After Divorce: My Arrogant Ex Regrets Calling Me Trash

pened. It wasn't just the ambient temperature of the central air conditioning set to a sterile sixty-eight degree

ead count higher than her credit score used to be, clung to her damp skin. Her heart hammered agai

in the hospital bed anymore. She wasn't listening to the flatline of the monit

hrome accents, black leather furniture, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking th

digital clock on the nights

bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The day Thorne Industries would announce their "revolutionary" new algor

, today was the day

ng open with a violence that made the

e looked like every magazine cover he had ever graced: handsome, sharp, and utterly hollow. He was adjusting hi

omment. He didn't look at her. He never really looked at her. To

ack of documents onto the duvet. The papers la

nt. "My lawyers say if we file this morning, I can announce my single status during the post-mark

s. Divorce Settlement Agreement. T

sking what she had done wrong, promising to be better, to be quieter, to be whatever he wanted. She had

t

under her fingertips. She didn't feel the stinging in her eyes.

him clearly. He wasn't a titan of industry. He was a mediocre man stan

e both knew this was coming. You were a fun project, but let's be honest. You're a

He used her humble origins to keep her small, to ma

side of the bed. Her feet hit

he walked past him toward the mahogany desk in the corner of the room. She moved with a fluid grace that she ha

had prepared a speech about how she wasn't "brand compatib

nto her path. "I said sign the papers. I

simply sidestepped him as if he were a minor o

was a Montblanc, a gift she had bought him for their first

in her hand. It felt pe

g Thorne. His signature was jagged, aggressive

behind her eyes

yzing market tren

hat saved his first s

his ear before meetings, which he lat

erything. Her mind,

he sound was a sharp cl

ing with irritation. "You get the settlement outlined there

a lau

ng in place. It was not a bitter laugh. It was the laugh

. Her voice was steady, devoid of the tremors

e nib to the paper. The ink flowed bl

ra V

Thorne. A

ment back toward him. It fluttered thr

looked at the signature, expecting a mess, a scribble o

ned it," he stammere

er dresses she had bought her costumes for the doll he wanted her to be. She reached for the top shelf

d. He was winning, he was getting what he wanted, but it didn't feel li

. A pair of jeans. A sweater. Her old laptop. T

regaining his arrogance. "But honestly, the sooner you're gone,

. The sound was like a zip

o face him o

ftly. She walked toward the door, dragging the suitcas

n her, broader. He used his physical presence t

aning down. "You go back to the trash you came from. No one in t

r eyes were dark, en

he lifestyle you enjoy... it requires

his personal space until he w

ook notes," s

she didn't stumble. She walked out of the bedroom, down

ng off the view of the luxury she h

15

in two hours and

he air in the elevator was stale,

begin," she murmure

to find out exactly how