Chapter 1No Second Chances For My Ex

Caspian Thorne and I were the most notorious antagonists in our rarefied social circle.

He’d indulge in the city’s high-end escorts, and I’d use his social media credentials to post pleas for a sugar mama. I'd frequent the best male strip clubs, and he'd forge a stack of fake HIV reports for me, distributing them across every exclusive gentleman’s club in town.

Later, when his favorite new girl, Hailey, had the audacity to confront me, I slapped her so hard she saw stars.

To retaliate, he strapped me to a post on a private speedway, allowing his little darling to drive a car straight at me at full speed.

But at the last second, he lunged, a desperate, broken man, shielding me with his own body.

His ribs cracked, blood filling his mouth, yet he managed a faint, despairing smile.

“Don’t cry, Mrs. Thorne.”

“The kid is pregnant and high-strung; I had to give her a dramatic way to vent, didn’t I?”

“I’m fine. Don’t look so devastated. When I get out of here, I’ll take her on a trip. What designer bag do you want? I’ll bring you back two.”

I shook my head, tears streaming.

He didn’t know. I wasn’t crying for him.

I was three months pregnant, too.

And just now, as I was paralyzed on the ground, terrified by his little darling’s attack, I felt the life inside me spill out, turning to a pool of hot, wretched blood.

* * *

The tears wouldn't stop.

Caspian looked at me with open disgust.

“Mrs. Thorne, I know you’re concerned, but crying like that? You look truly hideous.”

He lifted his gaze to the young woman just getting out of the car. His eyes were sickeningly soft.

“Try to learn from her, Mrs. Thorne. She’s always elegant, always composed. Unlike you, who just looks…cheap.”

I followed his gaze. Hailey, barely twenty, was indeed graceful and composed. She’d maintained a haughty, unbothered posture, even when I was hitting her.

Three days ago, I was at the hospital visiting my mother, Helen.

I ran right into Caspian and his new conquest.

She was nothing but a cheap, gold-digging girl, yet she clung to his arm and looked me up and down with utter contempt.

“Well, look who it is. Don’t you ever go home, old lady?”

“Were you happy with those HIV reports I sent out last week?”

“It was my idea, actually. It’s hilarious—I just mentioned it in passing, and Caspian actually went and printed them out and spread the gossip everywhere for you!”

“I hear it trended on social media. Rich Wife with AIDS! So scandalous!”

“How will you ever show your face in public again, Auntie?”

It was a naked provocation.

Caspian just watched her, a doting, indulgent look on his face, allowing her to humiliate me without consequence.

When I instinctively glanced his way, he gently pinched her chin, his expression full of sickening affection.

“Naughty girl. My wife is a terror; aren’t you afraid she’ll throw a fit and hit you?”

Hailey gave a smug, triumphant smile.

“She wouldn’t dare. Not with you here, darling. Who would protect her?”

Caspian had certainly kept her sheltered. Ignorant, reckless, and utterly naive.

So, I didn’t disappoint them.

Right in front of Caspian, I grabbed a handful of her hair and violently slapped her across the face several times.

Over her sharp screams, I smiled with a terrifying calm.

“Didn’t your sugar daddy ever tell you that I bite?”

“To provoke me like that and expect to walk away untouched? Are you stupid, or do you think I am?”

“Get out of my sight before I lose it. I’m warning you: if I see you again, I’ll beat you senseless.”

The girl had guts. Even as I pinned her head down, forcing her to her knees, she refused to break.

She only protected her stomach and glared up at Caspian when I raised my foot to kick her.

“Caspian! Your rabid dog is attacking me! Aren’t you going to control her?”

The next second, my wrist was seized.

The man who used to fret over a minor scrape on my skin now coldly, expressionlessly, snapped my wrist bone.

Caspian’s smile was still gentle, but his eyes were pure ice.

“Hailey’s mouth is just so much fun, like she’s laced with poison.”

“Mrs. Thorne, I need you to show some restraint. Take your anger out on me. If she gets hurt, I’ll be truly upset.”

He didn't spare a thought for my broken hand. But when she whimpered in pain, he instantly swept her up and rushed her toward the Emergency Room.

Watching his frantic back retreat, I still couldn’t understand. The man who was once willing to die for me could change so completely, so easily.

I managed a bitter, twisted smile, pulling the sonogram from my purse and tearing it to shreds. It had been a surprise for him. Now, it wasn't necessary.

That evening, I returned to the villa with the prepared divorce papers.

But the moment I walked in, his security detail pinned me to the ground.