All Chapters of MARRIED MY BILLIONAIRE EX AFTER HIS FUNERAL : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Sophie woke stiff and disoriented in the hospital recliner beside Daniel's bed, the wooden box resting in her lap exactly where she'd fallen asleep clutching it. Daniel stirred, blinking against the morning light. "Hey," he rasped, his voice hoarse from the surgery. "You stayed." "Of course I stayed," Sophie said, sitting up, relief flooding through her at the sight of him actually awake, actually talking. "How do you feel?" "Like someone rearranged my chest," Daniel said, managing a weak smile. "But alive. Which is apparently a big deal, based on how everyone keeps looking at me." "It is a big deal," Sophie said, her voice catching. "You scared me." "Sorry," Daniel said. "Bad timing, I guess. Weren't you supposed to be at a funeral yesterday?" Sophie's chest tightened. "I was. I left." "For me?" Daniel asked, guilt flickering across his face. "You're my brother," Sophie said simply. "There was never a choice to make." Daniel's eyes drifted to the box in her lap. "What's that

Sophie went back to Whitfield's office three days later. She hadn't planned to. But a question kept eating at her, growing louder each day. Why did he sign the divorce papers so fast? If he loved me, why didn't he fight for it? "I have a question," she said, sitting down. "The divorce. He signed within a day. No fight. No asking me to think about it again. Nothing. Was that really what he wanted?" Whitfield's jaw tightened. "No," he said finally. "It wasn't." Sophie's heart skipped. "Then why?" "Someone put pressure on him," Whitfield said. "I don't know all the details. He never told me everything. But three weeks before you filed, he came to me and said if you ever asked for a divorce, I was to process it right away. No delay. No matter what." "That makes no sense," Sophie said. "Why would he tell you to just let it happen, if it wasn't what he wanted?" "He said one thing," Whitfield said slowly, choosing each word with care. "He said, 'If she's out of the marriage, she's ou

Sophie didn't move. The knock came a fourth time, and this time a voice followed it. "Ms. Bennett? It's Whitfield. Open the door." Her whole body went weak with relief. She crossed the room and pulled the door open to find him standing there, out of breath, like he'd run up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. "You scared me half to death," she said. "You didn't call," he said. "You said you'd call the moment you got home safe. I've been standing outside for ten minutes trying to decide whether to break the door down." "I'm sorry," she said. "I found the recording. I got lost in it." His eyes moved to the laptop glowing behind her, the files still open on the screen. "You need to stop," he said. "Tonight. Whatever you found can wait until morning. If someone from that company already knows you're asking questions, staying up all night digging alone isn't safe." "I know," she said. "I couldn't stop myself." "Get some sleep," Whitfield said. "Lock everything. I'll come by

Sophie sat in the hospital waiting room, her leg bouncing with nerves she couldn't hide. Her brother, Daniel, was in for a routine checkup. Just routine. Nothing more. That's what the letter from the clinic said. But Sophie's stomach hadn't stopped turning since she got the call three days ago. Routine checkup. She remembered those exact words from before. FIRST LIFE — TWO YEARS INTO THE MARRIAGE Sophie sat in this same waiting room once before. Daniel had been doing well for over a year. Stable. Healthy. The surgery Adrian secretly paid for had worked exactly as it should. Then, out of nowhere, a routine checkup turned into an emergency. "There's been a complication," the doctor said, his face grave. "Some kind of reaction to his medication. We're not sure what caused it." Sophie remembered crying in the hallway, terrified, confused. Daniel survived. Barely. But he was never quite the same after that. Weaker. More fragile. It cost more money. More treatment

Sophie woke up to the smell of smoke. For a moment, she thought she was dreaming. Then the smoke alarm screamed through the apartment, and she was fully awake, her heart slamming against her ribs. "Adrian—" she gasped, shaking him awake. He sat up instantly, alert in a way that told her this wasn't the first emergency he'd ever faced. "Stay behind me," he said, already moving toward the bedroom door. Smoke curled thick under the gap, gray and choking. Sophie's stomach dropped. This didn't happen last time. This is new. This is something Eleanor never tried before. They made it out through the fire escape, coughing, eyes streaming, the cold night air hitting them like a slap. Firefighters arrived within minutes. The building next to their penthouse — a smaller storage unit Adrian used for old company archives — was fully engulfed by the time