The Grace Period

The morning sun shone brightly, beating down relentlessly on the concrete as Vivienne stood outside the Veridian High Court. It was barely eight-thirty, a full thirty minutes early. She was currently battling a fierce, shivering fever she had caught from standing out in the freezing night breeze the evening prior, her skin practically burning to the touch beneath her clothes. Yet, she absolutely refused to show a single sign of weakness today. To hide her exhaustion, she had dressed to the nines, deliberately layering on heavy, flawless makeup to mask her sickly pale complexion, and slipped into her absolute favorite rose-red halter dress. Under the bright, unforgiving sunlight, she looked undeniably angelic, but her posture and gaze exuded an utterly cold and unapproachable aura.

Promptly at nine o'clock, the roar of an engine shattered the morning calm. Dominic’s signature silver Bugatti Veyron pulled aggressively into the courthouse lot, the tires screeching slightly against the pavement. As he stepped out of the driver's seat, adjusting his tailored suit jacket, his sharp eyes flickered briefly with undeniable surprise at the stunning sight of her. But in a split second, he quickly forced his features to harden into a contemptuous glare.

"Well, aren't you excited?" he arrogantly scoffed, rolling his eyes as he aggressively brushed past her shoulder to head straight toward the divorce department.

Vivienne glared up at his tall, imposing figure, internally questioning his ridiculous attitude. *You're the one practically sprinting to the counter to get rid of me,* she thought to herself, following close behind him.

The actual paperwork processing was completely mundane and took less than ten minutes. They sat in silence, scratching their signatures across the dotted lines. However, as the clerk gathered their files and handed over their finalized forms, he formally explained a new legal clause.

"Please be aware that a mandatory thirty-day grace period now applies to all divorces," the clerk stated clearly. "During this time window, the couple has the option to cancel the separation if they change their minds."

Skimming through the dense legal clauses printed on the paper, Vivienne muttered sarcastically to herself. "Why is there a grace period to get out of a marriage, but no grace period to prevent people from rushing into one? If this law applied to marriages, I wouldn't be in this mess."

Overhearing her absentminded muttering, Dominic's expression instantly darkened into a storm of offense. With a cold, mocking smirk twisting his lips, he snapped at her. "Oh? Are you implying you wouldn’t have married me if you had the chance to back out?"

Refusing to back down, Vivienne shot back a defiant, "Nope!" She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, deliberately provoking his ego. "I managed to wring forty million dollars out of you. Forty million! The average woman wouldn’t even dream of making that much money in a single lifetime. I essentially struck gold by marrying you."

Dominic aggressively tugged at his expensive tie, visibly frustrated and entirely off-balance. He stared at her, realizing that the once lenient, perfectly agreeable Vivienne was completely gone. The closer they got to legally finalizing their divorce, the sharper, more unapologetic, and spiteful her words became.

Just as the tense estranged couple was about to part ways outside the office, a soft, delicate voice called out from behind them in the hallway.

"Dom, are you done yet?"

Vivienne turned around to see Isolde slowly approaching them. She was dressed in a delicate, flowing white sundress. Stripped of the nasty arrogance she had displayed just the other night, Isolde now looked as pure and fragile as a dandelion swaying in the breeze.

But what immediately caught Vivienne's sharp eye, completely stopping the breath in her lungs, was the undeniable, slight bump resting on Isolde's belly.

Dominic immediately changed his demeanor. His tone carried its usual cold distance toward the world, but it was heavily laced with strict protectiveness for Isolde.

"Didn't I tell you to wait in the warm car?" he scolded her, rushing to her side. "It is too cold outside. The child you are carrying is extremely important to the Blackwood family, so we absolutely cannot afford to let a pregnant woman fall ill."

Hearing this direct confirmation, a sharp, suffocating wave of intense betrayal washed over Vivienne. She felt deeply aggrieved and utterly foolish for her years of unwavering loyalty.

She stared intensely at the two of them standing side by side like a perfect family. Taking a slow breath, she spoke with a trembling but stern voice. "Don't you think you owe me a proper explanation, Mr. Blackwood?"

Dominic stared back at Vivienne with an expressionless, unyielding face. He brutally delivered his final verdict.

"I don't owe you anything."