Divorced and Devoured: Wanted by my Ex-Husband and His Rival

After five years together with my husband, he handed me a set of divorce papers with a look of chilling indifference. It took only two months for everything I knew to be reduced to ashes. First, my older sister, Janet Miller, suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. Then, my brother-in-law, Edward, was arrested and thrown into a jail cell. And through it all, my husband, Michael Smith, had completely ignored me as he was too busy taking over my family’s pharmaceutical company and naming himself the new CEO. Now, I stood in the cold wind at the city cemetery, preparing to bury my sister all alone. Janet wasn't just a sister to me, but everything—our parents died when I was very young, and she raised me. She was a fierce perfectionist, the brilliant CEO of the company she inherited from our late parents. Her husband, Edward, was the lead scientist. Together, they worked hard to give me a life of luxury. I was raised to look perfect on the outside, but the ugly truth was, I was a spoiled brat, a wealthy socialite who had only ever known money, high fashion, and easy days and never suffered a single hardship in my life. But I loved Janet more than anyone else in the world, and losing her broke me in ways I never knew possible. As the sun began to set, the few guests started to whisper as we had been waiting by the grave for two hours, but there was no sign of Michael, my husband. "How long are we going to wait?" someone muttered behind me. "Will he really come? Didn't he just hand over the evidence that put Edward behind bars?" "Look at social media," another guest whispered. "Michael is at the pharmaceutical award show right now. He is with Hailey, the company's brand ambassador. Look at them." My eyes fluttered, fighting back the tears. My hands trembled as I pulled out my phone, and I saw my husband was walking the red carpet with Hailey. They looked like the perfect power couple. Michael was the kind of man who drew eyes without even trying. As for Hailey, she was a top actress. She rose to fame with her hard work. A self made A listing actress. They look better together, like they belong. Why did I even bother waiting for him? Despite everything, a naive and pathetic part of me had hoped he would come to hold my hand and tell me everything would be okay. I needed him so badly right now. I am breaking apart. This life…it is just so hard to live … I had fought so hard for his love for Back at our university, where we first met, Michael was the top pharmacy student. He was brilliant, quiet, and the only boy who never gave me any attention. Even though I was rich and beautiful, he ignored me completely. His indifference drove me crazy. I wanted the one man I couldn't easily have. I chased him, and slowly, I made him fall in love with me. Or so I thought. But being with Michael actually made my bad habits worse. Janet used to complain to him all the time. "Do not spoil her so much," she would warn him. "She needs to learn how the real world works." But Michael never listened. He made sure I never had to want anything. He spoiled me absolutely rotten, letting me live as a pampered trophy wife with zero responsibilities. Trusting him because he made me so happy, Janet gave Michael a high-level job at the company. He proved himself, working hard and rising to the top. Now, Janet was dead. Michael had stolen the company left to us by our parents. And Edward was sitting in a jail cell, accused of trying to steal company formulas. Edward blamed me for all of it. When I visited him in jail, the hatred in his eyes was terrifying. "You brought that snake into our home," Edward had screamed at me. "You brought him in, and you killed my wife! I will never forgive you!" "Let's bury her," I finally told the priest. I did not kill my sister. She died because of a heartattack but Edward could not accept it. An hour later, the coffin was in the ground. When everyone else had left, I finally wept. I cried for my sister, I cried for Edward's hatred, and I cried because of my husband's betrayal. "Jessica, what will you do now?" Ava, my best friend/Edward’s adopted sister, asked softly. She is the only one who trusted me and stood by my side. "I don't know," I answered, staring blankly at the dirt. "Honestly, I don't know." *** Back at our penthouse, I waited. I waited for Michael to come home, to hold me tight, and to tell me that the rest of the world was lying. But Michael did not come home that night. Or the next. I waited for a whole week in that empty apartment. I barely ate, and I couldn't sleep. Ava, my best friend—and the only family I had been left with—never left my side. We hugged each other and cried every single night until there were no tears left. But after seven days of agonizing silence, I had had enough. The next morning, I drove straight to the company’s headquarters. The moment I stepped through the glass doors, the memories of Janet rushed over me. I could barely breathe as I rode the elevator up. When I stepped onto the executive floor that once belonged to my sister, Michael's assistant, Tom, saw me coming and leaped out from behind her desk in a panic. "Mrs. Smith, wait! You can't enter the CEO's office right now!" "Watch me," I snapped. "I am still his wife." I pushed open the doors to Janet's old office and instantly froze. Michael wasn't working. Hailey was on his lap in my sister's chair, her blouse pushed off her shoulders. Thud. I dropped my purse in shock. Hearing the sound, they jumped apart. For a split second, a flash of genuine panic crossed Michael’s face. He looked as if he was about to jump up and explain. But then, he simply leaned back, settling comfortably into Janet's chair, while Hailey rushed to pull up her blouse. "I hope you won't misunderstand, Jessie," Hailey purred, "I just fell... if you don't trust me, you can ask Mike." Mike. Since when did anyone else call him Mike? My heart ached. I felt sick to my stomach. "Mike, please explain it to Jessie," she added, batting her eyelashes. Hailey wasn't just an employee. She was one of my closest friends. I was the one who had begged and pleaded with Janet to make her the brand ambassador. I gave her this life, completely blind to the fact that she would be the first snake to bite me. "No need," Michael said. His voice was so cold that I didn't even recognize it as belonging to the man I loved. "Get out," I snapped. Hailey looked between us. When she saw that Michael wasn't going to defend her or say anything else, she picked up her bag. "I'll see you at your mother's house tonight, Mike," she chirped, making sure I heard every single word. "She texted me earlier. She said she is so happy to finally have me over for dinner." Michael didn't look away from me as he answered her. "See you tonight, Hailey." Over the years, Michael's mother had always treated me politely, but she never truly liked me. She kept me at a cold distance. Now I knew why. They had all been laughing at me behind my back. She preferred Hailey over me—the polite, self-made girl who came from nothing, rather than the spoiled, demanding, and assertive socialite she saw me as. Once Hailey strutted out of the office, I stared at the stranger sitting at my dead sister's desk, and I finally found my voice. "Mike... Michael... how could you do this?" "Let's get this over with," Michael said. His voice was calm, devoid of the warmth I had come to rely on for five years. He casually reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a document, and tossed it onto the glass table between us. "Sign the divorce papers."