The Wife He Regretted

Part 2: The Empire Behind His Wife

Three days after I left the hospital, Damien finally found me.

He stormed into Sterling Vale Capital with Sophie beside him, his expression dark with fury.

“You think you can sabotage my company and get away with it?” he demanded.

I didn’t even look up from the documents on my desk.

“Good afternoon to you, too, Damien.”

“Investors are withdrawing. Our partners are questioning agreements that have been in place for years. Fix this immediately.”

I slowly closed my folder.

“You divorced me, remember? Why would I help you?”

His face hardened.

“Because you lived in my penthouse for seven years. You enjoyed my money, my name, and my protection. The least you can do is show some gratitude.”

I almost laughed.

For seven years, I had watched him take credit for opportunities my father had provided. I had sat quietly while people praised his brilliance, never revealing how much of his success had come from my family’s support.

And now he wanted gratitude?

“You should speak to your lawyers,” I replied.

Sophie stepped forward, wearing an innocent smile.

“Emily, please don’t do this. Damien is under enormous pressure. We all know you’ve always been jealous of our professional relationship, but destroying his business won’t bring your marriage back.”

I finally looked at her.

“Is that what you told yourself while I was freezing on the balcony?”

Her smile faltered.

Damien immediately moved between us.

“Enough! Stop inventing stories to make Sophie look bad.”

I pressed a button on my desk.

The office screen came alive, displaying a security recording.

There was Sophie, locking the balcony door.

There was Sophie, watching me desperately pound on the glass.

And there was Sophie, closing the curtains.

Damien stared at the screen.

For the first time in seven years, he had no immediate answer.

“That’s been edited,” Sophie whispered.

“Really?” I asked. “Then you’ll have no problem explaining it to the police.”

Her face drained of color.

Damien turned toward her. “Sophie, tell me this isn’t real.”

She grabbed his arm.

“I was angry! She insulted me, and I only wanted to teach her a lesson. I never thought she would stay outside that long!”

“You locked her out for three days,” Damien said, his voice suddenly unsteady.

“I thought she had another way inside!”

I stood up.

“Stop pretending you care about what happened to me. You had seventy-two missed calls from your wife, Damien. You ignored every single one.”

He looked at me, and something resembling guilt crossed his face.

“Emily, I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t want to know.”

The silence that followed was heavier than any argument we had ever had.

Then Damien noticed the thick folder beside my hand.

“What is that?”

“My family’s financial agreements with Blackwood Holdings.”

He pulled the folder toward himself, scanning the first few pages. His expression changed with every paragraph.

“This can’t be right.”

“My father financed your company when it was collapsing. He gave you a chance to rebuild, and he secured that investment legally.”

“You’re saying your family owns part of my company?”

“I’m saying you should have read the contracts you signed.”

His hands tightened around the papers.

“You hid this from me.”

“No, Damien. My father gave you the documents. You simply never thought the woman you married was important enough to ask about them.”

He looked as though I had slapped him.

For seven years, he had believed I was an ordinary woman who had been fortunate enough to marry a billionaire.

Now he was discovering that I had never needed his fortune.

I had simply loved him.

And that had been my greatest mistake.

Damien lowered the folder.

“Emily, we can work this out. We don’t need to destroy each other.”

I studied the man who had watched me sign divorce papers while I was barely able to stand.

“You wanted a divorce. You got one.”

I turned toward the door.

“Now you can experience what your life looks like without me.”

As Damien left, Sophie remained behind for a moment.

Her sweet expression had vanished.

“You think you’ve won,” she hissed. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

I met her stare.

“Then why are you the one who’s afraid?”

She said nothing.

But as she hurried after Damien, I noticed her slipping a small envelope into her handbag.

And something told me that envelope contained the next secret she was desperate to hide.