My Revenge Begins With a Divorce

Chapter 2: The World Collapses

"Cancel the Miller Group’s existence by noon tomorrow, and tell the Vance family that if they want to survive the night, they must bring me Julian’s head on a silver platter."

The elevator doors hissed shut, cutting off Leon’s cold command. The silence that followed in the VIP lounge was heavier than a tomb.

"Leon! Open this door! Leon!" Sarah screamed, her fists pounding against the polished gold surface.

"Sarah, stop it. You’re embarrassing yourself," Julian said, though his voice was trembling. He was staring at his phone, his face the color of chalk.

"Embarrassing myself? Did you hear what he said, Julian? He thinks he can destroy my company by noon! He’s a house-husband! He’s a loser who spends his days buying kale and organic eggs!"

"Sarah..." Julian whispered, his hands shaking so violently the phone nearly slipped from his grip.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? It was a prank. It has to be a prank. He hired those actors. He probably spent his entire divorce settlement to hire those men in suits just to scare us!"

"The Vance Group stock just hit zero, Sarah."

Sarah froze. She turned slowly to look at Julian. "What did you just say?"

"The ticker. Look at the news. It’s everywhere," Julian stammered. He turned the screen toward her. The headline was flashing in bold red: Vance Conglomerate Filed for Bankruptcy. CEO Arrested for International Fraud. Ardent Syndicate Initiates Hostile Takeover.

"No. That’s a mistake. A glitch in the system," Martha Miller chimed in, having crawled back to her feet. Her emerald necklace seemed to weigh her down now. "Julian, call your father. Tell him to fix this."

"I can't call him, Martha! He’s in handcuffs! The FBI, the Interpol, everyone moved at the same time! It was... it was synchronized!"

"Wait," Sarah said, her voice small and high-pitched. "The Ardent Syndicate. That’s what that old man called Leon. He called him Young Master."

"It’s a coincidence, Sarah! It has to be!" Julian yelled, gripping his hair in frustration. "The Ardent family is a myth! They are ghost billionaires who control world banks! Why would a man like that marry a woman from a mid-sized construction company in Northwood?"

"Because of my grandfather," Sarah whispered. The memory hit her like a physical blow. "He always said Leon was special. He said if I treated him well, the Millers would rule the world. I thought he was just an old man losing his mind."

"Your grandfather was a senile fool!" Martha shouted. "And Leon is a liar! If he had that much money, why did he let me call him a dog for three years? Why did he scrub our toilets?"

"Maybe he was testing us," Sarah said. Her legs felt weak. She collapsed into a velvet chair. "And we failed."

"I don't care about your test!" Julian roared. He turned to the two security guards who were still standing by the door. "You! Follow him! Get him back here! Tell him it was a joke! Tell him I’ll give him anything!"

The guards didn't move. They looked at each other, then back at Julian.

"We don't work for the Vance family anymore, Mr. Vance," the taller guard said.

"What? I pay your salary!"

"Actually, the Ardent Syndicate bought this hotel five minutes ago," the guard replied, his voice devoid of respect. "We just received a notification on our headsets. Our new orders are to escort you out of the building. Physically."

"You wouldn't dare," Martha hissed.

"Ma'am, please leave quietly, or we will have to use force," the guard said, stepping forward.

"Force? On me? Do you know who I am?" Martha shrieked.

The guard didn't answer. He grabbed Martha’s arm and Julian’s collar. With a swift movement, he began dragging them toward the service exit.

"Leon! Leon, come back!" Sarah cried, running after them. "We can talk! We’re still married in the eyes of the law! The papers aren't filed yet!"

"They were filed electronically at 12:01 AM, Ms. Miller," a new voice spoke from the hallway.

Sarah stopped. A woman in a sharp navy-blue power suit stood there. She held a tablet in her hand. Her aura was one of absolute professional dominance.

"Who are you?" Sarah gasped.

"I am Elena Thorne. Chief Legal Counsel for the Ardent Syndicate," the woman said. She looked at Sarah with a mixture of pity and disgust. "And as of this moment, I am also the owner of your debt."

"Elena Thorne? The Thorne family from the capital?" Sarah’s eyes widened. "Why are you working for Leon?"

"I don't work for Leon. I serve the Sovereign," Elena corrected her. "And Leon Ardent is the Sovereign of the Ardent Global Empire. Something you would have known if you had spent more time looking at your husband and less time looking at Julian Vance’s bank account."

"Elena, please," Sarah said, her voice trembling. "He’s angry. I know he’s angry. But we were happy once. Tell him I want to apologize. Tell him I’ll do anything. I’ll go on my knees!"

"It’s too late for that, Sarah. The Sovereign’s decree is final."

"He said noon tomorrow," Sarah said, her eyes flashing with a desperate hope. "I have until noon to fix the company. I can find another investor. I can call the Thorne family! Your father! He knows my father!"

Elena let out a short, cold laugh. "My father is currently on a private jet to Northwood to personally apologize to Leon for ever allowing the Miller Group to exist in the same city as him."

"What?"

"The Millers are blacklisted, Sarah. Every bank, every supplier, every client has been notified. If anyone does business with you, they become an enemy of the Ardent Syndicate."

"He can't do that! That’s a monopoly! That’s illegal!"

"The Ardent Syndicate doesn't follow the market, Sarah. It is the market," Elena said, tapping her tablet. "Oh, and one more thing. Your house?"

"My villa? What about it?"

"The deed was signed over to Leon as part of your pre-nuptial agreement that you conveniently ignored. He has decided to convert it into a shelter for stray dogs. Your belongings will be delivered to the local dump by sunrise."

"No!" Sarah screamed. "My jewelry! My designer bags! Everything is in that house!"

"You said it yourself tonight, didn't you? You told Leon to take his trash and get out," Elena smiled thinly. "He’s just returning the favor."

"I’ll sue him! I’ll take half of his Syndicate!"

"With what lawyer, Sarah? No one in this country will take your case. You are a ghost now. A beautiful, bankrupt ghost."

Elena turned to leave, but Sarah grabbed her arm. "Where is he? Where did he go?"

"To the Sovereign Estate. He has a meeting with the world’s top ten CEOs. They’ve been waiting three years for his return."

"I’m going there. I’ll wait at the gates!"

"You won't even get past the first checkpoint, Sarah. The guards have orders to treat you as a trespasser. And believe me, their definition of trespassing is very violent."

Elena pulled her arm away and walked toward the elevators. Sarah stood alone in the hallway, the sound of her own breathing loud in her ears. Her phone buzzed in her hand. It was a text from her father.

Sarah, what have you done? The banks just froze everything. The police are at the door. They are asking about the Vance contract. They say it’s money laundering. Sarah, help us!

Sarah fell to her knees, the cold marble floor biting into her skin. She looked at the blue folder still clutched in her hand. The divorce agreement. The document she thought was her ticket to freedom was actually her death warrant.

Suddenly, her phone rang. It was an unknown number. Sarah answered it instantly, her voice frantic. "Leon? Is that you? Leon, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!"

There was a long silence on the other end. Then, a voice spoke. It wasn't Leon. It was Albert, the old man from the ballroom.

"Ms. Miller. The Young Master has a message for you."

"I’ll do anything, Albert! Tell him I’ll be his servant! I’ll clean the floors! Just tell him to stop the foreclosure!"

"The Young Master said that you once told him that a man without money is just a shadow," Albert said, his voice calm and terrifying. "He wants you to know how it feels to live in the dark."

"Albert, please!"

"But," Albert continued, "he is a generous man. He has left one thing for you at the service entrance of the hotel. A gift for your anniversary."

"A gift? He bought me something?" Sarah’s heart leaped. "Is it a ring? A house?"

"Go and see for yourself, Ms. Miller. It is the only thing you truly deserve."

The line went dead.

Sarah scrambled to her feet. She ignored the stares of the staff as she ran through the kitchen, through the back hallways, and out into the rain. The cold water soaked her expensive gown in seconds, but she didn't care. She ran toward the service entrance, her eyes searching for a luxury car or a box.

There, sitting on a pile of trash bags, was a small, wet cardboard box.

Sarah tore it open with trembling fingers. Inside was the wooden phoenix Leon had carved for her. It was broken in half, the wood splintered and covered in mud.

At the bottom of the box was a small note, the ink bleeding in the rain.

You broke the bird, Sarah. Now, I’m going to break the cage.

Sarah let out a piercing scream of rage and despair, clutching the broken wood to her chest. She looked up at the dark sky, the rain masking her tears.

"I’ll find you, Leon!" she shrieked into the wind. "You can't do this to me! I made you! I am Sarah Miller!"

"Actually," a voice spoke from the shadows of the alley.

Sarah spun around. A man in a dark hoodie was standing there, his face obscured. He was holding a tablet that glowed in the dark.

"Who are you?" Sarah gasped.

"Just a messenger," the man said. "The Sovereign wanted me to show you one last thing before the signal is cut."

He turned the tablet toward her. It was a live feed of the Miller Group headquarters. In the video, huge black cranes were already moving into place. A massive wrecking ball was swinging back, aimed directly at the glass front of her office.

"Wait! No!" Sarah screamed.

"The clock is ticking, Sarah," the man said, his voice cold. "Do you want to know what the next order is?"

"What?" Sarah sobbed. "What else can he take?"

The man looked at her with a chilling smile.

"He wants to know if you think Julian’s head will look better in gold or silver."