All Chapters of Heart of Stone: Her Revenge Unleashed: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

[Addison]I sit there stunned for a moment, processing his words. "$500,000," I repeat, flabergasted. "Yes," he raises an imperious eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. "Is it not enough? I can go as high as $650,000"As a legal assistant in my family firm, I only make around $120k per year. If I were to dust off my law degree and go back to work full-time as a lawyer, I might make $250,000. Maybe more if I left the family firm to work for one of the more prestigious firms in the city.And this man, this stranger, is offering me twice that just because his niece likes me. It’s a very generous offer. Too generous. There has to be a catch. Nobody gives something like that away for nothing in exchange.“Mr. Grant,” I wipe my eyes one more time with his handkerchief and look at him skeptically, “While I appreciate your offer, what exactly do you want me to do that would be worth $500,000 per year? Do you need a new lawyer?”Looking at his fine suit and jewelry, and his extravagant get-

[Addison][BACK AT THE HOSPITAL]I grip the phone tightly as Tracy, the woman who was once my closest friend says something I never thought I'd hear. "I hate to be the one to say this but," Tracy pauses, "I think he might be cheating on you." Everything stops. My heart, my breath. What would make Tracy think this? What could have been so damaging that she'd consider this possibility before anything else?"Let me explain..." she begins to unravel a tale of confusion and mistaken identities. When she had seen the two of them in the parking lot from her office window, she had gotten very excited. She and I had been very close in college and she remembered how much I wanted to start a family right away. Michael didn't want to, he wanted to start the firm first, and it was Tracy who held me when I cried about that discovery, only a month before our wedding. "I was hoping he was there with you, because, you know, you have always wanted kids. This woman and Michael seemed very friendly. F

[Addison] I didn’t hear a response to my email. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. With the way Michael has been doting on Evelyn, he was probably too busy to read it. Making another attempt to get him to respond, I sent an email letting him know I was being released tomorrow and that I needed him to come by to at least sign the divorce papers. He did reply this time. “We’ll talk later,” is all the message said, an automatic response he has set in his phone at the press of a button. He didn't even bother to read it. As promised, Tracy showed up twenty minutes later with a pizza box. I laughed out loud when she pulled out a bottle of beer hiding in the recesses of her purse, just like when she used to sneak beer into the movies during our college days.By the time the pizza was eaten and the beer was long gone, we were fast friends once more. It was as if no time had passed between us, and we were as close as sisters again. Michael had discouraged our friendship, so after we were ma

[Addison]“This is insane, Michael! Let me out!” I shouted, rattling the locked door, my fists pounding against the painted wood. “You can’t keep me here!”“You need help, Addy!” he shouts back. “I’m calling Dr. Greene. He'll come and give you something to ease your anxiety. You're still shaken from the kidnapping. Don't worry, he'll get you fixed up."Michael's voice grows happier as he continues to speak, truly believing his own lies.""You'll see, Addy. You'll be yourself again soon." Dr. Greene is Michael’s psychiatrist. Ever since Evelyn left, Michael has been seeing Dr. Greene once a week. I don’t know him very well, having only met him once or twice during fundraisers and social functions, but he is an old-school doctor who believes in heavy medication. And who knows what Michael is going to tell him about me. Whatever it is, Evelyn will likely have a hand in it. Opening my purse, I see the contract and business card from Mr. Grant. He had said I could call him about anythin

[Addison]"Addy!"There are loud, rapid footsteps followed by the heavy sound of someone falling to their knees. Warm arms reach around me and cradle me to their chest, their heart beating rapidly against my ear.My husband, Michael, is shaking with fear as he looks down at me with wide, frightened eyes. "Addison! What have you done!" His voice shakes as he looks up at the open window and then back at me. "Why? Do I make you so miserable that you are trying to kill yourself?""Don't forget, you're still pregnant!" He blamed me.The sadness in his voice makes my heart skip. I scoffed in my mind. There was no child anymore.Does he really care about me underneath all of this anger and angst? Am I the one pushing him away with my jealousy?"Michael, help, I fell," I whimper pathetically. I hate how weak I sound, how defenseless I am. I don't want his help, but what choice do I have? I was foolish to think I could climb out the window to get away. In the distance, my son's small voice