Chapter 3 · The Divorce That Made Me Rich

Chloe noticed Richard's pale face and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Is Victoria up to something?"

Richard's hand trembled slightly. Suddenly, he remembered what Victoria had said when she left. "When you finally bother to check what I've been investing in these last three years, I hope you can still keep your smile."

"Chloe, do you remember what Victoria invested in these past three years?" he asked.

Chloe thought for a moment. "Not much, really. Some stocks and a few startups. I remember you said she had no eye for it. She always went for the small fry."

Richard's face went even paler as the realization hit him. Three years ago, when ByteTech Solutions was a fledgling startup, Victoria had invested 1.5 million dollars. Now it was gearing up for its IPO at a one billion dollar valuation.

The new energy company he'd mocked her for backing? It was now worth over 700 million. And those were only the ones he could remember off the top of his head.

Then his phone rang. It was his personal lawyer. "Mr. Grant, I just got word that someone's looking into your finances over the past three years, including any asset transfers. Did you cross someone?"

Richard felt his blood run cold. "W-What did they find?"

"It's serious. The assets you've moved around over the past three years? At a minimum, it's over 500 million dollars. If they decide to go after you—"

Richard hung up. 500 million was a massive sum. Over the past three years, he had gone to great lengths to keep Victoria from getting her hands on his money.

He shifted assets through shell companies, faked debts, and even put valuable shares under other people's names.

None of this had been honestly disclosed during the divorce. If Victoria decided to come after him, he would be in serious trouble.

"Richard, what's wrong? You look awful," Chloe said, feeling his forehead with concern.

Richard brushed her hand away and jumped to his feet. "I need to get back to the office. You should head home now."

"But we were supposed to—" Chloe started.

"Stop it," Richard snapped, his voice harsher than ever before. "I've got something urgent to deal with."

Chloe was stunned, frozen in place as she watched Richard storm out.

*****

Meanwhile, Victoria was lounging in her new luxury apartment downtown, sipping red wine relaxedly.

She'd had her eye on this place in her previous life, but back then, she'd handed all her money over to Richard for his so-called investments, never daring to splurge on herself.

Now, with 15 million dollars in hand, she finally treated herself to a nice place.

Her phone buzzed. It was Lucas, her lawyer.

"Ms. Lane, Richard's already received our notice. From the way he reacted, he's starting to realize just how serious this is," Lucas said.

"How's the digging on his asset transfers?" Victoria asked.

"It's worse than we expected. He's cunning. He started laying the groundwork as early as your second year together. Everything looked legit on paper, but he was already prepping for the divorce."

Victoria let out a cold laugh. "Figures. I knew there was no way he'd agree to the divorce so easily. Turns out he'd been scheming all along."

"But he made one mistake. He seriously underestimated your investment skills. According to our numbers, your returns over the past three years are at least 1.8 million dollars."

Victoria was stunned by that number. In her previous life, she'd died before any of those investments paid off, so she'd never known what she was actually worth.

"So, how much am I entitled to under the law?" she asked.

"If we go by the standard split of marital assets, you'd get at least 1 billion dollars. And with punitive damages for his deliberate asset transfers, 1.5 billion dollars is totally within reach."

Victoria nodded, a satisfied smile on her lips. "Let's stick to the plan. I'll be there for the meeting tomorrow."

"Ms. Lane, only a heads-up. He might try all sorts of tricks, including emotional manipulation. You need to be ready for that."

Victoria remembered all the fake tenderness Richard showed in her previous life, and a look of disgust flickered in her eyes. "Relax, I won't let him fool me again."

After hanging up, she walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the bustling street below.

She grabbed her phone, scrolled to Richard's chat, and fired off a message: [Dear ex-husband, don't forget to show up for round two tomorrow afternoon. This time, let's talk about how much you've been stashing away these past three years.]

Richard called her right away.

Victoria didn't pick up. Instead, she sent a voice message. "Richard, you really think I'm that easy to get rid of? 15 million dollars? Seriously? Who do you think I am?"

He called again. She still didn't answer. She wanted him to panic, to lose his cool. Only when he was flustered would she have the upper hand.

Chapter 3

Chloe noticed Richard's pale face and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Is Victoria up to something?"

"Chloe, do you remember what Victoria invested in these past three years?" he asked.

Chloe thought for a moment. "Not much, really. Some stocks and a few startups. I remember you said she had no eye for it. She always went for the small fry."

The new energy company he'd mocked her for backing? It was now worth over 700 million. And those were only the ones he could remember off the top of his head.

Richard felt his blood run cold. "W-What did they find?"

"It's serious. The assets you've moved around over the past three years? At a minimum, it's over 500 million dollars. If they decide to go after you—"

Richard hung up. 500 million was a massive sum. Over the past three years, he had gone to great lengths to keep Victoria from getting her hands on his money.

He shifted assets through shell companies, faked debts, and even put valuable shares under other people's names.

None of this had been honestly disclosed during the divorce. If Victoria decided to come after him, he would be in serious trouble.

"Richard, what's wrong? You look awful," Chloe said, feeling his forehead with concern.

Richard brushed her hand away and jumped to his feet. "I need to get back to the office. You should head home now."

"But we were supposed to—" Chloe started.

"Stop it," Richard snapped, his voice harsher than ever before. "I've got something urgent to deal with."

Chloe was stunned, frozen in place as she watched Richard storm out.

*****

Meanwhile, Victoria was lounging in her new luxury apartment downtown, sipping red wine relaxedly.

She'd had her eye on this place in her previous life, but back then, she'd handed all her money over to Richard for his so-called investments, never daring to splurge on herself.

Now, with 15 million dollars in hand, she finally treated herself to a nice place.

Her phone buzzed. It was Lucas, her lawyer.

"Ms. Lane, Richard's already received our notice. From the way he reacted, he's starting to realize just how serious this is," Lucas said.

"How's the digging on his asset transfers?" Victoria asked.

"It's worse than we expected. He's cunning. He started laying the groundwork as early as your second year together. Everything looked legit on paper, but he was already prepping for the divorce."

Victoria let out a cold laugh. "Figures. I knew there was no way he'd agree to the divorce so easily. Turns out he'd been scheming all along."

"But he made one mistake. He seriously underestimated your investment skills. According to our numbers, your returns over the past three years are at least 1.8 million dollars."

Victoria was stunned by that number. In her previous life, she'd died before any of those investments paid off, so she'd never known what she was actually worth.

"So, how much am I entitled to under the law?" she asked.

"If we go by the standard split of marital assets, you'd get at least 1 billion dollars. And with punitive damages for his deliberate asset transfers, 1.5 billion dollars is totally within reach."

Victoria nodded, a satisfied smile on her lips. "Let's stick to the plan. I'll be there for the meeting tomorrow."

"Ms. Lane, only a heads-up. He might try all sorts of tricks, including emotional manipulation. You need to be ready for that."

Victoria remembered all the fake tenderness Richard showed in her previous life, and a look of disgust flickered in her eyes. "Relax, I won't let him fool me again."

After hanging up, she walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the bustling street below.

Richard called her right away.

Victoria didn't pick up. Instead, she sent a voice message. "Richard, you really think I'm that easy to get rid of? 15 million dollars? Seriously? Who do you think I am?"

He called again. She still didn't answer. She wanted him to panic, to lose his cool. Only when he was flustered would she have the upper hand.