Vows Beneath The Moon Clown Chapter 04
Veronica gripped my collar, the veins on the back of her hand standing out.
Everyone in the cafe turned to look.
Adrian rushed to pull her back.
“Veronica, not here.”
She did not let go.
She stared at me, and the warmth in her eyes cracked completely.
“Ava, do you know what you’re doing?”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You think a few anonymous emails can destroy me?”
She sneered.
“I’m a family lawyer. I know better than you how to turn evidence into wastepaper.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
The sentence landed like a slap.
Veronica’s face darkened.
Adrian’s eyes reddened with panic.
“Ava, recall the emails. We can discuss anything. You want a divorce, don’t you? I’ll sign. I’ll sign now.”
“Now you want to sign?”
I looked at him.
“When you threatened me with my father’s illness and my brother’s future, why didn’t you say that?”
He opened his mouth but said nothing.
Veronica released me and suddenly regained her composure.
She adjusted her sleeve, her tone softening.
“Miss Moretti, don’t overestimate yourself. At most, your materials prove Adrian and I are close. You two have slept apart for five years. Your marriage has existed in name only for a long time.”
She paused and stared into my eyes.
“As for the child, what proof do you have that she was born during your marriage?”
I opened a photo on my phone.
A copy of the child’s birth certificate.
Father: Adrian.
Mother: Veronica.
The date of birth matched Adrian’s so-called recovery period three years ago.
Both signatures were clear.
Adrian’s face turned white.
“How do you have this?”
I looked at him.
“The time you asked me to fix your computer.”
His computer had broken, and he urgently needed a contract.
When I recovered the data for him, I saw an encrypted folder named Recovery.
I didn’t open it then.
Because I trusted him.
After Luna Park, I tried his birthday and Veronica’s birthday. Neither worked.
At last, I entered the date engraved on the back of the silver medal around the child’s neck.
It opened.
Inside were photos of their family of three.
Veronica’s prenatal records, the birth certificate, a baptism guest list.
And one document that hurt even more.
Trauma Partner Observation Sample Authorization.
In the signature field was my name.
I pulled out the file and pushed it in front of Adrian.
“What is this?”
Adrian’s hand shook.
Veronica’s face changed too.
In that moment, I finally knew.
They had not only deceived me.
They had used me as the cheapest material in his charity project.
For five years, Adrian had been running a so-called intimacy trauma recovery program.
In interviews, he said he had a gentle, considerate wife who was willing to accompany him through a long-term low-contact marriage experiment.
He said my restraint was the light that kept him alive.
Back then, I thought he was finally willing to acknowledge our relationship in public, and I had been secretly happy.
Now I knew.
He used my pain to polish his image.
He used my patience to gain resources from the foundation.
He used my marriage to pave Veronica’s road.
I looked at him.
“Adrian, did you forge this signature?”
Tears rushed into his eyes.
“Ava, I had no choice. The foundation needed a real case. I didn’t want outsiders to know your identity, so I…”
“So you signed for me?”
My throat hurt from laughing.
“You used me as a case study to make money, used me as your wife to hide behind, and used my father’s illness to force me silent. And you call that having no choice?”
Veronica reached for my phone.
I stepped back.
The two suited bodyguards moved forward at once.
Just then, a voice came from the cafe entrance.
“A De Luca lawyer grabbing evidence from a party in a cafe doesn’t exactly suit someone running for a Mafia Commission seat.”
I turned.
My college roommate, Lucia Bennett, walked in.
She was now the chief lawyer at a family law firm, specializing in matrimonial disputes and reputation blackmail cases.
She had already reviewed everything I sent her.
Lucia placed a lawyer’s letter on the table.
“Ms. Veronica, from this moment on, I represent Ava. I have also preserved the recording of you threatening her family and using professional influence to pressure a party.”
Veronica’s expression shifted.
She looked at me.
I lifted my chin toward the button on my chest.
“Micro recorder.”
Adrian stiffened.
Lucia smiled.
“You should be familiar with these, counselor. Legal evidence collection. Protection of one’s rights.”
Veronica was silent for a few seconds, then laughed.
“Ava, you have guts.”
She turned to Adrian and lowered her voice.
“Let’s go.”
Adrian did not move.
He looked at me, fear finally appearing in his eyes.
“Ava, can we go home and talk?”
Home.
The word from his mouth sounded ridiculous.
When had he ever treated my place as home?
I pushed the divorce agreement toward him.
“Sign it and return my things. Otherwise, tomorrow morning, everything goes public.”
Tears fell from his eyes.
“Do you have to drive me to a dead end?”
I looked at him.
“Adrian, you were the one who pushed me into the abyss first.”
He held the pen, his hand shaking badly.
Veronica said coldly, “Do not sign.”
Adrian looked up at her.
In that instant, I saw the hesitation in his eyes.
He was afraid.
Afraid he could not protect Veronica, and afraid he could not protect the victim persona he had built for years.
In the end, he still did not sign.
He wiped his tears and stood beside Veronica.
“Ava, calm down for a few days. I believe you won’t really destroy me.”
I laughed.
Even now, he thought I would soften.
After they left, Lucia patted my shoulder.
“The evidence is strong. We can fight. But prepare yourself. They won’t sit still.”
I looked down at the divorce agreement on the table.
The empty signature line looked like a giant joke.
“Then let them come.”