Chapter 104: 104. Settlement Section II
Maisie
Jenny nodded in agreement, cheeks reddened with anger. "I can’t believe all of this was happening and we didn’t know."
"Not like you could do anything about it," I muttered, slumping back against the mattress and holding a pillow over my face to hide my tears.
"Don’t be fucking surprised if you found Princess Tessa’s obituary plastered all over school tomorrow," Regina said. "I can’t believe she almost put you through that! If Soren hadn’t grabbed you, you would have been..."
The word echoed silently in the air. I would’ve been raped. Multiple times. And I wouldn’t have had a single choice in it, because I would’ve been drugged through the entire thing.
I almost felt a twinge of gratitude towards the Lycans. Then I remembered I never would’ve been in that situation in the first place if they had just left me the hell alone. But even that thought brought into perspective the imprint and I didn’t want to even think about it.
Regina laid back on the bed and wrapped her arms around me, bringing my face to her chest. "I’m so sorry we weren’t there, May. I would totally be on my way to commit four counts of murder, but I don’t want you to die with them. I am so sorry."
I sniffled, nodding. "You’re crushing me with your breasts. And you stink of sex."
In response, she grabbed my neck and suffocated me with her cleavage until I began choking and laughing and crying at the same time.
And then Jenny was crying too and I hadn’t realized how much I missed them until now.
"So, you’re hooking up with Tucker Reeves?" I accused.
"Actually, she’s hooking up with the entire hockey team," Jenny quipped. "And the soccer team. Maybe add the entire fourth year to the list, too. Nick broke up with her. She’s trying to make him jealous. She’s also trying to ruin the arranged marriage Beta Braxton’s nearly done fixing—"
"The marriage is happening?!" I echoed. "Just how long was I gone?"
"Almost three weeks," Jenny said. "Regina is refusing to admit she’s panicking and also very heartbroken. She caught Nick kissing Claire in the bathroom—"
"Shut up, Jenny," Regina growled. "Me and the heart broken in the same sentence is like saying the moon goddess is having a mid-life crisis. It’ll pass."
"Before or after you contact STDs?" Jenny deadpanned.
Regina threw her a side glance. "Can’t relate. Werewolf genes and all. I could sleep with the entirety of Ashbourne and the only thing I’d catch is the bus to the next town filled with men I haven’t yet terrorized."
"Or a baby," I said. "Regina—"
"Don’t lecture me, May. I’ll be fine." There was something hostile in her voice and I tried not to flinch. But she must have noticed because she said, "I really don’t want to talk about it."
I respected that, but my worry only grew. Regina’s way of destressing was talking. If she wasn’t talking, then it was really hurting her.
Her hand scratched the surface of the damp papers on the bed and she changed the subject. "This is it? The silly contract?"
I nodded.
"I’m going to tear it to pieces," Jenny straightened.
"It’s a copy," I sighed, shutting my eyes. They were seriously hurting from all the tearing up. "I was hoping you could help me get a lawyer. I should have rights. There should be laws against things like this, right?"
I heard Jenny’s sigh. "I’ll ask Lyon. He’s been out of reach since the wedding, but I’m sure he’ll be glad to help."
A wave of guilt washed over me. I hadn’t thought about Lyon in such a long time. Or what happened between us. It felt like my life had simply gone to hell, starting from that conversation. I wondered if he hated me even a little.
"This is an awful lot of signatures, May," Jenny said, and I flushed when she added, "Just how horny were you? You could’ve signed your entire life away!"
Well. Thank goodness, I didn’t.
And then, they started laughing. "This is so fucking ridiculous," Regina howled. "What in the devil are these clauses? You’re not allowed to insult or slander your husbands publicly? You definitely need to divorce those bastards—"
She stopped talking so abruptly, the shock of silence filled the room.
Both their expressions had changed completely. Their eyes had gone wide as they stared at a page halfway through the contract.
"What?" I asked. "What is it?"
Regina exhaled a breath of disbelief. "Did you read the settlement section?"
"The what?"
Regina shoved the contract into my hands, while Jenny clambered off the bed to grab her laptop. The paper was damp but the letters jumped at me boldly.
I frowned. Blinked hard. That... couldn’t be right. I read it again. My brain went blank. My breathing grew faint. My body went rigid and my face grew hot. "This... this isn’t..."
Regina took it from me and reread the words I was trying so hard to wrap my mind around. "’Upon dissolution of the marriage after the minimum period, the female party is entitled to fifty percent of the combined marital assets.’"
Regina’s eyes flicked to mine. "There are four of them. They’re offering you two hundred percent! You have got to tell me what you did right in bed because this is diabolical!"
"That’s..." I didn’t have the words.
Jenny was hitting her keyboard furiously.
"What are you doing?" I eyed her curiously, where Regina was already looming over her.
"Research," Jenny murmured. And in the next second, both of them screamed. "Oh my god. OH MY GOD!"
Jenny rushed over. Regina spun the screen around. "LOOK!"
She didn’t need to. The numbers were jumping at me. Jenny had looked up Soren’s networth. I was married to a billionaire. Several times over.
I mean, I suspected they were, considering they were royals, but the numbers were unreal. It occurred to me that this was the first time I was ever researching the Lycans.
Regina clicked another page. And they both screamed again. "Jericho’s one, too,"
Another click. Yup. Mercer was one, too.
Click. I felt faint. Quinlan, too.
"Why is Quinlan the richest one?" Jenny asked, clicking on something else, and then we all gasped, collectively.
Nightclubs. Luxury resorts. Real estate. International holdings. Properties in six countries. What stood out, however, was that Quinlan apparently owned multiple exclusive clubs in France. There were rumors that they were BDSM clubs.
My head began to spin and I pushed the laptop out of my sight. "This doesn’t change anything—"
"Maisie," Regina started, but I recognized that tone. It was her conspiratorial tone. The kind she used when she was about to convince me into doing something utterly stupid.
"No," I said.
"Maisie." This time, it was Jenny. "Do you understand how much money this is? You would never worry about being poor in your life. You could buy an island. You could buy freakin’ Mars!"
"I don’t want their money. I would rather eat dust."
Regina grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look in her eyes. "You don’t want their money? Have you lost your mind?"
I frowned. "No. I just don’t want anything tying me to them—"
"They’ve already taken enough from you!" she yelled at me. "You think they didn’t account for the fact that you would try to fight this case? Use your pretty head, May. They’re royals. They’re the highest authority. They’ll ensure you do not win."
Her eyes were earnest as they searched mine. "They lied. They trapped you. They forced you into this contract with them. They’ve fucked you a thousand ways to goddess knows where. And they won’t let you leave. Why, on earth, should you be the only one not benefiting from this arrangement?"
Jenny joined us. "I say take their money. Take all of it."
"Take their peace while you’re at it," Regina added, her eyes furious. "Their sanity, too. Consider it compensation for the emotional damage they’ve put you through. If they’re going to force you into this marriage with them, might as well get the most out of it. Congratulations, May."
My lips parted. "Congratulations for what?"
A savage grin spread across her face. "You’re about to become the most expensive ex-wife in history."
