Schizophrenia
A Novel by Asmaa Nada
chapter 8
Daniel trembled.
“No... no one will believe you! I’m a respected businessman! I’ll say this is nothing but revenge from a mentally unstable wife! I have the doctors’ reports proving you suffer from schizophrenia! I’ll expose you and send that video of your so-called ‘murder’ to your father myself!”
Nerouz laughed — a wild, sharp laugh that sliced through the air like a blade. It wasn’t madness; it was precision.
“I’ll expose myself,” she said coldly. “Do you know the difference between you and me, Daniel? You’re a criminal hiding behind a mask of elegance. I’m a criminal who wears her madness like armor. I’ll go to the media and tell them I was a child — a victim of abuse — and that to survive, I had to destroy the man who destroyed me. I’ll say I agreed to give up half your fortune in exchange for burying the truth forever. They’ll call me a survivor, a hero. But you...” — she leaned closer, voice dripping venom — “you’ll be the monster who ruined a little girl. Half your fortune for my freedom and for our children. Nothing more.
“As for that recording, that precious video of yours... did you really think you still have it? I destroyed it long ago. So, choose wisely, Daniel. The offer doesn’t stay on the table for long.”
She glanced at her diamond-studded watch, utterly calm, radiating control. She knew him too well — Daniel despised the spotlight. Public scandal was his personal hell. Money could be regained; reputation, never.
Daniel muttered through clenched teeth, eyes burning with rage and despair. He looked like a fallen general watching his empire crumble.
“You’re... a devil. No different from me. Worse, even.”
“Yes,” she whispered, a ghost of a smile curving her lips. “That’s why I won, my fallen angel. I don’t pretend. I am the devil... who knows how to use her weapons.”
“I... agree,” he stammered. “You’ll have half... half of everything. I’ll transfer a billion pounds to your name. I’ll divorce you. Just... go. Disappear.”
Nerouz slipped his pen from the pocket of his suit jacket, opened the crimson folder before him — the one already prepared — and smirked.
“Sign,” she ordered. “Sign the papers transferring half your assets to me, and this—” she tapped the divorce document “—your unconditional release. No compensation. No custody rights. Now, Daniel. Before time runs out.”
She began to count softly, her tone almost playful. “Five... four...”
He couldn’t bear it. He snatched the pen, his hand trembling violently, and scrawled his name in uneven strokes, muttering curses under his breath. When it was done, Nerouz snatched the papers to her chest as if clutching treasure.
She rose slowly and leaned in close, her voice barely above a whisper.
“As for my mother,” she said, “don’t worry. She knows now that I’m not that weak little girl anymore. No one will ever threaten me — or my children — again. She paid the price for her silence once... today, you pay for your deceit and your arrogance. Remember, Daniel — Nerouz never leaves without finishing what she started. But she also never returns to the same place twice.”
She turned and walked out with deliberate calm. Outside, the lawyer was waiting, pale and nervous.
“Prepare everything,” she instructed. “The assets will be officially transferred to Nerouz... I mean, Maggie Daniel within twenty-four hours. Then to Nerouz Vladimir. If Daniel tries to back out, I’ll unleash ‘Aphrodite’s Kiss.’ Begin now.”
Behind her, Daniel sat frozen, paralyzed by disbelief and fury, watching the woman who had taken everything — the same woman who had once been his fragile, broken wife.
Elise — Nerouz — had destroyed him completely.
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