4. Change of fate...

Damien stared at her, his eyes having turned completely cold, disbelief written all over with his pride shattered.

Never in his life had he thought Eloise would walk in one day and throw divorce papers at him.

He didn't understand when she became like this.

Eloise straightened. “Anyways,” she glanced at Damien. “See you soon, in the court.”

She turned toward the door, to leave...

“So you want a divorce, huh? Fine then!” This time, Damien’s pride spoke.

He took a pen and angrily scrawled his name on the paper, throwing it at her. Eloise caught it swiftly in hand.

Good, she'll have no hazard.

“No, Damien!” Selene’s voice cracked. “Don't do this! What are you doing? She is your wife!”

“Oh, don't worry, she didn't know this world at all. She'll just crawl back to me at the end of the day.” His voice was laced with arrogance, and relentless confidence.

Too proud that he didn't even bother saying those words right before her.

Eloise didn't react. She felt she deserved this much. After all, it was her own blind stupidity that brought her to this point.

Time would answer for her anyway.

Therefore, she only tilted her head with a loose smile. “We shall see.”

“See? Eh?” He gave her a nasty sneer. “You will crawl on your knees and beg me.”

“Fine!” Eloise exclaimed lightly, “as I have said, we shall see…”

Turning again, she held the door knob, ready to step up…

“Eloise!” Damien snapped out, his tone flaring with rage. “You think you can just throw this nonsense and walk out?”

She paused at the threshold. But, she didn't look back.

“I already did…” Those were her last words before she walked out of the room.

Rebecca's voice erupted in a torrent of scolds for her son, for still hoping for Eloise, while Selene's sobs intensified as she repeatedly pleaded for an apology.

Fake one, of course.

And then…

“She’ll crawl back. She always does.” Damien’s tone rang in her ears, calm and composed, unlike just a moment ago.

Eloise's fingers curled around the hem of her dress.

So that was it? A half-decade of perseverance condensed into one sentence?

It landed coldly within her, too coldly in fact.

Her lips twitched into a bitter sneer, ‘keep dreaming, Santos.’

Eloise stepped out and never looked back…

The night outside was quiet, as though the air itself were weeping for her victory.

The hospital lights cast long shadows on the pavement as she walked toward her car, feeling hollow and strangely weightless.

She had just slipped into the driver’s seat when her phone vibrated…

An email.

Eloise frowned slightly. “At this hour?” she mumbled.

One new email. She opened it…

Sender: Ardent Global Legal Consortium

Subject: Formal Invitation – Special Counsel Position

Her fingers stilled. Her gaze locked onto the screen, as she slowly opened it…

'Ms. Eloise Santoro,

Your recent case review and independent legal assessment have drawn the attention of our international board. You are formally invited to attend a closed-door interview for the position of Special Counsel at Ardent Global.

Venue: Ardent Global Headquarters

Time: 29th April, 10:00 A.M.

This interview is by direct nomination. We look forward to your presence.'

Eloise stared at the email, stunned, completely dumbfounded.

For a second, she simply didn't know how to react.

Ardent Global wasn’t just any firm. It was the bloody firm every elite lawyer dreamed of but never dared to hope for!

And she got a Direct nomination. A DIRECT FU*KING NOMINATION?!

Her heart was madly pounding in her chest. Of all nights, of all moments, this came now. Just when she needed it!

A soft, broken laugh escaped her lips…

Five hours ago, she was a discarded wife waiting for a husband who never cared about her.

Now, she was being summoned by the most powerful legal consortium in the city.

Fate certainly didn't take long to turn.

Eloise lifted her eyes to the dark hospital windows, where somewhere behind the glass, Damien still lay surrounded by his dramatic family, thinking he could never lose.

Her phone tightened in her grip, a cold resolve slipped within her.

“Is this what a new beginning feels like?” she whispered to the quiet night…

------

The rain kept falling without a pause on her way back home, turning the entire road blurred and indistinct.

It was as though the world itself had chosen to cleanse her of her past wounds.

Eloise remembered turning off the main road without really thinking about it as it was packed with traffic.

She took a narrow road; it's a longer route, but a quiet one.

For some strange reason, her heart wasn't in so much pain anymore; only a dull ache coiled within.

Now looking back, she had only dragged this relationship on because of Diego; not even her family was the reason…

She was lost in thought when suddenly a flash of headlights almost blinded her vision.

An involuntary gasp tore through her chest as her grip tightened on the steering wheel.

“What the…!?”

The car seemed to have lost control. It rushed at her so fast that for a second, her brain stopped working.

Thankfully though, the next second she turned the wheel hard.

Her car slid on wet asphalt, and she held her breath as everything narrowed into that split second where she didn't know what would happen next.

Just when she thought it was done, they passed. It was just inches away, and that felt too surreal for her almost numb brain.

Eloise slammed on the brakes, and the car jerked to a stop so hard that if it hadn't been for the seatbelt, she would've flown out, breaking the glass.

For a second, time stood still, and then a loud crash shattered the silence.

It was heavy enough that her stomach tightened before her mind could grasp the situation.

She didn't move right away. She couldn't. Her entire body was still shaking.

Her fingers were still on the steering wheel, but her eyes snapped to the mirror.

Rain turned everything behind her into broken reflections, lights smeared into shapes that didn't hold still.

At first, she saw nothing except a flash of light, but then her gaze settled on the black car.

It went out of its lane and hit the island. The car's emergency bell was echoing through the empty road.

At first, Eloise was at a loss for movement, but then she hurried out immediately, taking the umbrella.

The car was an expensive Maybach. The one-way glass blocked her vision, preventing her from seeing inside.

At that moment, she could only call for emergency services.

She rushed back to her car, took out her phone, and dialed, but the signal didn't connect; the line was probably jammed due to rain.

“Damn it!”

Eloise returned to the black car again.

She knocked on the glass, “h-hello… Ple-ease respond.”

“Can you hear me?”

She was desperately hoping for someone to answer, but none came.

She tried calling for emergency services again, but it was still jammed.

“Shit!” Panic gnawed at her chest as she stood under the rain helplessly.

Was the person dead?

Suddenly, a faint sound came. Eloise didn't understand it at first, but then it came again.

Someone was moving! Someone was still alive!

She slapped on the glass again, trying hard to see inside. "Damn! why do these people need one-way glasses!" she cursed out.

The rain was blinding, drenching everything, but she didn’t stop.

She inhaled a deep breath, then hurried to her car.

She couldn't just stand doing nothing; she needed to do something. Anything.

Eloise grabbed the tire iron from her car, rushed back to the black car, and slammed it against the door of the driver’s seat, once, twice… her hands slipping against the cold metal.

It didn’t budge at first.

“Come on, damn it!” she muttered under her breath, forcing more strength into her arms.

On the third hit, something gave. The lock snapped with a sharp crack.

She yanked the door open and immediately the smell of burnt metal hit her nostrils.

Her eyes moved instinctively.

The driver seemed… dead.

No, no! She checked him again, and he was dead! Shit!

Suddenly, a slow commotion came from the back seat.

Her breath caught for a second, but she didn't let it stop her.

She leaned further in, her heart pounding harder now.

In the backseat was another man!

Eloise immediately went to the backseat, and thank God, he was still breathing, but barely conscious.

His head slumped to the side, as if every breath was a fight he was already losing.

“Hey… can you hear me?” She reached for him, trying to help.

There was no clear response, only a faint movement.

She moved closer, trying to pull him out, while her one hand was still trying to connect to emergency services.

But the moment her hand touched his arm… His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

She froze.

The grip was too strong for someone who looked like he was slipping into unconsciousness.

“What the…!?” her voice faltered, her breath hitching as she tried to pull back.

But he wouldn't let go. His fingers tightened further, as if even in this state, he was alert.

His eyes fluttered for a few seconds, as his fragile voice, barely stable enough, uttered a single word that sent chilled shivers down her spine…

“…E-ll-oise…”