Chapter 1 Welcome Back

"Let's get a divorce."

The offhand declaration hit Kaelyn Curtis before she could catch her breath, and only then did it sink in-her husband Leland Morgan was discarding her.

She froze, staring at the handsome man who sat at his desk regarding her with icy indifference.

Her fingers tightened around the lunchbox and the Cradle Project contract she'd brought with such hope.

"Leland... you can't be serious, I..."

Her protest died as Leland cut in, his tone sharp enough to slice through air, "I'm completely serious. Our company is about to lock in the Cradle Project, and that victory belongs to Davina. I already gave her my word-I'll marry her. She's the one who deserves to be my wife."

He dragged his gaze over Kaelyn's modest dress and the worn lunchbox she had dutifully delivered to him every single workday for three long years, his expression sharpening with thinly veiled contempt.

A slow squint narrowed his eyes. To him, she had been nothing more than a dependable shadow-obedient, quiet, and painfully dull. He had never felt even a flicker of affection for her.

"If not for my grandfather's ridiculous will forcing our marriage, Davina and I would've been together ages ago," he muttered, his tone dripping with disdain.

Disgust darkened his stare as he went on, "You and my grandfather are both unbelievably foolish."

A cruel sneer tugged at his lips, arrogance blooming where humility had once lived during his early struggles. Her years of quiet sacrifice had only helped him forget the man he used to be.

He didn't register the shift in Kaelyn's face-the way her once-timid expression hardened, ice settling behind her glasses.

Her voice cut through the air, low and frostbitten. "What did you just say?"

He went still, and then recovered with a derisive snort. "I said you and my grandfather were both fools. He always wanted the company to go to my uncle. And look how that turned out. He-"

A crack split the air as her palm struck his cheek.

"You have no right to insult your grandfather!" Kaelyn bellowed, her voice trembling with fury.

Heat surged through her for the first time in years.

She had swallowed every slight, endured every cold glance-but Leland never realized that the only reason she stayed, the only reason she supported him in silence, was because his grandfather, Aaron Morgan, had once pulled her back from the brink of death.

For that debt, she had hidden who she truly was and stood behind Leland without complaint.

If he found her presence so unbearable... maybe it was finally time to walk away.

A stunned silence followed as he clutched his burning cheek, staring at Kaelyn like she'd completely lost it.

She actually had the nerve to slap him!

"Insult him? That man never lifted a finger to help me. He forced me to marry some orphan with nothing to her name-should I bow in gratitude for that? I've tolerated you for three years before asking for a divorce. Isn't that enough? Or are you planning to cling to me now?"

A cold, bitter smile curved across Kaelyn's lips. "Don't flatter yourself. If that's what you want, fine-I'm all in. Let's end this joke of a marriage today."

The rest of his retort died in his throat, his features locked in utter disbelief.

Leland swept his icy gaze across her face, as if searching for some hint that she was bluffing.

Yet she had always been composed. Nothing about her wavered now.

After a long beat, he let out a sharp breath and demanded, "Fine. Tell me what you want. As long as it's within reason, I'll consider it."

Kaelyn rose with unhurried poise, her expression unreadable behind the thin lenses of her glasses.

"Half an hour. I'll meet you at the courthouse."

She didn't wait for his reaction-she simply turned, swung the door shut with a sharp bang, and walked away without looking back.

If he felt no gratitude, then the vow she made to Aaron no longer bound her.

Leland strutted around on the strength of the Cradle Project, yet he dared to claim Davina Hayes had secured it for him. The blatant lie almost made her laugh.

She couldn't wait to watch his smug expression shatter when he finally discovered Davina was nothing more than a decorative fraud-and that the real architect behind the Cradle Project had been his "dull" wife all along.

The divorce process moved with cold efficiency.

Because of the prenuptial agreement, there was nothing left to fight over.

Three years of marriage dissolved in less than fifteen minutes.

Staring at the stamped divorce decree, Kaelyn felt a faint shiver run through her, but underneath it pulsed a quiet, profound relief.

After three long years, she was finally free to reclaim the woman she had buried.

Outside the courthouse, Leland thrust a document toward her with practiced arrogance.

"This is a confidentiality agreement. First, you are forbidden from revealing that you were ever married to the CEO of Morgan Group-we can't have our stock price shaken by... unnecessary rumors. Second, you're forbidden from working for any company connected to Morgan Group for the next two years. Don't even consider using what you picked up here to leak trade secrets. And of course, I'm not heartless. I won't let you walk away empty-handed."

He flipped open the folder, displaying a gleaming property deed and a neatly signed check for five million. "That'll buy you time to figure out the rest of your life. Just add your signature, and it's all yours."

His voice carried that familiar superiority, as if he were tossing scraps to someone beneath him.

A dry, incredulous laugh slipped from Kaelyn.

Every project bonus she had ever earned had flowed straight into Leland's hands, fueling the empire he flaunted now.

Those totals made five million seem like chump change.

What a spectacularly shameless bastard!

She lifted the check between her fingers, her expression unreadable.

While he watched her with smug confidence, she methodically tore the paper into thin strips and let them flutter down over his head like falling confetti.

Behind the thin frames of her glasses, her gaze sharpened into something lethal. "Leland, starting today, you and I are done."

A strange unease rippled through him under her unwavering stare. His shoulders stiffened, and he barked, trying to regain control, "Kaelyn, don't come crawling back when you can't survive on your own."

Before she could respond, his phone chimed.

The moment Leland saw Davina's name on the screen, his hardened expression melted into something soft and eager.

With calculated ease, he took the call right in front of Kaelyn.

"Davina, it's done. I already cut ties with her. Yeah... I'll head over now. The wedding rings just came in."

He flung the documents at Kaelyn without so much as a glance and strode to his car, sliding behind the wheel as if she no longer existed.

Freshly divorced and already gearing up for another wedding-he couldn't have made his impatience more obvious.

Yet Kaelyn promised herself he would choke on that confidence one day.

A deafening engine growl ripped through the quiet a moment later, shattering the stillness around her.

A custom SUV drifted to a precise stop in front of Kaelyn, its glossy body reflecting the courthouse steps.

Back straight and expression cool behind her glasses, she stepped over the scattered documents as if they were trash and dipped her head to climb into the car.

Inside, her assistant, Cole Bailey, sat upright, respect and barely contained excitement flickering in his eyes. He said warmly, "Welcome back."