My Husband Acted Single Before Clients, So I Produced Divorce Papers Chapter 07

My Husband Acted Single Before Clients, So I Produced Divorce Papers Chapter 07

The fallout from the livestream moved faster than I expected.

The video spread throughout the industry.

Because the livestream exposed the manipulation of the pitch order two years earlier, Julian’s

university quickly opened an investigation.

Sabrina was suspended. The client pulled the project, and her company came under scrutiny over

business ethics concerns.

Her parents‘ and brother’s businesses were dragged into the fallout as well, and word spread that

they were facing serious cash–flow problems.

The day I went back to my old company to pick up the last of my departure paperwork, I ran into

Sabrina by the elevators.

She froze when she saw me, then made a point of rolling her eyes.

I later heard from former coworkers that she had come looking for Tara.

She hoped Tara could quietly help revive the deal so she could go back to her boss with a contract in

hand and use it as leverage.

Unfortunately for her, Tara had already been fired.

Sabrina had no choice but to leave empty–handed.

When she saw me, there was a complicated mix of emotions in her eyes–hatred, regret, and most

of all, a resentment she couldn’t quite put into words.

Just before the elevator doors closed, she turned and met my gaze.

Her eyes were red, as if she hadn’t slept properly in days.

When she spoke, her voice was hoarse.

“Happy now?”

Her voice trembled, each word forced out through clenched teeth.

I looked at her, entirely serious.

“Happy about what?”

Her voice suddenly rose.

“had a career. I had someone I loved. I lost everything overnight, and it was all because of you!”

I gave a quiet laugh.

“Were those things really yours?”

She froze, suddenly speechless.

The elevator arrived.

I walked out.

The next day, Julian went to see Sabrina.

By the time he got there, her eyes were swollen from crying.

She hurled her phone at him.

“You bastard! How could you lie to me like this? Was this fun for you? You turned me into a complete joke!”

She lost control and hit him again and again.

Julian didn’t move away.

“I wasn’t trying to deceive you. I just wanted to wait until things settled down before I told you.”

Sabrina let out a sharp, bitter laugh that rang through the empty living room.

“Settled down? What would count as settled? Your wife getting pregnant and your mother finally getting her grandchild?”

“Or were you waiting until you could give me some sham wedding and a fake marriage certificate too?”

Julian had no answer.

Sabrina pointed at him, her hand trembling.

“Last year, I took you to meet my parents. They asked when you were going to marry me, told them to give you more time. I waited for you for two years. And for what?”

and you

“I found out you had a wife who’d been in your life for ten years, and my entire family was humiliated in front of everyone. That’s what I got for waiting for you?”

lian reached for her.

She jerked away.

“Sabrina, I was serious about you.”

“Serious?”

Her voice suddenly dropped, as if the fight had drained out of her.

“Who weren’t you serious about? Julian, you don’t love anyone. You only love yourself.”

Julian went still.

Sabrina picked up her bag from the couch and headed for the door.

She never looked back.

“We’re done, Julian.”

When Julian came home later that day, I was packing.

He leaned against the doorway and watched me pack for a long time before finally walking over and putting a hand on the box I was holding.

“Elise, do you really think a person can only ever love one person in an entire lifetime?”

“People are complicated. It isn’t realistic to think anyone can go through life with feelings for only one person…”

I understood immediately what he was trying to say.

I gently moved his hand away.

By then, I had already worked through everything that had happened.

I wasn’t angry anymore. There was no rage left in me, either.

I answered him almost as calmly as if we were discussing an academic question.

“I agree that human emotions are complicated. People can be attracted to different kinds of

people.”

“But Julian, people are more than their feelings. They also have character, basic decency, and

principles.”

What made me leave wasn’t that you developed feelings for someone else. I left because of who you are. The day I decided to divorce you, I realized I’d spent all these years invested in the marriage I thought we had.”

“I put you on a pedestal. That was why I never saw how selfish and small you really were.”

“Now I’m cutting my losses and moving on. No one is holding you back anymore. From now on, you’re free to tell anyone you want that you’re single.”

I taped the last box shut and left with the movers.

Julian remained standing in the empty apartment.

I had no idea what he was thinking.

I never saw him again after that.

All I heard was that after he was removed from his research lab, his family used their connections to get him a teaching job at an elementary school.

He hated the job and drank heavily.

Before he even turned forty, alcohol had wrecked his health.

But none of that had anything to do with me anymore.

I joined a new company and had a small office of my own.

I learned how to grow flowers, and whenever a coworker walked past my door, they would poke their head inside.

“Elise, your flowers look amazing.”

They did.

My flowers were blooming just fine.

They didn’t need summer to bloom.