"Get out. I'm not touching you."

Dominic Vaughn's voice cracked through the silence like a thunderclap.

Ella Grant froze. She was completely naked, Dominic looming over her, the two of them in the middle of what was supposed to be a husband and wife's duty to each other.

Then he just stopped.

He stared down at her like she was something he'd scraped off the bottom of his shoe. Like her very existence disgusted him.

Her chest seized for half a second. Then, just as quickly, something shifted in her eyes. Surprise. Because she recognized this moment. This was four years ago. She'd only just married him.

Her sister had given her such helpful advice back then. If you want Dominic to fall for you, seduce him. Get him into bed. So she had. And all she'd gotten for it was his contempt.

The fear and agony of dying still clung to her like soaked clothing she couldn't peel off. But she was here. She was back. And she had a chance to change how this all ended.

"Of course, Dominic." I met his eyes. "Thanks for saying so."

He blinked. Just barely, but I caught it. His jaw was tight, carved like stone, like he was two seconds away from snapping my neck.

"Don't play games with me," he said coldly. "Looking at you makes me sick."

"Great. So you can go, then?"

Something flickered across his face. "Try this again and you'll regret it."

He held my gaze for one more beat, then turned and slammed the door hard enough to rattle the frame.

The bedroom went quiet.

Just me. The sheets tangled on the floor. My underwear somewhere in the mess.

The vanity mirror caught everything, including me, standing there looking half out of my mind.

Hair wrecked, clothes barely on, lips swollen. I retied the sash of my robe and pulled it closed.

I looked around the room again. It didn't feel like a bedroom anymore. It felt like a burial site.

I remembered walking in here with so much hope. I remembered exactly how it felt to be treated like a desperate, pathetic woman.

I'd always known this marriage wasn't built on love. It was a political arrangement, nothing more. But I'd fallen for him the moment I first saw him, and that feeling had made me stupid. It had made me beg for his attention. It had made me give up every piece of my dignity just trying to get him to see me.

My phone screen lit up. A message from Clara: *Don't go soft. Don't waste this.*

My gaze went cold.

"Clara," I thought. "My dear sister. You have no idea what's coming."

When I opened my eyes again, something had already changed. I could feel it in my own expression. A steadiness I hadn't had before.

I was done chasing him. It was over. I was going to rebuild, take back my career, and walk away from the man I'd once made the center of my entire world.

I stripped off the sheer robe and put on real clothes. Then I walked straight to Dominic's study.

I stopped outside the door and took one breath. The old Ella would've knocked softly and apologized before she even opened her mouth. Instead, I pushed the door open and walked in.

Dominic sat behind his desk, jaw tight, the strain around his eyes telling me the effects of whatever he'd taken earlier hadn't fully worn off yet.

His assistant, Nathan Reed, stood off to the side and didn't bother hiding the look he gave me.

"Ms. Grant," Nathan said, "Mr. Vaughn needs to rest. Please leave."

I didn't even glance at him. I looked straight at Dominic.

"I want a divorce."

The room went dead silent.

Dominic slowly raised his eyes. "Say that again."

"You don't love me. I spent a long time being stupid enough to think I could change that." Her voice stayed even. "I'm done. This ends today."

He stared at her like she was speaking a language he'd never heard before.

For months she'd orbited him, working herself into knots trying to get his attention. Every time he threatened to cut her off, she'd panicked. Even tonight, after everything that had just happened, he'd fully expected her to cry. To apologize. To scramble to get back in his good graces like she always did.

But she was standing in front of him looking relieved. Genuinely, completely relieved. That kind of calm was something he had never once seen on her face.

He looked at her eyes. She looked straight back, steady and unreadable. Something in the room had shifted and he couldn't name what it was.

"Say it again," he said quietly. The dangerous kind of quiet.

"Tonight works. Tomorrow works too. Either way, I'm leaving."

His jaw locked. Her nerve irritated him.

But underneath that irritation was something else, something harder to pin down. Was this another play for his attention? Or had she finally accepted that he was never going to give her what she wanted? What annoyed him most was that both possibilities bothered him in equal measure.

"Nathan."

He stood up and walked out without letting her say another word.

He wasn't about to sit there with a splitting headache and look at his wife's face while she stared at him like he was something she'd already decided to throw away.

Nathan moved to the cabinet, pulled out the prenuptial agreement, and set it on the desk in front of her. "Before you make any more announcements, you might want to read this."

Ella looked down. Her eyes landed on the termination clause.

"One billion dollars? Are you out of your mind?"