The morning sun filtered through our bedroom windows as I buttoned up my blouse, watching Ethan adjust his tie in the mirror. After five years of marriage, the sight of him still managed to make my heart flutter, even if the air between us felt slightly strained that morning.
“Happy anniversary, babe!” I chimed, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind. “Five years already, can you believe it?”
He patted my hand absently. “Time flies when you’re building an empire.”
I leaned into him, my cheek resting against his back. “I was thinking we could close the office early today… maybe celebrate tonight, just the two of us.”
“Can’t,” he said, checking his watch. “Big client coming in. Maybe this weekend?”
A familiar sting of disappointment hit me, but I swallowed it down. “Sure, this weekend.” I stepped back, smoothing out my skirt. “I’ll head to the office a little later then, get those cupcakes done.”
Ethan finally looked at me, offering a quick smile. “That’s my girl. Always thinking ahead.” He kissed my forehead, grabbed his briefcase, and waved over his shoulder. “Don’t wait up tonight. Another client dinner.”
Another client dinner. The fourth one this week, actually.
“Right,” I said, forcing a smile. “Good luck.”
Once he left, I stood there alone, surrounded by the luxuries we’d built together—designer furniture, artwork we’d splurged on in a moment of success, and our penthouse with its sweeping view of the city. Everything we had stemmed from Wildflower Boutique, my little online shop that had grown into a multi-million dollar empire.
My phone buzzed with a text from my assistant, Megan.
“Running late. Traffic. Sorry!”
“No problem. Take your time,” I replied, deciding to surprise Ethan with coffee.
Maybe I could steal five minutes of his time on our anniversary… even in the office.
“Surprise him,” I whispered to myself, a small spark of excitement at the thought.
But little did I know, it was I who would be surprised.
The office was eerily quiet when I arrived—too early for most of the staff. I carefully balanced two cups of coffee and a bag of pastries as I made my way down the hall toward Ethan’s corner office.
That’s when I heard it. A laugh. Light, breathy, intimate. Not the kind of sound you hear in a professional setting. It was… familiar.
I slowed my steps, approaching the glass wall of his office. The blinds were slightly open, just enough for me to see everything.
Megan wasn’t stuck in traffic. She was perched on my husband’s desk, her skirt hiked up, his hands where they had no business being, his fingers tangled in her hair as he kissed her neck.
The coffee cups slipped from my hands, hot liquid spilling across my feet. But I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.
They didn’t notice. Silently, I backed away, my mind strangely calm, taking inventory of the moment. Her red lipstick on his collar. His wedding ring gleaming in the office light. The family photo on his desk—now face-down.
How convenient. How tidy.
I left the building, got into my car, and sat there for almost an hour. The numbness enveloped me. Then I picked up the phone.
“Jack? It’s Chloe. Are you still practicing family law?”
“Chloe? Yeah, I am. Everything okay?”
“No. But it will be. I need a divorce lawyer, and I need a business strategy. Can you meet today?”
“I’ll clear my schedule. My office in an hour?”
“Perfect. And Jack? Thank you.”
I ended the call and started the car, feeling something shift inside me. Something solid, clear, and focused.
If Ethan thought he could outsmart me, he was about to find out just how wrong he was.
Jack leaned back in his chair, eyebrows raised. “He wanted what?”
I took a sip of water, letting the ice clink in my glass. “The whole company. He wanted to be listed as co-owner back when I launched Wildflower.”
Jack frowned. “But YOU built Wildflower. You created it from nothing.”
“Yes,” I replied. “But two years ago, I let him convince me to change the paperwork, making him co-owner for ‘investor relations.’ His name is on everything now.”
Jack’s pen hovered above his notepad. “So what’s the plan?”
“I’m going to give him exactly what he wants,” I said, pulling out a folder and sliding it across the desk.
“Before I even suspected he was cheating, I noticed some discrepancies in how he was handling things. So I started preparing a contingency plan.”
Jack opened the folder, scanning the documents for a new company I’d secretly set up.
“You already…?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I assured him. “I was just… ready. For months, I had a feeling. The late-night ‘client dinners,’ the texts he’d hide when I walked into the room. But today, everything became crystal clear.”
Jack studied me, then smiled. “He has no idea who he’s dealing with, does he?”
“No,” I said, a small smirk tugging at my lips. “But he’s about to find out.”
That evening, I slid a manila envelope across the kitchen counter. “These are the divorce papers. I’ve already signed my part. I know about you and Megan.”
Ethan stared at the envelope, then picked it up. I kept chopping vegetables, my movements calm and measured.
“How long have you known?”
“Long enough,” I said, my voice steady. “I saw you in your office… with her.”
Ethan scanned the papers, his frown deepening. “So, you’re really doing this?”
“Yes.”
“Because of one mistake?”
“It wasn’t one mistake, Ethan,” I said. “It was five years of mistakes.”
He flipped through the pages, his expression growing darker with each one. “This doesn’t mention the business. Where’s the settlement for Wildflower?”
His face hardened with calculation. “I want the business. All of it.”
“You want Wildflower?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s as much yours as it is mine. More, considering you’ve been the face of it for years.”
I reached into my bag, pulled out another set of papers, and slid them across the counter.
“What’s this?”
“Transfer of ownership. Full rights to Wildflower Boutique,” I said, pushing the papers closer. “Already drawn up. I thought that’s what you wanted.”
He hesitated, thrown off by my calmness. “I expected a fight.”
I shrugged, casually placing the chopped peppers into a bowl. “Why fight? You’ve made it clear where your priorities lie.”
“Is this about Megan?”
“This isn’t about Megan. It’s about you and me. About what we built… and what you destroyed.”
He stared at me, suspicion flickering in his eyes. “So you’re just… giving up? That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I’m not giving up. I’m moving on. There’s a difference.”
“To what? You think you can start over at fifty?”
“We’ll see,” I said, turning back to my cooking. “The papers are all in order. You get the company. I get the house. Clean break.”
“Fine. I’ll have my lawyer review these.”
“Of course.”
As Ethan turned to leave, he paused. “You know, you’re better off this way. You’re too emotional for business anyway.”
I didn’t even look up from the chopping board. “Goodbye, Ethan.”
One week later, the signing took place in Jack’s office. Ethan brought his lawyer, a sharply dressed woman who kept casting me pitying looks.
“This all seems in order,” she said, reviewing the documents. “Though I must say, this settlement greatly favors my client.”
“I’m aware,” I replied, taking the pen Jack handed me. “I just want this over with.”
Ethan watched me sign, a smug smile on his face. Once everything was signed and notarized, he extended his hand. “No hard feelings, Chloe. You built something special with Wildflower. I’ll take good care of it.”
“I’m sure you will.”
As we filed out of the conference room, Jack’s assistant handed Ethan a small gift box.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Just a parting gift,” I said, smiling sweetly. “For new beginnings.”
Three months later, I ran into Ethan at a coffee shop. The designer suits were gone, replaced by casual clothes that had seen better days. The swagger was gone, replaced by a tired slump.
He spotted me, hesitated, then approached.
“Chloe.”
We stood in awkward silence until the barista called my name. I picked up my coffee and turned back to him.
“How are you?”
“Been better,” he admitted, rubbing his neck. “The business… it’s gone. Bankruptcy.”
“I heard.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I bet you did. Funny how everything fell apart right after you left.”
“Is it?” I took a sip of my coffee, meeting his gaze steadily.
“You knew, didn’t you? About the tax issues, the supplier contracts?”
“I tried to tell you for years, Ethan. You never listened.”
“So this was revenge? For Megan?”
“No. This was a consequence. For taking credit for work you didn’t do. For thinking you were entitled to success you didn’t earn.”
His gaze softened, and for the first time, he seemed to see me.
“You’ve changed.”
“No,” I corrected him. “I’ve always been this person. You just never bothered to notice.”
Lisa walked in, waving when she saw me.
“I should go,” I said, smiling at her.
“Your team?” Ethan asked, his brow furrowing.
“Yes. My new company. We’re doing quite well. Turns out, I’m not ‘too emotional’ for business after all.”
I walked past him, then paused. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it ended this way.”
As I walked out with Lisa, I felt lighter than I had in years—not because of Ethan’s downfall, but because I’d finally stopped diminishing myself to accommodate his ego.
“Was that him?” Lisa asked.
“Ancient history,” I replied, linking my arm through hers. “Come on. We have a future to build.”
In the end, I didn’t need revenge. Justice had already done the job for me. Ethan had taken my business, but the real value had never been in the company. It had always been in me—and that was something he could never take away.
