My Ex Chose His Mistress, So I Chose His Playboy Rival

Emily Stewart had been reborn-right back to the exact moment her husband, Gavin Collins, asked her for a divorce for the fifth time.

Every time Gavin asked for a divorce, his offer got sweeter.

His first proposal had included a villa and ten million dollars. After several failed attempts, he'd raised the settlement to a ten-percent stake in his company along with ownership of an entire commercial building.

Now, he was prepared to hand over nearly half of everything he owned.

Emily knew one thing for sure: there couldn't be a sixth time.

She knew exactly what came next. Gavin would have her kidnapped and dumped into bed with his drugged business rival, Colton Willis, just so he could fake proof that she'd cheated.

Once the trap was complete, he would strip her of everything in the divorce. Afterward, her death would be made to look like a suicide brought on by the shame of being caught with another man.

The scandal would take Colton down too. Gavin would use it to wipe out his rival for good-ruin him so badly he'd never come back.

And every bit of it was for Kaitlyn Miller.

Kaitlyn was still a relatively unknown actress who'd entered the entertainment world only a year earlier, building her image around being sweet, innocent, and untouched by the ugliness of the industry.

There was no denying that she knew how to look harmless. Her delicate features and large, watery eyes made her seem shy and gentle whenever she looked at someone.

Even Emily couldn't deny why people preferred Kaitlyn's sweet, innocent act to Emily's arrogant, difficult, and overbearing reputation.

Yet Emily hadn't become that way for no reason.

Everything had started changing once Gavin began staying out later each night. He'd return home carrying traces of unfamiliar perfume, and little by little, he stopped remembering the anniversaries and special dates that had once mattered to them.

Sometimes Emily blew up at him; other times she looked the other way. Deep down, she always believed those other women meant nothing to Gavin. No matter how many rumors surfaced, he'd never once seriously brought up divorce.

Then Kaitlyn entered his life.

According to Gavin, Kaitlyn was too innocent and vulnerable to endure the same pressure Emily could handle. He insisted the gossip would destroy her unless he gave her a proper place beside him.

He claimed the entertainment industry was too ruthless for Kaitlyn to survive without someone powerful protecting her. But Emily had already built a successful career and become famous, so in his eyes, she no longer needed him behind her.

What a joke. He talked like fame had somehow made Emily immune to gossip and humiliation, like she'd made it to the top without ever getting dragged through the mud herself.

"Emily, these terms are already generous. Don't push your luck." Gavin looked annoyed as he loosened his tie. A dark hickey showed just below his collar.

In her previous life, that one mark had shattered Emily's restraint. She'd refused the divorce outright, screamed herself hoarse fighting with Gavin, and then stormed onto Kaitlyn's set to slap her across the face.

Gavin had stayed away from home for an entire month afterward. When he finally returned, what he did next destroyed Emily completely.

This time, Emily had no intention of holding on to a man who no longer wanted her.

Emily grabbed the pen and signed fast. She didn't want to give Gavin even a second to change his mind.

"Done. You'd better keep every word of that deal. Not a cent less than you promised."

Gavin froze. She'd signed too fast. Suspicion crept into his eyes. "What are you up to this time?"

Emily stared at him like he'd lost it. "You're the one who kept asking for a divorce. Now that I've finally agreed, you're suspicious? What exactly do you want from me?"

For once, Gavin had nothing to say. He snatched up the agreement and checked her signature. It was real. Annoyance twisted in his chest for no reason he could name. "You'd better mean it."

His distrust wasn't entirely unreasonable. The last four times he'd tried to divorce her, she had pulled every desperate trick to keep the marriage alive.

She'd faked cancer, staged kidnappings and car crashes, and signed fake names on divorce papers. Her craziest stunt? Telling him she was pregnant.

After days of fighting him at every turn, her sudden cooperation naturally felt suspicious. Gavin couldn't shake the feeling she was planning something.

Still, he wasn't about to let this chance go. "Nine tomorrow morning. Meet me to finalize the divorce."

Gavin headed for the door, throwing Emily one last cold, impatient look.

His phone rang just before he walked out.

The second he saw the name on the screen, the coldness vanished. His eyes went soft-so soft he didn't even look like the same man who'd just stared at Emily with disgust.

Emily watched him pick up. His voice went gentle-so gentle she hadn't heard it in ages. "Babe, it's almost done. Don't be mad. I'm coming over now. I'll stay with you..."

Emily had already decided to let him go, but hearing him be that gentle with another woman still made her chest ache.

Three years as his girlfriend, seven as his wife-ten years. She'd given him the best years of her life.

She still remembered how he used to look at her when he loved her. That was why she couldn't understand how it had all just vanished.

What could make a man give up nearly half his fortune just to end his marriage? What kind of madness could drive him to set up the wife he'd once loved by putting her in another man's bed?

Questions like those had followed Emily all the way to her final moments in her previous life.

This time, she wasn't going to waste her second chance trying to understand Gavin.

He didn't love her anymore. That was all that mattered. She didn't need a reason.

The following morning, Emily chose a gorgeous slip dress and headed to the courthouse in an unusually cheerful mood.

One look at her outfit brought a mocking glint to Gavin's eyes. "You seem pretty happy about ending our marriage. Dressed like that, someone might think you're here to get married, not divorced."

Emily shrugged. "I'm finally out of a miserable marriage. That's worth celebrating."

"Miserable?" Gavin repeated, clearly caught off guard. He hadn't expected her to describe their years together that way.

Before he could say anything else, a beautiful young woman hurried toward them and immediately wrapped herself around his arm. "Gavin, is everything finished?"

Emily's good mood died the second Kaitlyn showed up. That sugary smile was like fireworks at a funeral-their marriage's funeral.

Emily's patience thinned instantly. "Seriously, Gavin? You couldn't even come finalize our divorce without bringing your mistress along?"

Only then did Kaitlyn turn toward her, like she hadn't noticed Emily until that second. She quickly hid behind Gavin, looking scared. "Emily, please don't misunderstand... I woke up and Gavin was gone. He said last night he'd be here this morning, so I came to check on him. I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable..."

Tears quickly gathered in her eyes, and with her timid expression, she looked like a helpless girl being bullied.

Emily didn't get what Kaitlyn had to feel wronged about. All she saw was another pathetic attempt at playing the innocent one.

Unfortunately, Gavin seemed to believe every second of it.

"That's enough, Emily. Kaitlyn isn't like you-she's innocent. Why do you always have to go after her aggressively?"

Emily gave a derisive laugh. "Aggressively? I'm just telling the truth. If she's really as innocent as you say, why did she sleep with a married man? That's not naive. That's calculating."

"Enough!" Gavin snapped. "Kaitlyn has nothing to do with our marriage falling apart. Stop taking your anger out on her." He stepped in front of Kaitlyn, his face dark. "If you're mad, take it out on me. Don't pressure her."