THE DIVORCE MY REVENGE

THE DIVORCE, MY REVENGE Chapter One The Woman He Chose to Lose The divorce papers were waiting for Elena Marlowe when she returned home. They sat at the center of the dining table beneath the chandelier she had chosen four years ago. White paper. Black ink. A marriage is reduced to a few signatures. Elena stood at the entrance of the dining room, still wearing the pale blue dress she'd put on that morning. She had expected an argument tonight. She had expected Damian to be angry. She had even expected him to tell her that their marriage was over. What she hadn't expected was how prepared he would be. She slowly walked toward the table. Her eyes fell on the name printed beneath the heading. Damian Alexander Sterling. Her husband. Soon to be her ex-husband. A quiet laugh escaped her. Four years. Four years of walking beside the same man. Four years of learning how he liked his coffee, how he hated being disturbed before a meeting, how he rubbed the back of his neck whenever he was worried. Four years of loving him. And apparently, none of it had been enough. The sound of footsteps came from behind her. Elena didn't turn. She already knew who it was: Damian. She could recognize his footsteps anywhere. He stopped a few feet behind her. Neither of them spoke. Finally, Elena asked, “Is this what you want?” His silence lasted several seconds. “Yes.” One word. It hurt more than she expected. Elena turned around. Damian stood in the doorway wearing a charcoal suit, his expression cold and controlled. He looked exactly as he always did. Perfect. Untouchable. Like a man who had never made a mistake in his life. But Elena noticed the tension in his jaw. He wasn't as unaffected as he wanted her to believe. “Who is she?” His eyes flickered. “You know who.” “Victoria?” Damian said nothing. Elena smiled sadly. “Of course.” Victoria Laurent. The woman his family had always preferred. Beautiful. Elegant.Rich. The perfect Sterling daughter-in-law. Everything Elena supposedly wasn't. Damian walked toward the table. “My grandmother wants this marriage to end.” Elena looked at him. And you? I've made my decision. That was the moment something inside her finally broke. Not because he was divorcing her. But because he wasn't fighting for them. She had spent years believing that if the day ever came when his family demanded he choose between them, Damian would choose her. She had been wrong. She sat down. Damian remained standing. Don't you have anything to say? He looked almost surprised. What do you want me to say? Elena stared at him. “I don't know.” She picked up the pen. Maybe tell me that you don't want this. His expression hardened. Elena— Never mind. She signed. Her name looked strangely beautiful beneath his. Elena Marlowe Sterling. She stared at it for a moment. Then she drew a single line through the surname. Elena Marlowe. Damian's eyes followed the movement. “You're not going to fight?” Elena placed the pen down. No. Why? She looked directly at him. Because I finally understand something. “What?” You can't make someone love you. Damian's expression changed. Just slightly. Elena stood. She picked up her handbag. Then she walked past him. At the doorway, she stopped. Damian? He turned. She looked at him for a long moment. She had so many things to say: that she loved him. That she had never betrayed him. That she knew his family had lied to him. That she had married him three years before because she believed the Sterling family had destroyed her father. But she said none of it. Instead, she smiled. Congratulations. His brows furrowed. For what? For getting exactly what you wanted. Then she walked away. Damian remained in the dining room. He stared at the divorce papers. Something felt wrong. Elena should have cried. She should have begged. She should have asked him to reconsider. Instead, she had walked away as though she had been waiting for this moment. He picked up the papers. His eyes stopped on her signature. For reasons he couldn't explain, his chest tightened. Elena. But she was already gone. Outside, Elena stepped into the waiting car. The moment the door closed, her smile disappeared. She looked out through the window at the Sterling mansion. Her home for four years. She was imprisoned for four years. Her greatest love. Her greatest mistake Her phone vibrated. A message appeared. UNKNOWN: I found the account you asked about. Elena's heart began beating faster. She opened the message. A photograph appeared—an old bank statement. The account belonged to a company that had collapsed seven years earlier. Her father's company.Marlowe Industries. Elena stared at the document. Then she saw the name of the company that had transferred the money. Her blood ran cold. Sterling Holdings. Her eyes filled with tears So it was true. Or at least, part of it was. She had married Damian Sterling because she suspected his family had destroyed her father. She had spent four years searching for proof. And tonight, the day Damian divorced her... She had finally found it. Elena locked her phone Drive. The driver glanced at her through the mirror. Where, ma'am? Elena looked back at the mansion one final time. “Anywhere.” She wiped the tears from her cheek. Then her expression hardened. She had entered the Sterling family as a wife. She was leaving as their enemy, and one day, they would learn the difference. Three years later, Damian Sterling would wish he had never signed those papers. But by then, Elena Marlowe would have become the one woman powerful enough to destroy everything he had built. And she would be waiting for him.