Chapter 2

"I knew it! You were cheating on me!" Noelle screamed at the top of her lungs, slapping my cheek. Her loud scream immediately drew the attention of everyone around us.

She continued interrogating me. "Who is the damn bitch?"

"I never cheated on you," I replied. "I just don't think that we're suitable for each other anymore."

"Not suitable?" she echoed with a sneer. "We've been married for years, and you're only telling me now that we're not suitable for each other? Do you even believe what you're saying?

"You don't know what else to say to me, do you, Derek? Fine! We'll get a divorce! And I'll make sure you walk out penniless!"

I looked at Noelle. Her face was streaming with tears, but I saw the glint of sly calculation in her eyes.

I spoke in a voice that was just loud enough for everyone around us to hear. "Noelle, you know very well how I've been treating you all these years since we got married.

"But you keep accusing me of cheating on you every single day and constantly disrupting company operations. It's exhausting. I'm willing to split our assets 50-50 in the divorce.

"However, if you insist on making me walk out penniless, then we'll bring this matter to court. And when that happens, we'll see who the one walking out of this marriage penniless really is."

Noelle panicked visibly. Of course, she knew there was no evidence the court could uncover against me if I really brought this matter to court. However, if those three messages were real, then she would be the one walking out with nothing instead.

Her eyes reddened as tears streamed down her cheeks again. She softened her tone and said, "Derek, have you already made up your mind to divorce me?"

I looked at her in confusion. "Weren't you the one who brought it up first?"

"I was just acting out of desperation! I felt insecure! That's why I kept testing you over and over!" she exclaimed. "What, you liked it when I was possessive over you when we were dating. But now, you find it annoying instead?"

She then gave me a pained, aggrieved look.

Her expression reminded me of seven years ago when we started dating. I was the one who'd fallen for her at first sight and pursued her relentlessly for six months before finally getting her to agree to go out to the movies with me as our first date.

But the second day after we made things official, she renamed all of the female contacts on my phone and even changed all my social media bios to include the words "Married—Stay Out!" in the first line.

I had doubled over in laughter back then, thinking that it was very amusing and hilarious of her. She told me that this was her being possessive of me, and I thought that it was kind of endearing. I quite liked how much she glued herself to me all the time.

But now, Noelle was abusing her "possessiveness" and using it to chip away at my love for her until she finally ruined me.

I looked at the tears slipping down her face and still refused to change my mind.

"You know very well whether this kind of possessive behavior is normal or not."

"I…"

She wanted to retort, but she stopped herself and just swallowed her words. Then, she suddenly went out-of-character and apologized.

"I'm sorry, honey. I was wrong. It's just that I care about you too much…"

I was stunned and perplexed for a long moment. This was the first time she had ever apologized to me in the past seven years we'd been together.

She didn't have the courage to burn bridges with me. That only further proved that the three text messages I received this morning were telling the truth.

My heart began to race. I also made up my mind about getting a divorce. However, I had to first find out the full truth behind this farce before divorcing her.

I tried to calm Noelle down by promising that I wouldn't divorce her. I then added, "You'll also have to promise me that you will not interfere with my company affairs again in the future.

"If you still think that I'm cheating on you, then bring your evidence to the table instead of throwing a huge fuss at the company like this, slapping people, or demanding that I fire anyone.

"But if you cannot promise that, then I will proceed with the divorce."

"Okay," she said with an aggrieved nod of her head.

I then came up with an excuse to leave the office. The first thing I did after leaving was to text a private investigator, Isaac Ford.

"I want you to investigate my wife, Noelle Ramsey."