The Unveiling Of The Truth

Chapter Seven: The Revelation of the Truth

- Lily's POV

My heart was racing in my chest as my fingers wrapped around the cool metal handle and turned it, the door to the law office creaking open. I tried to steady my breath, but my pulse refused to cooperate. I had to do this. I had to finally bring an end to the nightmare that was my marriage to Adrian.

But as I stepped inside, I could already feel him behind me. The steady rhythm of Simeon's footsteps echoed in the silence, growing louder, until it was impossible to pretend he wasn't there.

Lily," his voice cut through the air, smooth and commanding, yet underlying that was something sharper. I resisted the urge to turn around, to acknowledge him. Instead, I focused on the receptionist, my voice barely a whisper.

"I have an appointment with Mr. Coleman," I said, the words coming out far frailer than I had meant them to.

Before the receptionist could say anything, I heard it-his voice, low and insistent. "I'll wait right here."

My stomach twisted. What was he doing here? Why was he following me? I didn't have the energy to fight him right now. Not here, not when I was on the verge of making the biggest decision of my life. I had already given him too much space in my mind. This-this was for me.

"Ma'am, Mr. Coleman will be with you shortly," the receptionist said, completely oblivious to the tension coiling around us. I nodded stiffly, my legs feeling heavy as I moved to the waiting area, acutely aware of Simeon's presence behind me. Every step felt like it was pushing me toward a confrontation that I wasn't ready for.

You're avoiding me," he said, settling into the seat across from me. His gaze was sharp, probing, and despite my best efforts, I couldn't ignore it. I couldn't escape the weight of it.

I refused to meet his eyes, my fists clenching at my sides. "I don't owe you an explanation."

"Maybe not," he replied, his tone maddeningly calm, "but you can't pretend I'm not here.

My breath caught, and I clutched the armrest of my chair to steady myself. I hadn't come here for this. I hadn't come to face the man who had already shattered the last of my defenses with a single reckless night. I came to take control, to leave behind the man who had destroyed me.

Before I could formulate another response, the door to the office opened. Mr. Coleman appeared-a middle-aged man with a warm, professional smile. "Mrs. Brennan, please, come in."

Grateful for the escape, I quickly rose, only to find Simeon rising with me, his presence unyielding, his resolve as solid as ever.

She won't be long," Simeon said, his voice firm, too familiar, as if he had a right to be here, as if he had a claim on my life now.

I shot him a glare, but it did nothing to deter him. It was a stiff body that followed Mr. Coleman into the office, every step a battle against the dread swelling inside me.

This was my moment; this was where I would take back control.

Inside the office, Mr. Coleman gestured to the chair across from him. "Please, have a seat," he said. I lowered myself into the chair, the air thick with the gravity of the decision I was about to make.

"So, you wanted to discuss filing for divorce?" he began in a voice as flat and professional as it had ever been. Yet, there was something beneath the words that I couldn't override. It was all too real now. Too final.

"Yes," I answered, and my voice was even, though a storm could have raged inside.

Mr. Coleman nodded, took out a pad. "We'll have to go through the details—"

The door burst open.

My breath hitched, and my stomach somersaulted. Simeon. The door opened effortlessly for him, a storm bursting over a fragile glass wall. My pulse suddenly rocketed out of control, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Coleman," Simeon's voice sliced through the room, firm, unyielding. "But this is important.

I leapt to my feet, my fury and confusion suddenly at war. "What are you doing?" I spat, the shake in my hands making my voice jump. "You have no right-"

His eyes nailed to mine, burning, uncompromising. "You're divorcing Adrian Brennan?" It was a rough whisper, throttled by disbelief and something much darker.

My world froze. He knew. Of course, he did. What did I expect? A man like Simeon couldn't be far removed from the people in Adrian's life.

I nodded, the words stuck in my throat. "Yes," I managed, my voice barely a whisper.

Simeon repeated Adrian's name as if testing it on his tongue. "Adrian Brennan," he murmured, his gaze never leaving mine. "As in… Adrian Brennan?

My heart sank as I realized how deeply tied their worlds were. Of course, Simeon knew him. The world couldn't be this small, could it? How had I not seen it before?

"Why?" Simeon's voice lowered, quieter but no less intense. "Why are you divorcing him?

But it cut through me, like a blade, and the storm that I had been holding broke free. I could not hold back any longer: words, pain, years of betrayal. "Because he cheated on me, repeatedly," I said, my voice at its edge, with the tears to spill over, yet I refused to cry in front of him. "Because he lied, manipulated me, and treated me like I was nothing. I gave him everything, and he destroyed me.

My voice cracked, but I held his gaze, refusing to break down, not here, not in front of him.

Simeon's face changed in a second: shock, denial, and then… anger. Across his features lay anger-raw, and I had not expected such a reaction.

"That son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

What?" I asked, my tone a mix of confusion and anger. "What do you mean?"

Simeon's eyes went cold; his jaw clenched tight. "I've been sponsoring him."

My breath caught in my throat. "What do you mean?

He looked at me, his expression a mask of disgust. "I've been funding Adrian's ventures. I believed in him. I thought he was a man of integrity. But now I find out he's been doing this behind your back? It's unforgivable."

My mind reeled. “You’ve been… sponsoring him?” The words felt like a weight, a crushing blow. Adrian, the man who had lied to me about everything, had been lying to Simeon as well.

“Yes,” Simeon bit out, his voice sharp, as if the betrayal stung him more than he was willing to admit. “I thought he was a promising entrepreneur, but he’s nothing but a fraud.”

The room seemed to spin as my brain worked at the weight of his words. Adrian wasn't only a liar in my books, he had betrayed Simeon, too. But by now Simeon was not just this somewhere distant in my life but part of the story and rather unexpectedly at that.

"What do we do now?" I hushed, not loudly enough for human ears to hear.

Simeon stopped pacing, his face hardening into something fierce, something dangerous. "We don't do anything," he said, his voice low and even. "I do something. Adrian Brennan is going to pay for this. He doesn't get to betray the people who trusted him and walk away unscathed.

I swallowed hard, and his words should have soothed me, but the dread that bubbled in the pit of my tummy was unparalleled. Simeon wasn't just a man wronged-he was a man on a mission, and I really wasn't that sure if I was ready for the storm he would unleash.

"I just want to be free," I said, my words breaking under the brunt of all this.

"You will be," Simeon promised, and his voice did not waver. "I will see to that."

But with the words still in the air, the fire now burning in his eyes sent chills down my spine. This was not about Adrian any more. It had grown into a whole different, much larger reason; one that threatened to change my world forever, binding me right at its center.