Chapter 5

Aspen Donaldson POV:

I took Derek' s crudely scribbled divorce draft and, with a calm I didn't entirely feel but desperately projected, tore it in half. The ripping sound was sharp, definitive. I watched his face contort, a flicker of raw panic beneath the anger. He wasn't just furious; he was genuinely rattled.

"You'll regret this, Aspen," he snarled, his voice a low hiss. "You'll come crawling back. You'll see."

"I doubt that," I replied, my voice steady, devoid of inflection.

He snatched Krystal's arm, pulling her roughly towards the door. She stumbled, casting a venomous glance back at me. As he reached the threshold, Derek turned one last time, his eyes burning into mine. "Don't think you'll get a dime from me. Every account is frozen. Every asset tied up. You'll be out on the street, just like you deserve."

Then they were gone. The door slammed shut, leaving an echoing silence in the room.

I lay back, the adrenaline slowly receding, leaving me utterly drained. Frozen accounts. Out on the street. For a moment, a wave of fear washed over me. I had been so trusting, so naive. I had believed in his love, in our shared future, foolishly thinking that my happiness was intertwined with his. I had given him my heart, my life, and unknowingly, the keys to my family's hidden influence. And he had used it all to build his empire, then discard me.

But the fear quickly morphed into a cold, hard resolve. He wanted to play dirty? Fine. He had no idea who he was playing against.

The hospital discharged me that afternoon. I hailed a cab, giving the driver my home address. My marital home address. The place I had filled with warmth, with memories, with the remnants of a shattered dream.

The front gate, usually left ajar for me, was closed, locked. I tried my key card. Inactive. I buzzed the intercom. No answer. My heart sank, a familiar chill creeping into my chest. He hadn't just frozen my accounts; he had locked me out of my own home.

Just as I was about to turn away, the front door creaked open. Krystal stood there, framed in the doorway, wearing my silk robe-the pale blue one Derek had bought me for our first anniversary. Her hair was disheveled, a smug, triumphant smile plastered on her face. And on her left ring finger, a diamond sparkled, too large, too ostentatious. My engagement ring. The one Derek had given me.

"Looking for something?" she purred, leaning against the doorframe, displaying the ring prominently. "Oh, Aspen darling, you mustn't expect to just waltz back in here. This is my home now. Derek said you're officially persona non grata. And besides," she gestured around the immaculately landscaped garden, "you wouldn't want to live in such a cramped, modest place, would you? Not for a woman of your... radical independence."

My blood boiled. The audacity. The sheer, unadulterated gall.

"Get out of my way, Krystal," I said, my voice low, dangerous.

She laughed, a brittle, mocking sound. "Or what? You'll slap me again? Derek won't be as understanding this time. He's very protective of his property, you know." She winked, openly taunting me.

That was it. My last shred of patience snapped. I lunged forward, pushing past her, ignoring her yelp of surprise. I was in. The house. My house.

But it wasn't mine. Not anymore.

The living room, once filled with my carefully chosen art and family photographs, was stripped bare. The antique side table, a cherished heirloom from my grandmother, was gone. My favorite cashmere throw, the one I always snuggled under on cold evenings, was replaced by a garish faux-fur blanket. The wall where our wedding photos had hung was now empty, a faint rectangle of lighter paint the only evidence of their existence.

"Looking for your little trinkets?" Krystal's voice slithered behind me. "Oh, those? Derek had them thrown out. Said they were cluttering up the place. We needed a fresh start, you see. New energy."

My eyes caught on a small, ornate wooden box on the mantelpiece-my mother's jewelry box, the one she'd inherited from her mother. It was precious, filled with sentimental pieces, not valuable but irreplaceable. Krystal had left it. For a split second, a tiny spark of hope flickered. Maybe not everything was lost.

I rushed towards it, my heart pounding. But Krystal was faster. With a cruel sneer, she grabbed the box and hurled it to the ground. It shattered into a hundred pieces, scattering antique lace, faded photographs, and delicate, tangled chains across the polished floor.

"Oops," she said, her smile widening, her eyes gleaming with malice. "Clumsy, aren't I? Just like you, Aspen. Always breaking things." Then, with a deliberate stomp, she crushed a tiny, hand-painted porcelain bird, a gift from my father to my mother on their first anniversary.

A guttural cry tore from my throat. It wasn't just the bird. It was my mother. It was my father. It was every memory, every cherished moment, being trampled underfoot by this vile woman.

"Stop!" I screamed, lunging at her, desperate to save the last vestiges of my family.

Just then, the front door burst open again. Derek stood there, his eyes instantly falling on the shattered box, on Krystal, who had collapsed onto the floor in another dramatic heap, and on me, my hands reaching out in a futile attempt to protect my mother's broken legacy.

"What in God's name is happening?" he roared, not at Krystal, but at me. He shoved me roughly aside, his strong arm pushing me against the wall. "Krystal, baby, are you hurt? Aspen, get out! Get out of my house! You're a menace!"

Krystal looked up at him, her eyes wide and tearful, a triumphant smirk flashing across her face as she caught my gaze over Derek' s shoulder. She had done it. She had orchestrated this perfectly.

I looked at the shattered pieces on the floor, at the cold, unfeeling man who had once been my husband, at the venomous woman he cradled in his arms. The last fragments of my heart crumbled into dust. There was nothing left here for me. No love, no home, no hope. Only wreckage.

Silently, I knelt, ignoring Derek's furious shouts. I began to pick up the broken pieces, the shards of glass, the scattered photographs, the crushed porcelain bird. Each piece felt like a stab to my soul, but I gathered them carefully, meticulously. They were all I had left of my past, of my family.

"Get out!" Derek screamed again, his voice echoing in the hollow shell of what was once our home.

I didn't answer. I just kept collecting the fragments, my resolve hardening with each broken shard. This wasn't the end. This was the beginning. He had destroyed my past, but he wouldn't control my future. As I walked out of that house, broken remnants clutched carefully in my hands, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't used in years.

"I need a private investigator," I said, my voice steady, cold. "I need everything you can find on Derek Webb and Krystal Berg. Every secret. Every lie. I want it all."