Chapter 9
The fallout was swift, brutal, and entirely merciless.
I didn’t just divorce Jet. I dismantled him.
The best lawyers money could buy poured over his financials. They found the money he had been siphoning from our joint accounts to fund Rose’s apartment.
Because I was the primary breadwinner and the source of the family wealth, the judge ordered him to pay it all back, every single cent.
When the police confirmed that the jewelry and the Birkin belonged to me, Rose was detained for receiving stolen property. She tried to claim she was a victim of Jet’s manipulation, but the text messages on her phone proved she knew he was married, even if she didn’t know who I was.
In the end, to avoid jail time, she agreed to testify against him in civil court.
She dumped him the day his bank accounts were frozen.
But the worst blow for Jet came from the FAA.
My father’s legal team submitted the flight data recorder and cabin audio to the aviation authority. Using an aircraft’s intercom system and security personnel to settle a personal domestic dispute while actively lying to authorities about a passenger being a threat was a severe violation of federal aviation regulations.
Jet didn’t just lose his job at Horizon Airlines.
His commercial pilot’s license was permanently revoked.
The career he had ground through aviation school to achieve, the status he had sacrificed our marriage for, was gone in the blink of an eye.
Six months later, I sat in the polished conference room of my lawyer’s office for the final divorce mediation.
I wore a sharp, tailored white suit. The diamond wings necklace, thoroughly cleaned and polished, rested against my collarbone.
The door opened, and Jet walked in.
I almost didn’t recognize him.
He had lost at least twenty pounds. He was wearing a faded off-the-rack suit that looked two sizes too big. His hair was thinning, and the arrogant, square-jawed pilot I had married was completely gone, replaced by a hollow, defeated shell of a man.
He looked exactly like the terrified boy from the factory town I had first brought home to my parents.
He sat across from me, his eyes glued to the mahogany table.
His lawyer pushed the final settlement papers across the desk.
Jet signed them with a shaking hand, officially relinquishing any claim to my assets, agreeing to the massive debt he owed me, and accepting supervised monthly visitations with Ruby.
When it was over, his lawyer left the room to file the paperwork.
Jet and I were left alone for the first time since the flight.
He slowly raised his eyes to look at me.
“Rachel.”
I didn’t respond. I just packed my files into my briefcase.
“I work at a logistics warehouse now,” he said, his voice raspy, devoid of any hope. “Loading freight trucks. Night shifts.”
I snapped my briefcase shut.
“Sounds like hard work. Good for you.”
“Rose left me,” he whispered, a tear slipping down his hollow cheek. “She blocked my number. I have nothing, Rachel. You took everything. I don’t even have my wings.”
I stood up, resting my hands on the table and leaning in just enough so he could see the absolute ice in my eyes.
“I didn’t take anything, Jet. I just stopped paying for it. You were a passenger in my life, and you decided to act up. So I kicked you off the flight.”
I turned and walked toward the door.
“I loved you,” he cried out, his voice cracking, desperate for some kind of closure, some kind of emotion from me.
I paused with my hand on the doorknob.
I didn’t look back.
“No, you didn’t,” I said quietly. “You loved the altitude. You just forgot who owned the plane.”
I opened the door and stepped out into the bright, sunlit hallway.
My father was waiting for me by the elevators, holding a small pink backpack.
Next to him was Ruby, wearing a little aviator jacket and holding a brand-new coloring book.
She ran to me and wrapped her arms around my legs.
“Mommy, Grandpa says we’re going on a big plane today to Paris.”
I smiled, a real, genuine smile that reached all the way to my soul.
I scooped her up into my arms and kissed her cheek.
“That’s right, sweetheart. Just us.”
“Is Dad flying it?” she asked innocently.
I looked at my father, who offered a subtle, proud nod.
“No, baby,” I said, walking toward the elevator and leaving the shadow of my past behind me forever. “Mommy’s the captain now.”