Chapter 2 I'll Compensate You

Elena's POV

When Elena came downstairs the next morning, the anniversary dinner had already been cleared away.

Only the draft divorce agreement remained where she had been sitting the night before. The pages lay perfectly flat, as final and uncompromising as every decision Damian made.

He sat at the other end of the long table, reading an email. His coffee was untouched, the sleeves of his dark shirt rolled to his elbows. He looked as calm as if last night's conversation had been nothing more than a routine business matter.

"Did you read it?" he asked.

"Yes."

Elena sat across from him and pushed the agreement back. She hadn't slept all night, yet her voice was steadier than it had been yesterday.

"Three things need to be changed."

Damian set down his phone and looked at her. "Which ones?"

"The apartment downtown, the additional five million dollars, and the trust account in your name." She tapped each clause in turn. "Remove all of them."

His brow tightened.

"Why?"

"Because none of them were included in our original agreement."

The terms they had signed two years ago had been clear. When the marriage ended, Elena would receive the fixed settlement they had agreed upon, and Damian would cover her necessary expenses until she completed medical school.

Those were the terms under which she had accepted the arrangement.

"I'm ending the marriage a year early." Damian leaned back in his chair, his tone level. "I'm the one breaking the agreement. Additional compensation is reasonable."

"It may be reasonable to you. That doesn't mean I have to accept it."

"Elena, this isn't charity."

"I know." She met his eyes. "It's a price."

Silence settled over the dining room.

For the first time, something shifted in Damian's expression.

"You think I'm putting a price on the last two years?"

"Aren't you?"

Elena hadn't meant to be so blunt. But when she saw the genuine confusion in his eyes, she realized he truly didn't understand the problem.

He had arranged her home, her driver, her doctors, and her residency schedule. Whenever trouble appeared, he dealt with it before she had the chance.

Now that he had decided to divorce her, he had arranged an apartment, cash, and a trust fund to ensure that she remained comfortable after leaving him.

From beginning to end, he had taken responsibility for everything.

He had just never asked what she wanted.

Damian was silent for a moment before opening the agreement to the property section.

"The apartment is close to St. Catherine's, and the building is secure. You're still completing your residency there. Moving somewhere else would only create unnecessary problems."

"I'll find my own place. The tuition and living expenses can remain as stated in our original agreement. I don't want anything else."

Damian studied her as though trying to determine what she was really asking for.

"If the amount isn't enough, we can renegotiate."

Elena let out a quiet laugh.

To him, she was apparently nothing more than another acquisition. As long as the offer was generous enough, she had no reason to refuse.

"What if I asked for a hundred million dollars?" she asked. "Would you give me that too, if it meant getting this divorce without a fight?"

Damian didn't answer immediately.

"If that were your condition for ending the marriage," he said after several seconds, "I would consider it."

The last of Elena's foolish hope died.

She had almost believed the extra compensation meant he was reluctant to let her go.

But Damian was simply willing to pay whatever it took to end their marriage cleanly.

"I don't want it." Her smile disappeared. "Not a hundred million. Not five million. Not the apartment or the trust. I'll take only what we agreed on in the original contract."

"There's no reason to make an emotional decision."

"I'm not."

"Elena--"

"I'm not negotiating for more, Damian."

She cut him off and pushed the agreement back between them.

"Two years ago, I needed a way out. I accepted your help, and I agreed to marry you. That was my choice. I'm not going to pretend I got nothing from this marriage just because it didn't end the way I once hoped."

Damian's fingers stilled against the edge of the papers.

"But I don't need the extra compensation," she continued. "Once I leave, I need to learn how to manage my own life."

Something about the last sentence held Damian's attention.

For two years, Elena had always asked about his plans first. Which hospital she should use. Where they would live. Who would drive her home after a rotation. Even when she wanted to change the curtains, she had instinctively asked his opinion.

Now she was calmly telling him that she no longer needed him to decide any of it.

His fingers tightened slightly against the page. Then he picked up his phone and called his lawyer.

"Keep the original proposal," he ordered as soon as the call connected. "Prepare a second version with the changes she requested."

Elena frowned. "I've already made myself clear."

"You don't have to decide today."

"I'm thinking clearly now."

"Then your answer will be the same in a few days." Damian ended the call and set his phone on the table. "You can decide which version to sign."

That was Damian.

Even with their marriage ending, he still believed he knew what was best for her better than she did.

Elena didn't argue again. She slipped the agreement into its folder and stood.

"There's one more thing," Damian said.

She paused.

"My grandfather's eightieth birthday is coming up, and the plans for the celebration haven't been finalized. Until it's over, we won't announce the divorce."

Elena tightened her grip on the folder.

"You want me to keep pretending to be Mrs. Hawthorne?"

"Only until the celebration is over."

"And then?"

"You'll tell my grandfather yourself."

She turned to face him. "Why me?"

"He cares about you. He considers you part of the Hawthorne family. If I announce the divorce without warning, he won't accept it."

Their original contract did include such a condition. When the three years ended, Elena would explain the separation to Sebastian herself so they could end the marriage peacefully without creating a family conflict that might affect the company.

But Damian was the one ending the marriage a year early.

"You can tell him this was your decision."

"I'll take responsibility for my decision," Damian said. "But I want you there. It will be better if we explain it together than if he hears about it from the press or the board."

Elena watched him for a moment.

At least this time, he wasn't trying to leave the entire burden to her.

"I'll attend the celebration, and I'll speak to your grandfather myself," she said. "But I won't lie for you. I won't tell him I was the one who wanted the divorce."

"Fine."

He agreed so easily that it sounded as though they had just settled another clause in a contract.

Damian's phone rang.

Vanessa Sinclair's name lit up the screen.

Elena saw his gaze pause before he answered.

"Vanessa?"

Whatever Vanessa said made him rise immediately. His voice dropped.

"Don't move. Tell the doctor to stay with you. I'm on my way."

He grabbed the coat hanging over the back of his chair and took several steps toward the door. Then, as though only just remembering someone else was still in the dining room, he stopped.

Elena remained where she was, holding their divorce agreement against her chest.

Until yesterday, she had always left a light on for him, no matter how late he came home.

Damian looked at her, his tone as natural as it had been every other time over the past two years.

"You don't have to wait up for me tonight."