Claimed By My Billionaire Ex-Husband’s Rival

CHAPTER ONE Isabella’s POV “Sign here.” Ethan said in a commanding tone, his face hardening as he avoided eye contact. He flung the divorce papers onto the table between us, and his eyes lingered on the papers for only a second before looking away. His grip tightened around the cup of coffee in his other hand. He gently took a sip as he turned, facing the tall windows , all I could see was his broad shoulders. I stared at him in disbelief,those were the first words he had said to me in three months,he didn't ask how I was, can we talk ,he didn't even try to give me an explanation for his actions. Those two words sounded soft yet they were strong enough to destroy my marriage of five years in a blink of an eye. He had suddenly stopped communicating with me when he came back home late at night three months ago. From my bedroom window, I watched as his car pulled into the driveway ,he came down from the car and pulled out his phone ,he was out there for an additional twenty minutes before he started walking towards the house,I had been standing there for hours. The moment I saw him walking towards the house, I rushed downstairs. “Ethan” I called as he quietly walked towards the guest room. He didn't respond , he acted as though he hadn't heard me. “It's so late, where have you been?” I called after him, my voice trembling. He paused for a brief second, as if I might finally be worth paying attention to, and without looking at me, he walked into the room and slammed the door. I stood there and cried my eyes out. “Babe please, what's going on?” and the only reply I got was the silence that followed and nothing has changed since then. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting today but I never imagined it would end like this. I stood there not in surprise, shock, sadness, not even heartbreak , it was because the moment I feared the most had finally arrived in my home today and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. A simple communication would have really gone a long way at least I would know if I deserved such a moment. “I have seen this day coming but not too soon please,“ I pleaded in my mind as if anyone could hear me, and even if he heard what would change? The late-night, sneaky conversations Every late night at work Every unanswered phone call Every dinner I had prepared with love but ended up eating all alone. He was my first love. The man I had built my entire life and future around. We had dreamed of growing old together, raising our kids, and celebrating everything together. Those promises once felt unbreakable but now they lie broken and shattered in front of me buried under the stack of divorce papers. It was as if the love we had shared never existed. Outside it rained heavily with the rain hitting the windows, like the sky itself wanted me to remember this day forever, shaking the silence between us. I stared at the documents and slowly reached for the papers , my hands suddenly became heavy and shaky , I stared at the document and then back at him. I swallowed hard “Is this really what you want?” My hands quivered. Ethan didn’t even utter a word it’s like he was speaking to me through his skin ,he just gave me a cold look. I couldn’t help but remember the happy moments we had , how was it that it all didn’t seem to mean anything to him anymore,those where moments he once cherished. I let out a huge sigh and frantically ran out of the house. The rain increased even more, soaking me and blurring my vision but somehow it still felt comforting in that moment. My phone vibrated , I almost didn’t want to pay attention to it because at this point I felt like going into a new world with my memory wiped and starting a new life. It wasn’t weakness to try to ignore and run away from my problems but today I genuinely wished to have a different life. A life where my partner would love me till the end, as he says in the beginning, a life where I would have my happy family, and a world where I would be filled with happiness and freedom. Life has tested,twisted and turned me in so many directions,what more is there to experience but a new life where everything feels complete. I wouldn’t want to pay attention to whatever it is right now. I slowly unlocked my phone and as my hand hovered over the message my heart dropped. Unknown number Seeing that alone should have been enough reason for me to delete the text immediately, but I didn’t. I stared at my phone screen in disbelief, unable to decide whether the message was a joke or the first glimmer of hope I’d felt in days. There were only three words. My chest tightened in a way I couldn’t explain, like I already knew something that I wasn’t ready to accept. I read it once again Then again And again Thoughts started playing in my mind,what was Ethan trying to do,I couldn’t bring myself to understand any of it. The silence Those three months that felt like an eternity The divorce papers and now this. I held my phone to my chest and looked up, staring at everything but looking at nothing,my mind couldn’t even process what was happening,is this my life? Is this what I gave up all my dreams for? If only I had listened to my friend Vanessa, when she told me Ethan wasn’t who he seemed to be. I couldn’t accept it,he was perfect. “What really happened?”I asked myself quietly. I just stood there helplessly,I couldn’t help myself this is my reality and I had no other choice but to face it. “Who would have sent me something like this ?”I pondered. A part of me wanted to delete it and pretend I never saw that text… To walk away from everything. I unlocked my phone screen again and my eyes were fixed on the message. Maybe I didn’t understand what I was seeing, maybe my vision was blurry, maybe if I stared at it a little longer the meaning might change but it didn’t. It was right there in my face, burning into my mind. Marry me instead.