Chapter 1: The Divorce Papers

Elena stared at the message glowing on her phone.

Come to the office.

Three words.

No greeting.

No explanation.

No warmth.

She read the message twice before locking her screen.

Some habits took longer to break than a marriage.

She took a slow breath and stepped into the elevator. As it climbed toward the executive floor, her hand instinctively rested on her stomach.

A tiny smile appeared.

No one knew about the baby.

She had wanted Damian to hear the news first.

The elevator doors opened.

Priya looked up from the reception desk. Sympathy flashed across her face before she quickly looked away.

"Mr. Cross is waiting for you," she said softly.

Elena nodded and walked toward the office.

The moment she pushed the door open, she stopped.

Damian stood beside the floor-to-ceiling window, his back straight, his expression as cold as ice.

Vivian sat casually on the edge of his desk, crossing one leg over the other with a victorious smile.

It looked less like a meeting...

And more like a performance prepared for her.

"Damian," Elena said calmly. "What's going on?"

He turned without emotion.

"Sit."

"I'd rather stand."

Her eyes shifted to Vivian.

"Is there a reason she's here?"

"Vivian stays."

He didn't even bother looking at Elena as he answered.

He picked up a folder from his desk and placed it in front of her.

"Sign it."

Elena frowned.

"What is it?"

"Divorce papers."

Silence filled the office.

She looked at him, searching for even the smallest trace of hesitation.

There was none.

"You called me here just for this?"

"Let's keep this quick and clean," Damian replied. "There's no reason to turn it into another pathetic scene."

Vivian laughed.

"Some women simply don't know when they've already lost."

Elena slowly turned toward her.

"I wasn't speaking to you."

Vivian smiled wider.

"You don't have to. Your face says enough. You're desperate."

"Enough."

Damian's voice interrupted them, but it wasn't meant to protect his wife.

"Sign the papers, Elena."

She ignored the pen.

"Why the rush?" she asked quietly. "Afraid I'll ask questions you don't want to answer?"

"I don't owe you any explanation."

"No," Elena agreed. "You don't."

Her eyes settled on Vivian.

"But I'd still like to know how long she's been warming your bed while I was warming your home."

Vivian stood and walked closer.

"Long enough to know one thing."

She smiled proudly.

"He never loved you. He married your family name, not you."

"I asked him."

Elena's voice remained calm.

"Not his mistress."

Damian's jaw tightened.

"This marriage was a business arrangement from the beginning. You knew exactly what it was."

"I did."

She nodded.

"But I hoped one day you'd become more than a contract."

A cold laugh escaped him.

"Hope is for people who have nothing else to offer."

His eyes were filled with contempt.

"You came with a failing company and a father who couldn't save his own business. That's all you ever brought into this marriage."

Vivian laughed with satisfaction.

"Garbage shouldn't complain when it's finally thrown away."

Elena didn't flinch.

Not even once.

Instead, she met Vivian's eyes.

"And leeches," she said quietly, "shouldn't celebrate finding another rich body to feed on."

Vivian's smile disappeared.

"What did you say?"

"I'm only speaking your language."

Damian stepped forward.

"I've had enough. Sign the papers."

Elena lowered her eyes to the folder.

Her name.

His name.

Separated by one black line.

Before picking up the pen, she looked at him one last time.

"Before I sign..."

He looked impatient.

"What now?"

She took a slow breath.

"I'm pregnant."

The room fell silent.

Vivian's smile froze for a split second.

Damian stared at her before letting out a cold laugh.

"Convenient."

Elena blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"You expect me to believe that?"

His voice was sharp enough to cut.

"The moment I ask for a divorce, you suddenly claim you're carrying my child?"

"I think you're a coward."

Her voice remained steady.

"You're hiding behind contracts because you're too afraid to face what you've done."

"Careful."

"Or what?" she asked. "You'll divorce me twice?"

Vivian folded her arms.

"Desperate women always use pregnancy as their last trick."

Elena didn't even look at her.

"I never needed tricks to keep a man."

Only then did she meet Vivian's furious eyes.

"But women who steal married men wouldn't understand that."

"Enough!"

Damian's voice echoed through the office.

"You never even asked if I was telling the truth," Elena whispered.

"You never asked how I felt."

"You simply decided I was lying."

"Because you are."

His answer came without hesitation.

Something inside Elena quietly broke.

Not with pain.

With acceptance.

She picked up the pen.

Her hand remained perfectly steady.

She signed every letter of her name before sliding the folder back across the desk.

"It's done."

She looked at Damian one final time.

"One day, you'll regret every word you said today."

Vivian laughed.

"No one misses garbage after it's thrown away."

Elena looked at her with quiet confidence.

"We'll see."

"When the person you discarded becomes the reason everything you built falls apart."

Without another word, she turned toward the door.

"Elena."

For the first time, Damian's voice carried the slightest hint of uncertainty.

"Wait."

She didn't stop.

She didn't look back.

The door closed behind her.

Only then did she press a trembling hand against her stomach.

A single tear slipped down her cheek.

She gently wiped it away.

"They took everything from me today," she whispered to her unborn child.

"But tomorrow..."

"They'll learn exactly who they chose to lose."