My Husband Cheated, So I Divorced in Style

Chapter 4

The next day, I spent the entire day at the Crescent Hotel, where the anniversary gala would be held.

It was almost 6 in the evening when Emma Carter finally arrived, still looking half asleep.

When she saw the nearly perfect banquet hall, she crossed her arms and looked around with obvious disdain. "The setup is passable. Barely."

"Oh, and Sophia Reed." She called me by my full name and ordered me around as if I were a servant. "Add a seat at the main table. Put it next to Ethan."

I asked, "For whom?"

"That's none of your business." Emma looked at me with contempt. "Just do it. Why are you asking so many questions?"

I looked at Emma, arrogant enough that she wouldn't even give me a proper glance.

Suddenly, I remembered how she used to treat me.

She had once fawned over me and called me her dear sister-in-law with forced sweetness.

Now, like Ethan, she believed I was nothing more than a useless housewife.

The Carters had climbed out of poverty and entered the upper class, but they had forgotten where they came from.

Emma ignored me and turned to leave.

I watched her walk away, and the corner of my mouth slowly curved up.

So she knew about Ethan's affair too.

In that case, I would take them all down together.

I had just returned to Riverside Estate when I received a call from a number I hadn't contacted in 7 years.

The moment I answered, the line stayed silent for 2 seconds.

Then a woman's voice rang out, both angry and heartbroken.

"If I hadn't called you, were you planning to ignore your mother for the rest of your life?"

"Mom."

My voice caught at once, and my eyes reddened again.

I wanted to say, "Mom, you were right. I paid the price for failing to see him clearly, and I regret it."

But when the words reached my lips, only three simple words came out.

"I am sorry."

The line went quiet for a second. Then her voice softened with even more pain.

"The person who should be sorry is Ethan Carter. Wait for me. I am coming to Bayridge tomorrow. I will make that scumbag learn what happens when he hurts Margaret Reed's daughter."

My mother didn't give me a chance to refuse before hanging up.

I was about to call her back when I heard the front door unlock.

Ethan walked in.

When he saw my red eyes, surprise flashed across his face. "Were you crying?"

"Dust got in my eyes." I put my phone back into my pocket and walked from the balcony into the living room. "Why are you back?"

As far as I knew, Ethan had just bought back the handbag I had sold. After finally calming Chloe down, he should have been busy playing the devoted lover.

"I came back to get something. I still have to work late." Ethan lied without blinking. His gaze fell on me. "How is the anniversary gala coming along? There won't be any mistakes, right?"

On my way back, I had received a message from Grace.

She told me that Ethan planned to stage a scene at the anniversary gala and make it look as if the company was drowning in bad assets.

That was why he had invited very few business elites and important partners.

What he didn't know was that I had invited them myself.

He wanted to set me up, then use the connections he had built in Bayridge to develop his overseas shell companies while keeping his reputation intact.

He could keep dreaming.

I would make him lose everything.

"No mistakes." I kept my smile perfectly composed. "You trust me to handle things, don't you?"

Of course Ethan trusted me.

He thought he had kept me completely in the dark. He didn't know I already held the winning card and could bring him crashing down at any time.

"I won't come home tomorrow. Go there by yourself," Ethan said before leaving.

I still acted as if I hadn't noticed anything strange. I only nodded to show I understood.

On the day of the anniversary gala, a professional styling team transformed me from the woman who lived in practical house clothes.

My chestnut hair was curled into glamorous waves. My makeup was flawless, and my lipstick was as bright as flame.

I wore a bright red mermaid gown.

When I appeared in the banquet hall of the Crescent Hotel, I looked like a queen radiating power.

Every eye in the room turned to me.

At a glance, I saw Ethan and Emma talking among the guests.

Ethan walked over to me. There was a flash of amazement in his eyes, but it was quickly swallowed by displeasure and disgust.

"Why are you dressed like that? Anyone who didn't know better would think you came here to seduce men."

Men seemed to know instinctively how to turn a woman's appearance into something dirty and use it to tear her down.

Ethan was a perfect example. The words came out without a second thought.

I smiled lightly. "It is Carter Group's seventh anniversary. A happy occasion. As your wife, it is only fitting that I dress well."

I patted his shoulder. "A beautiful wife makes her husband look good. Honey, this isn't the time to be jealous."

Then I glanced around the banquet hall. "It is almost time. Get ready to go onstage and give your speech."

Ethan's eyes flickered. He looked a little surprised.

Just then, Emma hurried past me and went to greet someone at the door.

"Chloe, you are here."

I turned and looked over.

Chloe walked in, her abdomen slightly rounded.

Unlike me, who had arrived in full glamour, Chloe wore something soft and understated, giving off the image of a devoted wife and mother.

"Chloe, sit here."

Emma helped Chloe sit at the main table, right beside Ethan's seat. She spoke directly, only lowering her voice a little.

"Your belly looks even bigger than yesterday. My little nephew must be growing well. I can't wait to meet him."

"Emma, stop talking nonsense."

Because I was there, Ethan hadn't gone up to greet Chloe.

He had just walked over when he heard Emma's words. He immediately glanced at me and cut Emma off, clearly guilty.

Emma said unhappily, "I am not talking nonsense. Besides..."

Before she could finish, Ethan's icy look scared her into silence.

Seeing this, Emma took her anger out on me and glared at me.

I raised an eyebrow and was about to speak, but Ethan cut me off.

"Emma is still young and immature. She says things without thinking. Don't overthink it. It is time. I will go onstage first."

With that, Ethan quickly went up to the stage.

I scoffed inwardly.

'Still young? Emma Carter is already 20.'

"Thank you all for honoring us with your presence at Carter Group's seventh anniversary gala. On this special day, I want to give special thanks to my family."

I sat down at the table beside the main table. I clearly saw that when Ethan said the word "family", his gaze landed openly on Chloe.

He really was treating me like a blind fool. He wasn't even bothering to pretend anymore.

"Your presence gives me the drive to keep fighting. Your support has also taught me what it means to build a family and a career, and what responsibility truly means."

Applause thundered below the stage.

Emma and Chloe exchanged a glance. When they looked at Ethan, both of them looked proud and smug.

"Now, I would like to invite my family to come onstage and cut the anniversary cake with me."

Emma immediately pulled Chloe to her feet. Before going up, she shot me a particularly disdainful look and said with spoiled arrogance, "Sophia Reed, you are not allowed onstage. I want Chloe with me."

As the guests watched Chloe and Emma stand on either side of Ethan, whispers broke out across the room.

"Shouldn't Mrs. Carter be the one onstage for an occasion like this? Is that woman beside him his mistress?"

"Maybe it is just tension between the wife and her sister-in-law."

"I remember that woman. Isn't she the wife of Mr. Carter's executive assistant, Daniel Hayes? What mistress would get involved with her own husband's boss? If Mr. Carter cheated with a woman like that, he would be truly shameless. You are overthinking it."

A normal person would never be that shameless.

But Ethan was shameless, and morality had no hold over him.

Listening to the discussion below, Ethan turned and guided Chloe to the cake. Then he gave a grand-sounding explanation.

"Mr. Hayes made a major contribution to the company, but he is out of town and couldn't make it back. That is why I invited his wife, Ms. Chloe Davis, to come up and accept this honor on his behalf."

Hearing that, Chloe smiled slightly at the audience.

Her hand gently stroked her belly, and she couldn't hide the smugness in her eyes.

She turned her face and murmured softly to Ethan, just loud enough for me in the front row to hear.

"Ethan, the cake is so big. After we cut it, I want two slices. The baby wants something sweet too."

Ethan's eyes softened immediately. He raised his hand and gently rubbed her hair. His voice held a tenderness and indulgence I had never received in 7 years of marriage.

"Okay. Anything you want."

The two of them thought they were hiding it well as they held the cake knife together, intimate as ever.

Under the guests' sympathetic, shocked, and doubtful gazes, I took my champagne glass, rose, and walked toward the stage. My voice rang clearly through the entire banquet hall.

"Don't cut the cake just yet. Everyone, let me introduce the pregnant woman standing beside Ethan Carter. She is the mistress he’s kept hidden for 10 years, the woman my husband bought four luxury homes for, all paid in full with marital assets."