Divorced, But Queen - Chapter 45: Chapter 45

"What?" Liam and Hannah exchanged a stunned glance, disbelief flashing between them.
Liam recovered first, his voice steady as he said, "Hannah, go take a shower. I'll meet with him."
Hannah, never one to pry into private matters—especially ones she had no business being present for—nodded without hesitation. "Alright."
The door closed softly behind her. Liam descended the stairs, settling onto the couch with casual elegance, reaching for his coffee with an air of effortless refinement.
The butler stood quietly to the side, waiting. At Liam's curt order—"Let him in"—he bowed his head and replied, "Yes, sir."
Liam took a sip of coffee just as a squat, disheveled middle-aged man limped into view.
The man wore drab, ill-fitting clothes; one pant leg was longer than the other. A battered wooden cane thudded against the floor with each uneven step.
His face was narrow and hollow-cheeked, his chin lost beneath a rough mess of black-and-white stubble.
The moment Liam laid eyes on him, his hand jerked violently, his teeth clinking sharply against the rim of his cup.
In the few minutes he'd been waiting, Liam had imagined Aria's ex-husband as some polished, successful man—perhaps one crippled by injury after the divorce, but nonetheless a rival worth noting.
He thought maybe the man had come to taunt him, to reclaim what he had lost.
He had considered a hundred possibilities, but nothing could have prepared him for reality: A filthy, pitiful wreck of a man.
Liam didn't care for Aria; he looked down on her greed, her deceit—but even he knew one thing.
There was no way this man had ever been her husband.
Setting the cup down with deliberate calm, he drawled, "You're claiming to be Aria's ex-husband?"
Leaning back lazily against the couch, one leg casually crossed over the other, Liam steepled his fingers across his knee and studied the man with a gaze that could cut glass.
The man shrank under his scrutiny, voice timid and halting. "Yes, sir. My name's Henry Lester. I was... Aria's—well, Madelyn's—ex husband."
Liam's brows lifted ever so slightly. "Madelyn?"
"She went by that name before she left Jamelan," Henry mumbled, daring a quick glance up before dropping his eyes to the floor once again.
Liam frowned deeply. "You expect me to take your word for it? Where's your proof?"
Henry sagged visibly, clutching his cane as though it were the only thing holding him upright.
With a subtle nod from Liam, the butler quickly fetched a chair.
Henry eased into it, some of the strain leaving his shoulders.
Liam's voice was slow, almost bored, but laced with threat. "If you can't produce proof, I'll have you arrested for slander."
Aria's reputation was already a liability. Any association with someone like this would drag Liam's own standing through the mud.
"I have proof!" Henry cried, fumbling inside his threadbare coat before producing a crumpled, yellowed piece of paper.
A sour stench accompanied it, making Liam's nose wrinkle in disgust. "Put it on the table," he said coldly.
Henry did as told, mumbling, "It's a deed... a sale contract. Over a decade ago, Dominic sold his daughter to me—to be my child bride."
"Child bride?" Liam stared at him, stunned. "Dominic is Aria's foster father?"
He couldn't believe his ears. In this day and age, there were still things like child brides.
Aria had been sold to this man.
Henry's head hung low, his voice thick with regret. "If I'd known she wasn't Dominic's real daughter, I never would've signed."
Liam's gaze dropped to the so-called deed on the table.
One thousand dollars.
Dominic had sold his daughter for one thousand dollars.
Suppressing a surge of revulsion, Liam kept his expression cold. Henry hurried to explain, "I only took Madelyn in out of pity. I intended to raise her like a goddaughter... to send her off in marriage properly."
Tears welled in Henry's eyes as he spoke, his voice breaking with emotion. "I cared for her... I sacrificed for her. But in the end... to get back into the Saxon family, she crippled my leg with a kitchen knife."
"It's a blessing that she married Mr. Cole. I don't ask for anything else. I just want to get some money to heal my leg," said Henry.
He clutched his cane, struggled to his feet, and then dropped heavily to his knees with a loud thud. "Mr. Cole," he sobbed, "you're her husband now. I'm handing over this contract to you. I only ask for a little money—to fix my leg."
Liam regarded him coolly. He believed the story already. "Fine," he said after a beat. "I'll give you one hundred fifty thousand dollars."