I Signed Away My First Love, Then Married Someone Else Chapter 13

I Signed Away My First Love, Then Married Someone Else Chapter 13

Three years later.

Ata major corporate launch, Ethan finally saw the woman he’d thought about every day.

She sat in the front row. Her hair had grown past her shoulders, and a composed smile rested on her

face.

The desperate fire of someone backed into a corner had softened into the quiet confidence of a woman who knew exactly where she stood.

When the host introduced her, she stood and acknowledged the audience with a slight nod.

Applause filled the room.

Grant sat in the last row.

He watched her entire presentation without saying a word.

In those three years, Whitmore Holdings had nearly run out of cash.

Claire might once have spent most of her time chasing Ethan, but she’d always been the one truly running the family business.

She’d studied finance. By her second year at the company, she’d untangled three years of accounts that had tormented their father.

No one in the industry could find a flaw in the financial statements she produced.

She moved fast. She cut every unnecessary expense and fought for every dollar the company was owed. Everyone, from the executive floor down, respected her.

Back then, Grant had been able to sit in his office drinking coffee because his sister carried every burden for him.

Then Madeline had cried to him about her adoptive mother.

To keep Claire from interfering, Grant forced her out of the company.

He cut off her access to family and corporate accounts and revoked every company permission she

had.

Once he’d cut off her money, he thought, she would have no choice but to fall in line.

He planned to bring her back once Ethan and Madeline were married

and everything had settled down.

He never imagined that she would refuse to return.

She’d had no income during those three months, yet she’d never begged him for a thing./

Grant had looked for her over the past three years.

When the company was months from collapse, he sent an intermediary to the Mercer family to ask

for her help.

The Mercers sent back a single sentence.

“Claire said the Whitmore family’s cash flow is the Whitmore family’s problem.”

Only later did Grant realize his request had done worse than fail.

Claire hadn’t just refused to help. She’d used the opening to take the last viable clients he had left.

Clean. Decisive.

She personally delivered the final blow.

To protect what remained of its assets, Whitmore Holdings had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

It had taken only three years.

Nate had fared no better.

The night Ethan abandoned the wedding, Nate stayed with Madeline in the bridal suite while she

cried until morning.

She curled against his chest and whispered, “You’re the only one who has ever truly cared about

me.” He forgot everything else.

All he wanted was to marry Madeline himself.

Only after the wedding did he realize he couldn’t afford the woman he’d married.

Madeline spent ten times more than he’d ever imagined.

Every handbag had to be limited edition. Every car had to be the latest model.

At every party, she had to outshine all her friends.

The Brooks family was nowhere near as wealthy as the Caldwells. Two years later, the money was

one.

Madeline began staying out all night. She changed her passcode and hid her Instagram stories from

him.

When he looked into it, he discovered she’d already found someone richer.

Now they were locked in an ugly divorce.

The scandal was even more humiliating than the wedding that never happened.

When the launch ended, the crowd streamed toward the exits.

Nate came through a side door with a cup of coffee in his hand.

When he crossed paths with Claire in the hallway, she smiled.

“It’s been a long time.”

The greeting nearly made him drop his coffee.

She didn’t linger. With a single nod, she continued down the hall.

Ethan stood behind the glass wall on the second floor.

He watched her move through the crowd.

There was an ease in the way she carried herself now, and she smiled more often.

Julian walked beside her, occasionally resting his hand at the small of her back.

When Ethan saw Julian take her hand and guide her toward the parking garage,

he raced down the stairwell on the other side.

He burst through the door just as her car passed in front of him.

“Claire! It’s me!”

The window was halfway down. She gave no sign she’d heard him.

She was speaking to the man beside her, her eyes warm with laughter.

Or perhaps she had heard him and simply chosen not to turn.

Ethan stood where he was.

Only then did he realize that even her smile had changed.

In the past, whenever she smiled at him, unspoken words had always hovered behind her eyes.

Her happiness had been cautious, as if she were always waiting for him to walk away.

Now her smile was open, easy, and free.

That smile wasn’t meant for him.

And it never would be again.