When It Finally Snows in Manhattan Chapter 03

When It Finally Snows in Manhattan Chapter 03

Every hair on my body stood on end, like lightning had struck me.

The audio was dated the exact day of my mom’s accident. Yvonne was the one who did it. And my husband? Her accomplice

I stumbled and turned around, only to find Julian already standing behind me.

“Claire, were you checking up on me?” His brows pulled together hard. His expression was complicated, but guilt wasn’t in it.

“So it’s all true?”

I wished he would tell me the audio was fake.

Julian’s gaze darted away for a moment. He stayed silent.

The last shred of hope in my heart shattered.

The next second, he wrapped his arms around me—I was nearly out of control and said the cruelest words in the gentlest tone.

“Claire, it’s all in the past. Mom is still alive, isn’t she? But Yvonne has a bright future ahead of her.”

I stared at him in shock, a fishbone lodged in my throat.

The night of the storm, at the crash scene, I had tried to rush past the police tape barefoot. Julian had restrained me in his arms.

His voice had trembled as he soothed me. “Claire, I’m here. I’ll find the driver who did this. He’s not getting away, I swear. Shh.”

Back then, I’d been holding a broken bottle, hysterical, and I swung it down wildly. Every blow landed on him.

The rain washed away the blood, but he kept saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay…”

I naively believed Julian had already brought the culprit to justice.

But his way of handling it was buying Yvonne a plane ticket to lie low in Italy.

My blood ran cold. I felt like I’d lost my voice.

Right then, Yvonne burst in, crying pitifully.

“Claire, please stop holding that audio over my head. I’m terrified I’m gonna lose this job…”

As she spoke, she deliberately or not exposed her arms. Everyone gathered there gasped.

Her arms were bruised purple and blue, with clear knife scars.

With a single glance, Julian couldn’t hide the heartache in his eyes. His gaze toward me was drenched in disappointment.

“Claire, this is what you’ve been doing to Yvonne behind my back? How could you lay a hand on her like that?”

How did those shoddy scars compare to my mother’s life? How did they compare to five years of betrayal?

I laughed like a madwoman. I didn’t bother to explain. “If it hurts you, then divorce me.”

I shoved the divorce agreement Sebastian had sent me right in front of him.

When everyone saw the words on the paper, the room erupted.

Julian glared at me viciously, his eyes red-rimmed. “Fine! You want a divorce? You got it. You’ve got three days to regret this.”

He scrawled his signature with a flourish, shot me a furious look, and turned to leave with Yvonne shielded in his arms.

Sarcastic murmurs buzzed behind me.

They were all betting on the day I’d crawl back to Julian.

Julian didn’t come home that night. He paraded Yvonne around to one banquet after another, introducing her to every power player in the industry.

It looked so familiar. Just like when he had launched me.

Julian had already rigged this Emmy for Yvonne, a rookie with only one trial broadcast.

That way, he could humiliate me across all of New York without even lifting a finger.

He wanted me to know that without him backing me, I was absolutely nothing.

On TV, Yvonne was hosting her show. I calmly packed my things.

Early the next morning, a call from the hospital jolted me awake. “Is this Mrs. Vance? Your mother… she’s gone missing this morning.”