My Husband Acted Single Before Clients, So I Produced Divorce Papers Chapter 01

My Husband Acted Single Before Clients, So I Produced Divorce Papers Chapter 01

When I arrived at a restaurant to meet a client, I spotted my husband, Julian Mercer, who was supposed to be overseas for work.

He had his head down, cracking open a crab and picking out the meat for a woman with long, wavy hair.

The woman was Sabrina Grant—the client I was there to meet.

She followed my gaze and introduced him without the slightest hesitation.

“Ms. Bennett, you’re here. This is my boyfriend. He happened to have business in Westbridge, so you don’t mind if he joins us, do you?”

A message Julian had sent me flashed through my mind.

Julian: [The study’s starting. I’ll be unreachable for three months.]

I looked at him without saying a word.

Julian’s eyes widened. He reflexively dropped the crab in his hand, but he recovered almost immediately and gave me a polite nod.

“Hello. Julian Mercer. And I wouldn’t exactly call myself her boyfriend. We worked on a project together.”

He looked perfectly composed, as if we really were nothing more than two business acquaintances meeting for the first time over dinner.

I played along.

“Elise Bennett. I’m… here on business with Sabrina.”

Sabrina leaned closer with easy familiarity, then noticed the watch on my wrist.

“Ms. Bennett, isn’t that watch from about ten years ago? You must be pretty sentimental.”

I looked down at the watch I had worn every day for the past decade.

Julian had bought it for me with his first paycheck.

I gave a quiet, self-mocking laugh and slipped it off.

“Thanks for pointing it out. I guess it’s time for a new one.”

***

I watched Julian line the crabmeat neatly along one side of the plate.

Sabrina caught me looking and leaned lightly against Julian’s shoulder.

“Julian hates crab roe. He says it tastes too fishy, but I love it, so he actually learned how to crack a whole crab for me. He can get every piece of meat out perfectly, even from the legs.”

Julian pretended not to hear her.

I scoffed.

Just then, Tara Collins and Jamie Parker hurried in. Tara immediately apologized, blaming the traffic.

It was clearly not the first time Tara had seen Sabrina and Julian together. She teased, “You look great today, Ms. Grant. Professor Mercer must be the reason. Looks like today’s talks are going to go smoothly.”

Sabrina shot her a playful look, a hint of embarrassed pleasure in her voice.

“No special treatment. Business is business.”

Tara laughed. “You really have been on a roll these last two years, Ms. Grant. One project after another, three promotions. Ms. Bennett is always saying how capable you are.”

Sabrina glanced at Julian and beamed.

“I’m not that capable. I’ve just been lucky.”

She took a sip of her drink, apparently in the mood to keep talking.

“Honestly, my luck turned around when I met Julian. He’s my lucky charm.”

Jamie immediately picked up the thread.

“How did you two meet? Come on, Ms. Grant. Tell us.”

Sabrina’s smile grew.

“Two years ago, there was a competitive pitch. I’d drawn the first presentation slot, and I was a nervous wreck. Then I ran into Julian. We’d gone to the same university—he was a few years ahead of me—and he was consulting for the organizers. So I begged him to move me to the last slot.”

“I was sure he’d say no because he’s such a stickler for rules. But he actually agreed. Going last gave me enough time to get fully prepared, and I ended up winning the contract. I remember thinking it had to be fate.”

She paused, then continued.

“Afterward, the organizers put us in the same project group chat. I was so nervous when I followed him on Instagram, and he followed me back almost immediately.”

Tara laughed. “Wow. Maybe Professor Mercer had been waiting for you to make the first move.”

Sabrina flushed slightly.

“The project hit a few snags after that, and he always helped me work through them privately. He was so busy, but he still made time for me and talked me through everything. I kept thinking, how can someone be this good to me?”

“But I still hadn’t completely fallen for him. Then one night, I came down with a fever and posted an Instagram Story about how miserable I felt being sick alone. Half an hour later, he showed up outside my building with medicine and chicken soup.”

Tara and Jamie exchanged a look before exclaiming together, “Oh my God, that’s so romantic!”

Tara immediately pressed on.

“So, are you two getting married soon?”

Sabrina flushed and was about to answer when Julian frowned.

“Sabrina, you’ve had too much to drink.”

She gave him a playfully annoyed look.

“What? I’m just happy. It’s not like I’m saying anything I shouldn’t.”

Then she turned back to us, speaking with the easy confidence of someone who knew she was adored.

“I just want everyone to know how happy I am.”

Tara and Jamie kept teasing them, and laughter filled the private dining room.

I set down my glass.

“That project—was it October 14, two years ago?”

Sabrina turned toward me, pleasantly surprised.

“How did you know, Ms. Bennett? Were you involved in that project too?”

I didn’t answer.

I picked up my glass and drained it.

The whiskey burned on the way down, making me cough a few times.

“I was.”

I looked at Julian before turning back to Sabrina.

“Except I never made it to the pitch.”

Sabrina asked with casual curiosity, “Why didn’t you ask the organizers to move your slot?”

Her offhand tone made me scoff.

“I guess I didn’t have Professor Mercer as my lucky charm.”

Sabrina smiled at Julian.

I continued.

“That day, my grandmother was in the ICU. It was the fourth time her doctors had warned us she might not make it. I called several times, asking to have my presentation slot moved. Every time, I was told no.”

Sabrina started to speak, then stopped.

I looked straight at her, my voice so calm it barely sounded like I was talking about myself.

“The person who answered told me, ‘Rules are rules. We don’t change them for anyone.'”

I held her gaze.

“Do you know who took those calls?”