Page 8 of Pieces of Us

“Diana, you continue to keep trying to push my buttons. I’m being hella nice. Because if we take this shit in front of a judge, I can promise you, you’re going to walk away with nothing but what you walked into this marriage with.”

“You really think so?”

“I fucking know so. I have pictures and videos dating back three years of your infidelity. Just from that alone, I can make you look like scum and walk away with everything I’ve earned. So, walk light, take your little winnings, and be the fuck gone out of my life. You got them papers, Ms. Lady?” I gestured to her lawyer and she slid the papers over to me.

“Give me a moment to speak with my cli—” Shanise attempted to say before I cut her off.

“Shani, it’s done.” I could feel her heated gaze on me as I signed my name on the dotted lines.

“You didn’t allow her to finish, Mr. Newson.” Shanise stressed.

“It doesn’t matter. I already know what she wants, and she got it. Her and her father’s greed will be their downfall.”

I slid the papers across the table and stood. I buttoned my suit jacket while I stared at Diana. I wouldn’t lie and say I didn’t love her. We did try to find the light in all of this, but she just wasn’t my person or marriage material.

She wasn’t who my heart belonged to, and she was never supposed to have something as sacred as my last name. That belonged to the one woman who I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing since a few days after that one tragic night…Morgan Prescott.

Even after all these years, I still thought of her. After that night, I saw her one more time before I was shipped to Atlanta.That night, she cried in my arms while I kept mine at bay. We promised to keep in touch, and we did for all of seven days before her line was disconnected. I asked my sister, Shelby, to go by her house to see what was happening, and when she told me that their home had a for sale sign and looked vacant, my heart broke.

It was one of the reasons I couldn’t connect with Diana. Morgan was my heart, and I spent the first three years after the split trying to find her to no avail. I had no clue what happened to her, but I knew we would see each other again.

Walking out of Diana’s lawyer’s office, I shot a text to Loon, my best friend and driver, to pull the car around. Yes, I may have been a pediatrician, but my father’s reputation didn’t allow me to move around the city freely. The man was still carrying that king pin crown and had Shelby, our baby sister Chelsea, and I escorted all over the city, but I made sure to choose someone I trusted to protect me.

Since he made all the other decisions in my life, I made sure he didn’t take away my passion for becoming a doctor and who I wanted at my side to protect me.

“I know Auntie Queenie is rolling over in her grave,” Shanise said, shaking her head as we filed onto the busy streets.

I sighed. “I’m sure she has rolled right out of that motherfucka by now with the way Cole has been moving.”

“What were you thinking, Hemi? That bitch didn’t deserve any of what she was requesting. I could have stopped all of that shit.”

“That material shit means nothing to me, Shani. The only thing I wasn’t letting up on was my Cordoba. That car was my first whip…a rarity, and it’s sentimental to me. All that other shit can be replaced.” I watched as Loon pulled in front of the building. I pulled Shanise into my arms and kissed her forehead.

“Thanks for everything, cuz. I’ll see you at Pops party this weekend. I love you.”

“Okay, I love you too. And don’t forget to pick up the cake! I know how forgetful you can be.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, opening the passenger’s door to the SUV.

“What’s up, Shani!” Loon yelled out to her.

“Hello, Lawrence.”

“Loon, baby. Just call me Loon.” He winked and smiled at her.

This nigga.

“That’s not what your parents named you. See ya, cousin.” Shanise bid me adieu as her car service pulled up.

“Aye, your cousin is fine as fuck.” I looked over at him with a stoic expression. “What? I’m just being honest.”

“Be honest somewhere else, bum.”

Loon chuckled. “How that shit turn out?”

“Fucked up, but I’m just happy to be rid of this shit.”

“I hear that. Where to?”

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