Chapter 2

Bella's POV 

I was sure Ethan had expected me to rant.

To break down and become restless and question him. 

But for some reason, I was calm.

Eerily calm.

“Way to go, Ethan!” Rebecca suddenly said from where she sat, rising to her feet and walking toward us with satisfaction written all over her face.

“I’ve been waiting for the day you’d divorce her for years. I don’t even understand why you had to marry her in the first place. She’s uneducated and a nobody. She isn’t fit enough to stand by your side, nor is she worthy of bearing this family’s name. When—”

She continued, repeating the same reasons she had always used to justify her hatred for me. How I wasn’t worthy. How I was beneath them. How I should be grateful just to breathe the same air as the Hayes family.

How she had always treated me like a servant disguised as a wife.

“Rebecca…” Ethan muttered under his breath, stopping her midway.

Perhaps he was still shocked that I hadn’t reacted.

That I was standing there quietly, holding the divorce papers without tears streaming down my face.

“Don’t make this hard for the two of us, Bella. Let’s get a quiet divorce and move on with our lives,” Ethan told me, giving Rebecca a look that signaled her to leave.

She scoffed but obeyed, walking away with the same air of triumph she had worn since this conversation began.

The entire scene felt like a bitter blade lodged in my throat.

For years, he had kept silent whenever his sister bullied me. Not once had he stopped her. Not once had he defended me.

But now that we were divorcing, he chose to silence her not because I mattered, but because he wanted this over quickly.

“I’ll explain the divorce to my father. And if he refuses to accept it, I’ll take the blame,” he continued in a low voice, still waiting for me to sign.

“I’ve already promised to pay whatever compensation you want. Just sign the papers and name your price.”

 I had given Ethan Hayes nothing but devotion. Even worshipped the ground he walked on.

I sacrificed my pride and dreams, my career and everything, just so I could pass off as a good wife to him.

He hadn’t loved me when the marriage was forced on us by his father. At the time, he had just been recovering from being rejected by his ex.

Even then, I didn’t mind.

Even when I knew I was stepping into the role of a replacement.

His performance at work had dropped after she left him, and his father had wanted him to move on quickly. I knew marrying me wasn’t about love.

And yet, I had accepted because I loved him.

I thought being close to him would eventually make him fall for me too. They said proximity breeds feelings, and I believed it with my whole heart.

I thought it would be enough.

But as it stood now, I realized I had been nothing more than a placeholder all along. A temporary arrangement until his first love decided to return.

And not once in those three years had he learned how to love me.

“Bella, I will—” he began again, likely preparing another attempt to persuade me.

But this time, I didn’t let him finish.

“Three billion dollars,” I said calmly.

His brows furrowed.

“One to two billion in cash settlements. The rest in properties and deed assets you own across the country.”

The room went silent.

Even Ethan looked momentarily stunned.

My hands did not tremble as I picked up the pen.

If I had been nothing more than a transaction in his life, then I would treat this exactly as that.

Without another word, I signed my name on the divorce papers in my hands.

If Ethan was throwing me out all of a sudden just to marry his first love after her return, then I deserved enough compensation to secure my future completely.

That would at least suffice for the three years I had spent being nothing but a good wife to him.

Ethan’s lips parted as he stared at me. Shocked and confused, perhaps even offended.

“Have you always been a gold digger, Bella?” he suddenly asked, his voice laced with disbelief as he looked down at the divorce papers I had just signed.

The words should not have hurt.

But they did.

I said nothing in response. I simply turned to walk away, not wanting to completely break down before him. I would not give him that satisfaction. I would not let him see how deeply his accusation cut through me.

Inside, however, my heart was shattering because of how easily he discarded me. How quickly he chose another woman over the wife who had stood beside him for three years.

“I’m sure you must have waited for this moment all along, Bella,” he continued, his voice following me.

My steps paused slightly on the stairs, though I did not turn around.

“All you’ve ever cared about was my money. That was the reason you agreed to my father’s request and married me. You became Samantha’s replacement willingly… You’re just a gold digger like other women.”

I swallowed hard, refusing to let a tear fall.

I spared him no words as I resumed walking toward the room. There was no point defending myself. He had already created his version of me in his mind.

And nothing I said would change it.

I knew he wouldn’t refuse my request.

After all, marrying Samantha, judging from how impatient he was, was far more important to him than whatever amount I had asked for.

He wouldn’t refuse the money as he was ready to do anything to get rid of me and create space for her.

When I walked into the cozy room I once believed would be mine forever, the weight of everything finally crushed me.

I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, my legs suddenly weak. I saw the photocopies of the pamphlet I had bought weeks ago.

It was about marriage and the importance of children. About how having a baby could strengthen the bond between husband and wife.

I had bought it secretly and had planned to talk to him about trying for a baby.

I had even thought of presenting the idea to him as a birthday surprise.

I believed that maybe if we had a child together, he would finally look at me differently. That he would stay and love me.

Knowing how distant he had always been, I thought giving him something permanent would close that distance.

How foolish I had been.

The pamphlets slipped from my trembling hands and scattered across the floor.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips before the tears finally followed.

I should have known.

All this while, in his eyes, I was nothing.

Nothing more than a gold-digging placeholder who stayed by his side, mistaking tolerance for affection and breadcrumbs for love.

I should have known that one cannot force someone to love them simply because they were near them.

I should have known that proximity does not create feelings when the heart already belongs elsewhere.

And as I stood there, surrounded by shattered expectations and discarded dreams, I realized something even more painful. That Ethan Hayes had never once been mine.

Not even for a moment.