The file contained highly confidential business intel—enough to crush Whitmore Holdings if it fell into the wrong hands.
This time, I wouldn’t let that happen.
I would take it first. I would be prepared.
But the moment I sat down at the desk, my breath hitched.
The wedding photo of Nathaniel and me was gone—replaced by a framed picture of Delilah, smiling with wide, innocent eyes.
It was a quiet, brutal declaration: my marriage was over.
I pushed the bitterness down and began searching through the drawers until I found the file.
Locked.
There was a password.
Panic clawed up my throat as I tried every possible code tied to Nathaniel—his birthday, mine, anniversaries, his mother’s name—but nothing worked.
Then, without thinking, my fingers tapped out a random string of numbers.
The screen flashed.
Password correct.
My heart stopped.
It was the day Nathaniel met Delilah.
Suddenly, everything blurred.
A soft voice broke the silence behind me.
“It’s late. Still awake, baby?”
I turned. He leaned against the door, half-smiling, mischief dancing in his eyes.
“Are you jealous, baby?” he asked, stepping into the room.
I took a deep breath and met his gaze coldly.
“You said she was just an insignificant intern.”
He shrugged, the look on his face strangely helpless. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Every time I see her, I feel… happy. I want to be near her all the time. It’s like I’ve been poisoned.”
Then he stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“But don’t worry. No one will ever replace you in my heart.”
He brushed against me deliberately, voice dipping even lower.
“Baby… It’s been a long time since we’ve been together. Don’t you want to?”
Disgust flashed through me.
I stepped back and pulled out a document I’d prepared earlier. “Here,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow, amused. “What’s this? Something you want? Fine, I’ll buy it for you. Anything at all.”
Without even reading it, he scrawled his signature across the page.
Goal achieved, I ducked under his arm and slipped past him, feigning fatigue.
“I’m tired. Maybe next time.”
Other women might burn themselves just to keep a man warm.
I wouldn’t be one of them.
Behind my back, I clutched the divorce agreement, a sharp thrill rising in my chest.
I was finally free.
---
A week later, Nathaniel flew abroad for a business reception. Delilah couldn’t join him—her passport application hadn’t come through yet.
So she stayed. And she made herself right at home.
She gave orders to the servants like a queen in her palace, sticking her nose in every corner of the house.
Grumbling spread like wildfire.
Mrs. Watkins came rushing to me one morning, flustered and out of breath.
“Madam, you must come quickly! Miss Vance said the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard was an eyesore and insisted on moving it. We tried to stop her, but she dragged a ladder over and climbed it herself. She says she’s ‘trimming the branches bit by bit!’”
My heart dropped.
That cherry blossom tree had been planted by my parents on our wedding day. They said it would protect me for life.
Now, Delilah was up there with garden shears, pretending to prune, but really just staking her claim.
I rushed outside and stood beneath the ladder.
“Come down,” I said calmly.
She glanced at me, defiant.
But then she spotted something behind me—a shadow moving in the distance.
She let out a sudden scream and threw herself backward.
“Ahhh!”
I watched, stunned, as she fell dramatically—straight into Nathaniel’s waiting arms.
The ladder buckled and slammed into me.
Pain exploded in my skull. Blood trickled down my forehead.
I staggered, trying to stay upright, as Nathaniel’s enraged voice pierced the air.
“Elena! Must you always make things difficult for her?”
“She fell from that height! She could’ve died!”
My voice trembled as I tried to speak.
“It… it was an accident. I didn’t—”
“Don’t play innocent!” he snapped. “I know that ladder was replaced recently. You had someone grease the steps. You wanted her to fall. You wanted her hurt!”
