Chapter 1 - Divorce
"Sign the papers, Iris. I don't have all day."
"You... you're joking, right? This has to be some kind of sick joke."
Iris stared at the document on her desk.
The bold, black letters at the top read PETITION FOR DIVORCE, words she never imagined her husband would place before her after everything.
Not after a whole year of fighting to keep his company alive while he lay unconscious in a hospital bed.
"Do I look like I'm in the mood for jokes?" Neil sat across from her with an icy glare. He didn't look sick anymore. Gone was the fragile man she'd visited every single day in that sterile hospital room. This version of him was cold, rigid, and unrecognisable.
"I mean... if this is your prank for me not being beside you when you woke up, please tell me now." Iris forced a nervous laugh, but her hands trembled as they hovered over the papers. "I don't like this, Neil."
"A prank?" Neil's lips curled into something cruel. "You think I'd waste my time on pranks?"
"Then what is this?" Her voice cracked. "We're supposed to be celebrating right now. You just got discharged two days ago. We should be planning how to move forward together, not... not this."
She gestured helplessly at the divorce papers, her throat tightening.
Neil leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Move forward together? After what you did?"
"What did I do?" Iris blinked in confusion. "Neil, what are you talking about? Is someone threatening you? Did the board pressure you into this?"
"No one threatened me," he snapped. "This is my decision. My choice."
"But why?" Her voice rose, desperate for an answer. "After everything I've done for you? I kept your company running, Neil. I worked day and night to make sure Harper Tech didn't collapse while you were in that coma. I…"
"Spare me the hero speech," Neil interrupted. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a brown envelope, tossing it onto the desk between them. It landed with a dull thud. "Open it. Maybe then you'll stop pretending."
Iris hesitated, her heart pounding in her chest. Slowly, she picked up the envelope and tore it open. Inside were photographs, several of them, tucked behind another set of official-looking documents.
Her breath hitched as she pulled out the pictures.
They were images of her with men… different men, in hotel lobbies, at restaurants, during business conferences.
The photos were clear, taken from angles that made innocent meetings look intimate. In one, she was laughing with a client over dinner. In another, she stood close to a potential investor as they reviewed a contract.
To her, these were everyday business interactions, but to anyone else… the story these pictures told was entirely different.
"What... what are these supposed to mean?" Iris looked up at Neil.
Neil's jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed in anger. "You tell me, Iris. While I was lying in a coma, fighting for my life, you were out there gallivanting with different men. Paris, Singapore, Milan… all expenses paid with my money."
"That's not true…"
"Don't interrupt me!" Neil slammed his hand on the desk, making her flinch. "I saw the receipts, the hotel bookings, the flight records. You weren't just attending business meetings, were you? You were busy spending my money on your lovers."
Iris shot to her feet, pressing her palms flat against the edge of her desk. "That's a lie, Neil! These pictures are taken out of context. Those were legitimate business trips. Every single one of them was for Harper Tech. For your company!"
"My company?" Neil laughed bitterly, standing up to match her energy. "The company you nearly ran into the ground while playing CEO? Or the company you used as a cover to fund your affairs?"
"I saved your company!" Iris's voice cracked with emotion. "When you had that accident, Harper Tech was drowning in debt. Investors were pulling out, employees were resigning left and right, I was the one who turned it around. I negotiated new contracts, secured funding, and worked eighteen-hour days to keep everything afloat. And this is how you repay me?"
Neil pointed at the photographs scattered across the desk. "The proof is right here, Iris. While I was unconscious, you were out there betraying me."
"I didn't betray you!" Her voice trembled with frustration and hurt. "Who fed you these lies, Neil? Who convinced you that I would ever cheat on you?"
"It doesn't matter who told me," Neil shot back. "What matters is the evidence. What matters is that you made a fool out of me."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Iris stared at him, searching his face for even a flicker of doubt, a hint of the man she'd married. But all she saw was cold anger and disgust.
"So this is it," she said quietly. "You came all the way here to accuse me without listening. To end everything based on lies. That's why you walked into my office today, isn't it?"
"Your office?" Neil scoffed. "This is my office. My company. Everything here belongs to me. You were just keeping the seat warm."
Iris felt something crack inside her chest. "Those deals you're mocking? They're the reason your company is still standing, Neil. I didn't just keep the seat warm. I rebuilt Harper Tech from the ground up while you were gone."
"Save your speeches," Neil spat. "You're done here. I don't need you anymore. Not as a wife, not as a partner, not even as a friend."
He grabbed the pen from the desk and shoved it toward her. "Sign the papers."
Iris's heart shattered into a million pieces. Was this really how it would end? After all the sleepless nights, the sacrifices, the tears she'd shed worrying about him? After pouring every ounce of herself into keeping his dream alive?
Her hand trembled as she picked up the pen. She stared at the bold black letters on the document: PETITION FOR DIVORCE, and felt her vision blur. With a few strokes, everything they'd built together would be erased. Permanently.
She glanced up at Neil one last time, hoping to see some sign of hesitation. But his expression remained hard and unforgiving.
Slowly, Iris signed her name on the dotted line.
Neil watched in silence. Then he reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a cheque book, and began writing. He tore out the page and slid it across the desk toward her.
"Here," he said flatly. "One hundred thousand dollars. Consider it compensation for your... contributions. You should be grateful."
Iris stared at the check in disbelief. One hundred thousand dollars? For a year of playing both the role of a devoted wife to a comatose husband and the acting CEO of a struggling company?
A bitter laugh escaped her lips. She picked up the check, tore it in half, then tore it again and again until it was nothing but pieces.
"I don't need your money," she said coldly.
Neil scoffed. "You'll regret that when reality hits. Don't come crawling back when you realise you can't survive without me."
Iris met his gaze squarely. "Just remember this, Neil. I brought you and your company to the top. And I can bring you down just as easily. Don't forget that."
Without another word, she slipped off her wedding ring and dropped it onto the desk. She didn't give him a chance to respond.
Turning on her heel, she walked out.
Her heels clicked sharply against the marble floor as she made her way to the elevator. Her steps didn't falter. By the time she stepped inside and pressed the button, her heartbeat had steadied.
Her reflection stared back at her in the polished elevator doors. Her face appeared calm, composed, but her eyes burned with pain, pride, and something far more dangerous… resolve.
She wouldn't let anyone tear her down without consequences. Neil Harper would pay for his decision.
When the elevator doors opened on the ground floor, Iris walked straight toward the exit. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. The line rang once before connecting.
"Ace," she said as she flagged down a cab. "Send the plane to the nearest airport. I'm coming home."
"Right away, ma'am," came the immediate reply as Iris slid into the cab and ended the call.