Fifth Time, Final Goodbye

Finley owned plenty of properties, but only one had Claire's name on it—a house in the next neighborhood. The Lloyd family gave it to her when they found out she was pregnant.

Now, with the divorce looming, Claire just wanted some peace. She didn't care if it was Finley or Renee; she wasn't in the mood to deal with either of them.

"Isn't there a house in the neighboring community?" she asked coolly. "Why not let Miss Slutsky stay there? It'd be more convenient."

Finley frowned, caught off guard. "That's your house."

"If she needs it, she can use it," Claire said flatly before turning to head upstairs.

"You're not having any pumpkin soup?" Finley called after her.

"No."

She hated pumpkins—and pumpkin soup most of all.

When she came back down later, the living room was empty except for Emma, the maid, who was clearing the table.

"Mrs. Lloyd, Mr. Lloyd and Miss Slutsky went to the house in the neighboring community," Emma said quietly.

"Okay," Claire replied, barely glancing up.

Not long after, her phone buzzed. It was Finley.

"I'm not coming home tonight. Renee's afraid of the dark, so I'll stay here with her."

"Alright."

Claire's calm reply threw Finley off. Feeling a flicker of guilt, he tried again. "I'm sorry, Claire. Renee's still like a kid—afraid of the dark, scared of ghosts. I can't leave her alone. Tomorrow's your birthday. I'll be back to celebrate, okay?"

"Okay." Claire didn't bother with anything else and hung up.

She glanced around the house, her eyes settling on the walls. They were covered with pictures of children—Finley's mother's doing. She'd put them up to encourage Claire during her pregnancy. Paulina had even brought endless herbal remedies to help her conceive.

It hadn't been easy. Claire had struggled to get pregnant, taking those remedies for months before it finally happened. But now the baby was gone, and so was her marriage. Those pictures didn't mean anything anymore.

Claire stood on a chair and started ripping them down, one by one.

Emma gasped. "Mrs. Lloyd, what are you doing? Please be careful—you should think of the baby!"

"It's fine."

She tore every last photo off the wall, stuffed them into a garbage bag, and handed it to Emma. "Throw this out."

Then she picked up her phone and called Raoul, her lawyer, asking him to come over the next day.

By the time Raoul arrived, he had already drafted a contract based on her instructions.

"Ms. Carlson, are you sure you don't want anything?" he asked.

"Yes, nothing at all."

She wanted no ties to Finley. The house, the car, the money—it wasn't worth it. She had her own means and didn't need anything from him.

"Alright. Take a look. If it's good, I'll print it out."

"Thank you. Let me know when it's ready for me to sign. And don't mention the divorce to Finley yet."

"Got it." Raoul hesitated, like he had something to say, but left it alone.

Just as Raoul was leaving, Finley walked in.

Raoul had been handling some business for his company, so seeing him here caught Finley off guard. "What are you doing here?"

"Mrs. Lloyd asked me to stop by," Raoul said smoothly before slipping out.

Finley turned to Claire. "Why was Raoul here?"

"Nothing important."

She glanced at him briefly. He looked worn out, with dark circles under his eyes.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" she asked casually.

"Renee wanted to watch horror movies," Finley said with a small laugh. "She's scared of them but wouldn't stop insisting. We ended up staying up all night."

He laughed again, completely unaware of how fondly he was talking about Renee.

Claire just watched him. It had been ages since she'd seen that smile. The last time was probably the day she told him she was pregnant.