Million Dollar Hush Money: I Want Divorce

Chapter 5 5

Word Count: 771 | Released on: 30/12/2025

le too fast, a little too sharp. She shifted on the piano bench, hunching her sh

than the music. Every muscle in her

ion, she saw the sommel

2 Marga

that vibrated through the floorboards and stra

in, sugary and sharp. "Make i

ring dissonance in the middle of

He squinted slightly, but the dimly lit corner and the mask did their job. He saw a shape

named Pierre, scurried over to the p

at is Mr. Sterling. He is our most im

ly whispered through her m

ghtened up. "The lady at table four

. Marriage d'Amour. It was the son

now it was Lily-she couldn't possibly-but she sensed the pianist's discomfort and, like a cat with a dying mouse,

that," Lily

et paid for tonight," Pierre

ls. She thought of the frozen credit cards.

er pride. It ta

chords of Marriage d'Amour. The

his knife stopped halfway through the meat.

s eyes for a moment, letting the sound

d loudly. "I asked her to play it. It

lluminated by the sheet music light. They moved with a fluidity that mad

than's arm to draw his attention back. "Look at the tension in

rief, her hatred into the keys. The music swelled, fill

faded, there was a s

. "You should tip he

to the bill," Ethan said,

mate it made Lily want to vomit-and pulled out his money clip. She pulled out a

He took the ca

ead. She sat paralyzed as her husband walked across the roo

; he was looking at the tip jar. He just placed

d dismissively. "Y

ed to w

mocking her. It was the million dollars all over again. It was

t exploded. It was a hot,

Chapter End

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Million Dollar Hush Money: I Want Divorce

Irene Modern

“The silence in Sterling Manor wasn't empty; it was heavy, pressing against my eardrums like deep water. I sat on the edge of the oversized velvet sofa, waiting for my husband to return from a "merger closing" that I knew was actually a hotel room. At 2:00 AM, a notification glowed on his forgotten work tablet: "You left your tie on my nightstand. I'll keep it safe for next time. - S." When Ethan finally walked in, he didn't look at me. He just smelled like Serena's signature sandalwood perfume and expensive scotch. He didn't apologize for the infidelity; instead, he transferred a million dollars into my spousal account and told me to go buy some jewelry to keep my mouth shut. I realized then that I wasn't a wife; I was an expensive placeholder. I left my ten-carat diamond ring on the foyer table and walked out into the freezing rain with nothing but a canvas duffel bag. But Ethan wasn't about to let his "ornament" escape so easily. He froze my credit cards, revoked my trust access, and used his billion-dollar influence to blacklist me from every architecture firm in New York City. He even tracked me down to a restaurant where I was playing piano for tips, throwing a stack of hundreds at me in front of his mistress. When I still refused to crawl back to the manor, he played his final, cruelest card. He leaned in and whispered that if I didn't return to his bed, he would stop protecting my brother from a prison sentence he had manufactured himself. I stood there shivering, realizing that every "favor" he'd ever done for my family was actually a shackle. He thought he could buy my soul, my talent, and my silence by holding the people I loved hostage. How could the man I once loved turn into a monster who viewed my life as nothing more than a line item on a balance sheet? I looked him straight in the eye, my voice as cold as the winter air outside. "Make the call, Ethan. Send him to jail. I'd rather visit my brother through plexiglass than spend another night sleeping next to you." I'm done being a victim. I've just walked into the offices of Azure Architects, the only firm in the city Ethan can't bully. I'm not just going to finish my degree; I'm going to help his biggest rival burn his empire to the ground.”