All Chapters of Ex Wife's Collapse After Divorce: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
47 chapters
Chapter 31
The front door clicked shut behind Vivian.The hallway went quiet. Just the hum of the air conditioning and Sophie's perfume — too close, too sweet, too deliberate.Ethan grabbed Sophie's wrist and pried her arm off his."She's gone." He stepped back, putting distance between them. "You can drop the act."Sophie didn't move. She stood in the middle of the hallway, silk robe slipping off one shoulder, and stared at him with an expression that had nothing to do with performance."You think that was an act?"Ethan's jaw tightened. "We barely know each other, Sophie. Whatever this is — gratitude, amusement, some grudge against Vivian — it's not what you're pretending it is.""Do you believe in love at first sight?"The question landed like a slap.Sophie closed the front door. The lock clicked. She turned back to him, and her eyes were burning — not with mischief, not with the playful flirtation she'd been wearing all night. Something raw. Something that had been caged for a long time."Th
Chapter 32
The engine was still running.Vivian sat in the black sedan across from Sophie's apartment complex, fingers white-knuckled around the steering wheel.She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there. Ten minutes. Twenty. Maybe an hour.It didn't matter.The image was already burned into her skull — Ethan's shoes at Sophie's door, the dim hallway light, that woman's voice dripping honey through the crack in the doorframe. Her husband. Her property. Spending the night in another woman's home.'Ethan Carter, you cheating bastard.'Her teeth ground together so hard her jaw ached. The rage wasn't clean — it was tangled up with something uglier. Not heartbreak. Vivian Lockwood didn't get her heart broken by a man she'd never respected.This was theft.Someone had taken what was hers. Someone she'd once called a friend.Her phone buzzed on the passenger seat.The screen lit up with a name that made her chest loosen by a fraction.Damian Hale.She snatched it up."Vivian!" Damian's voice was
Chapter 33
The restaurant Damian chose was all dark wood, white linen, and hushed conversations. A corner booth. Two glasses of Bordeaux. Steak tartare for him, salmon for her.Vivian barely touched her food.Damian noticed. He noticed everything — that was his gift. But he didn't push. He talked about his flight, about the weather back home, about a terrible movie he'd watched on the plane. Light. Easy. Giving her space to breathe.Then, between the main course and dessert, he set down his fork."So." His tone shifted. Still warm, but with an undercurrent of purpose. "I mentioned I had good news."Vivian looked up."My uncle — Vincent. He's in real estate, but he's been looking to diversify. Branch into other industries." Damian leaned forward, elbows on the table. "I pitched him on Lockwood Industries."Vivian's brow furrowed. "Lockwood doesn't need investors, Damian. We need contracts. Partners. Revenue streams. Our capital reserves are —""Still thinking like you haven't slept?" He grinned.
Chapter 34
The front door of the Star River Bay villa opened at 7:14 AM.Aurora was already on her feet.She'd been sitting on the living room couch since five, legs tucked beneath her, phone in hand, cycling between his voicemail and the tracking app that showed his phone had been off since midnight.She'd called eleven times. Sent nine messages. Considered calling the police twice and talked herself out of it both times because Ethan Carter was a grown man and she was not his mother.But when the door swung open and he stepped inside — shirt untucked, collar crooked, hair a disaster, dark circles carved under his eyes — every rational thought evaporated.She was across the room before she could stop herself."Where have you been?"Her voice came out sharper than intended. She adjusted. Softened. Tried again."You didn't come home last night. Your phone was off. I couldn't reach you."Her eyes swept him head to toe — cataloging, assessing. The wrinkled shirt. The faint redness around his eyes.
Chapter 35
Aurora's eyes locked onto Ethan.The entire cafeteria seemed to hold its breath.Travis's jaw dropped. Kevin's chopsticks clattered against his tray. The guy next to Ethan made a sound like a deflating balloon.Ethan's stomach sank. 'What the hell is she doing here?'He was nobody in this building. A business associate who'd been here less than a month. And now the CEO of Stellaris International Trading was standing at his table, tray in hand, looking at him like he was the only person in the room."Is there a seat available?" Aurora repeated.Everyone understood. The guy sitting across from Ethan — Kevin — shot to his feet so fast his chair screeched against the floor."Ms. Sinclair! I just finished — please, take my seat!"His tray was still three-quarters full. Aurora glanced at his tray, then back at his face. Her smile widened."Thank you." She set her tray down and settled into the chair with the ease of someone claiming a throne. Then, just as Kevin was turning to leave: "St
Chapter 36
Ethan stared at Aurora. His jaw worked. A muscle twitched near his temple.'She's doing it again.'The wounded-bird act. The same routine she'd pulled a dozen times before — the lowered eyes, the soft voice, the perfectly timed quiver of the lip. He knew it was manipulation.He also knew it wasn't entirely fake. That was the worst part. Somewhere underneath the performance, the loneliness was real."...Fine." The word came out like it physically cost him something. "I'll eat with you. Starting tonight."Aurora's head snapped up.The vulnerability vanished like morning fog. Her eyes sparkled. Her lips curved into a grin so triumphant, so openly smug, that Ethan felt his eye twitch."Really? Tonight? You promise?""I just said —""A man's word is his bond, Young Master. No take-backs."She was practically glowing. Radiant. The cold-faced CEO of Stellaris International Trading was sitting in a company cafeteria beaming like she'd just won the lottery.Ethan exhaled through his nose. 'Pl
Chapter 37
The break room outside the cafeteria was empty.Ethan shut the door behind him, pulled up Sophie's number, and hit call."Well, well." Sophie's voice dripped with amusement. "That was fast.""Cut the act." His tone was ice. "Those photos. You're using them to force me to meet you."A pause. Then a laugh."Force you? Ethan, darling, I was simply sharing some precious memories. Memories I happen to cherish."His jaw tightened. "You drugged me. You took those photos. And now you're sending them to my phone in the middle of a workday. What exactly would you call that?""Nostalgic?" "Sophie." "Oh, relax." Her tone shifted — still playful. "If I wanted to see you, I have plenty of civilized ways to make it happen. For instance, I could call your company right now, say there are unresolved details in the Whitfield account, and request that Ethan Carter handle them personally. Face to face. In my office."Ethan's grip on the phone tightened.She wasn't bluffing. The Whitfield deal had jus
Chapter 38
Six o'clock. The lobby of Stellaris International Trading emptied in its usual evening rush — employees streaming through the glass doors, loosening ties, checking phones, splitting off toward the subway entrance or the parking garage.Ethan walked out with the crowd.He saw the car immediately.A pearl-white Bentley Continental GT sat at the curb directly in front of the main entrance, gleaming under the fading sunlight like it had been placed there by a magazine stylist. The driver's window slid down.Sophie Whitfield leaned across the center console, oversized sunglasses pushed up into her hair, red lips curved into a smile that belonged on a billboard."Ethan! Over here!" Every head within a hundred-foot radius turned.Employees froze mid-step. Conversations died. A cluster of women from the marketing department stopped dead, eyes ping-ponging between the Bentley and Ethan like they were watching a tennis match.Travis, halfway to the subway, spun around so fast he nearly trip
Chapter 39
Sophie pulled the Maserati into a public parking spot near Crestwood University.The engine died. She hopped out, circled around, and tried to loop her arm through his as he stepped onto the curb.Ethan sidestepped her without a word.Sophie didn't flinch. Didn't pout. She just clasped her hands behind her back and strolled ahead, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth like she'd already won something he hadn't agreed to lose.They walked half a block before she stopped in front of a roadside barbecue stand — plastic stools, metal tables, smoke curling up from a charcoal grill manned by a heavyset woman in an apron."Boss lady! Ten pork skewers, ten chicken, a plate of garlic chives, a dozen grilled oysters — oh, and a case of beer!"Sophie rattled off the order before Ethan had even sat down.The owner looked up from her notepad, pen hovering. Her eyes landed on Ethan, and her face split into a grin."Sophie! Haven't seen you in ages." She tilted her chin toward Ethan. "This you
Chapter 40
The boss lady arrived with the first round of skewers and set the case of beer on the ground beside the table. Sophie popped two bottles open with a practiced flick of the opener, pushed one toward Ethan.He didn't touch it."Seven days, Ethan. Under the same roof." Sophie raised her bottle but didn't drink. "Same bedroom, too. Every night."Ethan's voice came out flat. Controlled. The way a man sounds when he's holding something back with both hands."How do you know all this?""Because I have proof."Sophie's fingers danced across her phone screen. A soft chime from Ethan's pocket.He pulled out his phone.One photo. A man's hand and a woman's hand, fingers intertwined. Intimate. Unmistakable.His gaze went straight to the woman's ring finger.The diamond ring. Custom-designed. One of a kind. He'd spent three months working with the jeweler, obsessing over every facet, every angle, every millimeter of the setting. There was no duplicate anywhere on earth.That was Vivian's hand."