He Brought His Mistress, I Brought My Lawyers Chapter 12

He Brought His Mistress, I Brought My Lawyers Chapter 12

Cold rain drifted from a lead-gray sky, striking Boston’s old stone streets. Avery stood beneath the apartment building, letting the chill dampen her cheeks and trench coat.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Ethan’s name flashed on the screen, a ghost light that refused to die.

She took it out, glanced at it, and hung up. Then, without hesitation, she powered it off, pried open the back, and removed the tiny SIM card.

The cold card rested between her fingers for less than a second before she snapped it in half and tossed it into a storm drain. The faint metallic clink was the final judgment on their relationship.

An hour later, a black Bentley stopped before the grand gates of the Ward family mansion in Newport.

Avery and her grandfather, Charles, arrived at the same time.

In the living room, Ethan’s parents were waiting. When his mother saw the bandage on Avery’s temple and her cold, empty eyes, she gasped, her voice trembling.

“Avery, your face…”

“It’s nothing.” Avery sat on the sofa with the steadiness of someone attending a business meeting. She took a folder from her handbag and pushed it across the coffee table.

“Uncle, Auntie, this is the agreement to terminate the engagement. I’ve already signed it.”

Ethan’s father picked up the document, the heavy paper rustling between his fingers. The terms were clear and cold. The Caldwell family sought no compensation. They only demanded the immediate termination of the engagement and the market-value settlement of Avery’s shares in the apartment.

“Ethan…” He lifted his head, his face full of shame.

“He’s at the hospital with Sloane,” Avery said, her tone as flat as if she were discussing the weather. “She’s afraid to be alone.”

The sentence was a silent slap. Ethan’s mother’s eyes reddened.

“Avery, our family has wronged you… Ethan is a bastard. He’s lost his mind.”

“It’s over.” Avery shook her head, her gaze fixed on the rain outside the window. “I only came today to clean up this bad debt.”

Bad debt.

That was how she defined their relationship.

Ethan’s father let out a heavy sigh. He picked up the pen and signed his name, finalizing the end.

Avery stood and smoothed her damp trench coat.

“Since the agreement is signed, my work here is done. Uncle, Auntie, take care.”

With that, she turned, took her grandfather’s arm, and left the house that had once filled her with so much hope.

Outside, the rain grew heavier. Her grandfather tilted the umbrella toward her and asked in a low voice, “Avery, have you really… let go?”

Avery looked up at the gray sky, the rain washing over the city’s glamour and hypocrisy. She exhaled a white breath, her voice carrying the finality of a settled account.

“Grandfather, a failed investment should have been cut loose long ago.”

Boston Logan International Airport.

Avery checked in alone, pulling a small suitcase toward security.

Before handing her passport to the officer, she looked back one last time at the rain-soaked city beyond the glass. It was the place where she had lived for more than twenty years, but now it looked like a faded painting that had nothing to do with her.

She turned and walked into the security checkpoint without looking back.

The plane accelerated down the runway, the thrust pressing her into her seat. A moment later, it lifted sharply and broke through the heavy clouds.

Outside the window, at thirty thousand feet, stretched an endless, brilliant blue sky.

The plane turned, leaving the East Coast’s gloom behind and heading toward the sunlight of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Toward a new life.