Gone After The Divorce

I walked into the law office with my divorce papers clutched in my hand.

Four years.

Four years as Chloe Archer, wife of Alexander Archer, heir to the most powerful mafia family in Seattle.

Today, it ended.

The lawyer didn’t even look up when I walked in.

“I’d like to file for divorce,” I said, placing the papers on his desk.

He finally glanced at me.

Messy ponytail.

Faded jeans.

My backpack still slung over one shoulder.

His expression turned stern.

“Young lady, divorce isn’t something you file on a whim.”

I understood why he didn’t take me seriously.

I looked like a college student.

Someone who had wandered into the wrong office.

Not someone who had been married for four years.

But I was prepared.

“Just stamp the papers,” I said calmly.

“I’ll get my husband’s signature.”

The Archer estate was too quiet when I returned.

The guards at the gate didn’t even blink as I passed.

Just another invisible fixture in Alexander’s world.

I headed straight for Alexander’s study.

The door was slightly open.

I could hear laughter inside.

Then I smelled it.

Truffles.

Alexander always said he hated strong smells in the house.

No garlic.

No fish.

Nothing that lingered.

But now, the air was thick with the scent of expensive white truffles.

The kind you only get if you are the right person.

I pushed the door open.

There he was.

Alexander Archer, my husband.

Sitting at his desk.

Relaxed in a way I’d never seen with me.

Beside him was Serena Stone.

His childhood best friend.

Back in Seattle this year after her divorce.

She was feeding him a piece of bread covered in truffles.

Her fingers lingering just a second too long.

Then Alexander saw me.

His smile disappeared.

“Chloe,” he said.

His voice was cool.

“I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

Serena turned.

Her perfect red lips curled into a smile.

“Oh, Chloe! We were just having a snack.”

“There’s only enough for two, but I’m sure we can—”

“I’m fine.”

I cut her off.

I stepped forward.

I slid the document across the polished mahogany desk.

The rustle of paper was unnaturally loud in the silent study.

Alexander barely glanced up from his whiskey.

His glass froze midway to his lips.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“What’s this?”

“The university needs a signed safety liability form.”

I flipped it open to the signature page.

“For my research project.”

I swallowed.

“Since you’re my only family now.”

The truth sat heavy between us.

My parents had been gone for years.

Killed in a suspicious car accident.

That first pushed me into Alexander’s world.

He knew better than anyone how alone I was.

Alexander frowned.

“Let me see that—”

My nerves suddenly tightened like piano wires.

He never asked to read anything.

Normally he’d just sign whatever university paperwork I put in front of him.

Without a second glance.

Why today?

Why now?

“Oh Alexander,” Serena laughed.

She placed a hand on his arm.

“You’re too serious!”

“It’s just a form.”

“You remember how many forms we had to sign for the charity gala last month?”

As the heiress to Stone Enterprises, she was important.

One of the Archer family’s most important business partners.

Serena had moved effortlessly in Alexander’s world since her return.

They were always together now.

At galas.

At auctions.

At those smoky backroom poker games where deals got made.

Everywhere Alexander went these days, Serena seemed to appear at his elbow.

Her designer dresses complemented his tailored suits.

Like they were a matched set.

He hesitated.

Then grabbed his fountain pen.

He signed with a quick flourish.

The same way he signed death warrants.

And business deals.

I took the papers back.

Before he could see the bold header on the first page.

It read “DIVORCE PETITION.”

Serena smirked.

“Honestly, Alexander, you treat her more like a kid sister than a wife.”

Alexander didn’t deny it.

Just took a sip of whiskey.

I turned.

I walked out.

Before they could see my hands shake.

The door closed behind me.

I was free.

Walking through the marble halls of the Archer mansion.

I clutched the signed divorce papers in my hand.

The ink was barely dry.

But the marriage had been over long before today.

I remembered how different Alexander used to be.

The way his warm hands would trace my spine.

When he thought I was asleep.

The possessive way he’d pull me into shadowed corners at family gatherings.

His mouth hot against mine.

Now he barely looked at me.

My parents died when I was sixteen.

Don Archer took me in.

A favor to my father.

His former driver.

Who’d taken a bullet for him.

That’s how I ended up living under the same roof as Alexander Archer.

Alexander was everything I shouldn’t want.

Cold.

Dangerous.

Ruthless.

By twenty-five, he’d already taken over half his father’s operations.

The newspapers called him a “young entrepreneur.”

The streets knew better.

I kept my distance at first.

Made myself invisible.

Until that night four years ago.

Alexander came home covered in someone else’s blood.

He found me in the kitchen.

Patching up my own knife wound.

A gift from one of his father’s men.

Who thought the boss’s charity case made easy prey.