Chapter 3

By noon, the internet was on fire.

Not about me. Not yet.

About Ryan.

Someone leaked security footage from our divorce day—Vanessa on his lap, Ryan mocking me, the cheap ring I left on the counter.

The caption: "Orion Tech executive Ryan Cole divorces wife, calls her a 'broke orphan.' Hours later, she's revealed as the Sinclair Global heiress."

I hadn't leaked it. But I had a guess who did.

"Margaret, was that you?"

"No, ma'am." She hesitated. "It came from inside Orion. Apparently, Mr. Cole isn't well-liked by his colleagues."

The comments were savage.

"He called a SINCLAIR a broke orphan? This man needs a brain scan."

"Vanessa's sitting on his lap wearing a $200 necklace while his wife owns half the city. I can't breathe."

"She endured THREE YEARS of this? Queen behavior."

"Ryan Cole is what happens when a man's confidence exceeds his net worth by 10,000%."

I read them with a glass of wine, feeling nothing.

No satisfaction. No triumph.

Just tiredness.

My phone rang. An unknown number.

"Don't answer unknown calls today," Margaret advised.

I picked up anyway.

"Vivienne." The voice was deep, quiet, controlled. "It's been a long time."

My hand tightened on the glass.

Ethan Cross.

The name alone sent my pulse spiking, and I hated myself for it.

"How did you get this number?"

"I've always had it." A pause. "I saw the news. Are you all right?"

Ethan Cross. Heir to Cross Industries. My father's fiercest competitor—and the boy who'd pulled me out of a frozen lake when I was nine years old.

We'd been inseparable until his family moved abroad when we were sixteen. He'd promised to come back.

He never did.

Or so I thought.

"I'm fine, Ethan. I don't need a wellness check."

"That's not why I'm calling." Another pause, longer this time. "I'm calling because your ex-husband just contacted my company, begging for a bailout loan. He's offering everything—equity, contracts, his house. He's desperate."

"And?"

"And I wanted to hear from you before I decided. If you want his company crushed, I'll deny him. If you want mercy, I'll consider it."

My throat tightened.

After all these years, he still deferred to me. Still put my feelings first.

"Do whatever makes business sense, Ethan. Ryan's not my problem anymore."

"Understood." His voice softened. "Vivienne, there's something else. Something I should have told you years ago. About why I left."

The line crackled.

"I didn't leave by choice. Your father—"

The call cut out.

I stared at my phone.

My father did what?