Rise Of The Wasted Shadow Wife

Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

Laura stared at her laptop screen, reading every detail of the job offer email she had just received. After helping her client sue Axel's company and winning the case, Axel had offered her a job as a legal consultant for his company. The CEO's name was prominently displayed. Axel Anthony.

Laura smiled faintly-a smile that wasn't entirely happy. Instead, it was full of plans. Axel, the man she once loved, had ruined her life. Or at least, that's what Axel thought he had done.

Of course, no one knows that Laura is Alessia, Axel's ex-wife who disappeared several years ago after a bitter and secretive divorce. She returns with a new name, a slightly different face thanks to a minor medical procedure, and a perfectly designed legal identity, thanks to her connections in the legal world.

And now, the destiny or plan that he had carefully laid out over the years brought him right into the heart of Axel's power. his own company.

***

Axel looked at the woman in front of him with a professional gaze. He liked Laura's first impression: elegant, intelligent, and able to speak about the law with almost sinister precision.

"We need someone like you to fine-tune our contract structures and handle lawsuits from competitors," Axel said, offering his hand. "Welcome to the Anthony Group."

Laura shook his hand calmly, despite the turmoil in her heart.

"Thank you, Mr. Axel. I assure you that you will not be disappointed," Laura said in a soft voice that Axel did not recognize as Alessia's.

Laura started digging, opening internal company documents, reading between the lines of financial statements, and scrutinizing the digital footprint of old projects that Axel was trying to bury. She knew Axel's weaknesses: the blinding ambition and arrogance that made him feel immune to the law.

One by one, he began to find loopholes: small bribes on early projects and manipulative paperwork in a big merger last year. It's not illegal yet, but it's enough to bring down reputations. If pushed any further, this could turn into a criminal case.

***

Rain fell slowly on the window of Laura Setiawan's high-rise apartment. The drops danced on the glass, like old memories creeping silently back to the surface. She stood in front of her bookshelf, looking at the documents she had carefully organized over the past few weeks. They were arranged in a black folder with a small label. "Target A."

"Target A" was a code name, but he knew very well who the person behind it was. Axel Anthony.

Laura turned on the desk lamp, sat down slowly, and took a deep breath. On the screen of her laptop, the Anthony Group's internal corporate systems opened up, revealing a map of a highly complex legal structure with many loopholes. She was the only one who knew enough to trace its weak points.

"This system hasn't changed in five years..." she muttered as she typed away. "Axel always had too much faith in the loyalty of the people he paid so much money to, but he never thought about who holds the legal keys behind the scenes."

She opened an old merger document that Axel forced through to plug a financial leak after their private scandal broke. Laura closed the laptop slowly, her eyes staring blankly into the darkening night. Although her mind was full of strategies, her heart was beating harder than usual, especially since Axel started approaching her.

Not overtly, of course.

But from the way Axel looks at her during their meetings, from the way he asks personal questions tucked between work discussions, and especially when Axel, for the first time since they met again under different identities, asks her to dinner.

On the other side of the city, Axel sat in his luxurious office. The night sky is visible through the tall windows, casting shadows on his thoughtful face. In his hand was a half-full glass of whiskey. His mind was divided.

Ever since Laura's appearance, he had been unable to fully focus.

That woman was... different.

Not just because of her sharp intellect or her highly professional body language, but because of an aura that somehow felt familiar. It was as if she had known the woman in another life. There was a glint in her eyes that reminded Axel of someone, but he didn't know who.

And it was driving him crazy.

He tried to find out. He even had his personal assistant secretly dig up Laura's background. But the results were nil. Too neat. Too perfect.

"Who are you really?" he muttered as he stared blankly outside.

Then his thoughts returned to Alessia. That face suddenly appeared so clearly in his head. The look in her eyes that was once full of love then turned into disappointment. Her voice the last time they fought in the apartment. The cold words she spoke when she signed the divorce papers: "I won't wish you bad luck, Axel. But if one day it all comes crashing down, I hope you understand why."

She took a sip of her whiskey. It was bitter. More bitter than he remembered.

A few days later, Axel stood in front of Laura's office. His suit was neat, and his hair was perfectly styled as usual. He was carrying two cups of hot coffee from his favorite shop.

Laura looked over from behind the desk, and at that very second, she knew why Axel had come.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked, offering her coffee.

Laura accepted the cup without touching his hand. "Thank you, Mr. Axel. But I'm working on a report this weekend."

Axel smiled. "I know. But it's about the case too. There are things that I think are better discussed outside the office. Over dinner, perhaps?"

Laura stared at him for a long time.

She couldn't control the pounding in her chest, but she kept a straight face. She had practiced for this: an expressionless face, eyes without feeling.

"I'm sorry; I think I have to decline. We can talk about everything here, professionally."

The refusal was polite but cold, just like the way Alessia used to speak when she started keeping her distance.

Axel nodded slowly, but the look in his eyes changed. There was a faint suspicion, an ego wound, but also... there was an attraction that only grew stronger.

That evening, Laura sat on the sofa in her apartment, holding a cup of hot tea. In front of her, old photos lay on the table: their wedding pictures. Axel in a white suit, her in a simple dress, smiling, happy.

She closed her eyes.

And hates herself because her heart still feels warm when she remembers Axel.

"I have to be strong," she whispered.

But one thing she didn't expect in this plan was that she started to feel something again whether it was residual love or simply nostalgia. When Axel looked at her with that curious gaze that once made her fall in love, a part of her wavered.

And that was dangerous.

Because her plan knows no mercy.