Chapter 1 - Forty-Nine Missed Calls
"Twelve hours after my husband slapped me across the face in a crowded restaurant to defend his first love, I boarded a flight to London with our daughter asleep in my arms. Before takeoff, my phone showed 49 missed calls from him. I switched it to airplane mode without answering—because after three years of marriage, he still had no idea who the woman he had just driven away really was.
My name is Claire Quinn.
At twenty-three, I had walked away from a successful career in London to marry Ethan Walker.
He wanted a wife waiting at home.
I loved him enough to become one.
Then Sophia Bennett came back.
She was his first love, though Ethan always insisted they were “just friends.”
He forgot my birthday because Sophia needed him at the airport.
I forgave him.
He canceled plans because Sophia needed help.
I forgave that too.
Then came the restaurant.
Sophia knocked over a glass of wine and blamed me. Before I could explain, Ethan’s hand struck my face.
The entire table went silent.
I tasted blood.
And strangely, I didn’t cry.
I simply looked at my husband and realized I had spent three years shrinking my life to make room for a woman he had never stopped choosing.
That night, I packed.
I took our daughter, Lily, and bought two tickets to London.
By the time Ethan understood we were gone, I was already in the air.
At Heathrow, my former executive assistant, Rebecca, was waiting.
“Change my number,” I told her.
Outside, a Bentley pulled up.
My mother was inside.
She saw the mark on my face immediately.
“Ethan?”
I didn’t answer.
“Mom, I’m home.”
Her expression softened.
“Good.”
What Ethan never knew was that before becoming Mrs. Walker, I had run European operations for my family’s multinational company.
When I left London, my mother had fought the board to keep my position open.
The next morning, I put on a business suit for the first time in three years.
At exactly ten, I walked back into our London headquarters.
My office was untouched.
Even the plant on my desk was still alive.
“Send me three years of financial reports,” I told my team. “Tomorrow, I want every department head in a meeting.”
Then I added, “And find me a divorce attorney.”
That afternoon, while reviewing current projects, one file stopped me.
NordTech. Stockholm. €1.2 billion.
Our biggest competitor?
Sophia’s family company.
And Sophia herself was leading their bid.
“Transfer NordTech to me,” I said. “I’ll handle it personally.”
The following morning brought something worse.
Ethan had contacted our legal department demanding information about Lily and me.
At nearly the same time, an online rumor claimed a senior executive from my family’s company had fled with corporate funds.
Our stock dropped.
My team traced the original story.
The media company behind it was connected to a subsidiary of Sophia’s family business.
Coincidence?
Maybe.
I refused to assume.
Instead, I asked my senior adviser to investigate Ethan’s law firm.
“Start from three years ago, when he opened his own practice. I want his major clients.”
He searched through the records.
“Four or five regular corporate clients,” he said.
Then his finger stopped moving.
His expression changed.
“But his biggest client…”
He went silent.
I leaned forward.
“Who is it?”
May you like
He slowly turned the screen toward me.
And the moment I saw the company name, I understood why my divorce, Sophia’s business, and Ethan’s sudden interest in bringing me home might not be three separate problems after all."
