Chapter Two

 

Faith

 

 

The city sky was gray with thick clouds, and the air was so humid I could barely breathe it in. It was the perfect silhouette for my mood. I never thought getting a divorce would be a blessing, but also a complete and utter pain in my ass. Philip Mackenzie was about to be my past, and I could finally look forward to my own future. I’d given up all of my hopes and dreams to make his come true. Not anymore. My life was about to change.

Trying to take a deep breath, I looked up at the stone columns of the courthouse. There were people all around, walking down the streets, and sitting on the courthouse steps. It was always busy in New York, and it didn’t matter what day it was. I liked it that way.

In a little less than an hour, I was going to be inside those courthouse walls, finalizing my divorce. If there was one thing I was grateful for, it was my husband’s connections. Instead of a long, drawn out process, he was able to push it through quickly. All he had to do was admit of his adultery in front of the judge, and it’d be done. I was surprised he wanted to do it so quickly, especially considering he was about to give me half of everything he owned.

I often wondered if others ever stopped and thought about what their lives would’ve been like if they hadn’t made such horrible decisions? Believe me, it was what I’d thought about every day since I caught my husband having sex on his office desk with none other than the new big breasted lawyer I’d just hired a couple months ago to join our firm. What surprised me even more was that when I caught them, I was angry as hell … but I wasn’t devastated like a normal wife should’ve been. Did I want to rip off his balls, and shove them down her throat? Of course, I did. I would’ve taken great pleasure in it too, but alas, that wasn’t the way the world worked.

Who would’ve thought it’d take your husband cheating on you to realize that your life was empty. I had everything a woman could ever want, but in the end I wasn’t happy. My husband and I had our prestigious law firm, a luxurious condo in SoHo, and everything I could ever want.

It turned out that all of that wasn’t what I truly wanted.

I glanced down at my phone to catch the time, and my stomach clenched. I dreaded the moment I was faced with Philip. Ever since we separated two months ago after I caught him cheating with Cecilia, I’d been living in our condo while he moved in with her. I’d also stayed away from the law firm out of sheer embarrassment. My goal was to get him to buy out my half, and I’d walk. I wanted nothing to do with him or his firm. Besides, I was just the office manager. I gave up my passion of owning a restaurant so I could help him establish his firm. What a giant mistake that was.

“Faith!”

I turned toward the sound of my name, and watched as my lawyer and best friend – Layla Chandler – hurried out the door of the courthouse, carrying her leather briefcase. She looked chic in her black pantsuit with her long, blonde hair sleek down her back. You couldn’t even tell she was pregnant, then again, she was only in her first trimester. I was the first person she told. Soon, I’d be an honorary aunt.

People in college always thought we were related since we were the same build and had the same color hair. She graduated with Philip so she knew what kind of a douchebag he was. I just hate it took me marrying him to see what he was truly like.

Layla waved, and hurried up the courthouse steps in her black heels. “Have you been waiting long?” she asked, setting down her brief case so she could give me a hug. “I was going to wait for you out here, but I had to run inside to use the restroom.”

I squeezed her tight. “No worries. I’ve heard women always have to pee when they’re pregnant.”

She snorted. “You’re telling me.”

“Well, while you were inside, I’ve just been out here thinking of my life. I’m glad I was smart enough to get out before Philip and I brought a child into this world.” I was so thankful of that.

Layla snickered and let me go, her greenish-brown eyes twinkling with mischief. “Your life is about to be so much better without that asshole in it. I’ll make sure he pays for what he’s done.”

I returned the laugh. “I’m counting on it.”

Her eyes flickered to something over my shoulder and she scoffed. “Don’t look now, but ‘Mr. Can’t Keep His Dick In His Pants’ just arrived. He’s coming this way.”

Closing my eyes, I blew out a frustrated breath. “I just have to get through today.”

“Hello, wife,” Philip called out from behind.

Hearing that made everything inside me explode. “Seriously,” I snapped, turning to face him. “Don’t ever call me that again.” He was dressed in one of his expensive Armani suits with his dark hair gelled to perfection. The man had a gift for charming people, and once upon a time, I had fallen for it.

With a smug smile, Philip looked at me as if there was a joke I wasn’t privy to. On a day like today when I was about to take his bank account to the cleaners, it didn’t make me feel too comfortable.

Philip’s grin widened as he looked at Layla. “It’s good to see you again, Layla. Looking more beautiful than ever.”

Layla snorted with disgust. “Save it, Philip. I have nothing nice to say to you right now.”

Philip’s lawyer, a friend of his father’s, came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. His name was Randall Mitchem, a man in his mid-fifties with salt and pepper hair, and a history of winning almost all of his cases. I was shocked Philip didn’t want to represent himself since he was a lawyer. Apparently, he hired Randall as counsel instead. The more I thought about everything, the more nervous I got. Layla was an impeccable lawyer, but now she was against two high powered men.

“Come on, son. No need to stoke the fire,” Randall said in all seriousness. “Let’s go inside.”

Philip’s smile faded slightly, but he kept his sly eyes on mine. “See you in there.” Turning on his heel, I watched him saunter inside the courthouse, all arrogant like the asshole he was. There was a time, even if it was just a fleeting moment, where I did see something other than greed in those hazel eyes of his. In college, we’d talk for hours on just random things and I loved it. He was so smart and it was one of the things that drew me to him. Unfortunately, I wasn’t smart enough to see through his lies until it was too late.

Layla stepped up beside me, sighing heavily. “I know I’m your lawyer, and a damn excellent one at that, but I don’t have a good feeling about this, Faith.”

The deep, gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach had me agreeing with her. “I don’t either,” I replied nervously. “He has something up his sleeve. I know it.” And I was about to find out exactly what that was.

 

***

 

“Let me do all the talking, Faith,” Layla warned.

It’d already been an hour and we still hadn’t seen the judge, but luckily, I didn’t have to wait in the same room with Philip. It didn’t matter anyway. I could hear his obnoxious laugh in the next room, taunting me. With every second that passed, the angrier and more scared I got.

“I feel sick,” I said, pacing the room. Sweat dripped down my back, and my throat grew thicker.

Layla stood and jumped in front of me, stopping me from my incessant pacing. “It’ll be okay, I promise. He’s not going to win.” She squeezed my shoulders reassuringly.

I wanted to believe her, but I had my doubts. “If he does, can you use your mafia influence? Maybe put some cement boots on him and threaten to dump him in the river?”

That made her laugh, but I was dead serious. I knew about her family, and what they were capable of. I’d give anything to have that kind of support right now, even if it was wrong.

Layla noticed my lack of smile and sighed. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that. Although, I do believe my brother would do it for you.”

Dominic had always caught my interest. I’d been friends with Layla for years, and never once did I let on that I was attracted to her brother. There was always something fascinating about him, but it wasn’t until much later that I found out the reason why. Their father was a ruthless mob boss that’d taken over New York City. Dominic was dangerous, and it intrigued me.

“How is Dom?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him in months.

Layla sat back down, her eyes studying me curiously. “Good. I’m heading to the Chateaux after we leave here. You should come with me.” Her smile came back, and she practically glowed.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but then a gentle knock sounded on the door. An older, petite woman with short red hair peeked her head inside and smiled. “Judge Hawthorne is ready for you now.”

I froze and took a deep breath. Layla grabbed her briefcase and smiled back at the woman. “Thank you.”

The woman opened the door further, and flourished a hand toward the end of the hall. “It’ll be the last meeting room on the right.”

We started down the hall as she knocked on Philip’s room, instructing him and his lawyer the same thing. His snickers echoed behind me and I cringed with disgust. Hate was a strong word, but holy hell I disliked the man. I even hated myself for getting involved with him in the first place. The good thing was that it was only three years of my life wasted. I had so many more ahead of me.

Layla walked into the meeting room first, and all that was in there was a long conference table with twelve large, brown leather seats. I followed Layla to the left side of the table while Philip and Randall went to the right. We started to sit down, but then the door opened and the judge walked in, wearing his black, silk gown and holding a folder full of papers. He was a tall man, looking to be in his late fifties with balding gray hair and glasses.

The second he noticed Layla, his face brightened. “Layla Corsino. What a pleasure to see you again, my dear,” he said, holding out his hand.

I breathed a sigh of relief. If he liked Layla it could only work in my favor; or at least, that was what I hoped. Layla shook his outstretched hand and smiled. “It’s good to see you again too, Judge Hawthorne. I’m actually a Chandler now. I got married a few months ago.”

Judge Hawthorne patted her hand. “Congratulations. I’m glad to see your family getting back on track after everything that happened with your father.”

The death of Layla’s dad was a sore subject, but she handled it gracefully. “Thank you.”

He acknowledged me with a nod, and did the same to Philip and Randall. “All right, let’s get started. This should only take a couple of minutes.” He sat down and sorted through the papers in the folder. I had no clue what they were, and neither did Layla when I looked over at her and saw the same confusion on her face.

The judge peered over at Philip, and then at me. “From what I understand, you two are seeking a speedy divorce? Is that correct?”

I nodded. “Yes, Your Honor.”

He turned to Philip and he nodded as well. “Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Hawthorne pursed his lips and focused back on the paperwork. “All right, let’s get this going. It appears you are the one at fault, Mr. Mackenzie?”

Philip shifted in his chair. “Yes, Your Honor. I admit to cheating on my wife. We both want the marriage terminated as soon as possible.”

For a moment, I was afraid he wouldn’t admit to his adultery. I breathed a sigh of relief, and sat back in my chair. It was over … or at least, I thought it was. The judge studied the paperwork again as if even he was confused over something.

“What is he reading?” I said, whispering the words to Layla.

She leaned toward me. “Don’t know, but I really wish I knew.”

Judge Hawthorne slid the papers back into the file, and pulled out another one with which he signed. “Your wish has been granted. I’ll have it finalized in about two weeks.” He passed the paper off to Philip. “Sign and date at the bottom.” Philip signed it and slid it over to me. Layla read over it first and nodded for me to sign it.

She handed it to the judge. “Your Honor, my client and I wanted to lay out the terms of the divorce. There’s nothing we’ve seen that goes over that. All my client wants is for Mr. Mackenzie to buy out her share of the practice and to give her the condo they purchased together.”

Brows furrowed, Judge Hawthorne stared at us curiously before pulling out those papers again. “I’m sorry, Layla, but I’m a little confused at the moment. Your client signed the papers giving up those rights.”

It was as if I’d stumbled into a nightmare. “What?” I shouted. “I never signed anything like that.” I glared over at Philip, and that smug smile of his slowly crept up on his face. That sick feeling in my gut came back with a vengeance.

Layla squeezed my hand. “Calm down. I got this.” The judge handed her the papers, but I was too pissed to move. My anger had me frozen in my seat while I watched Layla skim through what looked to be a contract. When she flipped to the final page, her eyes widened in shock.

I grabbed the paper out of her hand. “Let me see it.” All it took was seeing my signature at the bottom line to understand what the hell was going on.

“That’s your signature,” Layla said, keeping her voice low. “According to the contract, he owes you nothing. How did this happen?”

Rage overtook me, and I crumpled the contract, throwing it straight at Philip’s face. “You son of a bitch. You tricked me!” The contract bounced off his forehead, and he covered his face to hide his smile. All I wanted to do was jump over the table and punch him so hard his nose broke. “Your Honor, if I signed those papers, I did it unknowingly. I’m the manager at our firm and I’m given papers to sign all the time. Philip must’ve slipped it in to my pile without my knowledge.”

Philip placed a hand over his heart, feigning innocence. “There’s no need to get upset, honey. We talked about this, remember? You were okay with it before.” He turned to the judge. “Please forgive her outbursts, Your Honor. She can be mentally unstable at times.”

I slammed my hand on the table, and was about to show him how mentally unstable I could be, but Layla grabbed my arm. “Take it easy, Faith.” She turned to the judge. “Your Honor, my client was duped into the signing that contract. You can clearly see she had no idea what was going on.”

“Whatever the situation may be,” Randall spoke up, “your client signed the contract. That is her signature, isn’t it?”

Layla didn’t even acknowledge Randall and kept her eyes on the judge. Judge Hawthorne sighed and ran a hand over his face. “None of this sounds right to me, but that is your signature is it not?” he asked, looking straight at me.

How could I have been so stupid to sign something without reading it? Philip had betrayed me long before I caught him cheating. “It is,” I said, clenching my fists so tight the pain shot up my arms.

The judge sighed again and stood. “Then there’s nothing else I can do.” He focused back on Layla. “If you can prove this was maliciously done, I’ll be happy to reevaluate. Until then, this meeting is over.”

He walked out of the room, and as soon as he was gone, Philip chuckled. “Make sure your stuff is moved out of the condo by the end of the week.”

“You rat bastard,” I hissed. Layla grabbed my arm again, keeping me in place. “You’re not going to get away with this.”

Philip backed up to the door, grinning the whole time. “Oh, and you’re fired. I don’t need you anymore at the firm. You can pick up your things in the lobby tomorrow morning.”

It was as if everything came crashing down, but I was too numb to feel it just yet. The anger was too much. Philip and Randall left, while all I could do was collapse back into my chair. Layla turned me toward her and knelt down in front of me.

“Faith, look at me.” When I didn’t, she squeezed my hands. “Faith, look at me.”

It took all the energy I had to even focus on her. “I have nothing now. He took everything from me.” All the money I had of my own went into building our law firm. I did have a separate bank account that was my own, but there wasn’t much in it.

She nodded, but there was a fierceness in her eyes. “He did, and you know what?”

“What?”

“He’s going to pay for it. I may be a Chandler now, but I was born a Corsino. It may be time I use it to my advantage.” She helped me up, and put her arm around me. “Until then, you’re going to live at the Chateaux in my princess suite. I’m not going to have you being homeless.”

I was too angry and exhausted to argue with her. But in all reality, I was homeless now. I had put my faith and trust into the wrong person and I was paying dearly for it.

How did I miss that document? Yes, I have a number of letters I needed to sign daily — all mundane forms for ordering supplies and such I should have noticed something that wasn’t similar…I just feel so had right now it’s making me sick. I should have known Phillip would have done something like this.

Why would one person want to ruin another’s life in such totality, it’s just so cruel. When did he begin to hate me this much? Well, fuck it all, Layla was right … Philip was going to pay for what he’d done. I wasn’t about to go down without a fight.