He Asked For Divorce, I Said Yes & Revenged

Chapter 4

I never expected them to make a move this fast.

A handful of internet influencers held up their phones, streaming live, their cameras pointed straight at my front door.

Someone had dumped garbage bags on the doorstep, splashed bright red paint all over the entryway, and freshly spray-painted the wall with the words 'HOME WRECKER GET OUT'.

I stood a short distance away, taking in the whole mess, and a surge of absurdity washed over me. I’m the one who got framed as a homewrecker, and now everyone’s calling me exactly that. And the actual homewrecker? She was curled up safe and sound in my ex-husband's arms, fast asleep.

I pulled out my phone and shot Victor a message.

Me: Who's responsible for the trash at my door?

He didn't reply.

Ten or so minutes later, I received a money transfer. The note attached was just two words: Compensation.

I stared at the amount and laughed bitterly. Compensation again.

That was all he ever did, throw money at every problem, as if every hurt and humiliation I'd suffered could be wiped clean with cold hard cash.

Suddenly, I remembered the first time he'd sent me 'compensation'. It was the day I'd found Mia's underwear on our bed.

I'd come home early from a business trip that day, pushed open the bedroom door, and there was Mia's lacy bra tossed right at the foot of the bed. Victor walked out of the bathroom then, his hair still dripping wet.

I asked him what was going on, and his expression didn't even flicker.

"Exactly what it looks like."

I lost it. I screamed and sobbed, threw things around the room, demanded to know why he'd do this to me. He said nothing the entire time. Finally, he sent me a money transfer and said flatly, "We can get a divorce."

Who the hell did he think he was?

"Why the hell should I get pushed out? I have a stake in this family, it’s just as much mine as it is yours!" I demanded.

He went quiet for a long time, looked me dead in the eye, and said, "Grace, with that messed-up past of yours, I was the only one willing to look past it and marry you back then."

After he spoke, the room went dead silent for what felt like an eternity.

That was the first time he'd used that incident to cut me.

What had happened back in college wasn't my fault, but in his mouth, it had turned into a reason I wasn't "good enough" for him.

He apologized later, said it was just a heat-of-the-moment comment.

But I knew better. That wasn't a slip of the tongue. That was what he really thought.

He'd never truly accepted me, not for a single second.

I snapped back to the present, staring at that 'compensation' notification on my phone screen.

I didn't accept the transfer, but I took a screenshot and saved it. Every single one of these 'compensations' was evidence.

Then I sent that screenshot to Mia.

The next day, a rumor blew up all over the internet: Grace Woods slept around with men before she got married.

My name, my photos, that incident I never wanted to talk about, all of it was turned into screenshots and short videos, spreading like wildfire across every social media platform.

I never would have thought Victor would tell her about that too.

What did I even mean to him, anyway?

And what was my deepest, most painful scar to him?

Just casual small talk to bring up over dinner? A cheap bargaining chip to curry favor with his new girlfriend?

I stared at the flood of comments scrolling across my phone screen.

How is this fair?

Why do the people who did wrong get to strut around like they own the place, while the victim gets hounded to the wall at every turn?

Why do Victor and Mia get to walk away scot-free, while I’m the one who gets torn apart by the entire internet?

Right then, my phone buzzed once.

It was a message from Kaye.

Kaye: Grace, the evidence is all ready.

Me: Good.

Another notification popped up on my screen.

Victor Cross and Mia Lock would be holding their engagement banquet at the InterContinental Hotel downtown in three days.

I made a call. "Get me a ticket to the InterContinental’s banquet hall."

Three days later, I wore a simple black dress and walked straight into the engagement venue through the main entrance.

Mia was hanging off Victor’s arm, decked out in a white floor-length gown, smugly smiling like the whole world owed her a celebration.

I pulled out my phone and turned on the live stream.

"Hey everyone, I’m Grace Woods." I walked toward the stage step by step, my high heels clicking sharply against the marble floor.

Victor finally spotted me, and his pupils constricted for a split second.

I continued talking with a smirk. "Today, I'm bringing all of you along to see the engagement banquet of my ex-husband and my adopted younger sister."