Divorcing My CEO

a p

I whispered to the

tasted l

ries. Laughter spilled from rooftop bars. Couples leaned into each other

not tonight

r of midnight, elegant and expensive, just like everything else in this penthouse. My m

the fame, fortu

ng I'd quietly, desperately w

d, Damian

never treated me like a queen. I glanced at the clock on the

he silence that wasn't peaceful, but suffocating. The way the air in

the floor with a soft thud. The cold marble k

ng his arm at galas, of pretending our marriage

t the way a husband touches a wife. No

ons, and a distance so vast, I sometimes

a proposal. It was a merger. Two powerful families, two

g star, he was a rising empire. Our fathers shook ha

t necessary. That I could be happy with th

s ly

ress conference and the third silent

xpression so lonely it broke my heart. The man who, despite his icy exterior, had onc

dness was the crack in my armor. It was th

e moment I st

e loving a ghost. He was there, physica

in the mornings. I redecorated the guest room into a home office he never used. I

he never noticed. Or if

My heart, that stupid, stubborn

g on the smile I reserved for red carpets and ch

, just as he stepped

l., impossibly handsome.

ck," I sai

his keys onto the counter with

ting," he

," I reminded him sof

r a while "R

m late." No "Did you wait for

...

t apart, in a room the si

hair fell just so across his forehead. The intensity in his eyes

ce. A cold, untouc

ving a man who looked through me, of pretending my heart wasn'

inside m

ang, but wit

final s

divorce,

n the air, it wa

fro

s eyes locked onto mine. Not a sweep,

you say?

f pretending. Tired of being your wife on paper and a stra

s me, his jaw tighten

ars, Damian. And in all that time, not once have you held me, kisse

, his expression unreadable, like

for him to f

arm. It was the closest we'd been in months. I felt

ers," I said, my voice steady. "You'

I walked

, by

three years, I didn'

t...

-

AN'S

she was orderin

lear an

divorce,

ds, five

oddamn world ti

walked past me. The whisper of her silk dress agai

n't loo

r spine was straight. Her head, held high. She move

someone had reached in and

t supposed

utual respect, no emotional entangleme

eed. She'

ike I'd just been ha

my throat was nothing compared to the

't lov

poets and fools. I was Damian Blackwood. I built

g at the amber liquid in m

, so... vulnerable. I'd stood there for a full minute, just watching her. And

h

dn't

use the ro

. I didn't want

the table, the sound echoi

, I was s

lling mindlessly. My thumb

antly. Her co-star, Leo Winters, had his arm slung

ghtened on

lou

d into me like

lt jealous

rned, hot and

alous... what the h

rite, a

pushing away the best thing

time in my life,

she was really

rrified that she

t of my own emptiness

over, not by

e was walking away, but

thout