After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage By Cassila K

Chapter 1

The third year of their marriage, Elaine Faerwyn gazed at the woman sitting across from her and released a soft.

This was the ninety-ninth mistress of Alistair Chase's that she had handled-and unquestionably the most difficult of the lot.

No matter how substantial the settlement Elaine offered, this woman remained immovable, stubbornly insisting on staying by Alistair's side.

Elaine took a deliberate sip of her espresso, the bitter liquid matching her mood perfectly as her lips curved into a self-deprecating smile. "You really should name your price," she said, setting down the porcelain cup with a soft clink against the saucer. "He's a wanderer who's never found his star. Surely you can see that in him? I'm his wife, yet my primary function seems to be disposing of lovers he's grown bored with as you see now."

Despite Elaine's candid counsel, Vivian Turner showed not the slightest glimmer of comprehension. Instead, she tilted her chin upward with unmistakable defiance, her manicured hand sliding provocatively over her stomach with a smugness that made Elaine's skin crawl.

"I'm different," Vivian declared, eyes flashing with triumph. "You simply lack what it takes to hold his interest. Alistair loves me. He made sex with me day and day, can't bear to look away from my face, and his has practically memorized all my preferences."

"Besides," she added with calculated timing, "I just found out I'm carrying his baby..."

A child?

Elaine's gaze fixed on the woman's still-flat abdomen, her mind momentarily short-circuiting.

He had promised that he would never father a child to humiliate her publicly or privately.Alistair, you couldn't even keep the only pathetically small promise you made to me.

Her painted lips parted to respond, but before she could articulate the acid rising in her throat, the villa's doors swung open with theatrical timing.

in, his iPhone screen still illuminated with an active call, his deep, whiskey-smooth voice flowing with practiced charm as

glance was all Elaine needed to recognize the tell-tale signs, he'd already marked his

up, momentarily caught off-guard by the tableau of two women in his living room, then quickly recalibrated, slipping into his signature

I'm pregnant, don't cast

side with the desperation of a gambler placing her final bet, her expression transformed

of indifference slipped from his aristocratic features as he ended his call

her stomach. Something cold and calculating flickered across

"Since you're carrying my child, we'll maintain our arrangement. Go home for now," he instructed, his tone making it clear this wasn't a request. "I'll be

secured the answer she'd gambled for, Vivian finally relented, leaving the Chase mansion with undisguised triumph radiating

once the front door closed with a decisive click, her voice laced with a

his few redeeming qualities. As he walked toward his state-of-the-art bathroom, loosening his tie, he answered

the baby is born, I'll send her packing with an NDA. Your position as Mrs. Chase- and

no genuine feelings for Vivian, a sharp

because of

together in the same place.But his heart belonged only to Sophia, his golden-haired first love, taken tragically young in that devastating car accident on

Sophia's death, Alistair transformed from devoted romantic to Manhattan's

New York's elite dating pool. Every eligible socialite except Elaine. She remained the only untouched name on the list-her features lacking any

hostile takeover while the Chase family board pressured Alistair to marry and project stability to nervous investors.

She agreed.

marrying her merely to silence his board and secure his inheritance. She couldn't interfere with his extramarital pursuits, but in return, he would ensure her position as Mrs. Chase remained unassailable. Most