The Bride's Return

The Woman They Choose To Destroy

Inside the room, Francis sighed heavily. “I tried.

"Tried"? Cynthia asked smirkingly.

Ashley’s heartbeat became uneven.

“She’s kind,” Francis continued, “but every time I’m with her, I feel trapped. You know who I actually wanted from the beginning.”

Silence filled the room briefly before Cynthia spoke again in a quieter voice. “Then why marry her?”

“Because your mother wanted you to marry the CEO of Hart Global for stability between the families, and marrying her was the only way I could get closer to you” Francis answered bitterly. “But Cynthia… you’re the one I love.”

Ashley felt the air leave her lungs completely.

Inside the room, Cynthia laughed softly again. “You’re horrible.”

“I’m serious,” Francis said. “I should’ve chosen you from the start.”

Ashley’s hand trembled violently against the wall beside her. "No. No, this couldn’t—"

Then the door suddenly opened. Francis stepped out first. The moment he saw Ashley standing there pale and shaking, his entire expression changed. For one second, Ashley waited for panic, for guilt or maybe regret. Instead, Francis only looked tired.

Ashley stared at him with glassy eyes. “Tell me I heard wrong.”

Cynthia slowly stepped out behind him but said nothing. Francis sighed quietly before reaching into his suit jacket.

Ashley’s stomach dropped instantly. He pulled out folded papers.

Divorce papers, already signed and prepared. Ashley looked at the documents, then back at him in disbelief. “You planned this?”

Francis avoided her eyes. “Ashley, this marriage isn’t working anymore.”

Her lips parted soundly. "Not working? After everything"? “You were going to humiliate me tonight?” she whispered.

Francis finally looked at her directly. “I didn’t want it to happen like this.”

“But you still did it.”she said with her eyes red and burning in disbelief and disappointment.

Cynthia folded her arms quietly behind him without a single ounce of shame. Ashley felt something inside her break completely.

Then voices from the ballroom suddenly grew louder as reporters and guests started shouting nearby.

A scandal had erupted. Someone was accusing the Bennett family of selling forged artwork.

Ashley could already hear Emily calling her name sharply from the ballroom but none of it mattered anymore. Because the man she loved had just handed her divorce papers while standing beside her sister and neither of them looked sorry!

“Ashley!”

Emily’s voice echoed sharply through the hallway just as Ashley stumbled backward from the private lounge, still clutching the divorce papers in her trembling hands.

Her face had gone completely pale, and the sound of laughter and conversation from the ballroom now felt unbearably loud against the humiliation crushing her chest.

Francis took a step toward her carefully. “Ashley, calm down and let’s talk properly.”

Ashley looked at him like she no longer recognized the man standing in front of her. Just minutes ago, she had still believed there was love somewhere beneath his coldness.

She had convinced herself that his distance came from stress, work, pressure from both families. Now she understood the truth in the cruelest way possible.

He simply did not love her and maybe he never had.

“You prepared divorce papers before even telling me the truth?” Ashley asked quietly, her voice shaking despite her effort to control it.

“You stood beside me every day pretending everything was normal while planning this with Cynthia?”

Francis looked uncomfortable now that the confrontation was real. He loosened his tie slightly and sighed. “Ashley, dragging this longer would’ve made things worse.”

Ashley laughed softly in disbelief. "Worse?"

Her entire life had just collapsed in a hallway while the people she trusted most stood in front of her without remorse.

Behind Francis, Cynthia crossed her arms slowly. Unlike Ashley, who looked devastated, Cynthia remained perfectly composed, her glossy lips curved into the faintest smile as if she had already won something important.

“Ashley,” Cynthia said gently, pretending concern, “you’re making this more dramatic than it needs to be.”

Ashley turned toward her immediately, that sentence hurt more than the confession itself because Cynthia looked genuinely unbothered.

Ashley stared at her stepsister for several seconds, finally seeing clearly what she had ignored for years. Cynthia had always taken things that belonged to her without guilt. Her attention, her achievements, her place in the family and now Francis too.

The difference this time was that Ashley finally understood it was never accidental.

“You knew,” Ashley whispered.

Cynthia tilted her head slightly. “Knew what?”

“That he loved you.” she said nodding in disgust. Cynthia smiled faintly instead of answering. That silence told Ashley everything.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed toward them from the ballroom entrance. Emily appeared looking furious, followed by two gallery staff members who looked terrified.

“There you are!” Emily snapped. “What exactly have you done?”

Ashley blinked in confusion. “What?”

Emily grabbed Ashley’s wrist harshly before shoving her toward the ballroom entrance again. “The investors are demanding explanations, the reporters are asking questions, and the media already thinks this family sold fake artwork. You disappear in the middle of a scandal while everyone searches for you?”

Ashley stared at her in disbelief. “I didn’t do anything.”

One of the staff members avoided Ashley’s eyes nervously before speaking. “Mrs. Bennett… some documents were found in the restoration room with Miss Ashley’s signature.”

Ashley’s heart stopped. “What documents?”

“The authentication records.”the staff member replied.

Ashley looked between them slowly. “That’s impossible.” Emily’s expression darkened instantly. “Enough.”

“But I didn’t forge anything!” Ashley said kneeling on the floor with tears in her eyes.