After I Jumped, My Ex Regretted Madly

After our wedding, Felix Vaughan didn't invest in Rourke Group as he had promised. Instead, he ordered his men to haul in 20 boxes of neatly stacked papers. A mocking smirk stretched across his face as he looked at me. "You had quite the temper yesterday," he said. "Once you find the single piece of paper with the word 'help' written on it, I'll fund your company immediately. Olivia, you have to learn how to behave if you want to save your family's business." He was deliberately punishing me for slapping his first love across the face in public the very moment I arrived at the Vaughan family estate. This time, I didn't cry or make a scene. I just quietly unfolded the pieces of paper, one by one. I kept going until my hands cramped, refusing to stop for even a second. Felix smiled in satisfaction. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, his warm breath brushing intimately against my ear. "Wouldn't it have been better if you acted like this sooner?" he whispered. "I'll have Finance transfer the funds shortly, and I'll make sure Rourke Group doesn't go bankrupt." The color drained from my face, and I simply shook my head. He didn't know Rourke Group had already gone under 3 days ago. He didn't know my father had died from a massive heart attack after doctors couldn't save him, or that my mother had jumped off a building right after. Even my grandmother, the only person keeping me going, had taken her last breath right in front of me this morning. Stripped of every reason to keep going, I had already made up my mind to end my own life. Felix Vaughan's face clouded over when I didn't answer him. "Why are you still acting so difficult? You were so eager to marry me just to get my money, weren't you?" he sneered, pinning me against the bed with a cold, wicked smirk. "Giving you a way out and you refuse to take it. Fine. Let's see how long your parents can hold on when the bank comes to liquidate everything." He tore my clothes open, the sudden chill seeping from my shoulders straight into my chest. I closed my eyes as a sharp pang seized my heart. Felix used to be the outcast of the Vaughan family, the boy I had taken into the Rourke family. But times had changed, and he had long since taken over Vaughan Enterprises. If he simply bothered to ask, he would know in a heartbeat that Rourke Group was already bankrupt. I lay there like a lifeless puppet at his mercy, a brutal pain spreading through my body. He suddenly stopped and glared down at me. "Open your eyes," he commanded, his voice thick with anger and dominance. I opened them numbly, staring back at him with a hollow gaze. He probably expected me to cry, scream, and throw a fit like I used to. But I didn't, choosing instead to quietly look at the man who had grown up by my side since childhood. I used to be the only daughter of the Rourke family, raised in the palm of my parents' hands. Felix was just an unacknowledged illegitimate son, born from a one-night stand between his mother, a housekeeper, and the Vaughan patriarch. When his family immigrated to expand their overseas business, they abandoned the 5-year-old boy without a second thought. I was the one who brought him home. Years later, when we crossed paths again, I found him being treated like a horse to be ridden by some bratty kids in the staff quarters. Pulling rank as the wealthy heiress, I rescued him. Feeling a sliver of sympathy for his pathetic state, I even sent my most trusted and capable best friend and assistant, Thea Davis, to help him out. Back then, he held my hand tightly. "Olivia, wait for me to secure my inheritance, and I'll marry you with the grandest wedding." I had simply shaken my head, feeling nothing but deep affection and protectiveness for him. "You don't need to fight for any inheritance. I just want you to be safe and sound." Those heavy, profound promises we once made had now twisted into sharp knives, plunging ruthlessly into my heart. Suddenly, the butler rushed into the room. "Mr. Vaughan, Ms. Davis is experiencing stomach pains." The lust in his eyes cleared instantly, and he got off me without a moment's hesitation. "What happened? I'll be right there," he said. Despite the crisp autumn chill, he threw on a thin shirt and ran out barefoot. "Felix," I called out to him, my hoarse voice dripping with sorrow. "This is our wedding night. Can't you leave me with a shred of dignity?" He paused and looked back at me, his eyes filled with nothing but disgust. "You have the nerve to bring that up? If you hadn't hit Thea yesterday, she wouldn't have almost miscarried." I gripped the edge of the blanket tightly as tears pricked my eyes. He only looked annoyed, his patience completely worn thin. "Thea grew up by your side, yet she turned out so kind and devoted to me. Unlike you, whose every move to get close to me has been nothing but a calculated scheme." His words were like poisoned needles, piercing my heart in dense clusters. There were no visible wounds and no blood, but the maddening pain was unbearable. So, the girl who grew up with me, who stole Rourke Group's confidential documents and threw tens of thousands of employees under the bus, was considered kind. Meanwhile, my simple desire to honor my final promise to him was deemed a vicious scheme. I choked back a sob. "Felix, please don't go." "Do you think you're still the precious heiress, Olivia?" he cut me off coldly. "Your entire company is waiting for Vaughan Enterprises's funds to survive. I am the CEO, and as the daughter of a bankrupt family, you have absolutely no right to dictate where I go." With that, he slammed the door behind him, leaving the room in complete disarray. I crouched down and silently picked up the wedding dress I had so carefully chosen. The handmade embroidery on the skirt was torn to shreds, much like my 10-year relationship with Felix. It was shattered beyond recognition. I changed into a black outfit and pinned a small white flower in my hair, mourning the loss of my parents and grandmother. Enduring the physical ache in my body, I took slow, deliberate steps toward the rooftop.