Never Again Yours
When Gideon Clarke rejected another one of my reimbursement requests, he attached the same message.
"Your grandma doesn't have long to live. No matter how expensive the medication is, she won't even know the difference. As long as her vital signs are stable, that's enough. My money doesn't grow on trees."
He was right. So I decided I would never spend another penny of his money again. I was leaving the Clarke family and the gilded cage that came with it.
When the housekeeper saw the divorce papers in my hand, she shook her head with contempt. "Couldn't keep your husband, so now you're playing games."
Gideon took the papers without saying a word. He only frowned at me, looking at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum. "Audrey, I'm busy. I have research to do and papers to write. I don't have time for this nonsense."
In the end, though, I still got the signed divorce agreement. All thanks to his adopted sister.
I was Mrs. Clarke, the wife of the nation's youngest and most celebrated scientist. Yet I lived worse than a stray dog.
My grandmother needed approval from his adopted sister before she could have a 50,000-dollar surgery.
If I came down with a fever and needed to be hospitalized, I needed her permission.
Even after my grandmother died, I had to wait for her to be in the right mood before I could pay the cremation fee at the funeral home.
I had endured it for five years. One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days.
Now, I would never have to endure it again.