“No…” he whispered.

Margaret stepped closer.

“What is it?”

He did not answer. Instead, he called my number. At that moment, I was sitting at the airport with Noah asleep against my shoulder while Lily quietly ate cookies beside me. My phone vibrated. Adrian. I ignored it. He called again. I blocked the number.

A moment later, a message arrived from another number.

“Elena, please. We need to talk. This was a mistake.”

I looked down at my children. Neither of them deserved to grow up believing love had to beg for respect. The boarding announcement echoed through the terminal. I picked up their backpacks, took a deep breath, and walked toward the gate.

Adrian reached the airport an hour later—sweating, frantic, shirt wrinkled, looking like a man lost inside the wreckage of his own choices. But our flight had already closed. I was beyond security with my children beside me when another email arrived from Attorney Dawson.

“We officially filed the complaint concerning the transfers. Your attorney now has evidence regarding the penthouse, shell accounts, and use of shared marital funds. Do not answer his calls.”

I did not reply.

Back at the clinic, the atmosphere had become unbearable. Chloe cried into her hands. Margaret paced in circles, muttering about humiliation. Vanessa argued with clinic staff because expensive gifts, flowers, and champagne now sat untouched like props from a ruined celebration.

“You made fools of all of us,” Vanessa shouted at Chloe.

Chloe lifted her tear-streaked face.

“You treated Elena horribly too.”

The words dropped heavily into the room. No one argued, because it was true. Margaret had called me bitter while I raised her grandchildren whenever Adrian disappeared with his mistress. Vanessa had treated my divorce like entertainment. Adrian had signed away access to his children because he was too eager to attend an ultrasound appointment.

When he returned from the airport, his eyes were bloodshot.

“They’re gone,” he said flatly.

Margaret pressed a trembling hand to her chest.

“What do you mean gone?”

“To Barcelona. I signed the permission myself.”

Vanessa froze.

“You actually signed it?”

He said nothing.

Then Attorney Bennett entered with a folder, looking exhausted rather than surprised.

“Mr. Castillo, we need to discuss the accounts.”

“Not now,” Adrian snapped.

“Yes, now. Mrs. Elena Bennett has proof that marital funds were used to purchase properties through third parties. If you refuse to cooperate, this could become criminal.”

Margaret stared at her son like she no longer recognized him.

“Is that true?”

Adrian clenched his jaw. Chloe suddenly laughed through her tears.

“See? You lied too.”

He glared at her.

“You don’t get to speak.”

“Yes, I do,” she shot back. “Everyone in this room pretended to be respectable. You used me to feel young again. Your mother used me to show off a grandson. Your sister used me to humiliate Elena. And I used a lie because I wanted to stay somewhere I never belonged.”