Meanwhile, Kiera sat quietly in the car, steadying her emotions. Once she had composed herself, she picked up her phone and called Layla.“The divorce went smoothly.”Her voice was slightly hoarse, and Layla could hear it. “Nothing unexpected happened, I hope?” she asked gently.“I ran into Xena. She came to pick up Sean.”Kiera pressed her lips together, a wave of frustration washing over her as she recalled how she had completely lost her composure.“I thought I was stronger than this. I thought I’d already moved on. But seeing them together still made me sick—literally.”Her hand tightened involuntarily around the fabric of her skirt, trembling slightly.“Miss Xander, did it hurt this much for you too?”Layla was quiet for a moment. Then she said calmly, “If I’m being honest, I don’t even remember. After I left Sean, there were so many things I wanted to do.“Once you start truly loving yourself, the outside world doesn’t hit as hard. One day, when you look back on this, yo
Mr. Jenkins raised his hand again, but this time, Sean grabbed his wrist and held it in place, refusing to let go.“Sean Perry!”Kiera’s voice was hoarse, but she summoned every bit of strength to shout, “Let go of my father!”Sean turned to look at her. “I know I hurt you. But do we really have to end things like this—with such ugliness between us?”Kiera didn’t answer. She refused to engage. From the corner of her eye, she saw Xena getting up, and her heart twisted with disgust. She didn’t want to look at either of them ever again.“Dad, let’s go home,” she said, her voice quiet but pleading.That one sentence pierced Mr. Jenkins’s heart.He yanked his arm free from Sean’s grip. “Don’t you dare show your face to my daughter again. If I ever see you near her, I swear—I’ll beat you to a pulp. I don’t care what it costs me. I won’t let you hurt her again.”He shot Sean one final glare, then turned back to Kiera, his rage quickly giving way to fatherly remorse.“Come on, Kiera.
Kiera didn’t look back once as she walked out of the courthouse.Her parents quickly rushed over. “How did it go?” Mrs. Jenkins asked anxiously.“It went fairly smoothly. Next is the asset division process. Once we sign, the divorce will be finalized,” Kiera replied calmly.Her attorney stepped in to elaborate, “Given Mr. Perry’s negative impact on the family’s reputation, we’ll pursue every bit of compensation Kiera deserves.”“Thank you,” Kiera said with a polite nod. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”“I was just doing my job,” the lawyer replied with a kind smile, though there was sympathy in his eyes. “Even after all the cases I’ve handled, seeing that kind of evidence again… I understand why you were too heartbroken to speak.“I’ve seen a lot of people in your position. Filing for divorce is like cutting out dead flesh. It hurts, deeply. But it’s necessary.”He gently patted Kiera on the shoulder. “One day, you’ll look back and be grateful you made the decision you did
This firm yet transparent stance immediately won public favor.“Perry Corporation really is different under new leadership. It’s finally standing tall for once!”“I’m not sure if Simon Jones is the right guy yet, but one thing’s for sure—he’s already more of a man than Sean Perry ever was.”By the end of the day, half the trending topics were Perry Corporation–related.Sean only found out about Kiera’s livestream response when he saw a video edit circulating online. In the clip, she was eerily calm. Her expression was almost identical to the way Layla had looked the day she left him: quiet, steady, and completely void of emotion.He couldn’t help but wonder what the two of them had talked about in private. How had they both walked away from him so ruthlessly, without a trace of hesitation?Well, he would be seeing Kiera in court tomorrow.*Sean didn’t sleep a wink.He woke early the next morning. When he looked in the mirror, he realized his cheek had swollen from Wilfred’s s
The outcome was sealed.As Simon was surrounded by well-wishers, the Perry family members left the selection site with dark expressions.Once they entered the underground parking garage, Wilfred suddenly turned and exploded at Sean.“Why didn’t you say something back there? What, you still think you can play it safe and stay out of this?“This is all your fault! Do you even realize that? If you hadn’t let your urges get the better of you, we never would’ve ended up dealing with that venomous woman, Layla Xander!“I knew from the moment your mother brought you into this family—you were nothing but bad luck. Useless garbage!”Felix jumped in, fanning the flames. “Dad, I bet he kept quiet on purpose. He’s just trying to leave himself a way out—so he can go crawling back to Layla later, wagging his tail, hoping to patch things up!”“Looks like being unable to keep it in your pants runs in the family.”Sean finally spoke, his voice icy cold. He stared at Wilfred without a hint of ex
“I’ve said from the beginning that this internal selection would be fair, transparent, and impartial,” Layla said, her voice calm and steady as it echoed through the room. “I didn’t participate in the scoring during the first two rounds because I had just joined Perry Corporation and needed time to get to know each candidate.“So I spent the past month thoroughly investigating every one of them.”The room quieted as her words hung in the air.While the other two candidates had impressive resumes, both had made serious mistakes. One had overreached while expanding overseas, resulting in a disastrous loss on a port investment. The other was known for rash decisions and for pinning the blame on subordinates when things went wrong.“Of course,” Layla continued after a brief pause, “no one is perfect. In business especially, we should allow for some margin of error.“But Perry Corporation right now is like a ship lost at sea. What we need is a steady hand at the helm. Someone who can