Destined for Divorce

The heavy thud of the luxury car doors shutting finally sealed away the chaotic aftermath of the police station. The interior of Donovan’s sleek vehicle offered a stark, suffocating silence. The engine purred to life, gliding them onto the neon-lit city streets.

Chloe slumped against the passenger seat and pressed her forehead against the cool, tinted glass of the window. She kept her expression smooth and unbothered, a perfect mask of a weary wife wronged by her husband's staff. Beneath that calm surface, her mind was a tempest of agonizing regret.

Her current reality was nothing short of bizarre. Just three days ago, a negligent Grim Reaper made a catastrophic blunder, snatching her soul by mistake. Because she had been an orphan with no family to delay the process, her original body was cremated before the error could be fixed. Resurrection was off the table. To cover up his massive screw-up, the Grim Reaper tossed her into this world, gifting her a transmigration trip into the body of the young, paranoid woman sitting in this very car.

Through a sudden rush of inherited memories, Chloe had learned the tragic history of her new vessel. The original owner had been a delicate, sheltered girl whose parents perished in a sudden accident. On their deathbeds, they entrusted their only daughter to the powerful Vance family, terrified her greedy relatives would devour her inheritance. The Vances had honored the dying wish, taking the girl in and treating her with genuine warmth.

Instead of healing, the original owner succumbed to trauma. She grew paranoid, hyper-sensitive, and deeply isolated. She pushed away the Vances' affection, morphing into a gloomy presence in their grand estate. Her only tether to the world was a swift, obsessive infatuation with Donovan. Paralyzed by the fear that she would have no valid reason to remain in the Vance household after graduating university, she hatched a desperate, suffocating scheme.

She managed to get Donovan blackout drunk, orchestrated a scenario where they slept together, and ensured they were discovered in the act. Donovan despised her for the manipulation. Yet, watching her teeter on the edge of a mental breakdown, his ingrained sense of responsibility forced his hand. He married her. The resulting union was devoid of warmth. The original owner quickly buckled under the crushing weight of his disdain, locking herself in her room for days until her heart simply gave out from sheer, unadulterated stress.

The new Chloe had zero interest in continuing that miserable legacy. She refused to play the role of a bitter, neglected wife pining for a man who despised her. Donovan was undeniably gorgeous and possessed immense wealth, but a handsome face meant nothing if she was forced to live like a nun in a gilded cage. Having died a virgin in her previous life, she had a lot of regrets to make up for. She did not care if he harbored no affection for her. Her primary objective was to secure a lucrative, jaw-dropping divorce settlement that would guarantee a life of carefree luxury.

There was just one massive hurdle. The Grim Reaper had bound her to a strict rule of destiny. The original owner’s lingering soul resonance dictated that Chloe could never initiate the divorce herself. She had to wait for Donovan to pull the plug. When Chloe threw a fit over this unfair restriction, the Grim Reaper offered a parting gift to keep her quiet: the Rumor System. It was a supernatural buff that unearthed the deepest, darkest secrets of anyone around her, satisfying her insatiable craving for gossip while she bided her time.

She had figured her life in the Vance manor would be a breeze. She would enjoy boundless wealth, immense freedom, and a husband who practically lived at the office. If she ever found a side piece, she could easily pin the blame on Donovan's emotional neglect. Nadine’s corporate framing scheme had seemed like the perfect catalyst. A massive scandal like that should have resulted in immediate divorce papers.

Instead, the opportunity had vanished into thin air.

*I should have put on a much more dramatic show back in that conference room!* Chloe screamed internally, her eyes tracing the blurry streetlights passing by the window. *If I had squeezed out a few fake tears and acted genuinely devastated, maybe he would have handed me the papers on the spot! I just missed out on two hundred million! Two hundred million! A sum beyond my wildest imaginations! Now it is gone!*

Behind the steering wheel, Donovan stiffened. He heard nothing but the frantic, echoing words *two hundred million* bouncing around inside his skull.

He gripped the leather steering wheel tighter. Did she need money that badly?

The heavy guilt from earlier that day still weighed on his chest. He had misunderstood her character, assuming she was the same manipulative, paranoid woman who had trapped him in this marriage. Hearing her distressed inner monologue about money made him realize he had no idea how to properly apologize to her. They had never shared a real connection. He knew nothing about her hobbies, her tastes, or her desires. But if financial security was what she was mourning, he could easily provide it.

Keeping one hand on the wheel, Donovan reached into his suit jacket, pulled out his phone, and quickly tapped the screen a few times.

A sharp ping broke the heavy silence in the car.

Chloe blinked, pulling her head away from the cold glass. She listlessly reached into her designer purse and swiped her phone screen to check the notification.

Her breath hitched. She stared at the bank alert, her eyes widening to an almost comical degree.

Three million dollars had just been deposited directly into her personal account.

She slowly turned her head to look at the man in the driver’s seat. *Could he have transferred this to the wrong person? Did he mean to pay a vendor and hit my name instead?*

Donovan felt her gaze. He turned his head slightly, his long, dark eyelashes dropping to cast faint shadows beneath his striking eyes.

"I owe you a sincere apology for wrongly accusing you at the office. This is my formal compensation to you." He delivered the words with a solemn, earnest demeanor, his voice a low, steady rumble.

Chloe stared at his handsome profile for a second longer. She blinked slowly, drawing back into her seat.

"Oh." She let the single syllable fall from her lips with a flat, stoic tone, maintaining a masterful facade of a woman deeply heartbroken and indifferent to material wealth.

Inside her mind, fireworks were exploding in a dazzling display of sheer ecstasy.

*Holy smokes! Three million! Wow! Does this man even have a daily transfer limit? Okay, stay calm, Chloe. Breathe. Three million is mere pocket change compared to the two hundred million I just lost! But still! I cannot believe I just received three million in pure cash just because his crazy assistant falsely accused me! You are so generous, Donovan! You are a walking ATM! Please, feel free to wrongly accuse me a few more times in the future! If it means I get a massive payout every single time, I do not mind at all! Throw the book at me!*

Donovan’s hands slipped slightly on the steering wheel. The corners of his mouth twitched in a desperate battle to suppress a sudden, uncharacteristic smile.

He had expected her to harbor some lingering resentment, perhaps even demand a more heartfelt apology. He certainly had not expected this wild, greedy celebration bouncing around in his head. The stark contrast between her icy, untouchable outward appearance and her chaotic, money-obsessed inner thoughts was staggering. It was bizarre, yet undeniably amusing. *One truly cannot judge a book by its cover,* Donovan thought, stealing another glance at her. *I am finally getting to know the real Chloe.*

As they passed beneath the glow of a streetlamp, the golden light washed over her features. Donovan noticed the way she pressed her rosy lips tightly together, fighting the same battle he was to hide a smile. Her large eyes were wide and sparkling with hidden joy, breathing a vibrant life into her delicate features. Her smooth, dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing a face that looked almost ethereal against the backdrop of the bustling night city.

He had never held any affection for her, but in this quiet moment, Donovan had to admit she possessed a captivating beauty. He had never noticed it before because her face had always been twisted by a gloomy, resentful scowl. Now, she radiated a spirited, infectious energy.

He wondered about the sudden change. It was incredibly bizarre how she seemed to know the intricate details of matters she had no business knowing, like the truth behind Nadine's embezzlement. Perhaps acquiring this strange mind-reading superpower had shifted her entire worldview, allowing her to let go of her paranoia and live a carefree life.

Curiosity got the better of him.

"Why didn't you try arguing more back in the office?" Donovan asked, keeping his tone casual as he navigated a turn.

Chloe leaned back, her mind buzzing with newfound wealth. She decided to offer a nonchalant, logical response.

"You have been wanting a divorce anyway. Nadine's accusation was just a convenient excuse for you. In the grand scheme of things, it did not matter whether the theft was true or false."

Donovan’s brow furrowed sharply. The casual way she spoke of ending their marriage struck a discordant nerve.

"The truth matters a great deal to me. Furthermore, I have never intended to find a reason to divorce you." He declared the statement with firm, unyielding conviction. Their marriage had started as a messy, resentful trap, but he had no intention of leaving things in a perpetual stalemate.

Chloe blinked, momentarily taken aback by his firm tone. She quickly recovered, her internal voice dripping with sarcastic delight.

*You are such a good, honorable man, my dear ex-husband!*

Donovan’s face instantly darkened.

*We are not even divorced yet! Why is she already calling me her ex-husband in her head? Is she that convinced this marriage is doomed?*

Before Donovan could formulate a response, Chloe’s racing thoughts provided the exact reasoning he was looking for.

*Happiness cannot be forced, so why waste time pretending? Your legendary first crush will return to the country soon anyway. Is it not better if I am already out of the picture by the time she lands? Ms. Croft mentioned during my snooping that she was forced to break up with you and that there is a massive misunderstanding between you two. It looks like you are bound to reunite and reconcile the second she comes back. I have zero interest in sticking around to play the tragic third wheel. If you do not divorce me soon, she might stage some elaborate act, and you will be accused of having a scandalous affair. I am doing this for your own good, buddy!*

Donovan’s breath hitched in his throat.

A flash of irritation spiked through him. He had moved on from Jocelyn years ago. The past was the past. *I would never stay hung up on an ex when I already have a wife! I am not that kind of unfaithful scum! That is exactly why I refused to entertain Ms. Croft’s desperate attempts to explain the past today.*

He desperately wanted to argue with her, to correct her wild assumptions, but he was trapped. He could not defend himself without revealing that he could hear every word echoing in her mind.

Driven by a sudden, stubborn defiance, Donovan tightened his grip on the wheel and spoke to the windshield.

"Stop overthinking things. We will not get a divorce as long as you behave yourself."

He made a silent vow right then and there. He was going to prove to her that he was not the disloyal, predictable man she painted him out to be.

Chloe gave him a quick, sidelong glance.

"Oh." She delivered the same flat, indifferent syllable as before.

Deep down, she was scoffing.

*Hah! Talk is cheap! I am going to make sure you remember those exact words when you get inevitably entangled with your precious first crush!*

Donovan took a deep, exasperated breath. *She just refuses to believe in my integrity, doesn't she?*

Just as he was about to let the argument drop, Chloe’s inner voice chimed in again.

*Wait a minute.*

Donovan arched an eyebrow. *Is she actually reconsidering? Does she realize I am telling the truth?*

*Actually, it is great that he is acting so resolute right now! As long as I play the role of the perfect, obedient wife during this period, he will feel incredibly guilty when he finally comes crawling to me for a divorce for Jocelyn's sake. That guilt is my golden ticket! He will end up giving me way more alimony to clear his conscience!*

Donovan’s expression morphed into a dark, stormy scowl.

Chloe was on a roll, her imagination running wild with dollar signs.

*I will just treat living with him as a long-term financial investment. Ah, just thinking about the massive payout I will get makes my heart race! I am so good at managing my finances! That alimony will become my ultimate capital for living a lush, independent life once the papers are signed. I can buy myself a massive luxury house. Hell, I will even have enough left over to hire myself a cute, devoted sugar baby!*

Donovan nearly slammed his foot on the brake. He felt a vein throb in his temple. *A sugar baby? She is already planning her budget for a sugar baby? Does she have a specific candidate in mind? Is that why she is so eager to get rid of me?* He took a slow breath, forcing his rising temper down. *Calm down, Donovan. Today's mess was your fault. Do not jump to conclusions about her character again.*

Unaware of her husband's rising blood pressure, Chloe continued painting her masterpiece of a future.

*On second thought, the sugar baby does not have to be adorable. A highly masculine, rugged one would be amazing. Regardless of the face, he must have eight-pack abs! That is a non-negotiable requirement!*

Donovan was rendered completely speechless. He stared at the road, deeply offended. *I have eight-pack abs! Does she think I am lacking in that department?*

Chloe wiggled slightly in her leather seat, unable to contain her internal joy.

*Ah, I seriously cannot wait for Donovan to divorce me. Hurry up and break my heart, hubby!*

Donovan quietly clenched his jaw, his hands squeezing the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

He was suddenly unsure of everything. He could not discern whether Chloe was acting out of deep, lingering hurt from his past rejection, or if she genuinely, truly just wanted to cast him aside for a pile of cash and a muscular toy boy. The logic did not track. If she truly wanted a divorce that badly, she could have demanded it in the conference room today. But she had kept quiet.

*Since she did not bring it up herself, she probably does not actually want to leave me,* Donovan reasoned, clinging to a thread of logic. *I swear it is not just because she is trying to farm me for a bigger alimony check!*

The sleek vehicle turned off the main road, the tires crunching softly against the gravel driveway of the sprawling Vance manor.

As they pulled up to the grand entrance, Donovan noted a familiar luxury sedan parked near the fountain. Visitors had arrived.

The moment they stepped through the heavy oak front doors into the grand foyer, a woman's eager voice drifted from the main living room.

"Mom, Dad, this is the child that Gideon and I are planning to adopt. His name is Zane."

Donovan recognized the voice instantly. It was his eldest sister, Vivian. Before he could even process the shocking news of her adopting a child, a sudden blur of motion caught his eye.

Chloe, who had been sauntering leisurely by his side just a second ago, suddenly straightened her posture. Her eyes widened, practically glowing with predatory excitement.

*Holy crap! Fresh, juicy gossip! The high society circles are practically bursting with prime family drama! Vivian is adopting? Why? What is the hidden scandal here? God, I almost do not want to get a divorce right now! If I leave Donovan, I will lose my front-row seat to all this glorious chaos!*

Abandoning every single thought of massive alimony payouts and eight-pack sugar babies, Chloe hiked up the skirt of her dress and sprinted eagerly toward the living room to eavesdrop on the unfolding spectacle.

Donovan stood frozen in the grand foyer. He watched his wife disappear around the corner, her eyes gleaming with the manic thrill of a seasoned gossipmonger.

He let out a long, exhausted sigh, completely speechless as he trailed slowly in her wake.