From Divorce to Forever

This was the ninth time I had discovered women's clothing in my husband Carl Wade's storage cabinet that didn't belong to me.

Each time, he brushed it off with excuses like "holding it for a colleague" or "a friend's prank," then hugged me tenderly and apologized.

This time, what I found was a set of baby clothes.

He still smiled and explained, "A new intern at the company is struggling financially. I'm just helping her out."

I nodded and gently straightened his tie.

"You're always so kind," I said. "Then let's go help her together right now."

The smile on his face froze.

Before he could come up with a new lie, I had already pulled him out the door and headed straight to the apartment across the hall.

I knocked on the neighbor's door.

The door opened, and our beautiful neighbor who had recently moved in and claimed to be single stood there holding a crying baby.

She wore the exact same style of dress that had appeared in my husband's storage cabinet before.

I smiled and looked at my husband's ashen face. "Honey, look how wonderful fate is. The intern you mentioned from the company turns out to live right across from us."

...

The refined and gentle expression on Carl's face could no longer hold.

His lips trembled, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Cara Payne across the hall held the child, her eyes darting around in panic, refusing to meet mine.

The cream-colored dress she wore was the same limited-edition brand as the one I had found in Carl's office cabinet.

The smile on my face deepened. "Why aren't you saying anything? Won't you invite us in to sit and offer some warmth to this struggling intern?"

My voice wasn't loud, but it pierced their ears like needles.

Carl suddenly snapped back to reality and grabbed my wrist with force that nearly crushed my bones.

"Leyla, stop this! We'll talk at home!" He lowered his voice, his tone carrying a mix of pleading and threat.

I ignored him, my gaze shifting past him to the wrinkled baby in Cara's arms. "How old is the child? He really looks like you, Carl."

Those words detonated the bomb.

Tears instantly streamed down Cara's face as she trembled holding the baby, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice. "Ms. Fuller, please don't misunderstand. There's nothing between Mr. Wade and me..."

"Nothing?" I interrupted her, smiling even brighter. "Nothing, and yet a child has been born? Carl, you're quite efficient."

Doors of surrounding neighbors creaked open a crack, and countless curious eyes turned toward us.

Carl's face turned ashen.

He yanked me toward our home. "Leyla! I told you to stop! Do you really want everyone to watch our family become a joke?"

I shook off his hand. "A joke?" "Ever since you moved her in across the hall and played out this neighbor drama every day, our family has already become the biggest joke!"

At that moment, a sharp voice echoed from the stairwell. "What are you all yelling about! Aren't you ashamed in the middle of the night!"

Jenny Wade, my mother-in-law, rushed out with an angry face.

She immediately spotted Cara at the door and the child in her arms.

Her expression shifted, but she quickly aimed her anger at me. "Leyla Fuller! What kind of tantrum are you throwing now! Yelling at a young girl like that-do you have any manners?"

She charged over and raised her hand to slap me without a word.

I looked at her coldly. "Do you know whose child she's holding?"

Jenny's hand froze in mid-air.

She glanced at me, then at Carl whose face had gone pale, and finally her eyes settled on the baby's face.

I watched her expression shift from anger to shock, and then to a barely noticeable gleam of mad joy.

She lowered her hand, cleared her throat, and surprisingly pulled Cara protectively to her side. "It's just a child! What's the big deal! Men, you know, everyone has a little fling outside sometimes. The key is that his heart is still at home!"

She glared at me, her words sending a chill through my body. "Besides, you've been married into our family for three years, and there's been no movement in your belly! Carl is just ensuring the family line continues! As the main wife, you need to have the grace to tolerate others! We'll take the child home and raise him ourselves. Then this matter is settled!"

I trembled with rage and nearly laughed out loud.

What wonderful "grace to tolerate others."

I looked at Carl, who kept his head down and refused to meet my eyes, silently agreeing with his mother.

I looked at Cara, who hid behind Jenny, a flash of triumph in her eyes.

So they had all conspired together long ago, just waiting for me as the official wife to nod and put on a show of harmonious wives and concubines.

I took a deep breath and suppressed the surging nausea in my heart. "Carl, let's get divorced."

"Divorce?" Carl jerked his head up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He probably thought I would at most make a scene, vent my emotions, and eventually compromise for the greater good.

After all, the venture capital firm "Cloudius Capital" under our names was the only legacy my father had left me and the fruit of our joint efforts so far.

The company was now in the critical financing stage before going public, and any negative news could ruin everything.

He was certain I wouldn't gamble with my father's lifelong achievement.

"Leyla, calm down," he walked over, trying to grab my hand again, his voice extremely gentle. "I know you're angry. It was my fault. I apologize. But don't keep mentioning divorce. It's bad for the company."

I stepped aside to avoid his touch, my heart turning ice cold. "Bad for the company? When you kept your mistress and illegitimate child right across the hall, why didn't you think about how bad that would be?"

Jenny heard this and exploded again. "What mistress and illegitimate child? You're making it sound so ugly! That's my grandson! Leyla Fuller, let me tell you, if you want a divorce, fine. The company was left by your father, true, but without my son holding it up these years, it would have collapsed long ago! If you want a divorce, you'll leave with nothing!"

I sneered. "Fine, I'll leave with nothing. We'll handle the paperwork tomorrow."

My decisiveness completely panicked Carl.

He grabbed me and dragged me inside, slamming the door shut with a bang, blocking Jenny and Cara from view.

"Leyla, what exactly do you want?" His eyes were bloodshot. "I already said it was just an accident with her! The person I love is you! Can't you understand just this once? I just made a mistake that any normal man would make!"

"Understand you?" I looked at his familiar face and felt only utter strangeness and disgust. "Understand that you can't control yourself, or understand that you've treated me like a fool for so long?"

"I didn't deceive you!" he defended eagerly. "I originally planned to wait until the company stabilized after going public, then cut ties with her completely, give her some money, and have her take the child far away. I swear! I never thought about shaking your position!"

He spoke with such sincerity that his eyes reddened.

In the past, I might have softened.

But now, I only found it ridiculous. "So you're saying I should thank you for not bringing her straight home and leaving me that last bit of dignity?"

"Leyla..."

"Don't call me. I'm sick of you." I walked to the liquor cabinet in the living room and pulled out a dusty bottle of aged whiskey from the very back.

It was the brand my father loved most when he was alive.

After he passed, I had never touched it again.

I twisted off the cap, poured myself a full glass, and drank it down in one gulp.

The sharp liquid burned my throat all the way to my stomach, and tears welled up uncontrollably.

Carl saw me like this and had no idea what to do, standing helplessly to the side. "Don't do this... You can hit me or yell at me, anything, but don't hurt yourself."

I set down the glass and wiped my face. "Carl, do you remember how my father placed my hand in yours on his deathbed?"

His body stiffened, and his face grew even uglier.

My father had been his boss back then and his mentor.

He had risen from a poor recent graduate to a company executive, all thanks to my father's promotion.

When my father was gravely ill, he held Carl's hand and almost begged him to take good care of me and protect the company.

Carl had knelt by the bed, crying and swearing to the heavens that he would guard me like his own life and manage the company like his own child.

I looked at him and asked word by word, "Is this how you guarded me? Is this how you managed the company?"

His lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single word.

I turned and walked into the study, opened the safe, and took out a yellowed document inside. "This is the original equity certificate for the company. It clearly states in black and white that I hold fifty-one percent absolute controlling interest. You've worked hard these years. As compensation, I won't pursue the thirty percent shares in your name."

I slapped the document on the desk. "Tomorrow morning at nine, meet me outside the city hall. If you don't show up, we'll see each other in court. Then whether you can keep that thirty percent will depend on your lawyer's skills."

With that, I didn't glance at him again, picked up my phone and car keys, and walked straight out of this suffocating home.

I drove around the streets aimlessly until dawn began to break, then checked into a hotel.

I hadn't slept all night, and my mind was a tangled mess.

At nine in the morning, I arrived at the city hall entrance on time.

Carl didn't show up.

Instead, I received a text message from him. "Leyla, I know you're still angry. I'll give you time to calm down. The company can't function without you, and our home can't fall apart. Come back anytime when you've thought it through."

I looked at the message and sneered.

He was still so confident, assuming I couldn't leave him or that so-called "home."

Since he chose to avoid it, I would force him to face reality.

I called my assistant and had her convene all shareholders in my name for an emergency board meeting at two in the afternoon.

At one fifty in the afternoon, I walked into the conference room at Cloudius Capital.

It was already full of people. The company's veteran shareholders were all there, most of them old subordinates of my father who had watched me grow up.

Carl sat in the main seat, his face gloomy.

When he saw me enter, he only lifted his eyelids slightly, his expression complex.

I sat down in the seat next to him and distributed a prepared document to everyone.

"I called everyone here today to announce something." I paused, my gaze sweeping across the room before finally landing on Carl. "I've decided to divorce Carl. And immediately remove him from all positions in the company."

As soon as the words left my mouth, the entire conference room erupted.

"What? Divorce?"

"Leyla, you're not joking, are you? At this critical moment, divorcing-what about the company?"

"Yeah, Mr. Wade has put in hard work these years if nothing else. How can you just remove him like that?"

Carl's face grew even darker, but he said nothing, only putting on a resentful expression as he looked at me.

James Henderson, who had the closest relationship with my father, slammed the table and stood up.

"This is nonsense! Do you know what period it is right now? The funding from Harson is about to come through. Kicking Carl out now-do you want the company to die?"

I looked at him calmly. "James, we don't need Harson's funding anymore."

"What?" Even Carl couldn't stay seated. "Leyla, you've lost your mind! We prepared for a whole year to get Harson's investment! And now you say we don't need it?"

I met his gaze without flinching. "Because I've found a better investor."

At that moment, the conference room door opened.

An unexpected person walked in with her legal team.

It was Cara.

She had changed into a sharp business suit, her face adorned with exquisite makeup.

She walked straight to Carl's side and said softly, "Carl, don't worry. I'm here."

Then she turned to the room and smiled slightly.

"Hello everyone. Let me introduce myself. I'm Cara Payne, and also the only daughter of the president of Harson Group."

Everyone froze.

Cara's lawyer stepped forward and placed a document on the projector.

"Everyone, this is the investment intention agreement signed between Ms. Payne and Mr. Wade. As an additional condition of the investment, Harson requires thirty percent of Cloudius Capital's shares, and Ms. Payne will join the board as the second-largest shareholder."

The conference room fell dead silent.

I looked at Carl. The resentment on his face slowly turned into mad joy.

He stood up, walked to Cara's side, put his arm around her shoulders, and looked at me with the posture of a victor. "Leyla, you thought the company couldn't survive without you? Now it seems you're the one holding the company back!"

I watched them play off each other, and the last bit of warmth in my heart vanished completely.

So this was their real goal.

Not just a simple affair, but a long-planned business takeover.

I smiled. "Carl, do you think you've won for sure?"