Chapter 5

The words "leaving with nothing" sent a shockwave through the room.

Ethan’s face twisted. "Chloe Vance, do you even hear yourself?"

I looked at him, completely calm. "You heard me. I want you to leave with absolutely nothing."

"Are you out of your mind?!" he hissed under his breath.

"I built this company with my own blood, sweat, and tears! On what grounds are you demanding my assets? Because of your baseless, paranoid accusations?!"

"Your blood, sweat, and tears?" I repeated softly.

"Ethan, did you forget where the seed money and the core technology for the company came from?"

"Did you forget how many times I had to bail you out of your own messes?"

I stared him down.

"Last year, when your terrible decision-making caused a massive cash flow crisis, who was the one who used her family connections to secure the emergency funding that saved us?"

"And now you think you own it all?"

I let out a cold chuckle.

"How do you sleep at night, using my family’s resources while gaslighting me like I’m an idiot?"

"I have never lied to you!" Ethan defended himself passionately. "Chloe, you can't just make things up because you're in a bad mood! You need proof!"

"Proof?" I looked at him and smirked.

"Don't worry. I have all the proof I need. It's coming."

"Right now, I just want to see your attitude. Are you going to sign, or not?"

My mother looked between the two of us, torn.

"Chloe, sweetie, please tell me what’s actually going on. You can't just get a divorce over a misunderstanding."

"But if you're saying it's because of the housekeeper... surely there’s a mistake?"

Ethan immediately seized on my mother’s doubt. "Mom! Exactly! Think about it!"

"Why would I ever do anything with her? What could I possibly gain from that?"

He pointed at Bertha, his voice dripping with insulted pride.

"Yes, I admit I’ve been busy and haven't been home much. But she can’t just slander me like this!"

Beside him, Bertha kept her head down, looking like a trembling, innocent victim.

"Fine!"

I finally spoke.

The room fell dead silent. Everyone stared at me.

"Since you all want a reason so badly, and since you're forcing me to drag this trash into the light..."

I took a deep breath, speaking clearly so everyone could hear:

"I’ll tell you exactly why I am divorcing this man!"