The Belittled Husband Now A Trillionaira Boss.

Chapter 1

Inside the civil affairs office, the air felt heavy. The walls were painted a dull cream color, and the fluorescent lights overhead buzzed softly.

 A wooden desk sat in the center of the room, and behind it, a middle-aged clerk with reading glasses perched on her nose shuffled through a stack of documents. Two chairs faced the desk, and in those chairs sat a man and a woman who looked like they belonged in two different worlds.

The woman wore a designer coat, her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. Even with sunglasses covering half her face, there was no mistaking the elegance she carried. The man beside her wore a simple jacket, clean but worn at the elbows. His hands rested on his knees, fingers tapping nervously.

The clerk looked up from the papers and glanced between them.

“You both have five minutes to reconsider,” she said. Her voice was calm, professional, like she'd said these same words a thousand times before. “Once you sign these documents, the divorce is final. There's no going back. Take your time and think carefully.”

She stood, gathered a few loose papers, and walked out of the room. The door clicked shut behind her.

Silence filled the space. The kind of silence that pressed down on your chest and made it hard to breathe.

Ethan Miller stared at the divorce papers on the desk. His name was already typed at the bottom, waiting for his signature. He swallowed hard, his throat dry. His hands trembled slightly, and he clasped them together to steady himself.

He turned his head and looked at the woman sitting beside him. His wife. Or at least, she still was for the next five minutes.

“Sophia,” he said quietly. His voice cracked on her name.

She didn't respond. She sat perfectly still, her gaze fixed on the wall in front of her.

“Why are you doing this?” Ethan asked. His voice was stronger now, but there was a shake underneath it. “After everything we've been through. After all of it. You're really going to throw it all away?”

Sophia finally turned her head. She looked at him over the rim of her sunglasses, her expression blank.

“I've thought about it,” she said.

“Thought about it?” Ethan's voice rose. “That's all you have to say?”

“I've slept on it,” Sophia continued, her tone flat. “This is my decision. I want the divorce.”

Ethan's chest tightened. He leaned forward, his hands gripping the edge of the desk.

“What about Emma?” he asked. “What's going to happen to our daughter? Did you even think about her?”

Sophia's lips pressed into a thin line and she smiled before looking away.

“You can have her.”

At that moment the words hit Ethan like a punch to the gut. For a second, he couldn't breathe. He just stared at her, waiting for her to take it back, to say she didn't mean it. But she didn't.

“You can have her?” Ethan repeated, his voice shaking with anger now. “That's your answer? You're her mother.”

“And you're her father,” Sophia shot back. “You've been taking care of her this whole time anyway. Nothing changes.”

“Nothing changes?”Ethan stood up, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. “Everything changes, Sophia. Everything.”

He took a step back, running his hand through his hair. His mind was spinning. He couldn't make sense of what was happening.

“This isn't fair,” he said, his voice breaking. “Not after everything I did. Everything I sacrificed to get you where you are.” 

Hearing what Ethan just said, Sophia tilted her head, watching him like he was a stranger throwing a tantrum.

“You're one of the top ten actresses in this country now,” Ethan continued, his words coming faster now. 

“Do you know how you got there? It was because of me. Because I made sure you didn't have to worry about anything. I stayed in the background. I hid myself so nobody would know you were married. I kept Emma hidden too, so no one would associate her with you. I knew how the public is. I knew they wanted you to be single, and I made sure they believed it, without standing or getting close to you, even too myself as your house worker.”

His hands balled into fists at his sides.

“I didn't take a single dollar from you. Not one. I worked. I paid for everything. Emma doesn't even go to an expensive school, even though we could afford it. I made sure of that. I made sure no one could say you were supporting a family. I did all of that for you. And now you're going to walk away like none of it mattered?”

Sophia stood slowly, smoothing down her coat. She pulled her sunglasses off and looked him dead in the eye.

“You're right,”  she said. “And none of it matters, because I didn't force you, you decided to do it yourself.”

Ethan's mouth opened, but no words came out.

“All of those sacrifices you're so proud of?” Sophia continued, her voice cold. “They don't mean anything. Not to me. My decision stands, and it's final.”

She stepped closer, her heels clicking against the tile floor.

“You should stop thinking about me and start thinking about yourself," she said. “ Since you know how to make someone a star, then make yourself a star Work on your own life for once. That's the best thing you could do.”

Ethan's jaw clenched. His whole body was shaking now, but he didn't move.

“And since you've been taking care of Emma all this time,”  Sophia added, “you can keep doing that. I'll remove myself from everything that concerns you and her. From this moment on, we're done.”

Ethan stared at her. Really looked at her. The woman standing in front of him wasn't the same person he'd married six years ago. That woman was gone. Maybe she'd been gone for a long time, and he'd just been too blind to see it.

“Fine,”he said, his voice low and rough. “If divorce is what you want, then I'll give it to you. I won't stand in your way.”

He walked back to the desk and picked up the pen. His hand hovered over the paper for a second, then he signed his name. The ink bled slightly where his hand shook.

“You've been denying your family for years anyway,” he said without looking at her. “So go ahead. Do whatever you want.”

Sophia took the pen from him and signed her name below his. Her handwriting was neat, steady, like she was signing a business contract.

The door opened, and the clerk walked back in. She glanced at the papers, pulled out a red stamp, and pressed it down on both documents.

“You're officially divorced,” she said.