CHAPTER TWELVE – DISPUTE AT THE COURTS

Hot, stinging tears spilled over before Jasmine could stop them, her composure finally shattering under the immense weight of all the broken dreams, betrayals, and dashed hopes littering her path. How could he? How could Ethan so casually discard something so sacred that had bonded them together once, all in pursuit of his selfish affairs and wounded ego? Was she truly so devoid of value to him now that even their mutual anguish had lost meaning? Digging the heels of her palms into her eyes, Jasmine struggled to reign in the sobs wracking her body. She felt utterly unmoored, consumed by a vortex of emotions and the profound sense of self she'd lost somewhere in the ruins of her marriage. Eventually, she would pull herself together and begin plotting out the next calculated maneuvers in this endless chess match of divorce proceedings. For now, though, she allowed herself to drown in the tempestuous tides of grief and righteous indignation over the duplicitous man who had torn away