RETURN OF THE SHADOW WAR GOD: The Ex-wife's Ruin

The Twenty-Eight Million Dollar Diamond

Selena/Jaden POV

The ballroom went dead quiet. Two hundred people stared at Victor Vale, their champagne glasses frozen halfway to their lips.

Victor stared down at his phone, his thumb slamming against the screen again and again as if a different result might magically appear. Sweat broke out along his hairline, soaking his stiff collar.

"Is this a joke?" Evelyn’s voice shrilled, piercing the silence. She stepped up beside him, her diamond bracelets rattling as she grabbed his arm. "Victor, tell me this is some mistake with your bank!"

"Shut up, Evelyn!" Victor snapped, shoving her hand off his sleeve. His face was blotchy, turning a dark, ugly purple. "It's a system glitch! Mark doesn't know what he's talking about!"

The hotel manager stepped forward, flanked by two burly security guards in matching black suits. The polite, subservient smile the manager had worn all evening was completely gone.

"Mr. Vale," the manager said, his voice flat and professional. "Your tab for tonight’s reservation stands at eighty-four thousand dollars. Until your credit lines are cleared by Aureus Capital, we cannot allow you to leave the premises without settling the balance."

"Do you know who I am?!" Victor roared, taking a threatening step forward. "I am the CEO of Vale International! I'll buy this whole damn hotel and fire you by morning!"

The lead guard didn't flinch. He placed a heavy, broad hand directly onto Victor’s chest, shoving him back two paces. "We know who you were ten minutes ago, sir. Right now, your cards are bouncing. Pay the bill, or we call the police department."

Selena watched in horror as Victor's composure shattered. The arrogant, untouchable man she had traded her husband for was suddenly sweating, cursing, and bargaining like a cornered street vendor. He reached up, unclasped his gold Patek Philippe watch with trembling fingers, and slammed it onto the manager's silver tray.

"Take it," Victor hissed, his voice raspy. "It's worth a hundred grand. Keep the change."

The manager picked up the watch, inspected the clasp without a word, and nodded to his guards. They stepped aside, opening a path to the exit.

Victor grabbed Selena's wrist, pulling her toward the doors so hard her heels skidded on the polished floor.

"Victor, you're hurting me!" Selena cried out, trying to wrench her arm free.

He didn't let go. He dragged her out into the rain, his mind spinning in total panic. Behind them, the whispers of the city's elite echoed down the marble hallway like a swarm of hornets.

Thirty floors above the city, Jaden stood before a floor-to-ceiling glass wall in the master suite of the Aureus Tower. Below him, the storm hammered against the glass, blurring the city lights into long streaks of red and yellow.

He had stripped off the wet clothes from the banquet. Now, he wore a tailored charcoal suit, the fabric dark and heavy against his shoulders.

Marcus stood three paces behind him, holding an open leather folder.

"Vale International’s stock dropped sixty percent in off-hours trading," Marcus reported quietly. "By eight o'clock tomorrow morning, our legal teams will execute the foreclosure on his primary residence, his corporate fleet, and his private yacht. Victor Vale is ruined."

Jaden didn't turn around. He touched his lower lip with his thumb. The swelling was going down, but a dull, deep ache remained where Selena’s hand had landed.

"What about her father's company?" Jaden asked.

"Without Victor’s promised cash injection, the factory’s payroll will bounce on Friday," Marcus replied. "They have zero liquidity left. Insolvency proceedings will begin by noon."

Jaden stared at his reflection in the dark glass. For three years, he had secretly subsidized that factory. Every time Selena's father thought he had landed a lucky government contract, it was actually Jaden quietly routing orders through front companies to keep her family afloat. They had eaten meals bought with his hidden money while calling him a spineless dog to his face.

"War God," Marcus continued, his voice dropping into a graver tone. "We completed the forensic trace on the bank records Victor used to frame you."

Jaden turned slowly, his eyes narrowing into cold slits. "And?"

Marcus held up a tablet displaying a complex routing map highlighted in red. "The leaked files didn't come from Victor’s intelligence team. The IP address was routed through a proxy server inside the Golden Island command center. Security Cipher 09-K."

Jaden’s jaw tightened.

09-K. That was Kael's private encryption key.

The realization hit Jaden like a physical blow to the chest. Kael hadn't just been managing the island in Jaden's absence; he had engineered the entire domestic nightmare. Kael knew Jaden’s single vulnerability—his genuine, quiet devotion to Selena. By feeding her the forged documents, Kael ensured she would turn on Jaden, drowning Jaden in personal betrayal so he would stay distracted in the civilian world.

"He wanted my head down," Jaden said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "He knew if I was chasing my marriage, I wouldn't notice him turning the military generals on the island."

"Commander Vance and Commander Locke have both stopped responding to daily check-ins," Marcus confirmed. "Kael is moving his pieces, sir."

Before Jaden could answer, the satellite phone sitting on the glass desk began to vibrate, buzzing loudly against the polished surface.

Jaden walked over, picked up the phone, and pressed it to his ear without speaking.

"Jaden?!" Selena’s voice exploded through the speaker, hysterical and breathless. Heavy rain roared in the background of her call. "Where are you?! What did you do to Victor?!"

Jaden listened to her ragged breathing. Even now, with her world collapsing around her, her first instinct was to blame him.

"I didn't do anything to Victor," Jaden said quietly. "His debt came due."

"You're lying!" she screamed, her voice cracking with pure desperation. "He said Aureus Capital froze everything! You mentioned Aureus before you left the party! Did you report his company to the state?! Did you ruin him?!"

Jaden looked down at the street below, where police sirens flashed through the dark downpour.

"Selena," Jaden said, his tone so devoid of emotion it sent a chill straight through the receiver. "You slapped me for a lie. Now live with the truth."

"Jaden, wait—please!" she begged, her voice suddenly trembling. "My father's factory—"

"Tell Victor to check who owns the land under his house," Jaden cut her off. "Because by sunrise, you'll both be on the street."

He ended the call, tossed the phone onto the desk, and turned to Marcus. "Prepare the jet. We're going to Golden Island."