Chapter 2 - The Marriage He Wanted Erased
Six weeks earlier, Aiden had arrived home after midnight smelling of Madeline’s perfume.
Alice was awake in the nursery, folding tiny white blankets.
She did not ask where he had been.
She had learned that questions only gave Aiden opportunities to lie.
He leaned against the doorway.
“We need to talk.”
Alice placed the blanket inside the crib.
“About Madeline?”
His face barely changed.
That confirmed everything.
Aiden walked in and set a thick envelope on the changing table.
“I’m filing for divorce.”
Alice rested one protective hand over her stomach.
“You waited until I was eight months pregnant?”
“This hasn’t been a marriage for a long time.”
“It was a marriage when you asked me to invest my inheritance in your company.”
His jaw tightened.
“That money helped both of us.”
“It helped build Holland Development.”
“I built that company.”
Alice looked at him steadily.
“With my father’s money.”
Aiden pushed the envelope toward her.
“The agreement is generous. The house is yours until the baby turns one. I’ll cover medical expenses.”
“And after that?”
“You’ll have enough to start over.”
Alice opened the documents.
The settlement offered her less than one year of Aiden’s current salary.
His company was worth millions.
Yet the financial disclosure attached to the filing claimed he owned almost nothing.
Alice looked up.
“Where did everything go?”
Aiden smiled without warmth.
May you like
“You were never interested in business. Don’t start pretending now.”
👉 But Alice remembered one document Aiden had begged her to sign before his company ever existed.
