Chapter 6
561words
He sat in darkness all night, remorse and pain gnawing at his soul like twin vipers. He had brutally hurt a woman he claimed to hate—yet his body instinctively yearned to protect her.
The next morning, they faced each other across the long dining table, the air between them so thick it could be wrung like a wet cloth.
Adrian watched Ella, her meticulous makeup failing to hide her pallor. Her coffee cup trembled slightly in her hand, betraying her weakness. He saw her take a medicine bottle from her purse, shake out a white pill, and swallow it without expression.
Questions flooded his mind, but he couldn't voice a single one. Last night's events had carved an unbridgeable chasm between them.
Ella had also spent a sleepless night. Physical pain and heartache convinced her things couldn't continue this way. She texted her assistant: "Emergency trust committee meeting. Three hours. Notify everyone."
Her plan needed acceleration.
Three hours later, in the Grayson Group's top-floor boardroom:
When Ella entered arm-in-arm with a stone-faced Adrian, every director's gaze locked onto them.
Ella took the head chair, her posture regal.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she surveyed the room, her quiet voice carrying undeniable authority, "I've called this meeting for one purpose—I'm requesting early termination of my marriage agreement with Mr. Adrian Grayson."
Her announcement dropped like a stone in still water, ripples of shock spreading outward.
Adrian's head snapped toward her, eyes wide with disbelief. "What did you say?"
Ella ignored him, projecting a document onto the screen. "As you know, Croft Group is our primary competitor. This document shows that for six months, I've been using my position to secretly orchestrate a leveraged buyout of Croft Group, planning to merge both companies under Vance Family control."
Lies. Cold, vicious, yet seemingly flawless lies.
"There's more," Ethan Shaw stood, face grave with apparent concern, distributing another document. "This report proves Ella has been funneling assets to Vance Group through related-party transactions. She's been a corporate spy from day one!"
Adrian's mind went blank. He caught Ethan and Ella exchanging an almost imperceptible glance. They were working together?
"Why?" He finally croaked, turning to Ella.
Ella finally looked at him. Her gaze was arctic, as if regarding a stranger.
"Why?" She laughed softly. "Adrian, you're still so naive. For profit, of course."
The last glimmer of hope died by her own hand.
So everything last night had been an act.
"Now, I'm ending this charade." Ella stood and, before everyone, took divorce papers from the lawyer, picked up a pen, and signed without hesitation.
She tossed the signed document in front of Adrian like discarding trash.
"I'm relinquishing most assets, requesting only a 'reasonable severance,'" she looked down at him, enunciating each word. "Then we'll owe each other nothing."
Adrian felt his heart crumble to dust.
As humiliation and pain overwhelmed him, Ella's lawyer stepped forward:
"Mr. Grayson, state law mandates a 90-day waiting period after filing for divorce. During this time, your marriage remains legally valid, and all Trust Agreement provisions stay in effect. After 90 days, the divorce becomes final automatically."
Adrian's head snapped up.
Waiting period? He'd have to spend ninety more days living with the woman who'd just publicly humiliated him?
This wasn't a waiting period—it was ninety days of purgatory.
***
