He Asked For Divorce, I Said Yes & Revenged

Chapter 3

I headed to my studio the next day.

The lock had been jimmied open.

The place was completely trashed inside.

Sketch after sketch was ripped to shreds and scattered all over the floor, every piece of equipment was smashed beyond repair, and four big words had been scrawled across the wall in screaming red spray paint, the letters still looking like they reeked of fumes.

GET OUT, HOMEWRECKER

Those pieces had taken three full months of nonstop work to finish. My whole upcoming exhibition next month hinged entirely on them. And now they were total garbage.

I was still frozen in the doorway, reeling from the sight, when I heard voices chattering next door.

"Did you hear? Grace finally agreed to the divorce."

"Come on, Victor is such a nice guy. Grace must have messed up first, right? Why else would they get divorced?"

For a split second, I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.

Those lines were so familiar. The exact same thing had happened in my past life.

Victor had spread rumors to protect Mia, claiming I was mentally ill, that I’d refused to let him go, and that I was the sole reason our marriage had crashed and burned.

Back then, I'd torn that flimsy lie to shreds immediately. I stormed straight to his company, raised hell, and aired every last one of his dirty secrets for everyone to see.

And how did that turn out?

Everyone called me crazy, said I was delusional, said I had a screw loose.

Victor had seized the perfect opening to make his move. When I had my outburst at the hospital, he had me locked up in a psych ward.

The diagnosis on the papers back then read:

Paranoid personality disorder, inpatient treatment recommended.

Victor was the one who signed the papers.

I shook those bitter memories off, walked straight up to the group of gossips, and asked, "Since you all think I'm a homewrecker, why don't you tell me who my supposed lover is?"

They jumped out of their skin when I appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. They glanced at each other awkwardly, stammering and unable to get a single coherent word out.

Just then, Mia turned up out of nowhere at the end of the hallway. She glided over, that fake little innocent smile plastered across her face. "Who your lover is, Grace? Only you would know that, of course." Her eyes were practically sparkling with smugness as she said it.

I stared right back at her, face totally deadpan. "Out of everyone here, there's only one real homewrecker. Any guesses who that is?"

Mia's face went white as a sheet.

All the onlookers froze, too shocked to make a sound.

Right at that moment, Victor came rushing over. He stepped in front of Mia to shield her, frowning at me. "Grace, we're divorced already. Stop targeting Mia."

I fixed my gaze on him. "So you're admitting the two of you spread those rumors?"

He didn’t deny it, but he didn’t own up to it either.

He just said, "You're out of line."

"I'm out of line?" I turned to face Mia. "Tell me, have I ever done you wrong? Ever since we were kids, when have I ever shortchanged you on anything? I paid your entire college tuition. I pulled strings to get you that job at the company. I was the one who said you could move into my house. And this is how you repay me? By catching feelings for your own brother-in-law, feelings you have absolutely no right to have?"

Mia bit her lip and said nothing. Her eyes rimmed red, putting on that classic doe-eyed, wronged little act she was so good at.

I spun around to face Victor, each word coming out sharp and deliberate, heavy as lead. "You’re the one going all out to destroy me, and you’re also the one playing the saint. You’re the most disgusting son of a b***h alive."

Victor's eyes went ice cold. But his face barely shifted at all, his voice even dripping with that condescending, patronizing lecture tone, "Grace, you really are becoming out of line. I suggest you calm down, don't make this whole mess even more humiliating for yourself."

That was classic Victor. Always so polished, always so unflappable.

I squared my shoulders, every syllable cutting through the air like shards of ice. "Seriously, Victor? Fine. Stick around, and I'll show you what actually out of line looks like."

I didn’t get a do-over just to let them walk all over me. I was here to protect myself, make them pay for every rotten thing they’d done, not take their abuse lying down.

I turned on my heel and walked away. Behind me, I could hear Mia sniffling quietly, and Victor's low, soft murmur as he comforted her. "Don’t cry, sweetheart. It’s bad for the baby."

I picked up my pace, didn’t so much as glance over my shoulder once.