Three Years Protecting His Secret Love… Until His Wife Finally Disappeared Chapter 08

Three Years Protecting His Secret Love… Until His Wife Finally Disappeared Chapter 08

A month later, I returned to Northbridge.

I hadn’t come back because I missed the past. I was there to end a marriage that never should have begun in

the first place.

When I saw Graham outside the courthouse, he wasn’t even wearing a tie. He looked utterly worn down.

He forced a faint smile.

“Elise, did it really have to come to this?”

“You should have thought about that before you betrayed me.”

I didn’t look at him again. I walked into the courthouse without hesitation.

I had extensive evidence of his affair, along with proof that he had deliberately transferred marital property

behind my back.

The divorce proceedings went overwhelmingly in my favor.

When it came to the settlement, Graham ultimately chose to walk away with nothing. He even transferred all of his shares in Sinclair Group to me.

When I saw the final result, I was genuinely stunned for a few seconds.

My phone immediately started blowing up with messages from Tessa.

Tessa: [Damn, boss. That’s one hell of a stake you have in Sinclair Group now.)

Tessa: [Say the word and I’ll quit tomorrow and come work my ass off for you. I’m not picky–just give me any one of your houses and we’re good!]

I smiled. I knew she was only joking because she didn’t want me to feel weighed down by any of it.

Graham approached me from a distance.

“Elise, thank you for putting up with me all these years.”

I waved him off.

“We don’t need to keep rehashing the same things. This is a clean enough ending.”

Every word seemed difficult for him, as though saying them forced him to live through everything all over

again.

“I’ve never stopped feeling guilty about Dad. I have nightmares about it. Every time I close my eyes, I can hear

you crying on the phone.”

“Graham, you have no right to call him Dad.”

He fell silent.

A long time passed before he spoke again.

“I donated all the savings I had before we married to a charity that helps seniors.”

“Elise, if there’s another life, I won’t let us end up like this.”

I smiled.

“If there’s another life, I’d rather never meet you at all.”

“You didn’t donate that money entirely because you suddenly grew a conscience.”

“You’re probably just trying to make yourself feel better.”

“Elise… I’m truly sorry.”

I nodded and turned away.

“I heard you.”

Hearing the apology didn’t mean I forgave him.

After that day, I never saw Graham again.

We had met too early in life, back when my whole world revolved around him.

He had once been the person who made my childhood bearable, and later the man who nearly ruined my life.

Once, I had believed Graham and I would be tangled up in each other’s lives forever, even if hatred was the

only thing keeping us together.

Now I understood that never seeing him again was the real freedom.

I left Sinclair Group in the board’s hands, packed my bags, and decided to travel for a while.

It was time I saw more of the world.

As I boarded my flight to Iceland, my phone buzzed.

Tessa had sent me a livestream link.

Tessa: (Elise, look at this! Graham’s lost his mind!]

I frowned and opened it.

A chill ran through me.

Graham was holding his phone as he sat on a railing by the river.

“I used to have a perfect wife and a perfect family.”

“Then I destroyed all of it.”

“I know she isn’t watching. She’s probably already left Northbridge for another country.”

“But I still want to say this to her.”

“I’m sorry.”

“And I love you.”

The comments flooded in, begging him to step back from the edge.

Several viewers recognized the riverfront in the background and called 911.

But it was already too late.

The moment Graham finished speaking, he jumped without a second of hesitation.

The screen went black, and the livestream ended.

I took a deep breath and turned off my phone.

He had apologized to me in front of the entire internet.

He had made the entire internet his judge and jury and turned his death into a public reckoning.

It was a life for a life.

He had taken my words to heart.

But I felt no relief at all.

Nothing he did could ever bring my father back.

Everything that happened afterward came to me through Tessa.

“By the time the police pulled Graham from the river, he was already dead.”

“As for Camille…”

“After she lost all her financial support, she ended up working bottle service at a nightclub. I heard she eventually died from drinking too much on the job.”

I was silent for a long time before nodding.

“They brought it on themselves.”

After that, no one around me mentioned Graham again.

I kept traveling the world with the pendant containing my father’s ashes around my neck.

Those absurd years slowly faded into the distance.

Rain began to fall outside, washing everything clean.

Winter was long gone.

Summer was almost here.

I let out a slow breath.

The first half of my life had been a mess.

The rest would be freedom.