When I received yet another luxury gift from Ethan, I handed him the divorce papers. His expression didn’t even flicker. He calmly told me to think it over. I didn’t waste my breath. I turned around, hired a lawyer to draft the final agreement, and posted a divorce countdown on Instagram. When our mutual friends and family saw it, they called me dramatic and accused me of picking a fight over nothing. My parents even went to his place to apologize to him on my behalf. Only my best friend, Chloe, stood firmly by my side. She ignored the breach-of-contract fees, canceled all her upcoming modeling gigs, and spent her own money to take me on a road trip to clear my head. That was until the very last day before our divorce was officially finalized. On our drive back, Chloe was fast asleep in the passenger seat. Her phone kept buzzing on the dashboard. Fearing the noise would wake her, I reached over to grab it. In my haste, my finger accidentally swiped the screen and answered the call. In the quiet car, Ethan’s deep, impatient voice echoed through the speakers: “The Birkin you wanted is finally here. This time, you don’t have to settle for the cheap filler items I had to buy to qualify for it. I picked out a designer necklace to go with it instead. I’ll give the leftover junk to Claire.”
Chloe got carsick easily. She had rolled down the window for some fresh air before falling asleep with her head resting on my lap. Right now, the cold wind cut through the gap in the window, chilling me straight to the bone. My body shook uncontrollably. I could barely hold the phone. Whatever Ethan was saying after that, I couldn’t hear. My mind had gone completely blank. After what felt like an eternity, Ethan finally realized something was wrong on the other end. He asked cautiously, “…Claire?” I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady. “It’s me. She’s asleep.” The line went dead silent for a few seconds. Then, Ethan lowered his voice. “I can explain.” I asked, “Is there any point?” Ethan instantly panicked. “Don’t you dare take this out on her!” After a pause, he quickly added, “Tell me what you want. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll give it to you!” I dazed out for a second. The Ethan in my memory was always calm, detached, and utterly stoic. Even when I got hit by a car a few years ago, he calmly negotiated the compensation with the driver on the spot. He didn’t back down an inch, leaving me sitting on the curb, dizzy and bleeding. It was only when I fainted from blood loss that his face showed a hint of worry. I had always thought he was just wired that way—emotionally stunted, but not unloving. Yet here he was, losing his absolute mind over Chloe. The difference between love and indifference was so glaringly obvious. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. I looked down at Chloe, who was sleeping peacefully on my lap, completely oblivious. “I want the Whispering Pines Estate,” I said. Ethan’s voice hardened. “Are you intentionally trying to make things difficult for me?” “I already gave that house to Chloe. Choose something else. Or I can wire you the equivalent in cash.” I fell silent. No wonder when I FaceTimed Chloe last time, her new place looked so familiar. The Whispering Pines Estate was supposed to be our marital home. I personally supervised the design of that house, but I never got to live in it after the renovation. The location was too secluded, and the mansion was too massive and empty. Ethan was always flying across the country, staying at his various properties, never tying himself down to one place. As for me, I had bought a cozy apartment near my office before our marriage. I didn’t see the point of living in a giant, empty house alone. I never imagined my compromise would end up accommodating him and Chloe. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. The sharp pain brought me back to reality. “I’ll give you three days,” I said coldly. “Take back everything you gave her, and we will redraw the asset division.” Ethan’s breathing turned heavy. “Is this really necessary, Claire?” “When she accepted those gifts, she was constantly worried I was treating you poorly. She literally begged me to buy things for you too. Why can’t you be as big-hearted and generous as she is?” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Recently, Ethan had given me ten luxury gifts. It started with a pair of designer socks, then a notebook, a desk globe, and finally, a keychain. They were all cheap, hard-to-sell filler items that high-end boutiques force customers to buy so they can get their hands on the popular bags. He gave the stunning, highly-coveted bags to Chloe, and tossed the leftover junk to me. And yet, he praised Chloe for being “generous.” “If you don’t want to do it,” I said, “I can wake her up right now and have her return everything to me directly.” Ethan backed down. “Give me a little time,” he muttered. He hung up, and the car fell silent again. I leaned down and slipped the phone back into Chloe’s pocket. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her eyelashes trembling. She had been awake the whole time. She just didn’t dare to open her eyes.
I patted Chloe’s shoulder and said casually, “Since you’re awake, let’s talk about you and Ethan.” Chloe flinched. She sat up slowly, her face pale. “Claire, I am so sorry. I swear I never wanted to hurt you. I just…” Before she could finish, the car suddenly pulled over, and someone began banging violently on the door. I turned my head and saw Ethan standing outside, his face pale with anxiety as he shouted my name. It was pouring rain. His usually immaculate hair was soaked and plastered to his forehead. His light-colored designer suit was ruined, clinging to his skin. He looked incredibly disheveled, completely ignoring his public image. And he did all of this just because he was terrified I would hurt Chloe. The driver unlocked the door. Ethan immediately pulled Chloe out of the car, frantically checking her over to make sure she wasn’t hurt. He gently patted her head. “Go home first. I’ll handle this and come find you.” Chloe tugged at his sleeve and shot me a guilty look. “Talk to her nicely. Don’t make her feel bad.” We moved our conversation to a quiet, private cafe nearby. Ethan sat across from me with his lawyer. The lawyer was droning on about legal jargon that sounded like white noise to my ears. Ethan was chain-smoking, one cigarette after another. Through the thick haze of smoke, he looked exhausted and incredibly annoyed. Ethan and I grew up together. When he skipped grades in school, I was playing house with kids my age. When he was winning national academic awards, I was sneaking into clubs with upperclassmen. When his parents died in a car crash on their way to file for divorce, leaving him orphaned, it was my family who took him in. From that day on, we became family. Later, when he was diagnosed with an emotional detachment disorder, I dedicated my entire life to him. Even after we got married, I constantly tolerated his coldness. Knowing him for so many years, I could tell he was incredibly irritated that this divorce was wasting his precious time. I suddenly asked, “Why Chloe?” The lawyer stopped talking. Ethan raised his head. He frowned, stubbing out his cigarette. “Does that even matter?” I nodded. He stared at me for a few seconds, then let out a cold laugh. “You always hyper-focus on the wrong things, Claire. The divorce is happening anyway. Who cares who it is? It doesn’t change how much money you’ll get.” “I’m only offering you a fifty-fifty split because of our history. If it were anyone else, I would make sure they walked away with absolutely nothing.” I stayed silent, staring at him stubbornly. “If I hadn’t hyper-focused on things, would you and Chloe even know each other?” Chloe transferred to our high school in her sophomore year. Her father was a notorious con artist whose multi-million-dollar fraud case made national headlines. After he was arrested, Chloe and her mother fled to our small town to escape the shame. Her mother couldn’t take the trauma and lost her mind. Her family literally kept her chained inside the house. Chloe was severely bullied and isolated at school. In sheer despair, she stood on the edge of the school rooftop one afternoon. I was the one who pulled her back. I was the one who chose to be her friend. Once a pampered princess, Chloe became incredibly fragile and insecure after her fall from grace. She clung to me like a lifeline. When Ethan came back from an academic competition and found out what I did, he pulled me aside. “Can’t you see she’s just using you?” he had said coldly. “She knows being near her makes people bully you too, yet she won’t keep her distance. She doesn’t view you as a friend. Wake up, Claire!” Back then, I thought he was heartless. He thought I was stupid, and he never gave Chloe a kind look. Chloe was terrified of him too. She even told me Ethan had privately threatened her to stay away from me. For years, from high school to our careers, they were like oil and water. Even when Ethan and I got married, Chloe refused to attend. She said she couldn’t stand seeing Ethan’s face. Ethan had grabbed my phone and texted her back: The feeling is entirely mutual! But now, they were a team, and I was the outsider. Ethan suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up. “Every time we argue, you bring up what your family did for me!” “Let me ask you, who paid for your parents’ medical bills when they got sick? When you made that massive mistake at work, who pulled strings to save you?” “If we’re keeping score, Claire, you owe me things you can never repay in this lifetime!” He turned to his lawyer. “Forget the asset split. I want her to walk away empty-handed!”
I dragged my exhausted body back to my apartment, only to receive a phone call from my parents. “Your father and I have lost all our dignity because of you!” my mom sobbed through the screen. “If you go through with this ridiculous divorce, don’t even think about calling us your parents again!” My mom was crying hysterically on FaceTime, while my dad sat beside her, silently smoking. “You were the one who begged us to let you marry him! It hasn’t even been that long, and now you’re throwing a tantrum and demanding a divorce!” They were right. When Ethan proposed to me, they finally found out we had been dating secretly for eight years. They were furious and strongly opposed the marriage. My parents had asked Ethan to leave so they could have a heart-to-heart with me. They said that after eight years of dating, Ethan had never once introduced me to his professional circle or public life. He was hiding me. “He doesn’t value this relationship,” my mom had warned. “If you marry him, it will not end well.” But I didn’t listen. I insisted on marrying Ethan. Without my parents’ blessing, we had a rushed, quiet wedding. It was only when my parents fell ill and Ethan paid for top specialists to treat them that they finally accepted him. The final grudge disappeared when I was framed for a massive financial error at my firm. Ethan spent a fortune and used all his connections to clear my name and keep me out of prison. I lowered my head. “I’m sorry, Mom. Dad.” My mother’s voice softened, her tone thick with tears. “We only say these things because we’re worried about you, sweetie.” “We’re just terrified that you’re acting on pure emotion. You say you want a divorce now, but what if you regret it later?” I shook my head. “I won’t.” Right after the call ended, I received a text from Chloe. [Claire, I’ve already talked to Ethan. He’ll sign the agreement and give you every penny you deserve.] [But please, don’t fight me for the Whispering Pines Estate. It’s filled with so many precious gifts Ethan bought for me. I can’t let it go.] [If you agree, we can still be friends. When Ethan and I have our baby, we can even make you the godmother, okay?] Every single word was a slap in the face. The room was pitch black. I stared at my phone, the screen illuminating the tears running down my face. I instinctively tried to call Ethan, but the call was blocked instantly. I had been blocked long ago. Before he started giving me those filler gifts, I had taken a vacation to visit him at his clinic. Several times, I smelled expensive women’s perfume in his private lounge. I asked his assistant, but she ignored me. I tried to check his phone when he was in surgery, but it was locked. I ended up screaming and throwing a tantrum in his office like a crazy person. He didn’t explain. He simply called security and had me escorted out. We spent the next few months in a cold war. Then, he suddenly came back to my apartment and started showering me with luxury gifts. I thought it was his way of apologizing. After all, in our years together, he rarely bought me anything. He didn’t care about holidays or anniversaries. If a problem could be solved with a wire transfer, he wouldn’t waste his energy on it. Until one day, I wore those designer socks and used that designer keychain to work. A colleague of mine, who was a luxury enthusiast, asked me what major purchase I had made to get so many filler items. I only knew luxury brands by their logos. It was only after she explained that I learned what “quota spending” meant. To buy the highly coveted, rare bags, customers had to spend thousands on useless companion items first. I had never received a single popular bag. But when Chloe FaceTimed me, she often showed off her walk-in closet. The entire wall was lined with limited-edition bags and stunning dresses. I felt all the strength drain from my body. With trembling fingers, I texted her back: “When did you two start sleeping together behind my back?”
[Honestly, we have you to thank for it. Remember when I was rejected at that movie audition and wanted to get plastic surgery? You took me to Ethan’s clinic for a consultation.] [You two were on the verge of breaking up back then. I felt so bad for him. He was this brilliant, handsome man being taken for granted by someone as ordinary as you. I comforted him, and after a while, he agreed to see me privately.] I stared at the screen, my mind racing back to that time. Ethan was always so busy. So busy he forgot my birthday, forgot our anniversary, and blew off the vacation we had planned for months. I had cried and screamed at him, “I understand you’re busy! But couldn’t you have told me earlier that you couldn’t make it?” “Why did you let me get so excited, only to cancel on me at the very last second?” “Am I not even worth a two-minute phone call to explain?” Ethan’s response was always silence. That time was no different. In a fit of rage, I threw the flowers he brought in his face and demanded a break up. I blocked his number. Then, Chloe came to me crying, saying she was deeply insecure about her face and wanted to get some work done. She asked if I knew any reliable plastic surgeons. The only person I could think of was Ethan, who was already making a name for himself in the industry. Stupidly, I brought Chloe to his clinic. Ethan was completely professional during the consultation, outlining a few procedures for her. But I distinctly remembered Chloe complaining about his “terrible, rigid aesthetic” the entire ride home. That night, Ethan came to my apartment to beg for my forgiveness. He also warned me to stay away from Chloe. He didn’t give me a reason. Furious, I threw his flowers at him again, accusing him of trying to ruin my only friendship. Because of my defense, he began interacting with Chloe out of spite. In the end, I was the only clown in their game. I didn’t sleep at all that night. I packed every single thing belonging to Ethan into boxes and stacked them outside my door. When I heard a loud knock on the door the next morning, I thought it was the junk removal service. But when I opened it, I was met with Ethan’s furious, pale face. “When did you find out about the baby?” He grabbed my collar tightly, his cold voice trembling with a hint of panic. I was stunned. “What baby?” “Where did you hide Chloe and my child? Claire, how can you be so vicious? If you want something, just say it to my face! Why do you have to play these disgusting, underhanded games?!” A loud ringing echoed in my ears, and my vision went blurry. The man who had promised me we would live a child-free life had a baby with someone else.
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