Renee joined in, her voice shrill and pleading.
“Vivian, please open the door. Leo is still little. It’s freezing out here, and he can’t handle the cold.”
What did that have to do with me?
I simply shrugged.
“Dad! Make that mean woman open the door! I want to live in the big house! She won’t let me!”
Leo’s crying quickly turned into a full-blown tantrum, his screams grating against my nerves.
Ethan finally lost what little patience he had left.
He pulled out his phone and called me.
This time, I didn’t answer.
I blocked his number instead.
On the security feed, I watched Ethan call again and again. His face turned purple with rage when he realized he had been blocked.
Then he started kicking the door over and over.
I finally walked over and called through the door.
“Ethan, if you keep this up, I’m calling the police.”
The hallway went completely silent.
I could practically picture Ethan standing there with his face burning red, swallowing his rage.
Ethan cared more about his reputation than almost anything else.
He must have realized how humiliating this was, and he clearly didn’t want the police showing up.
Suddenly, he grabbed Renee by the arm.
“Let’s go.”
“Ethan, we’re really just going to leave like this?”
Renee clearly wasn’t ready to give up.
Ethan shot her a vicious glare.
She immediately fell silent, grabbed the still-crying Leo, and followed him toward the elevator.
Just before stepping inside, Ethan turned around and glared at the door.
“Vivian, this isn’t over!”
I rolled my eyes.
Not over?
He had no idea.
This wasn’t over for me either.
What happened next would depend entirely on what I decided to do.
The next morning, I went to Ethan’s office and handed him the divorce papers.
He barely glanced at them before scoffing.
“Are you seriously doing this? Do you have any idea how many women would kill to be my wife? What exactly are you unhappy about? Renee is soft and easygoing. She’ll never threaten your position as my legal wife.”
I rolled my eyes, dropped the divorce papers on his desk, and walked away.
I had barely stepped out of his office when Ethan’s assistant came rushing in.
His face was completely drained of color.
“Mr. Bennett, all the funds under your name have been frozen by the bank!”
Ethan froze.
For a moment, he looked as though he had misheard.
“What did you just say?”
The major project Ethan was currently working on was a gamble he had staked his entire fortune on.
If he won, Ethan would finally break into the upper echelons of society.
But if his funding collapsed, the project would fall apart. He would owe an enormous amount in damages, and the company itself could be dragged into bankruptcy.
I stopped walking.
A faint smile touched my lips.
Ethan couldn’t take this project any further.
Which meant it was mine now.
I’d known exactly what would happen once his assets were frozen.
I’d already reached out to several of the investors behind the project and, using my father’s name, secured the investment myself.
I picked up my pace and walked out of the building.
Ethan had been a broke college student from a tiny town.
Without my parents’ support, he never would have made it this far.
My parents had provided the startup capital that launched his company. They had also stepped in again and again when his business needed help, giving him opportunities and connections he never could have secured on his own.
The moment he’d achieved a little success, he had started believing he was untouchable.
He’d forgotten who had helped him build everything in the first place.
That night, Ethan showed up at my parents’ company looking for me.
Security stopped him at the entrance.
He looked like a maniac, shouting and struggling against the guards.
“Where’s Vivian? Get her out here! Vivian! Was this you? Come out here right now!”
The commotion drew the attention of everyone nearby.
I stood behind the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down coldly at the man having a complete meltdown in the lobby.
Half an hour later, a lawyer appeared in front of Ethan.
I watched as the lawyer dropped a thick stack of documents onto the table between them.
“Mr. Bennett, these documents contain evidence of your infidelity during the marriage and your illegal transfer of marital assets.”
Ethan’s rage faded almost immediately.
He picked up the documents and began flipping through them.
With every page, the color drained further from his face.
The lawyer continued.
“There’s something else. Thirty percent of your company was funded by Ms. Sinclair’s parents before your marriage. Those shares are considered premarital assets. Sinclair Group has already filed suit demanding that you return the full amount, along with interest.”