Ethan Allen cheated on her.
Claire Harrington stood stiffly at the door of the CEO's office, feeling like she'd been dumped into freezing water. The chill crawled all the way into her bones, as if she was about to merge with the ice-cold marble floor under her feet.
It took her a long moment to finally raise her hand and knock.
"Come in."
His deep voice came from inside.
Claire clutched the documents in her hands, took a deep breath, then pushed the door open and walked in.
The moment she stepped into the room, her face lit up with a professional smile. She walked straight to him and said, "Busy? These documents need your signature right away."
While speaking, she’d already spread the papers out in front of him and even kindly flipped to the pages he needed to sign.
Ethan had just flown back from Switzerland and came straight to the office. His desk was piled with files, and he looked exhausted—though still maddeningly handsome. Without even glancing, he signed where she pointed.
"Thanks for handling all this."
Claire quickly gathered the documents with practiced ease. "You coming home for dinner tonight?" she tossed out casually.
"Got a dinner meeting. Don’t wait up," he replied, eyes still on the papers.
"Alright then, I’ll get going."
As she turned to leave, the smile on her face twisted into something cynical.
Passing by the lounge, she caught faint sounds inside—like someone stepping off the bed. Her gaze slid over to the seating area, where snack wrappers and a half-finished milk tea cluttered the coffee table. On the floor lay a pink high heel…
In that moment, everything clicked. It was like someone had dumped another bucket of ice over her chest.
Claire dragged her heavy legs back to her office.
The second she sat down, she let out a long, weary sigh, feeling completely drained.
From the pile of files, she pulled one out.
It was the divorce agreement.
She slowly flipped to the last page and looked at the signature he'd just scrawled moments ago. A cold, mocking smile tugged at her lips.
Her mind replayed that day he’d promised to marry her, how serious and full of feeling he looked.
His mother had scoffed back then, warned her not to get cocky—said no man sticks to just one woman his whole life.
And she, stupidly, had insisted Ethan was different.
Thinking about it now, it was laughable.
He’d cheated with a young chick and thought he was being discreet. Even took her along on this trip, bold as daylight.
Now he didn’t even bother hiding it—he brought her straight to the office.She pulled out her phone and sent her mother-in-law a photo of the divorce papers—with her signature already on it.
They had settled everything a week ago.
She’d offered to be the one to bring up the divorce and promised not to spill anything about their secret marriage.
In return, she wanted ten billion as compensation.
Just one more month, and Ethan Allen would be completely out of her life.
“Knock knock—”
The sound of knocking interrupted her thoughts.
Claire Harrington tucked the paperwork away and said calmly, “Come in.”
Ryan Carter stepped inside.
“Ms. Harrington, the President asked me to bring this to you.”
He placed a dark green velvet jewelry box on her desk. Claire casually flipped it open—
Inside was a set of luxury diamond jewelry.
But what flashed through her mind was something completely different… A short-haired girl wrapped in a bathrobe, looking smug as she dangled a diamond necklace, the blurred lights in the background all too familiar, the messy sheets behind her even more so, with love bites glaringly obvious across her chest.
Claire’s stomach churned in disgust.
“Thank you, Mr. Carter.”
She looked up, eyes sharp as knives.
Ryan suddenly felt a chill crawl down his spine.
He rushed to add, “The President handpicked this set himself. It’s one of a kind in the world.”
Too bad his feelings had long stopped being “one of a kind.”
Claire couldn’t even fake any interest anymore.
She forced a smile. “Oh? That’s really touching. Amazing he still finds time to buy me gifts, considering how busy he is.”
Something about her tone made Ryan panic… Did she know about Mr. Allen and Miss Grant?
He broke into a cold sweat and bolted out like his life depended on it.
Claire stared at the jewelry box like it was contaminated.
She took a quick shot with her phone and sent it to a secondhand luxury dealer: “Sell this for me. Donate the money to the foundation for children with disabilities.”
The dealer replied with just: “...”
*
5 PM sharp.
Claire walked into the underground parking garage, just about to get in her car.
From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of another car across the way, engine already running.
Through the window, she clearly saw Ethan Allen sitting in the backseat, right beside a short-haired young woman.
The girl had a round, sweet face and an energy that screamed youth.
“Mr. Allen—!”
Ryan shouted in panic, slamming the brakes.
Through glass and still air, Claire and Ethan’s eyes met—just for a second—but it said everything.