My Ex-Husband's Regrets, My Empire

She found out her husband had taken another woman to an amusement park on their seventh anniversary from the trending page of Twitter.

When Olivia Ross got home to prepare dinner, her husband Ethan Wood and their son Martin were nowhere to be found. The phone on the table buzzed—his assistant, Pax.

"Ms. Ross, something's happened."

Pax was always calm, so his urgency made her chest tighten. "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Wood took a woman and Martin to the amusement park. Paparazzi got photos. It's trending. The company can't contain it."

Her elbow caught the edge of the table. The wine bottle tipped. Red bled across the white tablecloth.

Pax hesitated. "You know Mr. Wood's perfect family man image. If this keeps spreading…"

"I understand."

She looked out the window. Fireworks bloomed over the amusement park in the distance. Beautiful. She felt nothing.

"I'll post a photo with him. Let people know it's fine."

"Thank you, Ms. Ross."

She hung up. A notification lit up her screen.

Breaking: Oscar-winning actor Ethan Wood spotted with rising star! Wife Olivia Ross becomes public laughingstock?

She scrolled through the comments. They were exactly what she expected.

"Finally! Way better than the manager who climbed her way up."

"Never liked Olivia anyway. This woman is gorgeous."

One comment out of a hundred offered sympathy. "Seven years together, and this is how it ends?"

Olivia put down the phone.

In everyone's eyes, she had stolen seven years of happiness from Ethan's true love, Hestia.

She and Ethan were college classmates. She had pursued him for three years. Everyone knew. He never gave her a kind look.

Hestia was his childhood sweetheart—the one who was supposed to make it from campus to wedding dress.

Then everything fell apart.

At a dinner party, Ethan drank heavily after fighting with Hestia. Someone slipped something into his drink. Olivia, worried, went to check on him. She spent the night.

The Wood family caught them. Ethan's grandmother Mira Collins demanded they marry.

Ethan never believed her when she cried and said it was an accident. He called it her scheme.

He was right about one thing: it was wrong from the start.

The next day, Hestia slapped Olivia in front of him, called her a homewrecker. Ethan watched coldly, grabbed her chin, and said, "I will never marry you."

Olivia didn't care. She had never wanted to marry him. The person she wanted to marry died five years ago in a snowstorm.

But she was pregnant. The doctor said her uterine wall was too thin. An abortion would cost her the chance to ever be a mother.

Hestia left the country. On the day she left, Ethan took Olivia to register their marriage and announced it online.

Later, Olivia understood: he was never choosing her. He was punishing Hestia. She was just a pawn in their game.

It was time to leave.

She opened her photo album, searching for a picture to post. There were barely any with her in them. Ethan covered his face. Turned away. Refused to exist beside her.

She opened her private album. Her heart clenched.

A photo taken at a gravesite. The first time she noticed Ethan—his face had reminded her of someone. She had been visiting that grave.

Now she looked closer. They didn't even look alike.

She found one photo. Snow falling outside the window. Ethan holding Martin, staring out at the white world.

She posted it with a caption.

"Between the night sky and the winter snow, you are the most unique view in my eyes."

The comments shifted.

"It was just paparazzi stirring drama."

"So did he cheat or not?"

"The wife cleared it up. Nothing to see here."

People tagged Ethan. He didn't respond.

No response was confirmation enough.

Pax sent a thank you. Olivia replied briefly, then called Ethan to tell him to keep quiet—the brands were watching.

The woman who answered had a sweet, clear voice.