He Signed The Divorce And Now He Wants Me Back

Mia's POV "Sofia Ren just fits better beside Ethan Zhao. His wife looks like she wandered into the wrong event." I heard it from inside one of the bathroom stalls, it was one of the reporters whispering in the bathroom while I was fixing my lipstick in front of the mirror. "Honestly, I forgot he was even married." Another one said as the others laughed softly behind me. I froze for a second after hearing that, then I capped my lipstick, dropped it into my clutch, and I walked out without turning around. Only God knows if they know I was there or not. Outside, the gala was in full swing. This event had taken six months to prepare and despite being Ethan Zhao's wife, I had personally handled most of it myself. The venue, the seating arrangements, the catering, the media coordination, all of it. I had spent weeks on the phone with coordinators, stayed up past midnight reviewing guest lists, even drove to the venue twice myself when the florist made errors nobody else caught. Nobody knew that, of course because to the public I was simply the quiet wife who stood beside Shanghai's most powerful businessman and smiled on cue. Tonight, Ethan had barely looked at me once. The moment I stepped out of the bathroom, one of the event coordinators rushed toward me with panic written all over her face, whispering that there was a problem at Table Seven and one of the investors was threatening to leave. I followed her immediately, already pushing the ache behind my eyes to the back of my mind. Table Seven held several important foreign investors that Zhao Holdings had been trying to secure for months and one of them was already drunk and furious because he felt his seat had been downgraded. I spent almost twenty minutes calming him down, smiling, explaining the arrangement, ans making him feel important again. Just when things were settling, a wave of cameras came near the ballroom entrance which meant Sofia Ren had arrived. The entire room shifted and people stood, reporters pushed forward, even the investors at Table Seven forgot they were angry. My eyes went across the room and Ethan moved through the crowd toward her almost immediately. I could see how wide he smiled, a kind of smile he had never given to me. Sofia laughed softly at something he said and Ethan took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders because the ballroom was cold. I stood there as I thought about our first winter together. I had sat beside him at a dinner just like this one and I was freezing the entire night, kept rubbing my arms under the table trying to be discreet about it. He never noticed. I had to get home to ran a hot shower, told myself it was fine, he was just preoccupied and he would notice next time. There was no next time, he just never noticed. I turned back toward the room and kept walking. Sometime during the main speeches, one of the reporters doing a live segment near the stage laughed into his microphone and called Sofia "the future Mrs. Zhao" and the ballroom went quiet for a moment. I knew what it was and just gave a weird smile. Ethan said nothing, he just smiled politely and moved on pretending no one said anything. I was standing close enough that several people near me glanced over to check my face to see if I was fine but I just kept my face still. Then Chairman Zhao took the microphone for his speech. He talked about Zhao Holdings, the company's growth, the future, and then he paused he looked straight toward where Sofia was standing "And of course, tonight is made even more special by the return of someone very dear to this family. Shanghai has truly missed you, Sofia." He said Throughout the whole speech, he never mentioned me once. This was not new. Chairman Zhao had made it clear from the beginning that he considered me a temporary arrangement. Once, during a family dinner in our first year of marriage, he had referred to me as "Ethan's current wife" in front of three board members and laughed like it was a joke and nobody corrected him, not even Ethan. I had cried in the car on the way home that night as Ethan drove in silence without he saying any thing. Even when we got inside he said he was tired and went upstairs. I remember sitting in the kitchen alone until two in the morning. Back in the ballroom, a drunk investor suddenly grabbed my wrist while I was passing his table, laughing as he asked me to personally escort him upstairs to one of the private VIP suites. When I tried to pull away politely he tightened his grip and said, "Aren't you basically Zhao Holdings staff anyway?" He said and several people around us heard it and there was that horrible pause where everyone waits to see what happens next. I looked toward Ethan. He was talking to Sofia and hadn't seen it, or maybe he had and looked away, I honestly don't know which one was worse. One of the junior coordinators finally stepped in and distracted the man and I excused myself as I walked toward the corridor. A while later Ethan's assistant found me and explained in a rushed whisper that some confidential board documents had been left upstairs in Ethan's office before an emergency investor meeting. I said I would get them,mostly because I needed a reason to leave the ballroom for a few minutes. I walked down the corridor slowly and let myself breathe properly for the first time all evening. The office door was slightly open and that was when i could hear Sofia's voice inside. I stopped walking and looked through the gap. Ethan had his hand against her face and they were kissing. My mind went somewhere strange in that moment. I remembered our first year of marriage when I came down with a terrible fever. I was alone in the house, burning up, couldn't keep water down and even called Ethan three times. He had only sent the family doctor and didn't come home himself. I lay in that bed all night alone even though I was sweating through the sheets but I kept telling myself he was busy and that it was fine. I had spent three years making excuses for a man who was saving his tenderness for someone else. Then Ethan looked up and saw me standing in the doorway and he pulled back from Sofia slowly. The room went silent for a while. I then walked in, crossed to the desk, set the folders down and said, "Sorry for interrupting," and turned to leave. "Mrs. Zhao..." Sofia's voice stopped me at the door and i turned around. She looked at me for a while and she said, "Thank you for taking care of Ethan all these years." I looked at her for a moment. Then I smiled, said nothing and walked out.