At Emily’s request, Georgia handed over her own phone—and sure enough, her message thread was complete, clear, and made perfect sense.
Emily stared at it, her eyes darkening. The fury in her chest surged like a wave she couldn’t hold back.
How dare he.
Aaron had gone through her phone, deleted messages, forged replies… and nearly cost her one of the best friendships she’d ever had.
“I just hope you’re not mad after reading it now,” Georgia said gently. “I really should’ve worded it better back then.”
Emily’s heart felt twisted in knots. “I didn’t e
Emily wanted to keep talking with Georgia, but she had to be home before six—she didn’t want to risk Aaron noticing she was out and stirring up trouble. Georgia made plans with Emily to invite over next time to see her baby.On the way back, Emily pretended to stop by a clothing boutique, but she actually ducked into a different shop to buy a new phone and SIM card.That night, Aaron didn’t come home.It felt like her heart had sunk to the bottom of a lake. Was he not even pretending anymore? No matter how badly they’d argued before, no matter how late it got, Aaron always came home. Maybe not to the master bedroom—but at least the study.But now? No
Cecelia, after a moment, told herself she hadn't said anything wrong. Why should she feel guilty? It was just that Aaron’s gaze was so cold and sharp, it rattled her.She raised her chin and walked over to where Aaron was standing—right next to her husband, Frank. Frank stiffened and, sensing the shift in mood, quickly took her by the arm and led her out of the club.A sharp gust of wind blew in from outside. Emily pulled her arms tighter around herself—she’d forgotten to grab a jacket. A pair of polished leather shoes appeared in her view.Aaron frowned. “WHAT are you doing here?”Emily looked up at him. “I have something to tell you. Bu
Since that conversation, the atmosphere between them had turned oddly tense. Emily didn’t bring up the baby again. Instead, she made a point of waking early—just in time to catch Aaron before he left for work.Emily walked over as he stood in front of the mirror fixing his tie. “A friend of mine introduced me to a job. It’s back in fashion design.”Aaron noticed she was speaking to him first so his tone wasn’t cold like before. “Where’s the job? If you wanna go back to designing, you could just work at my company. I’ll have HR find you a position.”If this had been the old Aaron, he probably would've shut it down immediately—told her sketching was fine as a hobby, no need to go work. But after their recent argument, he didn’t want to add more te
After Theo explained, Emily finally understood the full story. She remembered seeing Miles Maren listed as the CEO of MAREN just last week.Turns out, Miles was Theo’s uncle. Due to health issues, he had handed over the reins early—giving Theo full control of the company.That’s why Theo had told her, “I wasn’t lying. One part of my job has always been managing freelance designers. I just happened to see your submission and decided to handle it myself. Hope I didn’t scare you.”Emily smiled. “Of course not. Just didn’t expect the CEO to meet with someone like me. I’m flattered, that’s all.”
Everyone returned to their desks and dove straight into work—having that many sketches due by 5:30 sharp, no one dared to slack off.The girl sitting next to Emily, Bella, hesitated for a second, then quietly rolled her chair over while Lilian was away.In a hushed voice, she said, “Lilian’s always like that—kind of petty. Probably just pissed because you’re pretty, dress well, and our manager Lucas told her that you’d be joining our team instead of the person she recommended.”The “Lucas” Bella referred to was the design manager who took over Theo’s original position after Theo became CEO.“Thanks for the heads-up. I’m fine,” Emily said, thankful at least the other coworkers seemed norma
"Yeah… they're fine," Emily said as she followed the server to a table clearly reserved in advance. Theo stepped ahead to pull out her chair."Thanks," she said, settling in. Picking up the previous thread, she added, "I think the team’s got great energy. Kinda reminds me of when I just graduated."Theo's gaze darkened slightly. "As long as you’re feeling okay there. But if anything ever feels off, you can come to me.""Aren’t you supposed to be super busy?" Emily smiled, flipping open the menu. "Still, you’ve always been good at making people feel seen. That hasn’t changed."She didn’t look up, so she missed the
Aaron’s strides were long and fast—so fast that even though Emily wore flat shoes, she nearly stumbled twice. They rounded a corner outside the restaurant, and she yanked her arm again. Still no luck. His grip only tightened.“Ow…” she gasped.Aaron came to a sudden stop. Emily hadn’t expected it, crashing straight into his back. Pain shot through her forehead, flaring with heat, and her frustration surged.When he turned to face her, his expression was still cold as ever. That was the last straw—her long-suppressed anger snapped.“WHAT the hell is wrong with you?!”He glanced down at her. “Just two more steps. We’ll talk in the car.”
After last night, Aaron seemed to have turned back into the loving husband she remembered. He even waited for her to wake up in the morning so they could have breakfast together.When Emily came down in her pajamas, Aaron was already seated at the dining table with his tablet. The moment he saw her, he put everything down, walked over, took her hand, and sweetly pulled out a chair for her."You look like you slept well," he said, kissing her on the cheek.Emily nodded lightly, murmuring, "Not bad." Her mind was still a little foggy—she only remembered how, right after telling him to go shower last night, she quickly picked up the papers off the floor.Now, it felt like everything
At Lopez Atelier, the PR team was easily one of the busiest departments these days—right up there with marketing. A major campaign had just been put on indefinite hold, with leadership deciding it was smarter to wait out the current media storm than risk having everything turn into tabloid fodder.Everyone was running around in crisis mode, and Aaron’s mood had officially hit rock bottom. His hand clenched the document so tightly it crumpled beyond recognition, veins bulging along his knuckles, fingers trembling from the sheer force of his grip.It was a formal legal notice—delivered just three minutes ago. Bold at the top: Petition for Divorce on the Grounds of AdulteryAaron’s stomach twisted. He threw the crumpled paper to the floor.
The team exchanged wide-eyed glances, looking more shocked than Lilian herself. What the—she just got fired?Everyone knew she'd received a warning not long ago, but immediate dismissal? That was intense. They looked around nervously, whispering among themselves.Lilian’s face flushed with shame as she noticed all the stares. She shot the group a sharp glare, and the eavesdropping crowd instantly scattered, heads down, pretending to be immersed in work. The half-finished meeting? Forgotten. The team lead was out—what meeting?Diana’s tone was firm. “You can go pack up your personal belongings now. Please don’t touch your computer. IT will take it from here.”The policy was clear: di
“Fine. Got it.” Emily picked her phone up from the table and slid it into her pocket.Seeing her about to leave, Amelia quickly stood up, almost slapping the table, “You still haven’t told me how you plan to make Aaron divorce you.”Emily glanced at her lazily, “Relax. I don’t go back on my word.”“Words mean nothing.”“I’ve already hired a lawyer to take him to court,” Emily said, her voice flat and cold. “I’m not the type to cling to trash.”Amelia laughed, though inwardly she was sneering.Keep pretending to be tough.
To deal with Aaron's relentless attempts to contact her, Emily decided to reach out to the divorce lawyer Theo had recommended. The woman—Harper—was a senior partner at a reputable law firm, a specialist in family law with over 15 years of experience. She was also known as the go-to lawyer for many celebrities.Over the phone, Emily explained the situation briefly. “The court already sent the official notice to both of us, but my ex-husband is clearly stalling. He still hasn’t sent back the confirmation papers. What can I do in this case?”Harper broke down her options and gave her two paths forward. Emily fell into a thoughtful silence. If this had been her a few months ago, she would’ve rejected the idea without hesitation. But now... she couldn’t help wondering—maybe she’d been too soft, too easy to walk
Emily roughly sorted her belongings, showered, and then collapsed onto the bed. The place was clearly well-maintained—clean, soft sheets and a mattress that supported her aching back perfectly.It was leagues better than the one in her old apartment. Normally she wouldn’t have cared much, but ever since the pregnancy, her lower back had been in constant pain. Right now, this level of comfort felt almost miraculous.Theo really is my lucky star, she thought.The next morning, she sent Bella a message. She knew Bella probably wouldn’t be in the mood to reply, and there wasn’t much she could do to help, but she still wanted Bella to know she was there for her—because Emily understood just how fast someone could hit emotional rock
When they arrived outside her apartment building, Theo’s assistant suddenly spoke up, asking Emily to stay in the car for a moment.Before she could ask why, two burly bodyguards were seen escorting a man toward them. The assistant got out and motioned for Theo and Emily to remain inside.Theo rolled down the window and glanced out, spotting the man—clearly weighed down with professional camera equipment.Rico, the assistant, explained, “This guy followed us all the way from the office. Kept acting shady.”From the gear and context, there was no doubt about the man’s identity.Theo frowned and asked, “Which news outlet do you represent? Why were you tailing us?”
Aaron walked away without pushing further—his first time ever backing off. After glancing at Leo’s phone, his expression turned stiff. He looked like he had something to say, but in the end, all he managed was, “I’ll come check on you next time,” before turning and leaving.Yeah right, Emily thought, pulling a face inwardly. Don’t bother. In fact, I’d rather not see you again. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what had made Aaron look so grim.She didn’t have to wonder long.Just before the end of the workday, one of her teammates came up, eyes gleaming with gossip. “Hey Emily, have you seen this news?”
This time, Lilian’s gaze at Emily felt different. Emily brushed it off, assuming she was just curious about the gossip from lunch. After all, she wasn’t the only one getting odd looks lately—several coworkers had been sneaking glances her way.As she walked to the water dispenser, cup in hand, Emily couldn’t help but wonder: if even I was getting this much attention, what about Bella?Even if Bella was completely innocent, people always preferred their own narratives—saying things like "Something must’ve happened for it to blow up like that," or "Maybe she crossed a line and that’s why the wife reacted that way."
It took a long time before the chaos finally died down. The lobby had been a mess, filled with Lucas's wife’s unrelenting shouting—"It’s this woman who messaged you!""She’s the one who asked you for money!""You keep saying you're busy at work because of her!"She didn’t stop yelling at Bella, and even dragged her own husband into it, cursing him out too. Emily couldn’t stand to watch. Within ten minutes of the whole thing starting, she quickly pulled Bella away.She really wanted to yell back at that woman, but that woman was absolutely insane, completely irrational, and impossible to reason with. Emily didn’t want Bella to suffer