Nicholas smirked. “It’s too late for that. I’ve already seen it. I’ve read it. I know the truth about your arrangement.” He crossed his arms. “When I started looking around, all I was hoping to find was something that showed you weren’t really a couple. Separate bedrooms, maybe. But this? This is a jackpot.”

“It’s just a prenup,” Yvonne said.

“A very unconventional one. And it’s dated after you got married.”

“I told you, the wedding was a spur of the moment thing.”

“Because it’s a lie!” He waved his hands around him. “All of this, it’s a big lie. You entered into a fraudulent marriage, and you were stupid enough to put the terms down in a contract. That’s so like you. Such a control freak.” He looked at Ruby, licking his lips. “The other contract I found just proves how much of a freak you are.”

Yvonne looked down at the papers in her hands. Sure enough, underneath the marriage contract was the other contract Yvonne and Ruby had signed.

It was enough to bring Yvonne to her senses. Why was she standing here, arguing with Nicholas? He’d invaded their home, invaded her and Ruby’s privacy.

He had crossed a line.

Anger boiled up inside her. “Get out. Get out of this room. Get out of my apartment. Get out before I call the police and have you arrested for assault.”

“Happily,” Nicholas said. “After all, I have all the evidence I need. And I’m going to tell the world the truth. There’s no way you’re going to get your hands on that inheritance now.”

“Get. Out.”

“Settle down.” Nicholas held up his hands defensively. “I’m leaving.” Giving Ruby one last glare, he left the room.

Yvonne followed Nicholas out into the hall and marched him to the door. She opened it wide, shoving him through it.

“One last thing, Nicholas,” she said. “Don’t you ever, ever come near me or Ruby again.”

Before he could react, Yvonne slammed the door in his face.

Yvonne leaned back against the door and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to stifle the fury burning inside her. Nicholas had come to her home, had intruded on her space. He’d violated her privacy, violated Ruby’s space and privacy.

And now, he was going to expose them.

“Fuck!” She clenched her fists. Everything was falling apart.

Yvonne’s phone pinged inside her purse, which she’d dropped near the door on the way in. She took her phone out and checked it, a reflex from years of fielding important after-hours work emails. But it wasn’t work. The notification was a message from her brother containing a link.

Yvonne’s stomach dropped. She opened the link. What she saw shattered the last vestiges of hope she’d had.

She slid down the door and sank to the floor, burying her head in her arms.

* * *

Ruby stared at her bedroom wall, replaying the events of the last hour over and over in her head. When Nicholas had turned up at the door and bulldozed his way inside, she’d frozen. Being confronted by a large aggressive man while all alone in her home had sent her mind right back to her past, with her former client, when she’d been powerless and afraid.