Chapter 9

Outside, Marcus caught up and grabbed my arm.

"I miss my son," he pleaded. "Experts say babies need interaction with their fathers. You can't just take that away from him. Let me see him tonight. Just let me play with him, okay?"

Mentioning our son was the last straw. I shoved him away and slapped him hard across the face.

"Marcus, if you had any conscience at all, you wouldn't dare talk about him!" I yelled. "Aside from biology, what have you actually done? Have you ever changed a diaper? Fed him even once? Do you even deserve to say his name?"

Passersby stopped to stare. Marcus looked down, his face a mask of guilt.

Sierra waddled over, her eyes red and puffy. "You miss her son?" she cried. "What about my baby?"

Marcus shoved her aside, his focus entirely on me. "Let's talk somewhere private," he begged.

"There's no need," I said firmly. "We'll talk in court tomorrow. Listen to me very carefully, Marcus. Leo is my son. After the divorce, I'm changing his last name to mine. I'll find him a better father, and he will have absolutely nothing to do with you."

With that, I turned on my heel and got into Jade's car. Behind us, I watched Marcus hurry to his own vehicle. Sierra, her pregnant belly prominent, awkwardly tried to follow him inside, looking entirely desperate and pitiful.

The next day, court went exactly as expected. As is typical for a first attempt, the judge didn't grant the divorce immediately, instead scheduling another hearing in three months.

As I walked out, Marcus approached me. His eyes swept over me, taking in my careful makeup and radiant demeanor. Full of regret, he said, "Let's not do this, Clara. Let's make it work. I'll send Sierra away—no more living in separate cities. I promise, from now on, it'll only be you."

I met his red-rimmed eyes with a cold smile. "And what about Sierra's baby?"

He hesitated, shifting uncomfortably. "I'll... ask her to terminate it. Okay?"

I smirked, shaking my head. "You really are consistently terrible."

I got into Jade's car without a single backward glance.

Shortly after, Lawyer Lin called to reassure me. "Most divorces are granted on the second attempt. I'm confident we'll get it done, so don't worry."

I smiled to myself. "Honestly, if it ended now, it would have been better for Marcus."

"What do you mean?" Lawyer Lin asked.

I didn't bother explaining. I was already preparing my counterattack.

That night, I uploaded a meticulously prepared PDF. It was twenty pages detailing Marcus's affair with Sierra, complete with undeniable evidence. I shared it across my social media, and it went viral almost immediately.

But I wasn't just venting my frustrations. At the bottom of the post, I included a very specific business proposition: "To any client currently working with Marcus—if you switch your accounts to my friend Jade's company, we will offer you an unprecedented five percent discount."

Jade's family business was an industry giant, making a five percent discount an incredibly lucrative offer.

Within an hour, Marcus's business partners were blowing up my phone. "Is this true, Clara?" they asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

I spent the rest of the night negotiating terms. Before we finally went to bed, Jade gave me a stern warning.

"Don't soften up this time."

She knew exactly how much I had sacrificed to get Marcus's second business off the ground. There was a time I had worked myself so hard that I passed out, waking up in a hospital bed three days later. She knew better than anyone that without my resources and connections, Marcus would fail miserably.

I shook my head, my resolve absolute. "No softening. I'm actually enjoying this."

Jade grinned, visibly relieved.