All Chapters of THE BILLIONAIRE WHO THREW AWAY HIS VIRGIN WIFE: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Elena’s povI stepped through the entrance and the soft noise of the venue wrapped around me. People were already seated. The low murmur of conversation rose and fell like something alive. The air smelled faintly of flowers and polished wood. My heart beat steady in my chest. I had expected nerves, the kind that make your hands shake or your breath catch. Instead there was only this clear, quiet certainty that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.Mom walked beside me until we reached the small antechamber just outside the main room. She adjusted the simple veil one last time, her fingers careful.“You look beautiful,” she said under her breath.“Thank you.” I met her eyes. “For everything. For today. For all the days before it. I wouldn’t be standing here without you.”She squeezed my hands once, hard, then let go. “Go on. He’s waiting. And he’s been waiting for this.”The coordinator gave a small nod. The music changed. I drew one slow breath and stepped forward.The aisle s

Elena’s povThe reception blurred in the best way. People came up to us in small groups, offering congratulations and warm smiles. I answered them as best I could, but most of my attention stayed on Alexander. His hand never left the small of my back for long. Every time someone pulled him into a short conversation, his eyes found mine again afterward, like he was checking that I was still there.“You two look good together,” one of his colleagues said at one point.Alexander’s answer was quiet and certain. “We are.”I felt the words settle under my ribs.We moved through the rest of the evening in a steady rhythm, toasts, a slow dance that felt more private than it should have in a room full of people, small conversations that came and went. Mom found me near the edge of the room at one point and squeezed my hand without saying much. She didn’t need to. I already knew what she was thinking.When the night finally began to thin out, Alexander leaned close.“Ready to go?” he asked.

Elena’s povI stood in the living room after he walked away and tried to make my body move. The soft robe still hung around me. The new rings were still in my hand. The city lights outside the windows looked the same as they had an hour ago, but nothing else did.Twenty minutes, he had said.The number kept repeating in my head while I forced myself down the short hallway to the bedroom. The wedding dress was still hanging where I had left it, neat and careful, the way I had placed it when I thought the night was going to end differently. I stared at it for a long second. Then I opened the small bag I had brought earlier and pulled out the jeans and sweater I had packed without thinking, the ones I had imagined wearing the next morning for something ordinary. My hands shook while I changed. The robe slipped off my shoulders and fell to the floor. I left it there.I took the rings off last. Both of them. The engagement ring first, then the wedding band. I set them on the dresser

Elena’s povI came out of the shower to the sound of Mom’s voice in the kitchen, low and controlled. She was on the phone. I paused in the hallway and listened without meaning to.“No,” she said. “She won’t be speaking to any reporters. Don’t call this number again.”A short silence. Then, sharper: “I don’t care what your source told you. If you print anything that makes this sound friendly, you’ll be hearing from us. Do you understand me?”She hung up. I heard her set the phone down harder than necessary.I stepped into the kitchen. She looked up and smoothed her expression, but not quickly enough. I had already seen the anger.“Who was that?” I asked.“Someone who works for a site that thinks private pain is public content.” She poured coffee and pushed a mug toward me. “They already have a version of the story. They’re calling it an amicable separation. Short courtship, mutual decision, best wishes for the future. Clean and tidy. Like it was a business deal that didn’t work out.”

Elena’s povThe email from the lawyers came mid-morning. It was short and practical. Mr. Voss had arranged for my personal belongings to be packed and available for collection from the penthouse that afternoon. A building staff member would meet me in the lobby. There was no need for him to be present.I read it twice, then set the phone down.Mom looked up from the other side of the kitchen. “What is it?”“They’re giving me my things back.” I kept my voice even. “This afternoon. Someone will meet me downstairs. He won’t be there.”She studied my face. “Do you want me to come with you?”“Yes.” The answer came faster than I expected. “I don’t want to do it alone. I don’t trust myself to walk back into that building and stay steady.”She nodded once. “Then we go together. No discussion.”I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Thank you.”“You don’t need to thank me for this,” she said. “I’d be more worried if you wanted to go by yourself.”The ride across the city felt lo