Adrian's POV
I fire Richard on the spot.
"Get out of my office. You're done. Finished." My voice shakes with rage as I throw his suitcase at him. "You have two hours to clear your desk before I have security throw you out."
Richard doesn't fight. Just picks up his bag and runs like the rat he is.
But the anger doesn't last. Once I'm alone in the meeting room, surrounded by signed divorce papers, all I feel is... empty.
It's done. Elena's gone. Just like I wanted.
So why does it feel like I just made the biggest mistake of my life?
I call Vivian. It rings five times before she answers.
"Adrian? Why are you calling? I thought we agreed to keep distance until—"
"Are you sleeping with Richard?" I interrupt.
Silence. Long and damaging.
"Adrian, I can explain—"
I hang up. Delete her number. Block it.
Seven years of marriage, ruined. My lawyer, cheating me. My lover, playing me. And Elena just walked away from all of it without even fighting.
That's the part that bothers me most. Elena didn't cry. Didn't beg. Didn't fall apart like I expected.
She just... left. Like I meant nothing. Like seven years meant nothing.
Like she'd been waiting for this moment all along.
My phone buzzes. A text from my mother: Pick up Liam by 5 PM. He's been asking about Elena all day. What should I tell him?
I check my watch. 4:47 PM. I'm supposed to be enjoying right now. Freedom. A fresh start. Everything I wanted.
Instead, I'm dreading picking up my son.
The drive to my mother's house takes twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of trying to figure out what to tell a six-year-old about why his mother is gone.
She wasn't good enough for us. She chose to leave. She didn't fight for you.
But none of those feel right. None of those feel true.
I pull into the driveway and Liam runs out before I even turn off the car. His face is excited, happy. Innocent.
"Daddy! Grandma made cookies! Can we take some home for Mommy?"
The words punch me in the gut. "Liam, get in the car."
"But the cookies—"
"Now."
My harsh tone makes him flinch. He gets into his car seat without arguing, hugging his stuffed dinosaur.
We drive in quiet. I try to find the words. Try to figure out how to explain that his mother is never coming home.
"Daddy? Why are you mad?"
"I'm not mad, buddy."
"You look mad. Did Mommy do something bad?"
"No." The word comes out harder than I meant. "No, Mommy didn't do anything bad."
"Then why isn't she picking me up? She always picks me up."
Because I destroyed her. Because I made her feel useless. Because she gave you to me without a fight.
"Mommy's busy," I say instead. "She's going to be busy for a while."
We come home and the house feels wrong. Too quiet. Too empty.
Elena's car isn't in the garage. Her shoes aren't by the door. The kitchen doesn't smell like food cooking.
Liam notices instantly. "Where's Mommy?"
"She's not here right now."
"When is she coming back?"
"I don't know."
"Can we call her? I want to show her my picture from school."
"Not tonight, buddy."
"But Daddy—"
"I said not tonight!" My voice rings through the empty house. Liam's eyes fill with tears.
I immediately regret it. "Liam, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"I want Mommy." His voice is small. Broken. "Where's Mommy? Why won't you tell me?"
I kneel down to his level, trying to find words that won't kill him. "Mommy and Daddy decided we're better off living separated. Like Tommy's parents at your school, remember? They live in different houses."
"But Tommy still sees his mommy every week." Liam's tears spill over. "When do I see my mommy?"
"I don't know yet. We're still working things out."
"Did she leave because of what I said?" His voice cracks. "About Miss Winters being better?"
My chest tightens. "What? No, Liam—"
"I didn't mean it! I was just being silly! Please call Mommy and tell her I didn't mean it!"
He's crying now, and I have no idea what to do. Elena always handled this. Elena knew how to calm him down, make him feel better.
Elena's not here anymore.
I pull Liam into my arms and let him cry. His small body shakes against mine, and I realize with terrible clarity what I've done.
I didn't just lose my wife. I took away my son's mother.
"It's okay, buddy. Everything's going to be okay."
But I'm lying. Nothing's okay. Nothing's going to be right.
That night, I put Liam to bed and he asks for Elena seventeen times. For her to read him a story. To sing his goodnight song. To check for monsters under his bed.
I do my best, but it's not the same. It's never going to be the same.
Finally, he falls asleep clutching a picture of Elena from his bedside table.
I walk downstairs and pour myself a drink. Then another. Then another.
The house is too quiet. Too empty without Elena moving through it, organizing things, living.
My phone buzzes. A text from an unknown number.
I almost ignore it. But something makes me open it.
What I see makes my blood run cold.
It's a movie file. No message. Just the movie.
I press play.
The video shows my office from yesterday. Me and Damien Cross talking.
But that's impossible. I've never met Damien Cross. We've exchanged emails about a possible merger, but we've never met in person.
I watch myself in the tape lean forward and say: "Once Elena's out of the picture, Kane Industries will merge with your company."
Damien Cross responds: "Once the divorce is final, you'll marry Vivian, and I'll handle the rest?"
"Yes," video-Adrian says. "Once Elena's out of the picture, Kane Industries will join with your company. But you're sure this is legal?" Cross laughs. "We're going to steal your wife's algorithm, patent it under my name, and sell it for billions."
And I watch myself nod. Agree to steal from Elena. Agree to fail her even worse than I already have.
But I never said those words. I never had that meeting.
This video is fake. It has to be fake.
Another text comes through: Interesting video, isn't it? But here's the thing, Adrian. The cops don't know it's fake. Your business partners don't know it's fake. And by tomorrow morning, every news source in the country will have a copy. Unless you do exactly what I say. -Anonymous
My hands shake so badly I drop the phone.
Someone is framing me. Someone made a fake video of me plotting to steal Elena's work.
Another text: You have 12 hours to send $20 million to the account below. If you don't, this video goes public and you lose everything. Your company. Your image. Your choice. Tick tock, Adrian.
I stare at the account number in fear.
This can't be happening. This can't be real.
But then I remember Elena's face today. How calm she was. How she signed everything without fighting.
How she mentioned Richard and Vivian stealing from me.
How she knew about the secret accounts.
My phone rings. Unknown number. Against my better sense, I answer.
"Hello, Adrian." The voice is warped, mechanical. "Did you enjoy the video?"
"Who is this?"
"Someone who knows what you did. Someone who's going to make sure you pay for it."
"I didn't do anything in that video! It's fake!"
"Can you prove it?" The voice laughs. "Because it looks pretty real to me. And it'll look real to everyone else too."
"What do you want?"
"I already told you. Twenty million dollars. By morning. Or your life is over."
The line goes dead.
I sit in my empty house, surrounded by silence, and realize Elena didn't just walk away.
She declared war.
And I have no idea how to fight back.