I Stopped Saving My Cheating Husband

Chapter 4

The next day.

I placed the divorce papers on his office desk, along with every piece of jewelry, every supplementary credit card, and every equity share he'd ever thrown my way. All returned, untouched.

"Julian, sign."

My voice was flat. As though discussing an irrelevant quarterly report.

But when Julian saw those papers, the coffee cup in his hand jerked to a stop.

Something flickered in his eyes, a flash of panic, quickly buried under contempt.

Beside him, Megan Holt, his latest secretary-s***h-mistress, glanced at the title page and let out a simpering laugh, covering her mouth.

"Ms. Langley, this whole playing-hard-to-get routine is a bit outdated, don't you think? Mr. Ashford doesn't scare easily. What's the act this time?"

Julian's lip curled. He leaned back in his chair, reclaiming his throne.

Without hesitation, he scrawled his signature across the papers and tossed the pen aside.

His eyes fixed on me, brimming with derision.

"This is what you wanted, Vivienne. Don't come crawling back in a few days begging me to take you back."

"Thirty-day cooling-off period. I'll be waiting for you to come grovel."

Grovel.

Three years I'd endured this hell.

Three years of having my dignity ground into dust. That life already felt like it belonged to someone else.

Over the next two days, Julian ramped up his media circus even further.

When he noticed I hadn't issued my usual press release to manage his image, he grew bolder and shameless.

He threw a lavish fireworks gala for his mistress on the very site of the amusement park where he'd proposed to me.

By then, I'd already wrapped up every loose end and severed every tie to this city.

But the paparazzi's calls kept coming.

"Mrs. Ashford, he's serious this time. He's renaming the whole park after that woman!

"I've got exclusive footage. Name your price and I'll scrub it from the internet. Clean sweep."

Before, calls like this would have sent me spiraling into panic.

This time, I was calm.

I was free. I never wanted my name connected to Julian Ashford's again.

So I smiled and answered, "I won't be paying a cent. Post whatever you want."

Silence on the other end.

This was nothing like the woman who'd once scrambled to bury every headline.

"Mrs. Ashford, are you..."

I cut him off.

"Kerrigan. For old times' sake, I'll give you something better."

"What?"

"I'm getting divorced. Walking away with nothing."

A beat of silence.

Then, I continued lightly, "You've been following Julian long enough. Once he's officially single, make sure you charge him double for PR. Consider this scoop my parting gift to you."