MY CONTRACT HUSBAND IS A RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE

Chapter 13 - I Quit

I didn't go home.

I went to the hospital. To my mom.

She was awake. Smiling. "Anak, kamusta si Alexander?"

The name broke me.

"Ma." I sat beside her. "What if... what if everything was a lie?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." I lied. "Just tired."

I stayed there all day. All night.

When I got back to the penthouse at 6AM, he was there.

Suitcase by the door. Dark circles.

"You didn't come home." He said.

"I was with my mom."

He nodded. Looked at the floor. "Did you... read everything?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And I quit."

His head snapped up. "What?"

"The contract. The marriage. Me." My voice didn't shake. "I quit."

"Isabella-"

"Don't." I cut him off. "You don't get to say my name like that. Not after lying to me for 1 year."

"It was to protect you-"

"By treating me like a charity case?!" Tears finally fell. "By making me think maybe, just maybe, you cared?"

"I do care." He stepped forward.

"Then why couldn't you say it?!" I yelled. "Why 'I can't'?"

Because he was scared.

Because I was his responsibility.

Because of a hundred reasons that weren't "I love you."

He didn't answer.

I picked up my bag. "I'm moving out. To my condo. The one you bought for us."

"That's yours."

"I don't want anything from you." I walked to the door. "Not the money. Not the name. Not you."

"Isabella, please."

I stopped. Didn't turn around.

"If you cared... you would've told me the truth. From the start."

And I left.

The elevator doors closed.

And I heard it.

Glass breaking.

From inside the penthouse.

He was breaking things.

Just like he broke me.

1 week later.

No calls. No texts.

The company announced: `CEO ALEXANDER VIREL TAKING INDEFINITE LEAVE`

And I realized...

Sometimes saving someone...

means letting them go.