Rising from Betrayal

Chapter 005

Norman didn't turn around. Didn't let out a heavy sigh. Didn't do any of the things he used to do every time Vivienne stormed out—rush to the door, pull it back open, call after her.

He simply walked back to the sofa and sank into it.

A smile slowly spread across his face.

For the first time so far, the future actually looked worth looking forward to.

If he remembered correct, right now, he was still in the middle of building his company.

The business was barely surviving.

Its cash flow was stretched to the limit, forcing him to work from dawn until long after midnight every single day.

And after dragging his exhausted body home, he still had to endure Vivienne's cold face.

If he accidentally upset her, he'd spend hours swallowing his pride just to coax her into a better mood.

Every waking hour, every single day, he had lived under constant pressure.

Even sleep had become a luxury.

Later, it only got worse.

Night after night, year after year, until insomnia became part of his life.

Thinking back now, even Norman himself couldn't understand how he'd endured it for so long.

He must have loved her so blindly that he'd mistaken suffering for devotion.

Not anymore.

This divorce would be the best investment of his new life.

As for dividing the marital assets...

Norman almost laughed.

At this point in time, his company was drowning in debt.

Forget personal wealth.

His biggest asset was probably his bank loans.

As for the Calloway family's fortune...

None of it belonged to him yet.

It was still under his parents' names.

Vivienne wouldn't get so much as a single dollar.

A moment later, Mrs. Walker came out of the kitchen with uncertain steps.

The old woman stood at the edge of the room, nervously twisting the corner of her apron between her fingers.

"Mr. Calloway..." she began carefully. "Perhaps... you should go after Mrs Calloway.”

She hesitated before adding tactfully, “She left alone, late at night, and she isn’t exactly in the best frame of mind. I'm worried—"

She left the rest unsaid.

A married woman, dressed to the nines, leaving at night to meet another man...

Mrs. Walker had lived long enough to know how stories like that usually ended.

Norman gave a faint shake of his head.

"Let her go.” His voice was flat. “Whether she lives or dies tonight, that's not my concern anymore."

"We're getting divorced tomorrow. That's all."

A smile slowly appeared on Norman's face.

He felt as though an enormous weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders.

Like a prisoner walking out of his cell after serving a life sentence.

He had heard Mrs. Walker's implication.

He simply didn't care anymore.

Once something had been thrown into the trash...

Why would anyone still worry whether it got dirty?

Mrs. Walker stared at him in stunned silence.

For a long moment, she couldn't say a word.

When Norman had first mentioned divorce earlier, she had assumed he was simply speaking in anger.

After all...

It had happened before.

A few months ago, Vivienne had demanded to become president of the Calloway Group.

When elder Mr. and Mrs. Calloway firmly rejected the idea, she'd thrown a massive tantrum and demanded a divorce.

Norman had impulsively agreed.

But less than ten minutes later, he'd been begging for forgiveness.

Vivienne had ordered him to kneel outside the bedroom all night.

And he'd actually done it.

Because of that, no one had taken today's words seriously.

Not even Mrs. Walker.

But looking at Norman now...

She realized something was different.

There was no force smile, no pretending to be strong, no tension in his jaw, no hands curled into fists beneath the table, no desperate panic buried behind his eyes.

He wasn’t trying to scare Vivienne.

He meant every single word.

Mrs. Walker blinked several times, still struggling to believe what she was seeing.

It felt as though the sun had risen in the west.

“Mr Calloway... ” Her voice was filled with disbelief. ”Are you truly going through with the divorce?”

Norman chuckled.

"Absolutely. I'm done making a fool of myself."

He leaned back against the sofa, looking more relaxed than she had ever seen him.

"There's nothing to feel sorry about here, Mrs. Walker." Norman continued. "The worst mistake a person can make is to keep sacrificing their dignity for someone who never loved them. I made that mistake once. I’m never making it again."