The bitter wind whipping off the mountain ridge felt like a swarm of needles against my skin, but it was nothing compared to the dead, heavy chill radiating from Diego’s eyes.

Diego’s trembling fingers fumbled with the manila folder, flipping open the heavy cardstock pages as his eyes scanned the legal text illuminated by the overhead lights.

With every line he read, the last remaining color drained entirely from his face until he looked like a corpse.

"No... this... this isn't possible," Diego whispered, shaking his head frantically.

"Oh, it's very possible," Alvin replied smoothly, walking back to stand beside my bed. "Those are the prenuptial annulment clauses, backed by ironclad forensic audits my financial team compiled over the last forty-eight hours. Every single fraudulent wire transfer you initiated, every shell corporation you and your mother set up to siphon funds from the Sterling trust, and every forged signature on those property deeds you tried to force Elena to sign at dinner."

Diego scrambled to his knees, clutching the papers like a drowning man grasping at driftwood. "Alvin, please! We can negotiate! If you send me to prison, the scandal will hurt the company’s stock value, it will—"

"My company has weathered hostile takeovers by titans of industry," Alvin cut him off with absolute disdain. "A parasitic corporate climber like you is nothing more than a mild infection easily wiped out with standard antibiotics."

Marcus stepped forward, gripping Diego firmly by the shoulders and hauling him back up to his feet.

"Where are you taking me?" Diego panicked, his voice cracking into a high-pitched squeak as the guards began dragging him toward the exit. "You can't just make me disappear! I demand a lawyer! I demand—"

"You'll get a federal prosecutor and a very long, very dark cell in a maximum-security facility where you can contemplate the value of obedience," Alvin said coldly. "Get him out of my sight."

The heavy doors slammed shut behind them, cutting off Diego’s muffled shrieks as he was hauled away into the night.

The room fell into a profound, peaceful silence.

I let out a long, shuddering breath I felt like I’d been holding for months. The invisible weight that had crushed my chest ever since I married Diego finally lifted, leaving behind a clean, wide-open horizon.