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972words
The "animal" followed us out.
The animal used the tone I hadn’t heard in months—pleading, almost broken.
"I didn't mean it! Liam, please believe me! I never thought you were... like that! I swear!"
Evelyn sounded on the verge of tears.
"I never felt that way about you!"
She reached for my hand. I slapped it away. "You'll be hearing my lawyer's papers soon enough," I stated coldly.
As Evelyn tried to follow, Alex rolled down the window and yelled back toward Owen who was stumbling out behind her.
"Animal! Animal! ANIMAL!" he bellowed.
We drove for hours, circling Riverside with no real destination.
The familiar streets blurred under the streetlights. Memories flooded back,my mother dying that night trying to save me.
Evelyn finding me afterward, shattered and empty, her arms tightening around me as she swore, "Liam! I'll love you like your mother did! I will love you! I'll love you forever!"
I believed her.
I poured my inheritance –everything my mom left me – into our education, our future, Evelyn's startup. I stood by her as she climbed from nothing to CEO.
There’s an old saying, People love you most when they have nothing.Money changes everything.
I refused to believe it. I fought, I argued, I wanted to prove everyone wrong.
Then reality slapped me hard.
Emotional affair? Distracted heart? Technical fidelity?
None of it mattered. Her loyalty wasn’t mine anymore.
It was time to cut my losses.
"Take me to the law firm," I told Alex.
Alex knew the best divorce lawyer in Riverside—James Carter. Ruthless. Efficient. He took my documents, formulated a strategy overnight, and we moved immediately.
The next morning, we walked into Ward Enterprises (formerly Shaw-Ward Holdings) and made my position clear, "I'm selling my shares. All of them. To the highest bidder."
The boardroom erupted.
Everyone knew the company's success was built on the connections and capital my parents had left me—not just Evelyn's hustle.
My exit threatened everything.
When Evelyn finally showed up at the emergency board meeting, she wasn't alone.
Owen stood beside her, face bandaged like a mummy.
"Liam."
Evelyn looked exhausted, reeking faintly of hospital antiseptic – straight from Owen's bedside.
"When will this going to end? Selling your shares... have you thought about what that does to the company?" she pleaded. "What good does this even do you?"
My response was ice. "Sell the shares, or sign the divorce papers. Pick one."
The board members’ eyes snapped toward Evelyn. Their looks could kill..
"Ms. Shaw," one older investor began, voice tight, "your personal life is none of our business. But when it threatens the stability of this company, we must speak up."
Others chimed in. "What do you see in that assistant?!" "Fix this! Now!" "Seriously, Evelyn! Owen's nowhere near Liam's league! You've gone blind!"
Owen, hidden behind bandages, seemed to shrink.
"Careful," I said coolly. "Crying might infect those scratches. Ruin that pretty face for good."
Owen's visible eye widened in panic, a choked sob escaping his gauze-covered mouth.
I smirked.
Owen then tried his old routine, voice muffled but oozing fake concern, "Liam, I already resigned. Evelyn said she can't lose you. You win. I'm leaving." He paused for effect.
"No need to keep up this charade. I just came to tell you," His tone shifted, laced with a subtle threat. "even though I could press charges for assault, I'm taking the high road... for Evelyn's sake. Don't push your luck. What goes around comes around, Liam. Karma's a bitch."
Karma?
The hypocrisy almost made me laugh.
But before I could fire back, Evelyn cut in, her voice strained with exhaustion and misplaced affection.
"I'll step back. Focus on us. I'll hire a female assistant. No more contact with anyone who makes you uncomfortable. Will that satisfy you?"
The sheer arrogance took my breath away. Did she really think this was all some attention-seeking game?
Alex spoke for me, sarcasm dripping,
"Oh, Sacrifice Queen! How about you start by magically gluing Liam’s mother’s bracelet back together?" He leaned forward.
"Y'know, when people screw up, their conscience fights them. Decent folks feel guilt. You? You're just a proud, delusional peacock, strutting around thinking Liam's still orbiting your miserable little world! Screw you!"
I did laugh then—a sharp, painful sound that almost turned into tears.
I slid the divorce papers across the glossy table.
"Sign. Or," I gestured towards the hostile board members, "I start the fire sale. Right now."
"Really? No room left?" Evelyn asked, her voice tight, face pale.
I met her gaze, unblinking. "I save my mercy for human beings. Sign." I held her stare. "Before I change my mind about the price."
I got my divorce.
Leaving the boardroom, I could still hear the investors tearing into Evelyn, Owen's voice trembling with poorly hidden glee as he told her, "Even if the whole world turns against you, Evelyn, I'll be right here by your side."
Even if the whole world turns against you... I'll be right here...
The echo of my own promise, years ago, hit me like a punch.
When Evelyn was sixteen, she got beaten out of her defending me against ugly rumors.
I sat outside the ER, praying, bargaining, Just let her live. I'll give anything. Just let her live.
Later, she confessed. We became partners.
Alex had warned me,"People change when they succeed."
I'd insisted, "Evelyn's different."
Standing there after signing the papers, I felt hollow. "There are no exceptions," I told Alex later that night over whiskey. "My father proved that. I just refused to learn."
Alex threw an arm around my shoulders. "Buddy, we all crash sometimes. Pain teaches us. No pain, no lesson. This?" He squeezed. "This is you growing the hell up."
