A Change of Terms

Staring directly at Dominic's expressionless face after his brutal dismissal, Vivienne felt her internal dialogue flare with intense disbelief. She watched how unabashed and completely remorseless this man was acting right outside the courthouse office. In that precise moment, the very last lingering tinge of sadness over their failed marriage vanished into thin air.

The man she had spent four long years silently worshipping, whom she had always considered to be morally sound and undeniably upright, had just dropped a nuclear bomb on her life. He was not merely discarding her to marry his mistress; they were already expecting a child together.

Refusing to let him off the hook so easily, Vivienne demanded absolute clarity. She took a step forward, squaring her shoulders defensively. "So, let me get this straight," she challenged, her voice ringing sharply in the hallway. "This means you were actively cheating on me during our marriage?"

Before Dominic could even open his mouth to answer, Isolde threw herself theatrically between the two of them. Tears immediately welled up in Isolde's wide eyes as she launched into a pitiful, trembling act.

"Ms. Ashcroft, please!" Isolde wailed loudly, her voice echoing with exaggerated sorrow. "It is all my fault! If it will make you feel better, you can punish me however you want. I deserve it!"

Amused by this utterly pathetic soap-opera display, Vivienne decided to call her bluff. *Does this woman genuinely think we are shooting a daytime drama right now?*

Vivienne abruptly raised her hand high into the air, fully angling her palm as if she was preparing to deliver a stinging, vicious slap right across Isolde's tear-stained face.

True to her cowardly nature, Isolde instantly let out a terrified squeal. The fragile victim act vanished entirely as she wildly darted behind Dominic’s broad back for immediate protection, cowering like a frightened mouse.

Vivienne gracefully lowered her hand, a thin, mocking smile spreading across her pale lips. She casually brushed her hair back behind her ear, staring directly at the younger woman.

"Didn't you just offer yourself up for punishment?" she taunted, her eyes glinting with pure disdain. "Why are you hiding now? Don't be so dramatic. I am not going to physically beat you up like a villain in a movie."

Shifting her gaze from the trembling mistress back to her stoic soon-to-be ex-husband, Vivienne addressed them both. "If the two of you are truly so madly in love, I would be more than happy to walk away gracefully."

Isolde peeked out from behind Dominic's shoulder, visibly relaxing.

"However," Vivienne firmly added, her tone dropping into a deadly serious register. "Since you undeniably cheated on me, it is only fair that we make a few vital adjustments to our divorce settlement."

The exact moment money was brought up, Isolde dropped her fragile victim facade entirely. Agitated and panicking over the prospect of losing a chunk of the family wealth, she snapped fiercely at Vivienne.

"Are you out of your mind?" Isolde aggressively pointed an accusing finger at her. "Dominic has already generously promised you forty million dollars and a luxurious penthouse! You are just being greedy and completely shameless for daring to ask for more!"

Vivienne nearly burst out laughing at the sheer, unadulterated audacity. She openly mocked Isolde, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Oh, this is absolutely hilarious," Vivienne pointed out, her voice dripping with biting irony. "We aren't even legally divorced yet, and little Miss Mistress is already aggressively dictating his finances? Are you terrified your man will lose all his money? Let's be honest here—who is the truly greedy one in this scenario?"

Isolde paled significantly under the brutal verbal lashing, her mouth snapping shut as she realized her massive slip-up.

Throughout this entire explosive exchange, Dominic remained terrifyingly calm. He simply stood there, staring down at Vivienne with a heavy, intimidating aura that would normally make her cower in complete submission.

Instead of defending his lover, he uttered a single, commanding word that sliced right through the thick tension: "Continue."

Meeting his pressuring, dark gaze head-on without flinching for a single second, Vivienne boldly declared her entirely new terms.

"I explicitly no longer want your forty million dollars," she stated, her voice steady and unwavering. "Nor do I want the Veridian Heights penthouse. Keep it all."

Dominic's thick eyebrows twitched slightly. "Then what do you want?"

"My sole demand," Vivienne said, "is for you to hand over complete ownership of your law firm, Blackwood & Co."

Dominic narrowed his sharp eyes in profound confusion. Blackwood & Co. handled the legal affairs for all the powerful, elite families in Veridian Bay, but from his perspective, it was essentially a high-paid charity project. It held absolutely no direct economic value to him or his sprawling empire. He physically could not fathom why this woman would willingly reject forty million dollars of liquid cash for such a worthless, tedious asset.

Staring intensely at her defiant posture, a jarring realization hit him. In just a few short days, she had morphed into a completely different, unrecognizable person.

Vivienne coldly finalized the negotiation before he could even attempt to decipher her motives. "That is my absolute only condition," she stated firmly. "I will send an amended copy of the legal documents to your office soon."

Without waiting for his approval, she pivoted gracefully on her heels. Before fully turning away, she threw out a highly sarcastic wish over her shoulder. "Oh, and I wish you a very fruitful life with your little lover."

Lifting her chin high in pure victory, Vivienne flashed a deeply satisfied grin. She looked exactly as if she had just successfully scored a phenomenal business deal on Wall Street.

Sadly, her cool, triumphant demeanor only managed to last for a single second.

The severe fever she had been battling all morning violently caught up to her. Without any warning, her head began to spin uncontrollably. The bright sunlight streaming through the courthouse windows suddenly turned into a harsh, blinding glare. Mere seconds later, her vision went completely black as her exhausted body gave out.