Minimal for Me, Everything for Her Chapter 08

Minimal for Me, Everything for Her Chapter 08

Once the complete messages were filed, Sienna deleted her post.

Then she called me.

“Nora, let’s settle this privately.”

“How?”

“I’ll return some of it. You withdraw the claim.”

“Return all of it.”

“Some things are already sold.”

“Then reimburse the value.”

Her breathing grew heavier.

“Do you really have to destroy me?”

“Sienna, when you spent four years telling me to accept Adrian’s minimalist lifestyle, you already knew he was buying you gifts, didn’t you?”

She said nothing.

I continued.

“Every time I suspected something, you helped him explain it away.”

“You told me a man who didn’t give gifts was more sincere.”

“Then you turned around and showed off every single thing he gave you on a private account.”

“You didn’t just like the gifts.”

“You liked taking them from me.”

Sienna laughed suddenly.

“So what if I did?”

“You got to be his wife. Was I not allowed any compensation?”

“I was the one Adrian really wanted in the first place.”

“Then you should’ve told him to divorce me.”

“He wouldn’t.”

The answer flew out of her too quickly.

Silence fell on both ends.

“When?” I asked.

Sienna didn’t answer.

Adrian came over that same day.

He stood outside my door, looking exhausted.

“I ended things with Sienna.”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“She won’t contact me anymore.”

“Neither does that.”

He held out a box.

Inside were the plain wedding bands I’d wanted years ago.

The pair that would’ve cost about $1,200.

“You wanted these.”

“Too late.”

“We can start over.”

“Adrian, do you think buying the rings now makes the last four years disappear?”

His throat moved.

“I don’t know what to do to make you stop being angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

He stared at me.

“Then why are you insisting on divorce?”

“Because I don’t love you anymore.”

For the first time, he lost control of his expression.

“That’s impossible.”

“When you moved out your things, you still took the lamp we bought together.”

“You even brought the scrapbook back from the hotel.”

He spoke faster and faster, as if collecting proof.

I looked at him calmly.

“I bought the lamp.”

“I brought the scrapbook back because it held four years of my life.”

“Not because I couldn’t let go of you.”

The last trace of composure in Adrian’s eyes broke.

“Nora Bennett, I don’t agree to this.”

“You used to love me so much. You can’t just stop.”

“It didn’t happen all at once.”

“You wore it away piece by piece.”

His fingers slowly curled.

I closed the door.

Before the second court hearing, the judge found that Adrian’s unauthorized transfers had dissipated marital

assets.

Sienna was ordered to return the jewelry, surrender the disputed ownership interest, and reimburse the value

of assets she no longer possessed.

She couldn’t afford it.

The condo titled in her name entered a court-ordered sale process.

After the ruling, she cornered Adrian in the courthouse hallway.

“You said you’d protect me.”

Adrian looked at her with a coldness I’d never heard in his voice before.

“I also told you not to let Nora find out.”

“You deliberately posted every gift on her anniversary.”

Sienna went pale.

“You’re blaming me now?”

“Who else should I blame?”

I walked past them.

Adrian stopped mid-sentence.

Because he finally realized the first person he should’ve blamed was himself.