Ex Wife's Collapse After Divorce

Chapter six

"You're… you're really divorcing me?"

Her voice cracked on the last word. She searched his face for something — a flinch, a hesitation, anything that said this was a bluff.

Nothing. 

Ethan's eyes were flat. Dead calm.

Vivian's hands trembled. She stepped back from the desk like the paper might burn her.

"Why?" The word came out strangled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't love you anymore."

The air left her lungs.

"Is this — is this because I asked you to apologize?" She grabbed the edge of the desk to steady herself. "Because of that? You're throwing away our entire marriage over an apology?"

Ethan tilted his head. "What else would it be?"

"That's insane!" Vivian's voice shot up an octave. "That's absolutely insane, Ethan! Three years! Three years I've been with you — three years I've given you a home, a life, everything — and you want to throw it all away because I asked you to show some basic decency?!"

"How can you be this petty? How can you be this jealous?"

The word hung in the air.

Ethan laughed. 

"Jealous." He repeated it like it was the punchline of a joke only he understood. "You want to talk about jealousy, Vivian? Let's talk."

He took a step forward.

"When Damian showed up, you cancelled our anniversary dinner to have drinks with him. Remember that?"

"When I told you he made me uncomfortable, you said I was being paranoid. When he started showing up at the house uninvited, you told me to be more welcoming." Another step. "When he kissed you — right in front of me — you told me it meant nothing. And then you asked me to apologize to him."

"So tell me, Vivian. Where exactly is the jealousy? Because from where I'm standing, all I see is a wife who chose another man over her husband. Every. Single. Time."

Vivian's eyes darted to the floor. Her throat bobbed.

"I — I can explain all of that. Every single one. If you'd just let me—"

"I don't want your explanations."

The words cut through the air like a blade.

"I think you're disgusting."

The word hit Vivian like a physical blow. She stumbled back half a step, her hand flying to her chest.

"Sign it," Ethan said. He slid the papers toward her.

Vivian stared at the document. Then at him. Then at the document again.

Something shifted behind her eyes. The shock melted. What replaced it was uglier.

"You know what?" She straightened her spine. Her chin lifted. "I really did spoil you. I spoiled you rotten."

"You're a live-in husband. A house husband. You cook, you clean, you sit at home while I build an empire. And you have the audacity to talk to ME like this? To call ME dirty?"

The words hung in the air like smoke.

Ethan smiled. It didn't reach his eyes.

"There it is." His voice was almost gentle. "Finally. The truth."

Vivian blinked. 

"You look down on me," Ethan said. "You've always looked down on me. The live-in husband. The man who gave up his career, his savings — everything — because you asked him to. Because you said you needed him at home. Because you said it would make you happy."

He paused.  

"I had three million in my account before we married, Vivian. I handed every cent to your company. I walked away from my career because you begged me to. And this — this is what I got in return."

Vivian's mouth opened, then closed.

Something flickered behind her eyes. A memory, maybe. The way he used to wake up early to make her breakfast. The way he ironed her clothes every morning. The way he never once complained when her family treated him like furniture.

She didn't speak.  

Ethan didn't give her time to sit with it.

He held the agreement closer. "Sign."

The guilt curdled into fury.

Vivian snatched the papers from his hand, grabbed a pen from her desk, and slashed her name across the signature line so hard the pen nearly tore through the page.

She shoved the agreement back at him. It hit his chest and he caught it with one hand.

"You'll regret this." Her voice was raw. "Mark my words, Ethan Carter. Without me, you are NOTHING. You'll crawl back, and I won't be there."

Ethan folded the agreement and slid it into the envelope.

His expression didn't change. Not a flicker. Not a twitch.

The main purpose of having Vivian sign the agreement was achieved. He didn't bother to check what had happened to Vivian and Damian behind him. He simply went downstairs and slid into Aurora's car.

"Call your team," Ethan said. "Pull every contract, every line of support, every cent of funding Stellaris has extended to Lockwood Industries. All of it. Today."

Aurora raised one eyebrow. "All of it?"

"Every last cent. I don't want a single thread connecting me to her."

Aurora studied his face for two seconds. Then she typed a message, hit send, and set the phone down.

"Done. It'll be processed within the hour." She turned to him, one eyebrow raised. 

"Do you want to rest for a bit?" Her voice was quieter now. Softer at the edges, though she'd never admit it. “You’ve experienced a lot today.”

Ethan rubbed the bridge of his nose. His jaw was tight. For a moment he just sat there, eyes closed, breathing.

Then he straightened.  

"No." He dropped his hand. "Take me to Stellaris. I want to see the company. Start learning the business."

Aurora looked at him — really looked at him.

The corner of her mouth curved. Just barely.

‘You know, for a pampered young master, you're annoyingly ambitious.’ She whispered to herself in adoration.

She put the car in drive.

"Let's go."