Chapter 1— Divorce

The least he could do was slam those papers to her face? Despite everything they built and worked hard for. They weren't just couples, they were also business partners and Josette had undoubtedly been the brains behind the empire's success and after everything, he was handing her a divorce paper— urging her to sign it.

Josette wasn't surprised. She was simply disappointed. Not at her husband but at herself. He made her do dirty work for him, she involved herself with his rivals, she bribed many officials just so the empire could grow more, she sold out information to wealthy men just so their competitors could be defeated. It got to an extent where she was forced to sleep with an agent from their competitors, sneaking out information from him. All these were done just so her husband could succeed but no matter what she did, she just could never please him.

" Sign the damn contract, Josette."

" I wouldn't until you tell me why you want a divorce."

Her husband sighed, rubbing a hand down to his face due to frustration. They had been married for six months— less than a year of marriage that was at the edge of collapse. Josette looked down at the papers, stakes of pain drove through her chest, crashing her heart so much that it brought tears to her eyes. She loved him. She had always loved him but he did otherwise. And despite how he treated her sometimes, she always fought herself, convincing her mind that he would change.

" You are beginning to get out of hand. You're taking actions that could bring down my business. Oh! You think I didn't know about the backdoor deals you've been making? I told you not to get involved with the LuxCore Enterprise but what did you do? You stole their resources and handed them out. Your IP address could have cost me everything, I had to get Landon to erase the breach before they tracked it back to you."

He slammed his hands on the table. His eyes held solid anger, disgust and hatred. How could she have made a breach? She was a good hacker and she did everything flawlessly.

" You know better than to let me slip out of your fingers, Benson. Just one piece of data and your empire falls."

" You wouldn't dare do such a thing." He straightened, pulling off his officious glasses and tucking it inside his shirt.

" I have more information that can jeopardize your livelihood." They were both at fifty-fifty. If she sold him out, he had evidence against her backdoor deals and illegal involvement with illegal sites. Hence, all personal deals she had with them would be cut off and exposed. She didn't say much. She picked up the pen, took the paper and glanced at the signature space reserved for her.

" I want some of my shares from the empire. I can deal with fifty percent." Benson laughed.

" Nothing close to my empire will be handed to you. You have my house, my cars and a million dollars waiting for you in your new account."

" I disagree. One— one million? Are you damn real? I could spend that in less than a week. For all I know, I am a big part of the CipherTech Empire. You've been the face these whole time but I've been the brains. You will fall without me and you will beg to come back to me, Benson. You will regret everything you are doing now."

Her husband's face remained nonchalant. He couldn't care less. He never did. And she was right, she had been an essential part of Empire's brains but he could fully survive without her. He had other experts. Josette bit her lips unconsciously. Noticing that her husband wasn't ready to take any move, she signed the divorce papers and slammed it on his chest. She was going to make him regret it and she would make sure he begged and worshipped her like his father used to. It's been weeks since they departed. Josette was left with nothing much. He had taken over the joint account they shared and left her with a million dollars— as he had told her.

She sold two of her cars, one remaining but she never relented from doing her dirty work. Hacking into resources to get information and selling them off to her clients who paid her finely. She made sure not to leave any breach with each task she finished. It had been over a month since their departure and over a month since she started receiving threats from unknown profiles, some claiming they know of her ideal identity and that they have a stockpile of records of her illegal data. Others she presumed were scammers who were trying to rob her. She didn't put much thought into this as she simply blocked out every one of them. She sipped from her alcoholic drink, staring at the evening sky as rain began to drop. Her best friend promised to stop by that evening so they could both go to a club and so she waited.

One ding on her door and she scurried out to get it. But when she opened the door, there was no one there, instead there was a box package on her doorstep. Perhaps, her best friend, Fina sent it? She doubted. Josette took the box and shut the door. Eager to know what was in it, she unboxed it and there were two things. First, a letter. She picked it up and read the scribbled words.

*I see you've blocked me out but could you really block me out of your life? You need me Josette Montgomery just the same way I need you. Now, flip the letter.*

And when she flipped it she was hit by pure shock and annoyance. A picture of her stood there along with three of her fake identities that she had used for her clients. She squeezed the letter fiercely and took out the other content from the box. It was a rose and a tiny piece of paper attached to it.

*I heard you love roses so I bought this for you. Keep it, you'll need it, trust me.— Zade.*

She took a sharp inhale with a racing heart and a feeling of dread cold sinking in.