Chapter 8
When Theo Camden found me, I was having coffee with my potential fiancé, Declan Wolfe from Wolfe Industries.
In the glass conservatory on Fifth Avenue, Declan’s fingers traced slowly around the rim of his coffee cup.
For three years, this acquisition mogul known on Wall Street as the “Mad Wolf” would show this kind of patience only around me.
“Three years and four months since I met you.”
He suddenly pulled out a blue velvet box from his suit jacket.
“I’ve decided to stop counting the days.”
The moment the velvet box opened, all the sunlight in the glass conservatory seemed to concentrate on that emerald–cut center stone.
A twelve–carat rare pink diamond, surrounded by over twenty top–grade white diamonds, like stars embracing the
moon.
“I had someone retrieve it from the Swiss bank last month.”
He lifted my wrist with its slim business watch.
“It suits you even better than I imagined.”
The hand that had signed countless merger agreements was now trembling slightly from nerves.
Declan’s voice carried a hint of caution“If you don’t want to wear it on your ring finger, we could make it a necklace for now.”
I smiled and shook my head, about to let him slip the ring onto my ring finger when the sudden explosive sound of shattering tempered glass cut off my unspoken words.
Through the shower of glittering fragments, Theo Camden burst in like a wild animal out of control.
His handmade leather shoes crushed the glass shards beneath them, creating a teeth–grinding screech.
“Marina!”
His eyes were bloodshot, fixed deadly on mine and Declan’s intertwined hands.
“You’re my wife! What the hell are you doing? This is bigamy! It’s fucking illegal!”
Declan knew everything about Theo and me.He recognized Theo immediately and stepped forward, shielding me behind him.
“You and Marina have been divorced for ages. She’s a free woman now–she can marry whoever the hell she wants!”
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Seven Times Divorced by My Ex–Husband–Now I’m Back as the Empire’s Untouchable Heiress!
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Chapter 8
“Shut the fuck up!”
Theo slammed his palm on the round table, sending coffee cascading over the edge onto his suit pants.
“She’s my wife!”
Theo snarled at Declan through gritted teeth“Who the fuck do you think you are, touching her?”
“So what if we’re divorced? Marina already promised to remarry me. I’m here to take her home!”
As Declan was about to argue back, I tugged at his sleeve and gently shook my head.
I looked at Theo as if he were a complete stranger.
“Theo Camden, our seventh divorce was exactly three years ago.”
His gaze shook violently, as if trying to process this fact.
“You’re just saying that to piss me off, right…?”
“You promised you’d remarry me. You still love me, don’t you, Marina?”
“It’s all Astrid’s fault–she seduced me, that’s why I kept divorcing you, kept hurting you. But I’ve punished her already.”
He pulled out his phone from his bag, showing me a video.
The screen showed Astrid looking haggard at a psychiatric hospital window, her face swollen and distorted from long–term medication side effects, staring numbly outside.
“I made her work as a prostitute, then had her committed to a mental institution.”
Theo explained frantically“You hate her, so I made her pay the price…”
“You think I left you because of Astrid Bellamy?”
I suddenly laughed.
“Then let me tell you-”
“I don’t give a shit, just like I stopped giving a shit about you a long time ago.”
Declan took my hand at the perfect moment, our fingers interlocking.
I saw Theo’s gaze lock onto our joined hands like he’d been burned.
“We’re getting married next month.”
I announced calmly“I hope you’ll send your congratulations.”
At these words, the usually composed Declan’s face lit up with joy, happy as a boy.
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Chapter 8
But Theo’s lips began to tremble, and he suddenly lunged at me like a drowning man, grabbing my arm.
“No… Marina, no, you can’t marry him. You promised you’d love me forever!”
“Please don’t leave me, please don’t marry someone else!”
I looked at him and said quietly“Seven years ago, when you first divorced me for Astrid Bellamy, I begged you on my knees just like this.”
“I slit my wrists trying to keep you, bled all over the goddamn room, but you walked out without looking back to find Astrid. The housekeeper had to call the ambulance for me.”
“I was in the hospital for a month, and you never even came to see me once.”
Declan wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I realized I was still trembling.
Declan’s voice was gentle and low“It’s okay, Marina. It’s all in the past. Let me take you away from here.”
Theo suddenly collapsed to his knees, ignoring everyone’s stares as he clutched my legs desperately.
“You can’t leave! I can’t live without you…”
“I never stopped looking for you these three years… I searched the whole fucking world…”
I looked down at his disheveled hair, at that face that once drove me crazy now twisted with tears and desperation.
Strangely, my heart was as calm as still water.
“Mr. Camden,” Declan said coolly, “touch my fiancée one more time, and tomorrow’s headlines will be about
Camden Industries‘ last 7% of shares getting shorted.”
Theo turned a deaf ear. He looked up, revealing a scar running from his forehead to his eyebrow.
“Remember? This scar is from when you threw that vase during our third divorce… but I never blamed you…”
“You fucking deserved it.”
I finally spoke“Because that day I walked in and saw Astrid Bellamy wearing my wedding dress in our bedroom.”
I broke free from his grip and gave him one last look before leaving“Love isn’t an apology after you’ve caused damage. It’s not a toy you put away when you’re done playing. Theo Camden, you never understood what love really is.”
“Once you’ve seen what it’s like to be truly loved, you realize what a joke yours was.”
With that, I took Declan’s hand and left the café without looking back.
As Declan opened the car door for me, Theo’s wails still echoed from the café.
I watched his figure grow smaller in the rearview mirror and leaned gently against Declan’s shoulder.
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Seven Times Divorced by My Ex Husband–Now I’m Back as the Empire’s Untouchable Heiress!
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Chapter 8
Sunlight streamed through the car window onto my engagement ring, casting rainbow–like reflections.
This is what love should look like.
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