She’d wanted children, too, like Cyrus, but not on the same timeline. She’d had plans to expand her gallery which, true enough, she’d done over the past few years. Now she was on the brink of opening a storefront in New York. Even if she considered his demand—which she wasn’t about to—she simply didn’t have time to devote to a child. Not when she would be pulled in numerous directions in the coming months.
She stewed on the problem. Cyrus had the financial means to drag out the divorce indefinitely, and he was hell bent on doing so. She knew of at least one divorce battle that had lasted for ten years! There was no way in hell she was going to fight him for that long. If she was to get out of this relationship, she had to force his hand. But how? He wouldn’t change, and the more she fought him, the harder he dug in his heels.
Daniella entered her car and sat there for awhile, thinking.
Cyrus’s comment about Roland made her uneasy. She and Roland had stayed away from each other after her separation from her husband. Partly because of Cyrus’s warning, but mostly because she’d felt betrayed by her ex.
But a month ago Roland had made an unexpected visit to her gallery. According to him, he’d dropped by to say hi and see how she was doing. He’d apologized profusely for his role in her deception and said he wanted to be friends. She’d put him off, not sure she wanted him in her life again, because though he’d come clean, she’d been disappointed he’d taken the million dollars from Cyrus.
As she pulled out of the parking deck, she called her attorney, Davis Williams, the one person she could talk to and trust. “I need to talk to you. Are you free?”
“Can you come now?” he asked.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
His building was located nearby, and soon enough she’d parked on the street and was headed up in the elevator to his office. She’d known Davis for years. He’d been a friend of her mother’s and had handled her parents’ divorce when she was a child. After her mother’s death, he’d ensured the proceeds from her life insurance policy had been administered according to her wishes. Thanks to the payout from the policy and other items of value her mother had left her, she’d been able to live comfortably and start her own business.
Daniella entered Davis’s office. Gray peppered his receding hairline at the temples, and he smiled behind his glasses, motioning for her to have a seat.
“I can’t sit,” she said, still a little agitated. She set her purse on the chair and paced the room, giving him a quick rundown of her conversation with Cyrus. Davis’s eyebrows elevated.
Daniella stopped pacing long enough to look at her attorney. “There’s got to be a way to get me out of this marriage.” She continued her restless walk across his office. “He’s impossible.”
Davis cleared his throat before speaking. “You know what we’re up against. Have you considered…” His voice trailed off when her head snapped in his direction.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said. This wasn’t the first time Davis had hinted she should consider a reconciliation with Cyrus.
“Why not? I’m running out of ideas, and clearly he wants to stay married. Quite unusual, frankly.” He said the last under his breath.
“I don’t care what he wants.”
“Well, you should, because the only thing he seems to want is you.”
“And a baby,” Daniella reminded him. She sighed dramatically. “He doesn’t want me, really. He wants to control me. Anyone who would buy another man’s debts to gain leverage over him…” She shook her head. “If I have a child with Cyrus, who knows what tactics he’ll pull next. The next thing I know, he’ll end up taking over my business and forcing me to be a stay-at-home mother. No.” She shook her head vehemently. This was not an option for her. “There’s got to be another way.”
“There is one thing we haven’t tried, but it’s risky.”
“What?” Eager, Daniella rushed over to his desk.