his time anymore, much less what he did with his ordinary days.

For all practical purposes, she hadn’t had a husband in a very long time.

And yet she was still his wife on paper.

Until now.

Victoria closed the documents and reached for her phone again.

Her attorney already knew.

That left Dominic.

He answered after several rings.

"I’m working."

"I received divorce papers from your father."

Silence.

Then:

"Oh."

Victoria frowned.

"That’s all?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"I don’t know."

"Do you want the divorce?"

Victoria looked down at the documents.

"Yes."

The answer came easily enough.

Apparently, that wasn’t the difficult part.

Dominic was quiet for a moment.

"Are you okay?"

Victoria almost gave him the automatic answer.

Instead, she sighed.

"I don’t know."

That silenced him considerably more effectively.

"Do you still love Dad?"

Trust Dominic to go directly for the question she hadn’t wanted to ask herself.

Victoria looked toward the window.

"I haven’t seen your father properly in years."

"That wasn’t my question."

"I know."

"Mother."

"Don’t therapy me."

"I asked one question."

"One very irritating question."

Dominic waited.

Victoria eventually rubbed her forehead.

"I suppose some feelings don’t disappear simply because the marriage stopped working."

There.

That was sufficiently vague.

Dominic apparently disagreed.

"So yes."

"I didn’t say that."

"You didn’t have to."

Victoria immediately regretted calling him.

"Go back to work."

"Are you going to sign?"

"Not before my lawyer reviews everything."

"Good."

Victoria glanced at the thick package.

"There are decades of finances to sort through. Your father’s Sebastian Group holdings will probably come up as well."

"Sounds romantic."

"Marriage is surprisingly financial when you’re trying to end one."

Dominic laughed softly.

For some reason, hearing it made Victoria feel better.

"Call me after you talk to the lawyer," he said.

"I can handle this."

"I know."

Victoria went quiet.

Dominic added, "Call me anyway."

This time, she didn’t argue.

"All right."

The divorce never became a war.

That surprised almost everyone involved, except perhaps Conrad.

Their attorneys exchanged financial records and established what belonged to whom. They brought in appraisers when necessary, and accountants worked through everything that had accumulated over decades of marriage.

Victoria attended meetings when she needed to.

Conrad did the same.

Most of the actual arguing happened between people billing by the hour.

Perhaps that was one advantage of being wealthy.

You could pay professionals to have unpleasant conversations for you.

Victoria made one thing clear from the beginning. She wasn’t interested in turning the divorce into another crisis for Sebastian Group.

She already owned shares in the company, while Dominic had holdings of his own that had nothing to do with his parents’ divorce. Conrad’s stake was considerably larger and represented a substantial portion of his wealth. Still, Victoria had no particular desire to take company stock from him just to divide everything.

If Conrad wanted to retain his holdings, they could account for their value elsewhere in the settlement.

That suited him just fine.

Her lawyer made another note before moving farther down the list.

"And your name?"

Victoria looked up. "What about it?"

"If you want your maiden name restored, we can include that in the divorce."

"No."

The answer came quickly enough that her lawyer paused.

"You want to remain Victoria Sebastian?"

"I’ve been Victoria Sebastian longer than I was ever Victoria anything else."

Her lawyer nodded and made another note.

Victoria turned the page.

"Conrad is divorcing me. He isn’t repossessing my name."

That settled that.

The first proposal went back through the lawyers.

So did the second.

There were disagreements, naturally. Decades of marriage couldn’t be separated as neatly as either side might have preferred, especially when both of them had accumulated wealth along the way.

Still, neither Conrad nor Victoria seemed interested in fighting just to win.

Eventually, the lawyers reduced their marriage into numbers both sides could live with.

Victoria would keep the home she currently lived in, along with the investments she’d built and managed over the years. Conrad would retain his Sebastian Group holdings, with the remaining settlement structured around those decisions.

It wasn’t perfectly painless.

It was, however, acceptable.

And apparently, after years of living apart, acceptable was enough.

The final meeting took place in a private conference room at a law office.

Victoria arrived first.

Conrad came several minutes later.

She recognized his footsteps before he entered.

That annoyed her.

After all these years, apparently some things refused to become unfamiliar.

The door opened.

Conrad stopped when he saw her.

"Victoria."

"Conrad."

He’d aged.

Of course he had.

More gray ran through his hair now, and the years had settled around his eyes in ways Victoria didn’t remember.

Then again, she supposed he was probably looking at her and thinking much the same thing.

Their attorneys handled the formalities while Victoria listened and asked questions when necessary.

By then, they’d already made most of the difficult decisions.

Eventually, nothing remained to negotiate.

The documents waited between them.

Victoria picked up the pen.

Then stopped.

Not because she’d changed her mind.

That was the irritating part.

She wanted the divorce.

She’d spent years building a life that no longer included Conrad, and she had no intention of suddenly asking him to return simply because the legal ending had finally arrived.

Still, she looked at the signature line longer than she needed to.

Conrad noticed.

"You don’t have to do this today."

Victoria looked up.

"Are you trying to escape your own divorce?"

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"No."

"Then don’t give me an excuse."

His smile disappeared.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Victoria finally asked, "Why now?"

Conrad looked down at the documents.

"I should’ve done it years ago."

"That doesn’t answer the question."

"No."

He was quiet for a while.

"I think I spent too long believing that leaving was enough."

Victoria’s fingers tightened slightly around the pen.

"For you, perhaps."

"I know."

"Do you?"

Conrad met her eyes.

"I know now."

That should’ve made her angry.

Instead, it simply made her tired.

"You could’ve told me."

"Yes."

"You could’ve told Dominic."

"Yes."

"You just left."

"I did."

No defense.

No excuse.

Victoria almost wished he’d given her one. Anger would’ve been considerably easier to manage.

She looked down at the papers again.

"Was there someone else?"

"Yes."

The answer came immediately.

Victoria’s fingers stilled.

"Does she know?"

"No."

That somehow made it worse.

Victoria hadn’t intended to ask. She certainly hadn’t intended to feel relieved that Conrad hadn’t been carrying on an affair behind her back.

Instead, she’d apparently spent the final years of her marriage competing with a woman who didn’t even know there was a competition.

How embarrassing.

Conrad seemed to notice something in her expression but, for once in his life, had enough sense not to say anything.

He didn’t offer a name.

Victoria didn’t ask for one.

She simply picked up the pen and signed.

When she pushed the documents toward him, Conrad looked at her for a moment before signing his own name.

And that was it.

Or at least, that was their part.

Their lawyers would handle the rest.

Of course they would.

Victoria stood.

"So."

Conrad stood as well.

"So."

She picked up her handbag.

"Take care of yourself, Conrad."

"You too."

Victoria reached the door before he spoke again.

"Vicky."

She stopped.

Nobody had called her that in years.

For one ridiculous second, she was twenty-something again, listening to a much younger Conrad Sebastian make promises neither of them had possessed enough life experience to understand.

Victoria didn’t turn around immediately.

When she finally did, Conrad looked as though he’d forgotten what he’d meant to say.

Perhaps that was appropriate.

They’d already left too many things unsaid for one final conversation to fix them.

"Goodbye, Conrad."

His expression softened.

"Goodbye, Vicky."

Victoria walked out.

Dominic was waiting downstairs.

She spotted him sitting in the lobby, phone in one hand and paint on the cuff of his shirt.

Victoria frowned as she approached.

"You came directly from the gallery looking like that?"

Dominic looked at his sleeve.

"It’s acrylic."

"As opposed to?"

"Oil would’ve been harder to remove."

Victoria stared at him.

"That wasn’t my concern."

"I know."

He stood and slipped his phone into his pocket.

"Well?"

"It’s done."

Dominic studied her face.

Victoria could practically see the therapy working behind his eyes as he apparently debated whether asking about her feelings would result in physical violence.

Wisely, he chose another question.

"Lunch?"

Victoria looked back toward the elevators.

The doors had already closed.

"Somewhere expensive."

Dominic started walking.

"You just got a divorce settlement."

"Exactly."

"You’re paying."

Victoria followed him.

"We’ll see."

And strangely enough, that was how Victoria Sebastian’s marriage ended.

Not with a courtroom battle or some spectacular family scandal.

Just two lawyers, a great deal of paperwork, and a man she once loved calling her Vicky one last time.

Apparently, even the rich couldn’t pay someone else to feel the difficult parts for them.