Chapter 9 - The Final Settlement
That afternoon, I met Isaac in a small, private room at the Manhattan Supreme Court building.
He was sitting alone at a long oak table, dressed in a plain grey suit that looked two sizes too big for him. The arrogant husband who had raised a riding crop against me twenty-four hours earlier was completely gone. In his place sat a frightened man who had realized too late that the foundation beneath his feet was made of sand.
I walked into the room, accompanied by Julian.
Isaac looked up, his eyes immediately dropping to my wrists, which were covered by the silk cuffs of my white blouse.
"Flora..." he began, his voice raspy. "Please... can we talk alone?"
Julian looked at me. I gave him a slight nod, and my brother stepped outside the door, keeping his hand on the handle.
I sat down across from Isaac. "We have nothing to talk about, Isaac. The paperwork is finalized."
"Flora, I'm sorry," he pleaded, reaching across the table to grab my hand, but pulling back instantly when I shifted my arms away. "I was drunk. I was under so much stress with the company... my father was pressing me... Clover was—"
"Don't blame Clover," I interrupted. "You made your own choices, Isaac. You thought I was weak because I didn't scream at you. You thought because my brothers weren't rich executives with famous last names, I was alone."
"I didn't know who they were!" Isaac cried out, tears filling his eyes. "If I had known—"
"If you had known who my brothers were, you wouldn't have hit me," I said, leaning in close so he could hear every word. "Which means you didn't respect me as a human being. You only respected the power of the men behind me."
Isaac put his head in his hands, weeping quietly.
May you like
"You get to keep your freedom, Isaac," I said softly, standing up from the chair. "Julian isn't sending the concrete reports to the prosecutor, for now. But you will never come near me again. You will never speak my name to anyone in this city. If you do, my brother Caleb will be the one who comes to visit you."
I turned and walked out of the room, leaving him alone in the quiet darkness of the courthouse.
