Chapter 3

The next morning, I showed up at the courthouse at 8:50.

The sunlight was soft and warm, wrapping around me like a gentle hug.

I wore a sharp white suit, my makeup on point, looking every inch the confident woman I was, nothing like the mess Mrs. Grant had been last night.

Right at nine, a black Bentley rolled up to the curb.

The door swung open, and Ethan stepped out.

He was still in the same suit from last night, his tie crooked and his hair sticking up everywhere. He looked completely wrecked, hungover, and exhausted, and the dark circles under his eyes were impossible to miss.

He spotted me, marched straight over, and grabbed my arm. His voice was hoarse as he barked, "Are you actually serious about this?"

I met his gaze, cool as ice. "Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"All this over a brooch? Seriously?" Ethan raked his fingers through his hair, clearly annoyed. "I was drunk last night, so don't mind what I said. Claire already gave the brooch back. If you're still pissed, I'll buy you ten more, whatever you want, okay?"

He thought I was just being dramatic, using divorce to get him to compromise.

And he thought that, just like every other fight before, he would soften up, say something nice, and I would cave again and forgive him.

But this time, he was dead wrong.

"Ethan," I met his eyes, my voice calm and serious. "It's not about the brooch. It's these seven years. I'm just... done."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He frowned, annoyance flickering in his eyes.

"Nothing." I pulled my hand free, took out the divorce papers and a pen from my bag, and handed them over. "I've already signed. You sign too. Let's just end this."

The divorce agreement was simple. I would leave with nothing except my own name.

All of it, including the villa, his company shares, and everything we built after the marriage, was something I refused to take with me.

I just wanted to end things, fast and for good. No more ties, no more him.

Ethan's face fell when he saw the clause stating that I wanted nothing from him.

He looked like he'd just been slapped, and with a furious sweep of his arm, sent the papers flying to the ground. "What do you take me for? Someone you can cast aside whenever you feel like it? You really think you can make it without me?"

His voice was full of wounded ego and that same old arrogant superiority.

To him, I had always been someone who depended on him for everything. He probably believed I would fall apart the moment he was gone.

"Whether I can survive or not is none of your business," I said coolly, bending down to pick up the papers, dusting them off, and handing them back to him. "Just sign. Stop wasting both our time."

"I'm not signing." He turned his head away, stubborn as ever. "I'm not agreeing to a divorce."

"Ethan," I said, my patience hanging by a thread, "are you really going to drag this to court, let everyone see how you've been emotionally cheating with Claire, and shred the last bit of dignity between us?"

Just the mention of Claire made him lose some of that bravado.

He stared at me in silence, his eyes dark with anger, confusion, and something I could not even name.

We just stood there, locked in a standoff.

Just then, my phone started ringing, cutting through the tense silence.

I glanced at the screen and found it was Ryan. I didn't hesitate for a second before picking up.

"Ryan, I'm at the courthouse," I said, my voice unconsciously soft, which was so different from the cold edge I'd used with Ethan.

"Got it. I'll be right there." Ryan Cole's warm voice came through the line.

That sweet nickname and the way I spoke to Ryan lit Ethan up like a firecracker.

"Who the fuck is Ryan?" Ethan snatched my phone and yelled into it, "I don't care who you are. Stay away from Emily. She's my wife."

Then he hung up and smashed the phone to the ground.

The screen shattered into pieces.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I shot him a furious glare.

"What is wrong with me?" Ethan shot back, his eyes rimmed red as he jabbed a finger at me. "Tell me, Emily. Did you line someone up already? Is that why you cannot wait to leave me? For him?"

His accusations were so absurd that I almost wanted to laugh out loud.

Ryan and I were completely innocent. We were just college friends, nothing else. After graduation, he went abroad, but we always kept in touch. When he came back and started his own architecture firm, he felt bad that I'd given up my career for Ethan and kept inviting me to join his team.

But back then, I was so obsessed with Ethan that I turned him down every single time.

And now, he was twisting everything with his filthy imagination, making me out to be the villain.

I looked at his face, twisted with jealousy, and honestly, I didn't even care to explain myself anymore.

"Yeah, so what?' I snapped, only to make him even angrier. "He is a thousand times better than you. A million. I have been done with you for a long time, Ethan."

"What?" He was so furious that he couldn't even get the words out, his chest heaving with rage.

Just then, a white Porsche pulled up beside us.

The window rolled down, revealing Ryan's handsome, warm face.

Ryan looked at me and Ethan, his brow furrowing slightly. "Emily, what's going on?"

Then he saw the shattered phone on the ground, and his expression darkened instantly.

He got out of the car, walked over to me, took off his suit jacket, and draped it over my shoulders. He asked softly, "Did he hurt you?"

Ethan's eyes went red when he saw Ryan, like a lion defending his turf.

"So you're the reason she's dumping me for, huh?" he spat, stepping forward, hostility written all over his face.

Ryan moved protectively in front of me, meeting Ethan's glare head-on. His voice was steady, but his presence was commanding. "Sir, show some respect. Emily and I are friends, and we're about to work together."

"Friends?" Ethan sneered. "More like a pair of adulterers."

I slapped him.

The crisp sound of the slap cut through the quiet morning street.

I lowered my hand, glaring coldly at the bright red handprint on Ethan's cheek. "Try saying another dirty word and see what happens."

Ethan just stood there with a hand on his cheek, staring at me in shock.

For seven years, I had always been gentle and obedient with him. I had never even raised my voice, much less laid a hand on him.

"You... You hit me?" Ethan stammered, his voice shaking with disbelief.

"Yes, I did," I snapped, snatching the divorce papers off the ground and shoving them into his chest. "You're signing these today, whether you want to or not."

With that, I grabbed Ryan's hand and turned to leave.

"Emily," Ethan roared after me. "Stop right there. If you walk away now, do not come back to me."

I didn't even bother to look back.

Why would I ever go back to that cage of lies and humiliation?

I would have to be out of my mind.

Ryan opened the car door for me. Once I was settled, he walked around to the driver's seat and started the engine.

The Porsche smoothly merged into the flow of traffic.

From the rearview mirror, I saw Ethan still standing there, frozen in place like a statue of rage.

He probably couldn't figure out how the woman who always did whatever he wanted for seven years could suddenly walk away for good, so cold and resolute.

He would never understand that the damage had never come from the last straw.

It had come from every one before it.