RUTHLESS VOWS

Celeste pov

"Your blood's staining the contract, Celeste."

I didn't even feel the cut until he said it.

There was too much adrenaline. Too much pressure on me. Blood filled my mouth as I smiled through the pain, pretending the betrayal of my own body wasn't happening-just like I pretended the betrayal of the man I loved hadn't already begun.

I slid the folder across the glass conference table, with my fingers slick with blood. Six months of hell, twelve backstabbed competitors, and one million sleepless nights was now wrapped in a pitch-perfect proposal that would expand Carter Global into Europe.

My voice cracked as I whispered, "We did it."

But Ethan didn't look at the folder.

Instead, he flipped open the leather case in front of him and slid a crisp toward me, it was a cold stack of legal documents my way.

The gold-embossed title burned like acid in my brain as I read through it:

Petition for Divorce.

I blinked repeatedly. The lights were blurring my sight. Maybe it was the concussion. Maybe it was a heartbreak.

"What...what is this?" I staggered.

Ethan leaned back in his chair, his face a mask of marble looking so calm, so practiced, like he'd rehearsed this. "It's over, Celeste. Sign it."

I turned my head slowly-and there she was.

Brielle Langford. Her chanel-red lips. Crossed legs. Diamond-cut smirk.

She is the daughter of Gregory Langford, CEO of Langford & Holt-the conglomerate Ethan had been trying to merge with for two years.

Brielle used to spill champagne on me at galas and call it a "poor girl accident." Now she was seated at my conference table like she owned the empire I built.

"You're marrying her?" I asked, the taste of blood rising again. I didn't want to believe it. I just wanted to confirm that my instinct was right.

Brielle held up her left hand-three carats of cruelty sparkled on her finger. "Already engaged. Didn't you hear?"

I looked down at the contract I had nearly died putting together. The same contract that would have made Carter Global untouchable.

My jaw trembled as I tried speaking. "This deal would've changed your life."

Ethan stood up, fastening his Armani jacket like the conversation bored him.

"It has changed my life," he said. "Thanks to you, I finally had the leverage to close the Langford merger. Your job's done."

He turned his back to me.

"You were just...a convenient stepping stone, Celeste." he snapped. My eyes couldn't get off his hand wrapping around that bitch as he walked out of the door.

The door opened behind me.

Two men in dark suits stepped in-security.

"Miss Alvarez," one said, not meeting my eyes. "You'll need to come with us."

I froze, trying to catch up with what was happening. "You're firing me?"

"It's standard protocol,and it needs to be followed," Ethan said, not bothering to look at me. "You no longer represent Carter Global."

"You're erasing me?" I asked him in disbelief. My lips were trembling as I shook my head not wanting to believe it but it was happening already.

His hand reached for the folder I gave him.

Then-rrrr iiii pp.

He slid my contract into the shredder, slow and deliberate. I watched the paper fly around the room and slowly each piece of it dropped on the cold floor.

Strip by strip.

Word by word.

He destroyed me.

Flashback:

I remembered staying up with him during those all-nighters, drawing up strategy while hiding my miscarriage pain. I remembered selling my artwork to fund his launch because I loved him. I remembered watching my parents die in a car crash the night before our first pitch meeting-and still showing up to present with tear-stained cheeks and a borrowed blazer.

He didn't remember.

He didn't care.

He never cared.

The miscarriage was all his fault yet it doesn't matter to him.

Slowly I moved my frozen feet out of the office, I was dumbfounded. Lost. And trying to get myself to understand what was happening.

The cold outside was unbearable as it poured down on me restlessly.

The thought I was going to die flashed through me, folding my hand around my chest.