My Ex-Wife Will Kneel Before Me

The Trap

Chapter 6

Ryan drove for over an hour without any destination in mind. Through downtown Westfield, past the old university campus where he first met Jessica, along the interstate for twenty miles before looping back. The city lights blurred through the windshield and his mind was a mess of anger and grief and something that almost felt like relief.

By the time he pulled off the highway, it was nearly midnight. He needed a place to stay. Not a hotel. Something more permanent. Somewhere he could think clearly and figure out his next move.

He found himself driving through the Parkview Estates compound on the east side of the city. Tall buildings with glass facades and underground parking. Expensive. Private. The kind of place where nobody asked questions about who you were or why you looked like you had not slept in three days.

The leasing office was closed, but there was a night manager on duty. Ryan walked in and asked what was available.

"We have a two bedroom on the twenty second floor. Corner unit. Great view of the river." The manager pulled up the listing on her screen. "Five thousand a month, six month minimum."

Ryan barely hesitated. "I'll take it."

He signed the lease, took the keys, and rode the elevator up to his new apartment. It was clean and modern and completely empty of everything that reminded him of his old life. No family photos. No toys scattered on the floor. No trace of Jessica Palmer.

He dropped his suitcase by the door, walked to the bedroom, and collapsed face first onto the bare mattress without even pulling back the sheets.

He was asleep within seconds.

I'll claim the full value of the house. Half a million at least. That's mine by right. Ten years of marriage and she was lying the whole time. Every court in the country would side with me.

Three days. Then I file.

He did not dream.

The next afternoon, his phone buzzed with a message from work. General Manager Harris wanted to see him in his office. Immediately.

Ryan showered, dressed, and drove across town to the corporate headquarters of Westfield Capital Management. He had worked there for seven years, climbing steadily from analyst to senior manager, earning his promotions through long hours and results that nobody could argue with.

Harris was waiting in his corner office on the top floor. He was a broad shouldered man in his late fifties with silver hair and a firm handshake. He gestured for Ryan to sit.

"Thanks for coming in on short notice." Harris folded his hands on the desk. "I'll get straight to the point. Vice President Price is retiring at the end of next month."

Ryan nodded. "I heard the rumors."

"They're not rumors. It's official. And the board has decided on his replacement." Harris paused and looked directly at Ryan. "We'd like it to be you."

Ryan blinked. He had not expected that. VP was two levels above his current position. It was the kind of jump that most people waited an entire career for.

"The salary is five hundred thousand base, plus equity dividends that should put you north of three million annually within two years." Harris leaned back in his chair. "It's a serious offer, Ryan. The kind that changes your life."

"I appreciate the opportunity." Ryan's voice was careful. "What's the catch?"

Harris hesitated for just a second too long. "There's one condition."

"Which is?"

"You need to remain in your current marital status. No divorce proceedings, no separation filings. Not now, and not at any point over the next five years."

The room went very quiet.

Ryan stared at Harris. The older man's face was professional, composed, but there was something behind his eyes that looked almost apologetic.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"It's a stability clause. The board feels that senior leadership needs to project a certain image of personal and professional consistency. A messy divorce at the VP level could create unwanted attention and..."

"Stop." Ryan held up one hand. "You're telling me that a promotion at this company is conditional on whether or not I stay married to my wife?"

"I know it sounds unusual."

"It sounds insane." Ryan's jaw clenched. "Since when does a financial firm care about the marital status of its executives?"

Harris shifted in his seat. "It's a board level decision. I'm just the messenger."

Ryan looked at the man across the desk and felt something cold settle in his gut. This was not a coincidence. The timing was too perfect. Jessica finds out he wants a divorce, and suddenly his company is offering him millions of dollars on the condition that he stays married? Someone was pulling strings. Someone with money and connections and a very specific reason to keep Ryan Mitchell chained to a woman who had been lying to him for a decade.

"Five hundred thousand a year." Ryan repeated the number slowly. "Three million in dividends. And all I have to do is keep pretending that my wife's children are mine."

Harris said nothing.

"No." Ryan stood up from his chair. "I'd rather be broke and free than rich and living a lie."

"Ryan, I'd strongly advise you to take some time and think this over. This opportunity won't come around again."

"I don't need time." He buttoned his jacket. "The answer is no. Today, tomorrow, and five years from now. The answer is no."

He turned and walked toward the door.

"Ryan." Harris's voice followed him. "If you refuse this, there will be consequences. The board doesn't take rejection lightly."

Ryan paused with his hand on the doorknob. He looked over his shoulder.

"Then let them do their worst."

He walked out and closed the door behind him.

The moment Ryan's footsteps faded down the hallway, Harris picked up his phone and dialed a private number.

It rang twice.

"Well?" The voice on the other end was smooth and confident.

"He refused. Didn't even take five minutes to think about it." Harris loosened his tie and exhaled heavily. "The man would rather walk away from millions than stay in that marriage."

"Interesting." Young Master Sinclair's tone did not change. "Then we move to phase two."

"Which is?"

"Terminate his position. Effective immediately. And make sure every firm in the city knows that Ryan Mitchell is not to be hired. Not as a manager. Not as an analyst. Not even as a mail clerk."

Harris paused. "You're blacklisting him?"

"I'm giving him a reason to reconsider." The line went quiet for a moment. "A man with no income and no prospects tends to become much more flexible about his personal life."

After Ryan stormed out, General Manager Harris called Young Master Sinclair to report that the trap had been set, revealing that if Ryan refused the offer, he would be fired and blacklisted from the entire industry.