The Love We Missed Chapter 10By Novel7s Admin / October 5, 2026 The Love We Missed Chapter 10The legal notice was straightforward. Cause of action: Fraudulent inducement and civil conspiracy. Plaintiff: Vivian Brooks. Defendants: Julian Mercer, Claire Hayes. She was suing to void the purchase agreement, cancel the loan, and claw back her money. She claimed Claire and I had schemed to dump marital debt on her while pretending to split up. I dialed her number the moment I put the paper down. “Have you lost your mind?” I said. “You’re actually dragging us to court?” She was quiet for a second, then let out a dry laugh. “Drop the damn act, Julian! You played the sweet romantic while you shoved me in front of your financial trainwreck. The mortgage is choking me, the bank is on my neck, and you played house with me for three years for free!” Her tone turned sharp. “If you want this dropped, wire the money to cover my losses. Otherwise, I’m taking you down with me.” The line went dead before I could reply. I texted screenshots of the complaint to Logan Cross. [Can we keep Claire and Mia out of this mess?] Logan replied immediately: [What kind of receipts does Vivian actually have?] [Nothing in writing.] I texted: [I never mentioned the affair over text or email.] Logan shot back: [What about money transfers? How much did you move into her account?] I typed: [Around three hundred grand over the past three years.] Logan didn’t sugarcoat it. [Send the records. To claim fraud, she has to admit under oath she was your mistress, which makes her an accomplice, not a victim. The second she does that, Claire can countersue to claw back every dime you spent on her.] I sent: [So Vivian has no case?] [She loses either way in front of a judge,] came Logan’s reply. I thought I could breathe, but Vivian didn’t wait for our court date. Instead, she dropped a thick file of bank statements and expense reports straight into the hands of Corporate Compliance. Every line was tagged with sticky notes. She mapped out the company expense reimbursements and side transfers I had channeled into her down–payment account. It wrecked her career, but she didn’t care. She knew she couldn’t win in court, so she torched both of us on the way out. HR had security walk me out of the building by lunchtime. Claire filed an emergency motion shortly after, pushing through the divorce and claiming full dissipation of marital assets. Vivian had zero assets left, so the court froze my accounts. Everything left from the house sale was drained by court fees, legal settlements, and child. support. Claire walked away with Mia’s buyout paid in full. Vivian went into personal bankruptcy, and the bank eventually took back the house. I was terminated for cause by the end of the week. In corporate finance, an ethics violation is a death sentence. I drive Uber now. I’m on the road before five in the morning and don’t park the car until late at night. During the dead hours between fares, my mind drifts back to the thirteen years with Claire, and how simple our lives used to be. Last month, I pulled up to a red light near the highway. A silver crossover stopped in the next lane. The rear window rolled down, and a little girl leaned against the door, looking out at the rain. It was Mia. The sight of her felt like a punch in the chest. She had grown an inch or two, her hair tied in a loose ponytail, hugging a plushie against her chest with her backpack propped next to her. The light turned green. The car pulled ahead into traffic and disappeared. That was the last time I saw my daughter. My mother called last week, begging me to call Claire and beg for another chance. I didn’t argue. I just smiled. I know what I destroyed, and there’s no way back.
