My Billionaire Husband Left Me In The Rain For His Sick Ex-Lover—He Laughed When I Asked For A Divorce, But Had No Idea I Was The Real Boss Of His Company!

Two months passed. The winter snow had blanketed Chicago, turning the city into a quiet, frozen landscape.

The legal proceedings against Vincent Moretti and Sophia Reynolds had moved with terrifying speed. With overwhelming forensic evidence provided by Bennett Global, Sophia’s high-priced defense attorney realized a trial was futile. In exchange for a reduced sentence of four years in federal prison, Sophia signed a total confession, testifying that she had actively manipulated Vincent and solicited the embezzlement of corporate funds. She was stripped of every designer bag, every piece of jewelry, and every cent she had acquired.

Vincent, however, refused to take a plea deal until he was granted a personal meeting with me.

Against Alexander’s advice, I agreed to see him once—not out of sentimentality, but to close the chapter forever.

I sat behind the thick bulletproof glass in the visiting room of the federal detention center. When the metal door buzzed open, Vincent walked in wearing an orange jumpsuit. The transformation was shocking. His once-immaculate posture was hunched, his face hollow and lined with misery, his hair cropped short. The proud, arrogant man who had sneered at me on Michigan Avenue was completely broken.

He picked up the heavy plastic receiver with shaking hands. I lifted mine to my ear.

""Claire,"" he choked out, pressing his free hand against the glass. ""Thank you for coming. Please... please, you have to help me. My lawyer says if you don't sign a character petition, the judge will give me ten years. Ten years, Claire!""

""You stole three point four million dollars, Vincent,"" I said calmly. ""And you tried to steal my proprietary algorithm. Ten years seems entirely appropriate.""

""I was blind!"" he wept, tears pouring unchecked down his hollow cheeks. ""Sophia was poison! She played me, Claire! She made me feel insecure, like I had to prove I was a real tycoon! I never loved her! The moment she turned on me, I realized you were the only good thing that ever happened to me! Please... give me one more chance. When I get out, I'll work for you. I'll be your driver, your janitor, anything! Just don't throw away five years of marriage!""

""Five years of marriage?"" I chuckled softly, shaking my head. ""Vincent, you didn't love me for five years. You loved the comfort of having an unpaid servant who gave you unconditional devotion while you looked for something shinier. The only thing you regret is that your shiny new toy was a snake, and your neglected wife happened to be the dragon that owns the mountain.""

""Claire, I'm begging you!"" he sobbed, banging his fists against the partition. ""I will die in here!""

""You won't die, Vincent,"" I said, rising slowly from my chair. ""You will simply live every single day remembering that you had an empire, a faithful wife, and a fortune, and you threw it all into the gutter on a rainy night because you thought you could get away with it.""