Chapter 3
An hour later, the door unlocked.
Julia burst into the living room, her hair half undone, makeup smeared, eyes red and puffy, mud caked all over her stilettos
She spotted me on the couch and flung her bag straight to the floor.
"Luke! Are you happy now?!" she yelled, her chest rising and falling with fury.
"The company is ruined! Everything's gone! All because of your stupid jealousy! You just trashed everything we've built over the years!" she screamed.
I leaned back on the couch, just staring at her.
"Was it ever really ours, or was it always just yours?" I asked, my voice calm but sharp.
Julia was stunned for a second, then her anger just exploded.
"Does it even matter? Would Sunrise be where it is today without your money? What do you get out of watching it crash and burn?" she shot back.
"Well, I don't have to watch my wife cozying up to another man and pretend I'm blind to it," I replied, my voice icy.
All the color drained from Julia's face in an instant.
Her lips parted, but she couldn't get a word out.
"I told you it was just a misunderstanding," she murmured, her voice barely audible.
"Our client wanted to meet at the hotel café. Michael was just worried I'd trip on the steps and gave me a hand. It's really not what you're imagining," she said, her voice trembling.
"Is that so?" I said, my voice cold.
I stood up and walked over to her.
I was a head taller than her, so she had to tilt her head back just to look at me.
"So, who exactly were you meeting? What's their name? What did you talk about? Did you sign any contracts?" I pressed, my voice cold and unyielding.
Julia just stood there, lost for words.
"That's confidential company information," she finally managed, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Is that so?" I scoffed, a cold laugh escaping me.
"Julia, did you forget? I'm not just your husband. I'm also Sunrise's biggest individual shareholder. And now you want to talk 'business confidential' with me?" I said, my voice laced with mockery.
Her face turned pale, and she started dodging my eyes.
"What do you want?" she finally asked, trying to keep her composure.
"Now's not the time to dig into this. The company's in crisis and we need to fix it, fast. Stop selling your shares right now, come back to the office with me, and we'll face the media together to steady the stock price," Julia barked.
She was back to normal, acting like she ran the world, like she was still the unstoppable Ms. Summers, and I was just her sidekick, expected to fall in line.
"No way," I shot back, my voice cold and unyielding.
I shut her down without a second thought.
"My decision to pull out is final. You built this company, now you fix it yourself," I said, my voice cold and unyielding.
"Luke!"
Tears streamed down her face, mixing with her smudged eyeliner, leaving dark streaks down her cheeks.
"Do you really have to be this heartless? Is our relationship of five years really worth less than one misunderstanding?" she choked out, her voice trembling.
"Relationship?" I echoed, my voice cold and mocking.
I stared at her.
"Really, Julia? Ask yourself. Do I even matter to you anymore? When was the last time you actually looked at me? Do you even remember what today is?" I said, my voice cold and sharp.
She froze.
She clearly had no clue.
That was it. My heart turned to ice.
"Today's our anniversary," I said, my voice hollow.
I answered for her before she could even react.
"I canceled the Bayview City roadshow and spent four hours on a train just to surprise you. But you hit me with an even bigger surprise," I said, my voice cold and bitter.
Julia swayed, like she was about to fall apart.
Her lips parted, but no words came out.
"I forgot... I've just been so busy with work lately," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Busy cozying up to your precious VP Ford under the excuse of 'meeting clients', huh?" I shot back, sarcasm dripping from every word.
I had enough.
"Let's get a divorce," I said, my voice cold and final.
As soon as those words left my mouth, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, lighter than I'd ever felt before.