Chapter 5 - Vanessa’s True ColorsDefeated, soaked, and spiraling into a blind panic, Ethan drove back to his high-rise penthouse. The grand illusion of his life was fracturing into jagged pieces, and he needed comfort, reassurance, and validation from the woman he had traded Clare for.
He unlocked the penthouse door, expecting to find Vanessa waiting with a glass of scotch and sympathetic words.
Instead, the apartment was eerily quiet.
Designer suitcases sat zipped and lined up neatly by the front door. Valuables—his gold-plated watch collection, a rare bottle of vintage whiskey, and several high-end art pieces—were missing from the display shelves.
"Vanessa?" Ethan called out, his voice cracking slightly.
From the master bedroom, Vanessa emerged wearing a silk designer robe, scrolling through her phone with an air of complete detachment. She didn't even look up as he walked in.
"Thank god you're here, Ethan," she said casually. "I need to give you my keys."
Ethan stared at her luggage in sheer disbelief. "What is this? Where are you going?"
"I'm going back to my place in the Upper East Side," Vanessa replied, finally lifting her eyes to meet his with cold indifference. "My financial advisor just called me. Word on Wall Street travels fast, Ethan. Everyone is talking about the emergency injunction on Walker Innovations. Your company accounts are frozen, your investors have bolted, and your wife apparently owns your entire corporate life."
Ethan’s jaw dropped. "You're leaving me? Because of a temporary corporate dispute?"
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"It's not a dispute, Ethan; it's a sinking ship," she scoffed, snapping her handbag shut. "I agreed to be with a tech billionaire on the rise, not a broke middle-manager who got outsmarted by his own wife. Good luck with the bankruptcy hearings."
Before Ethan could utter a single word, she brushed past him toward the elevator, the click of her heels echoing sharply down the hallway until the doors slid shut, leaving him entirely alone in the expensive, empty shell of his penthouse.
