After The Divorce: The Nobody Became a Billionaire

Chapter 4: The Unlikely Ally

The divorce papers sat on my desk like a nuclear device that had just detonated. Vanessa Hale stood there, silent, her face pale, her whole body trembling with fury she didn’t want me to see. Richard Hale broke first.

Richard: “You… you planned this.” His voice cracked, disbelief laced with rage. “You destroyed us deliberately.”

Me: “I exploited your arrogance. That’s all. You gave me the keys, I opened the vault. The Hale family invited me into the heart of their empire, and I simply listened.”

Richard stumbled into a chair, covering his face with his hands. Vanessa didn’t flinch. Her eyes cut through me, hate blazing.

Vanessa: “You think this is the end? You think you’ll just take everything and walk away clean? No. I’ll fight you. I’ll expose you. The board, the media, they’ll see you for the monster you are.”

Me: laughing, sharp and hollow “Tell them. Go ahead. Shout it from the rooftops. Tell the world that the Hales, once untouchable, lost everything to the man they called worthless. Tell them their empire collapsed into a pawnshop, and I’m the one holding the deed. Who do you think they’ll believe—your bankrupt family or me, the man who now owns your ashes?”

Vanessa spun on her heel and stormed out. Richard scrambled after her. The door slammed so hard the frame shook. I leaned back, savoring the silence, then turned to the pile of files waiting for my signature. This purge was only beginning.

A bar across town. Dim light, polished glass, expensive liquor. Vanessa found Marcus Trent hunched over his drink.

Vanessa: “Marcus. Thank God. You have to help me.” Her voice shook, desperate. “Adrian destroyed us. He’s a monster. He took everything.”

Marcus didn’t look up. His eyes stayed locked on the glass.

Marcus: “He paid me, Vanessa.”

Vanessa: frozen “What did you just say?”

Marcus finally turned, shame heavy in his face.

Marcus: “Three years ago. He came to me in a cheap suit. Offered me a fortune. Asked me to get close to you, learn your family’s weaknesses. Contracts, divisions in the board, everything. He wanted me inside. And I agreed.”

Vanessa: “You… you were with me because he paid you?”

Marcus: “I was his informant. He said your pride would be the easiest crack in the armor. He was right. I helped him tear it all down.”

Vanessa staggered back as if struck. Her lover, her ally, nothing more than a rat feeding off her family’s fall.

Vanessa: “You disgust me.” Her voice broke, rage barely containing itself. “I gave you everything. And you sold me for pocket change.”

Marcus’s hand trembled on his glass.

Marcus: “I’m sorry.”

She spun and stormed out, heels striking the floor like gunshots, rage swallowing her whole.

Back at the Hale tower, I strode toward the conference room, Clara matching my pace, clipboard in hand, voice hushed.

Clara: “Mr. Cole, Ms. Ward is inside. She’s been reviewing the Phoenix Project plans. She seems to have… ideas.”

Me: “Good.” A flicker of genuine excitement broke through my control. “Let her speak.”

The conference room was stripped of Hale excess. Black table, sharp edges, clean air. Elena Ward sat at the head, blueprints sprawled out. She didn’t even glance up when I entered.

Me: “Ms. Ward.”

She lifted her head, eyes sharp, clear, fearless.

Elena: “Mr. Cole. I’ve reviewed your plans. They’re terrible.”

Clara gasped. My guards stiffened. I only leaned back, amused.

Me: “Terrible? How so?”

Elena: “Because it’s ego. A hollow tower of glass meant to impress for five minutes before it dies empty. Unsustainable, wasteful, soulless. You’re building a corpse.”

Her words cut clean. And she was right.

Me: “And your proposal?”

She slid new blueprints across the table. Her voice steady, precise.

Elena: “A community. Energy-sustainable. Green spaces. Communal areas. A place that breathes, that grows, that lasts generations. Profit fades. Legacy endures. The Cole Group has the power to build a legacy. Do you?”

Her challenge hung in the air.

I stared at her. For the first time, someone saw what I had buried deep: the architect, not the destroyer.

Me: “You’re right. Legacy over ego.” I pulled a small antique compass from my pocket and set it on the table. “A gift from a mentor. He told me this shows the way forward, not back. It’s yours. Build the future.”

Elena’s eyes softened. Understanding flickered between us, wordless but undeniable.

Hours later, a quiet restaurant. Low lights, wine poured between us. Elena didn’t treat me like a king. She treated me like a man.

Me: raising my glass “To legacy.”

Elena: meeting my eyes, smiling “To legacy.”

The moment was perfect—until my phone rang. Unknown number. I answered, voice dropping into ice.

Me: “Hello.”

A tip. Vanessa had been spotted. At a restaurant. At this restaurant.

I looked up. There she was. Vanessa Hale, standing in the doorway, fury burning through her shock.

I lowered the phone, eyes locked on hers.

Me: “It seems the Hale family’s last chance has just run out. Proceed with final asset liquidation.”

The line went dead. My stare never left Vanessa’s. Her hands balled into fists. Her jaw tightened. The war wasn’t over. It was about to explode.

Vanessa didn’t move from the doorway. Her eyes burned holes through me, then flicked to Elena.

Vanessa: “So this is where you crawl now? Wine, candlelight, another woman to replace what you broke?”

Elena straightened, unfazed.

Elena: “I don’t know who you are. But I’m not part of your war.”

Vanessa: snapping “Oh, you’re part of it now. He drags everyone into his destruction.”

I set my glass down, slow and deliberate.

Me: “Vanessa. You should leave.”

Vanessa: “Not until you hear me. You might think you’ve won, Adrian, but this isn’t over. You ruined my family, bought my lover, gutted my legacy. You don’t get to sit here and toast to ‘legacy’ while I breathe.”

I leaned forward, voice calm, cutting.

Me: “Legacy belongs to the one who survives. Right now, that’s me.”

Vanessa: “Not for long.”

Her words landed like a blade. Elena watched, silent, eyes shifting between us, realizing the tension was more dangerous than she’d thought.

Elena: “Adrian—”

Me: “Stay out of this.”

Vanessa stepped closer, fists trembling.

Vanessa: “You think Marcus was the only betrayal I’ve faced? No. He told me everything. Every detail of how you paid him. You built your empire on filth. And I’ll drag you down into it.”

Me: “Marcus is broken. He drinks his shame. He’s nothing. You’re clinging to ghosts, Vanessa.”

Vanessa: “No. I’m clinging to vengeance.”

We locked eyes. A silence so sharp it could cut glass. Then Elena stood, collecting her bag.

Elena: “I’m leaving. This isn’t business anymore. It’s blood.”

She walked out without another word. Vanessa smirked.

Vanessa: “Smart woman.”

Me: coldly “She’ll build with me. While you burn.”

Vanessa’s face twisted. She turned on her heel and stormed out, leaving behind a trail of fury.

Later that night, back at my office. Clara burst in, panicked.

Clara: “Mr. Cole—Vanessa’s gone public.”

Me: “Explain.”

Clara: “She’s on every news feed. Live interviews, statements, documents she claims prove insider manipulation. She’s throwing everything at you.”

I smiled faintly.

Me: “Desperation. Proof forged in grief is still just grief.”

Clara: “But the board—”

Me: “The board is mine. Sit down.”

The screen lit up with Vanessa’s face. Hair wild, eyes bloodshot, voice burning.

Vanessa (on screen): “Adrian Cole is a fraud. He infiltrated our family, bought our allies, and tore down the Hale Group from the inside. He is not a visionary. He’s a parasite.”

Reporters shouted questions. She answered each one with venom, painting me as the villain.

I muted the feed.

Me: “She plays the victim. But victims don’t win wars.”

Clara hesitated.

Clara: “She’s dangerous when cornered.”

Me: “So am I.”

An hour later, my phone buzzed. Unknown number again. I answered.

Voice: “You wanted the Hales destroyed. She’s moving assets you haven’t touched yet. Offshore accounts. Do you want me to handle it?”

Me: “Handle everything. Leave nothing breathing.”

I hung up.

The next morning, Marcus stormed into my office, unannounced, drunk. My guards restrained him.

Marcus: “You ruined me, Cole! You paid me to sell her out, and now she knows everything! She looks at me like I’m dirt!”

Me: “That’s because you are.”

Marcus: spitting “You used me.”

Me: “I paid you. There’s a difference.”

Marcus: “She’ll kill you. She swore it. You think you’ve won, but you’ve just lit a fire.”

Me: “Let it burn. I thrive in flames.”

He lunged. My guards slammed him to the floor. I waved them off.

Me: “Throw him out. He’s finished.”

His voice echoed as they dragged him away.

Marcus: “She’s coming for you, Cole! She won’t stop!”

By nightfall, another confrontation. Vanessa herself barged into my office, fury uncontained.

Vanessa: “You thought humiliation would end me? You thought Marcus’s betrayal would break me? No. It forged me. You’ve unleashed someone you can’t control.”

I rose slowly, meeting her eye to eye.

Me: “You’re here, shouting in my office. That’s not power. That’s desperation.”

Vanessa: “Desperation wins wars when there’s nothing left to lose.”

We were inches apart, voices sharp, no room for retreat.

Me: “Then try. Burn your last bridges. When the smoke clears, I’ll still be standing.”

Her lips curled into a bitter smile.

Vanessa: “We’ll see.”

She stormed out again. But this time, something in her eyes told me she had a plan.

Midnight. Alone in my penthouse. Phone rang. Same unknown number. I answered.

Voice: “Cole. You should know—Vanessa’s not fighting alone anymore. She’s made contact with someone. Powerful. Dangerous. Someone who wants you finished as badly as she does.”

Me: icy calm “Who?”

The line crackled. Then silence. The caller hung up.

I stared at the dead phone, jaw tight.

Across the glass wall of my penthouse, city lights flickered. Somewhere out there, Vanessa was moving against me. Not with Marcus. With someone worse.

I poured a drink, set it down untouched, and whispered to the empty room:

Me: “So the real war begins.”