Chapter 14: The Final Offer
Eric came to see her three days later.
He looked exhausted. His suit was wrinkled, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He stood on the doorstep of Maya’s apartment like a man who had already lost.
“I don’t want to fight anymore,” he said.
Maya didn’t invite him inside.
“Then don’t,” she answered.
Eric ran a hand through his hair. “Look… I made mistakes. A lot of them. But we can still work something out. For Lily. I’ll sign whatever you want. Just… don’t release everything to the SEC. My mother… she won’t survive that kind of scandal.”
Maya looked at him for a long time.
“You didn’t care about Lily when you took her delivery money,” she said. “You didn’t care about me when you let me nearly drown. And you certainly didn’t care about your mother when you dragged her into your schemes.”
Eric flinched.
“I’m done negotiating with you, Eric,” Maya continued. “The only thing I want from you now is your signature on the divorce papers and a permanent agreement that you and Diane will have no contact with Lily without supervised visitation. That’s it.”
Eric stared at her.
“You’ve changed,” he said quietly.
Maya gave him a small, cold smile.
May you like
“No,” she said. “I finally stopped pretending I was someone you could walk over.”
She closed the door before he could answer.
