Chapter 2

Raven's POV

On the third day, the city courthouse called, saying someone had filed a dispute involving Sean and asked his family to come down.

When I arrived, the lobby was packed with people waiting in lines.

Chloe was sitting on a row of chairs along the wall. The moment she saw me walk in, she scowled and immediately caused a scene.

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word pierced straight through the air: "What right do you have to call yourself his family? I'm the one who actually belongs in that house. You've occupied that spot for so long, has he ever looked at you once?"

As she spoke, she glanced out of the corner of her eye at the crowd. Seeing everyone turn around, she got even more dramatic.

A clerk leaned out from behind the service counter and yelled for quiet, but Chloe ignored it completely.

People handling their paperwork stopped what they were doing, and every eye turned our way.

Someone pulled out their phone, but seeing her tearful face, quietly put it back away.

Chloe pointed a finger right at me. "What are you staring at? Aren't you just a piece of decoration? In that house, who does he have dinner with at night? Whose bedroom does he sleep in? Can you even control that?"

She slammed her hand against the back of the chair and shouted to the entire room, "This is the wife of Sean Miller himself! And yet, she doesn't even dare say a single word back to me!"

Someone in the crowd couldn't hold back a snicker.

I stood in place without answering. I slipped my hands into my coat pockets and stood tall and straight.

I was waiting for Sean to walk through the door.

I wanted to see who his eyes would land on first.

I already knew the answer in my heart, but without seeing it with my own eyes, I still clung to one last sliver of hope.

Sean jogged through the entrance. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, and his tie was crooked.

The moment he saw Chloe on the bench, his pace shifted instantly. The last few steps were practically a sprint.

Seeing him arrive, Chloe slid down from the chair, dropped right onto the cold tile floor, and burst into sobs.

She pointed at me, crying out with every breath, "She humiliated me here! Her people always bully me! I don't even have a voice in your family!"

The entire lobby watched.

From the second he walked through the door, Sean only had eyes for Chloe on the floor.

He pulled a freshly signed agreement from his briefcase and tore it to shreds right in front of the entire room.

That morning before leaving, I had heard him repeatedly instruct his assistant that he needed that very document today because he had to use it first thing tomorrow morning.

The sound of paper tearing in two was startlingly clear in the silence of the room.

The assistant reached out with both hands to catch the pieces, his face pale as a ghost, lips trembling, not daring to utter a single word.

Sean shoved the torn halves into the assistant's chest. He bent down, lifted Chloe from the floor, took off his suit jacket, and draped it around her shoulders.

Standing in front of her, he coaxed softly, "Sweetheart, don't cry. If she made you uncomfortable, I'll make sure she pays for it. Don't waste your tears on her."

Every time Chloe sobbed, his shoulders dipped a little lower.

Chloe clutched his lapels, rubbing her tears all over his dress shirt, and he didn't even flinch.

It took quite a while before Chloe finally quieted down.

He finally raised his head, as if only just noticing I was there.

He said, "You should leave."

He sounded just like a bureaucrat dismissing an intern who had wandered into the wrong office.

A few people waiting in line turned to look at me.

I stood my ground. "You were rushing that contract this morning."

Sean’s eyes didn’t even waver. "If a document is gone, I'll just have another one drafted."

Just because Chloe threw a tantrum, he ripped up a critical contract on the spot. I swallowed the words before they could leave my lips.

I used to believe that to this man, business always mattered more than people.

Today, I finally understood. His business could wait, and my dignity was worth less than torn paper.

One tear from her could erase his hard work. My standing here couldn't earn me a single word.

He turned, pulled Chloe behind him to shield her, and walked toward the exit. At the door, he stopped and ordered his assistant without looking back, "Have that agreement redrafted overnight. Put it on my desk first thing tomorrow morning."

Clutching the two torn halves, Jason mumbled, "Yes, sir."

Sean didn't say another word to me. He escorted Chloe out the door, bent down, and helped her into his car.

The crowd in the lobby gradually dispersed, each returning to their own affairs.

Someone passed by me, slowed their steps to glance at me, and then walked away.

My status as his wife was completely shattered today in front of a whole room of strangers.

I didn't plan on asking him for an explanation anymore.

The things I wanted were things I could never get from him again.