“You can sign the divorce papers without a fight and return every cent you embezzled, or I can file a formal complaint for fraud and forgery tomorrow morning,” I added.

Caleb’s knees seemed to buckle as he realized he was cornered, and he sank to the ground.

“Lydia, please listen to me, I was just confused and Tessa means absolutely nothing to me,” he pleaded.

At that exact moment, his phone chimed with a notification that was loud enough for all of us to hear.

It was a text from Tessa that read, “I just found out you do not own any of it, so do not bother looking for me because I am not going down with you.”

Caleb closed his eyes as if his final mask had just been ripped away, leaving him completely exposed.

I felt no joy in seeing him broken, but I also felt no pity for a man who had tried to steal my life.

There was only a beautiful, ringing silence where his insults used to be.

A week later, I decided to take the vacation that I had originally planned, but I went entirely alone.

The island was just as beautiful as the brochures had promised, with white sand and turquoise water stretching to the horizon.