My Billionaire Husband Told Me To Accept His Mistress Or Get Divorced, But He Forgot I Secretly Owned The Ground Under His Entire Empire

The sunset cast long, blood-red shadows across the polished lobby of the Peninsula Hotel in downtown Chicago. Victor Alden sat slumped on a velvet bench near the revolving doors, looking like a shattered ghost of the titan who had walked these streets three days ago.

His silk tie was shoved into his pocket, his top button unfastened, and his eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. After being locked out of his corporate suite, he had managed to scrap together enough cash from his emergency glove-compartment fund to take an Uber to Elise’s second residence—a pied-à-terre near the Gold Coast.

When he reached the fourth-floor corridor, he found the door propped open with a heavy moving crate.

Victor rushed inside, his heart leaping into his throat. “Elise!”

Elise Ward was standing in the center of the living room, supervising two professional movers who were packing designer handbags and fine art into reinforced shipping boxes. She was dressed in an expensive cashmere traveling suit, a leather passport holder resting on the kitchen island.

She turned around, her face twisting into immediate disgust when she saw him.

“What are you doing here, Victor?” she demanded, crossing her arms. “How did you get past the doorman?”

“Elise, thank God you’re still here!” Victor gasped, taking a step toward her, his arms reaching out instinctively. “My accounts are completely frozen! The board voted me out! They threw me out of my own building! We need to get on a private charter to the Caymans right now. We can access the Aura Ventures funds and rebuild from there!”

Elise stared at him as if he were a homeless beggar who had wandered in off the street. She let out a sharp, mocking laugh that cut through Victor deeper than any legal document ever could.

“Are you completely delusional?” Elise sneered, taking a step back to avoid his touch. “We aren’t going anywhere together, Victor. There is no ‘we.’”

Victor froze, blinking in disbelief. “What are you talking about? Elise, I sacrificed my marriage for you! I told Rachel I was leaving her! I risked everything to give you a place in my life!”

“You didn't sacrifice anything for me, you pompous old fool,” Elise said coldly, her voice dripping with venom. “You used me to feel young and powerful because your wife was too smart to worship your pathetic ego. And I used you because you were an arrogant corporate executive who was stupid enough to sign over six hundred thousand dollars of company capital to my brother’s consulting firm.”

Victor stumbled back, as if he had been slapped across the face. “You... you stole from me?”

“I didn't steal anything. You signed every single wire transfer yourself to impress me,” Elise mocked, flashing a wicked, cold smile. “You wanted to show me how powerful you were. Well, congratulations, Victor. You showed me. But your little nurse wife called the federal authorities. Do you think I’m going to stick around to be your codefendant?”

“The Caymans account—”

“Is frozen, you idiot!” Elise snapped. “The Department of Justice placed an international hold on Aura Ventures at noon. My brother is currently on a flight to Zurich trying to salvage what’s left of our personal assets, and I have a first-class ticket to London in two hours. You are toxic waste, Victor. You have no company, no money, no home, and no power. Why on earth would I ever spend another second with you?”

Victor’s knees buckled. He leaned against the drywall, gasping for air as the full, sickening magnitude of his stupidity crashed down upon him. He had traded a woman of pure gold—a woman who had stood beside him when he had nothing—for a handful of painted glass.

“Elise... please,” Victor whispered, tears of sheer humiliation finally spilling over his lashes. “Just lend me ten thousand dollars. Enough for a hotel and a criminal defense lawyer. Just ten thousand. I made you a partner. I gave you your career.”

Elise grabbed her designer purse from the counter and signaled the movers to pick up the final trunks. She walked past him toward the door, pausing for just a second to look back over her shoulder.