“If you pretend you don't know anything, you can keep being my wife.” Ethan said it in the dark, with a chilling calm that froze me far more than any confession ever could.

By midnight, the news of Ethan Vance’s dramatic downfall had spread through Manhattan's business circles like wildfire.

Ethan stood on the sidewalk outside the St. Regis Hotel, clutching his leather briefcase, watching his former colleagues drive away in their luxury sedans. His corporate phone had already been remotely deactivated by Vance Global’s IT department. His black card was worthless. His luxury company car had been repossessed by the firm's security team right in the hotel valet bay.

Chloe stood beside him on the curb, shivering in her backless red dress, her designer heels clicking nervously against the pavement.

"Ethan... what are we going to do?" Chloe whimpered, her childish voice no longer sounding sweet, but grating and desperate. "The hotel manager said we have to check out of the suite immediately because the credit card on file was canceled! Where are we going to sleep?"

Ethan turned on her, his face twisted in pure, unbridled rage. "Will you shut the hell up for one minute, Chloe?! I just lost my job! My entire life is frozen because of you!"

Chloe gasped, stepping back in shock. "Because of me?! You were the one who told me you had everything under control! You told me your wife was a pushover who wouldn't dare challenge you!"

"She was a pushover!" Ethan yelled, running his hands through his ruined hair. "I don't know what happened to her! Someone is pulling her strings—it has to be that lawyer, Sterling!"

"I don't care who is pulling her strings!" Chloe spat back, her fake, delicate persona completely slipping away to reveal the greedy, manipulative woman underneath. "What about my parents' house in Ohio?! What about my brother's company?! Is the court going to take those away too?!"

"Yes, you idiot!" Ethan screamed. "If those accounts are linked to stolen corporate funds, the federal marshals will seize every single thing I bought you!"

Chloe’s eyes widened with sharp, vicious calculation. She realized instantly that the golden goose was dead. Ethan was no longer a wealthy corporate executive; he was a disgraced, broke suspect facing prison time.

"You're a pathetic loser, Ethan," Chloe said coldly, stepping back from him.

Ethan blinked, stunned. "What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me," Chloe hissed, snatching her purse. "You couldn't even handle your own wife. Don't ever call me again."

She flagged down a yellow taxi, jumped into the backseat, and sped off into the night, leaving Ethan standing completely alone in the cold Manhattan drizzle.

Meanwhile, I was sitting in the back of Alexander’s sleek Town Car, sipping a bottle of sparkling water.

"Chloe just abandoned him on Fifth Avenue," Alexander reported, checking his phone with a chuckle. "My investigator on the ground said she took a cab back to her apartment to pack her bags before the asset-freeze order reaches her landlord."

"She won't get far," I said quietly, looking out at the city lights. "Alexander, make sure the injunction covers the Chicago condo too. I want her completely evicted by Friday."

"Already done," Alexander smiled. "So... what's your next move, Mabel? Ethan is ruined, Vance Global is pressing charges, and your divorce petition is set for a default judgment."