The Billionaire's Ruined Bride: A Deadly Divorce

Tags: Cheating Husband, Strong Female Lead, Captivity & Escape, Wedding Showdown, Billionaire Family Feud, Brother Rivalry, Power Couple We had been married for five years, and Ethan Vance and I still hadn't had a baby.

Because of this, my motherinlaw picked on me constantly, finding fault with every breath I took. Ethan always comforted me. "It doesn't matter if we don't have kids, Chloe.

If it comes down to it, we can always adopt." To make things easier for him, I went to every specialist in town. I drank bitter herbal concoctions and endured endless treatments.

Two rounds of IVF failed. My arms were so covered in needle bruises that a cop on the street would have probably pulled me over for a drug test.

Finally, two bright red lines appeared on the pregnancy test. Thrilled, I grabbed the test strip and rushed to his office.

But before I could even share the good news, I overheard him chatting with his friend through the halfopen door. "Are you really ready for this mergermarriage with the Sterling family?" Ethan chuckled. "You think I'd dare mess with the Sterlings?" "What a waste, though.

Chloe is gorgeous.

Once you divorce her, some other guy's going to hit the jackpot." Ethan's tone turned chillingly cold. "Who said I'm letting her go after the divorce?" Hearing those words, a wave of nausea hit me so hard I nearly threw up.

If I hadn't wanted to surprise Ethan today, I might have never found out.

The man who had been my high school sweetheart, the one I walked down the aisle with, had turned into something this vile.

I stood frozen as their conversation continued inside. "Damn, you really love Chloe, huh?" Ethan gave a dismissive shrug. "I wouldn't call it love.

It's just that if something belongs to me, I'd rather destroy it than let another man touch it." "You're a sick bastard," Carter muttered, unable to hide his disgust. "Well, she's an orphan.

Marrying you was always way out of her league.

Back when you fought your family tooth and nail, I actually thought you couldn't live without her!" Ethan let out a low laugh. "If I didn't pretend to have a fatal weakness, do you think the old man would have handed over Vance Corporation to me so easily?" My heart plunged into an icy abyss.

Ethan was a son of the wealthy Vance family, but he was an illegitimate one. When we first met, the family hadn't acknowledged him yet.

He lived with his mother in a cramped twobedroom apartment near campus. I always assumed he came from an ordinary, workingclass background.

It wasn't until five years ago, when Sean Vance—the rightful heir—got into a catastrophic car crash and fell into a vegetative state, that Ethan was finally brought into the fold.

Back then, we were already planning our wedding. Once Ethan took his place in the family, the Vance patriarch sent people to my doorstep, demanding I break things off.

To be honest, even I thought the wedding was off. A prominent dynasty like the Vances would never accept an orphan girl as their daughterinlaw.

Yet Ethan defied the old man completely. He swore that if he couldn't marry me, he would walk away from the empire. In the end, the old man grudgingly relented.

Still, all he allowed was a quiet trip to city hall to sign the papers. No lavish reception, no public announcement. I didn't feel slighted back then.

If Ethan was willing to give up a multibilliondollar empire for me, what was a missed ceremony compared to that? Only today did I realize what it actually made me.

A complete fool.

"Mrs. Vance? What are you doing out here?" A voice suddenly spoke behind me. I spun around in a panic and saw Ethan's assistant.

At that moment, the office door swung open, and Ethan hurried out, looking visibly flustered. "Why didn't you come in?

Why are you standing outside?" Suppressing the storm raging in my chest, I forced a sweet smile. "I just arrived.

I was about to knock when your assistant walked up." Ethan studied my face, seemingly testing the waters. "That's a shame. You missed me talking to Carter." "Oh?

What were you talking about?" I asked with just the right amount of curiosity, though my hands were clenched into shaking fists inside my sleeves.

Ethan visibly relaxed. "Just bragging to this bachelor about how gorgeous and devoted my wife is." Carter played along with the act. "Yeah, honestly, you two make me want to settle down." "Alright, beat it," Ethan joked, nudging him. "My wife is here.

I don't have time to entertain you." "Look at you, ditching your buddy the second she walks in... Hey Chloe, let me know if he misbehaves.

I'll make him sleep on the floor!" They banter smoothly. Every word out of Ethan's mouth painted him as the ultimate devoted husband.

To anyone else, Ethan was the ultimate romantic hero who brought billionaireromance dreams to life. Too bad it was all a sick lie.

I made some polite excuses, dropped off the small cake I had bought on the way, and turned to leave. I had to get out before my tears betrayed me.

As I stepped out of the elevator in the lobby, a girl carrying a stack of files slammed right into me. Papers scattered everywhere. "I'm so sorry!

I'm so sorry..." The girl seemed terrified. "It's fine." I knelt to help her pick them up, and that was when several glossy photos slipped out of an envelope.

There were only two people in the photos: Ethan and a sultry, stunning woman, with the ChampsÉlysées in Paris as their backdrop. I remembered then.

Ethan had gone to France on a business trip just last week. He was gone for an entire week, and when he came back, he brought me a diamond bracelet.

It was identical to the one on the woman's wrist in the pictures. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I have an urgent meeting..." Seeing me freeze, the girl hastily snatched the photos from my hands and shoved them back into the folder. "Wait," I called out. "Don't run off so fast.

You worked so hard to drop these photos right at my feet. Aren't you going to leave your contact info?" The girl clearly hadn't expected me to call her bluff.

She froze for a second before looking up.

She had a striking face that bore a faint resemblance to the woman in the photos, though they weren't the same person. "I was trying to give you an easy way out," she sneered. "Since you don't appreciate it, let's just lay it all on the table."

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting in a quiet café across from the woman in the photos. The Sterling heiress Carter had mentioned—Vanessa Sterling.

Surprisingly, I felt entirely calm. Not a single wave of panic or rage stirred inside me.

Vanessa sized me up from head to toe before speaking. "I heard you and Ethan went to college together. A toptier university grad, right?

How did you end up so pathetic?" "What do you mean?" I didn't understand.

How was I pathetic? "You caught your husband cheating, yet instead of confronting him, you're sitting across from me playing pickme games." For the first time in my life, I was at a total loss for words.

Was this woman insane? Didn't she stage the collision to meet me?

I took a sip of my coffee. "Didn't you pay someone to run into me and drop those photos right in front of my face?" "You're the one who was desperate to see me.

Are you really trying to gaslight me right now?" Vanessa possessed remarkably thick skin. Hearing my retort, she didn't look annoyed in the slightest.

Then again, a wealthy socialite willing to be a side piece—and proud of it—needed a spine of steel. "I had no choice.

I dropped hints everywhere trying to get your attention, but you were too oblivious. I had to be direct." Now that I looked at her closely, she did seem familiar.

I have mild face blindness; unless someone has an unforgettable feature, I rarely remember them. "Have we met?" Vanessa gave a cold chuckle. "The cufflinks." I paused, thinking back, and then it hit me.

We really had met before. Last month, right before Ethan's birthday, I went to a luxury boutique to pick out a gift.

Both of us had eyed the exact same pair of designer cufflinks, the last set in the store. She said it was for her boyfriend's birthday.

I had thought it was a sweet coincidence, since I was buying them for my husband. I never imagined her boyfriend and my husband were the same damn man.

I had never cared much about material possessions, so I gracefully let her have the cufflinks and picked an antique pendant for Ethan instead. "So, how long have you two been together?" Seeing that I finally remembered, Vanessa smiled. "About three months." "Have you slept together?" My voice was deadpan, but my heart ached so sharply my fingertips went numb.

At my question, Vanessa flashed a triumphant smirk. "Your bed is very comfortable." A surge of acid hit my throat. I couldn't stop myself from gagging into a napkin.

It was utterly vile.

On my way home, I walked in a daze, Vanessa's words echoing relentlessly in my head. "Only by marrying me can Ethan fully secure his grip on Vance Corporation.

A divorce is inevitable. Why drag it out?" "If you truly love him, I don't mind if he keeps you on the side as his little secret.

All I need is the legal status with the Vance family. What he does behind closed doors is his business." ... It was early fall.

People on the street were still wearing light skirts, but I felt frozen to the marrow. My hand instinctively slid into my pocket. My fingers brushed against the test strip.

Looking at those two bright red lines, I took a deep breath and tried to steady my shattered nerves. Chloe, photos can be staged, and conversations can be manipulated.

You shouldn't just take Vanessa's word for it. You've been with Ethan for eight years.

You at least owe him a chance to explain—and you owe this baby a chance. Right then, my phone buzzed.

A message popped up on SnapChat from an unknown number: [If you don't believe me, trust your own eyes. Tonight at 8 PM, The Velvet Lounge, Private Room 909.] I stared at the screen.

Less than two minutes later, the message was unsent. Calculated.

At 6 PM, right around Vance Corporation's quitting time, Ethan called. "Babe, I have to pull an allnighter at the office tonight.

The tech department is rolling out a major update, and we need to run stress tests until morning." I hadn't gone home.

I was sitting inside a convenience store directly across from the corporate tower.

Through the window, I watched Ethan slide into the backseat of a town car heading straight toward The Velvet Lounge. "You're not even in tech. Do you really have to stay?

I want you to come home early. I have something important to tell you." Ethan sighed. "What is it? Can't you just tell me over the phone?" "I want to tell you in person.

It's really important!" Ethan replied impatiently, "Let's do it tomorrow.

This rollout is critical; our entire secondhalf revenue depends on it." I blinked back the stinging tears. "Just tonight. I just want you home with me tonight.

Please?" In eight years of dating and marriage, this was the very first time I had ever pleaded with him so stubbornly. Ethan was clearly annoyed. "What is wrong with you, Chloe?

I don't expect you to understand the pressure I'm under, but the least you can do is not hold me back." He hung up before I could reply.

The tears finally broke through, streaming down my cheeks. After composing myself, I pulled up a contact saved deep in my phone and hit dial. "What you proposed last time...

I accept."