The Colonel’s Claim: After the Divorce novel Chapter 5

It was hard to imagine that the man ruthlessly demanding a divorce today was the same man who had cried tears of joy when she accepted his proposal years ago.

After a long pause, Clara willed her stiff fingers to type a single word:

[Okay.]

Having mentally prepared herself, she didn't feel overly devastated. She took a moment to compose herself before heading to the hospital ward.

Pushing the door open, she saw Sarah helping Caleb out of bed.

Seeing her mother's hunched back and half-gray hair, and her father's gaunt, emaciated frame, Clara felt as if she had taken a physical blow, her eyes instantly brimming with tears.

"Dad, Mom..." she choked out, a painful lump forming in her throat.

Hearing her voice, the elderly couple turned around in joyous surprise.

"Clara, why didn't you tell us you were coming? I would have gone downstairs to meet you."

Sarah hurried over excitedly, grasping her daughter's hands while craning her neck to look behind her. "Where are Stella and Dominic?"

Caleb was equally eager to see his granddaughter. "Yes, where are Stella and Dominic?"

Clara lowered her eyes. Terrified that the truth about the father and daughter's devotion to Scarlett would break their hearts, she lied smoothly:

"Dominic had an emergency at work. He'll bring Stella over a bit later."

"I see. When will they get here? They'll probably be starving, right? I should go buy some food. Stella loves the pastries around here."

Clara couldn't maintain her forced smile any longer. Heartbroken, she murmured, "Don't worry about them. Look at you both—you've lost so much weight. Have you not been eating properly?"

"Nonsense."

Sarah brushed it off with a smile, though her eyes reddened with heartache as she gently cupped Clara's cheek.

Clara pointed out their weight loss, but Sarah could plainly see that her daughter looked incredibly haggard as well...

It was glaringly obvious that Dominic had been treating her coldly.

Marriage, it seemed, had ground down the fiery passion of their youth.

Sarah couldn't help but wonder—if they hadn't agreed to let her move across the country, if they had told her to wait for Rowan, would things have turned out differently?

Sigh.

He only provided her with a fixed monthly allowance of fifty thousand dollars. For any expenses beyond that, she had to formally request a check from his secretary.

Clara walked to a secluded corner, gripping her phone for a long moment before dialing Isabella Lennox, his secretary.

"Ms. Lennox, I need a check for two million dollars. Please approve it."

Isabella was already off the clock and deeply annoyed by the interruption.

Moreover, knowing full well how little Dominic cared for Clara, she spoke with blatant disrespect.

"Two million dollars? That amount vastly exceeds your standard fifty-thousand-dollar limit. My hands are tied."

Clara pressed her pale lips together.

Was two million dollars really that much?

To Dominic, it was pocket change.

She had just seen the handbag he bought for Scarlett, which was easily worth millions on its own.

She knew it wasn't that Isabella couldn't approve it; the secretary was simply mirroring Dominic's contempt and deliberately making things difficult for her.