"I know Natalie can't accept me or my son. I understood that seven years ago. That's why I did everything you asked: I stayed far away, lived in another city, and kept my distance. But when you suddenly said you'd bring me here, I thought… I thought we could finally be together and that this was finally our chance. But after seeing how she looks at us…" She choked on a sob, voice trembling. "Charles, send me and Orion back, okay? I don't want to stay here, watching my child live under someone else's shadow."
Her sobs grew heavier, and Charles panicked, rushing to reassure her.
"Eleanor, look at me." His voice was firm, desperate. "Orion is our son, he is not some substitute for regret. I love you. I love our child. I have never neglected you, and I never will. Everything I have, everything I can give, belongs to you and Orion."
"You don't need to care about her attitude! This is my home. A house I bought. My family. No one here will dare treat you or Orion unfairly." His voice softened as he brushed a hand over her trembling frame. "Be good, don't overthink. The baby in your belly doesn't want to see his mother sad either."
Every word sliced through me like a blade, cutting so deep I could barely breathe.
Of course. Every brick and tile in this house belonged to Charles; what did any of it have to do with me?
I let out a bitter laugh, the taste of irony sharp on my tongue.
After Eleanor and her son left, I pulled out the divorce papers I had prepared long ago and placed them before him.
"Sign them."
Charles barely spared them a glance before grabbing his coat, brushing past me as if I were nothing more than an afterthought.
"Natalie, you're not young anymore. Next year, you'll be forty. Stop joking around."
"We've been married for twenty years. If we divorce now, what do you think the media and business world will say about me?"
I scoffed. So that was what our marriage had become, just another carefully managed public image.
Everything had changed the moment success found us.
Ten years ago, the deal I personally secured had turned our struggling company into the city's leading enterprise.
But when it came time to divide power, Charles and I had different visions.
I wanted to be a general manager and keep building what I had helped create.