Chapter 2

Cora went to the county courthouse herself.

She remembered how happy she had been when she first walked through those doors to marry Ethan. Now, as she filed for divorce, her heart ached just as deeply. Still, she had no regrets.

She had been willing to keep their marriage a secret for love. Now that love was gone, she was willing to end it.

The clerk quickly processed her paperwork. There was still a thirty-day waiting period before the divorce could be finalized. Once it was final, she and Ethan would have nothing left tying them together.

Cora walked out of the courthouse feeling lighter than she had in years.

She drove to the office, intending to submit her resignation and pack up her belongings before leaving for good.

But the moment she arrived, she spotted two familiar faces.

Madison was clinging to Ethan’s arm, acting so intimately with him in front of everyone that she looked every bit the lady of the house.

Envious whispers rose from the surrounding employees.

“Mr. Caldwell and Miss Parker are such a perfect match. They make Secretary Mitchell look like a complete fool. She stripped down to seduce a man, only to end up as a shameless homewrecker who could never become his rightful wife!”

Their words pierced Cora like a blade.

She was Ethan’s actual wife, yet now she was being treated like a mistress, despised and humiliated by everyone around her.

Unable to bear another word, Cora turned to leave, but Madison abruptly stepped in front of her.

With a contemptuous smile, she held out an invitation.

“Cora, you’ve spent years taking care of Ethan for me. You’ve certainly earned your keep. You’ll come to our engagement party, won’t you?”

It was nothing less than a blatant insult.

Trembling with anger, Cora let out a cold laugh.

“Miss Parker, how generous of you. Aren’t you worried Mr. Caldwell might still be unable to forget me?”

Madison suddenly burst out laughing.

As if Cora had just told the funniest joke in the world, she laughed until tears gathered in her eyes. Then she turned and threw herself into Ethan’s arms, pouting playfully.

“Ethan, you’re not going to fall in love with Cora, are you?”

Ethan gave a helpless little snort.

“Madison, stop teasing me. I don’t get involved with women from my own workplace.”

With that single sentence, he dismissed everything they had ever shared.

Cora slowly closed her eyes, allowing her tears to fall in silence.

She had always known Ethan would never acknowledge their relationship in public. Even so, hearing him deny it with her own ears still hurt.

Ethan cared about profit. He cared about the company. The only person he didn’t care about was her.

The promises he had once made now seemed like a cruel joke.

Cora managed a bitter smile and turned away.

But she had barely left the building when the Caldwell family’s bodyguards seized her, forced her into a car, and took her to the family patriarch.

The old man, Frederick Caldwell, looked down at her with undisguised contempt.

“Ms. Mitchell, I thought you were smarter than this. I never imagined you’d do something so foolish as to sabotage the partnership between the Caldwell and Parker families!”

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the bodyguards pressed play on a recording.

A familiar voice filled the room...

Cora’s face drained of color.

So the Caldwell family believed she had staged and leaked the video herself to force her way up the social ladder!

The accusation was absurd. She immediately tried to defend herself.

“It wasn’t me! Madison Parker did it!”

But Frederick refused to believe her. In a fit of rage, he ordered the family enforcers to carry out their punishment against her.

At that critical moment, Ethan arrived.

Frowning, he stepped in front of Cora, his voice firm.

“Cora is my wife. If she’s done something wrong, punish me instead.”

Cora’s eyes grew hot, and a glimmer of hope rose in her heart.

But before she could let herself believe he meant it, Frederick sneered.

“Hmph! This woman staged the whole thing to sabotage the alliance between the Caldwell and Parker families. Do you have any idea how much damage that could do to the company? And you still intend to protect her?”

Before he could finish, Ethan’s expression changed completely.

He seized Cora by the wrist, his voice turning harsh.

“Cora, you’re being incredibly unreasonable!

“The partnership between the Caldwell and Parker families is crucial to us. We can’t afford even the slightest mishap, or all our efforts will have been for nothing. Why can’t you just be sensible for once?”

Cora froze.

The little hope that had just begun to bloom inside her vanished, replaced by a blow that struck her harder than any slap.

It felt as though her heart had been ripped open, leaving her barely able to breathe.

At last, she understood.

It wasn’t that Ethan no longer loved her at all. It was that he didn’t love her enough anymore.

More than a decade of devotion had ultimately meant less to him than power and status.