Chapter 1

Olivia stood in their living room, divorce papers in her hand.

The city lights of New York glittered outside the penthouse window, same as always.

But for Ethan, everything felt like a replay, a nightmare he' d already lived.

His heart didn't race, his hands didn't shake.

He remembered this moment.

He remembered the last time she' d come to him like this, tears in her eyes, begging.

That time, it was to protect Liam, her dead best friend Sarah' s younger brother, from a smaller scandal.

Sarah had died in a car crash, Olivia at the wheel. The guilt ate Olivia alive.

Liam, then a struggling actor, was caught with Olivia, and tabloids called him her "kept man."

She' d asked for a temporary divorce.

He' d refused then.

That refusal led to his ruin.

Liam framed him. A fake story about an intern.

Then the illness started, a neurological thing. Olivia, influenced by Liam, called it stress.

He remembered the cold studio, the pills, the end.

Now, the cycle was starting again.

Liam, now a rising influencer, was caught with Olivia again. Paparazzi. Intimate moment.

#OliversBoyToy was trending.

Aura, Olivia' s sustainable fashion brand, was days from its IPO. Crisis mode.

"Ethan," Olivia began, her voice trembling, just like he remembered. "We need to do this. For Liam. For Aura."

She held out the papers. "It' s just strategic. A separation. To save him."

Liam was with her, standing a little behind, a smirk playing on his lips. That was new. Or maybe he' d just been better at hiding it last time.

Ethan looked at Olivia, then at the papers.

He felt a strange calm, the calm of someone who had already seen the worst.

"Okay," Ethan said.

Olivia stared, her mouth slightly open. The tears stopped.

"What?"

"I said okay, Olivia. I' ll sign them."

Liam' s smirk widened.

Ethan continued, his voice even. "I have one condition."

Olivia nodded quickly. "Anything."

"Once this is done, once the divorce is final and your press tour is over, you never contact me again. You never enter my life again. We' re done. For good."

The shock on Olivia' s face was real. This wasn' t in her script.

"Ethan, I... this is just temporary. To protect Liam..."

"I know what it is," Ethan said. "Those are my terms."

Liam stepped forward, his voice a triumphant whisper near Ethan' s ear as Olivia processed. "Guess she chose me after all."

Ethan didn' t flinch. He just looked at Olivia.

She looked down at the papers, then back at him, confused, maybe a little scared.

"Alright," she finally said, her voice barely a whisper. "If that' s what you want."

She pushed the papers onto the coffee table. "My lawyers will handle the rest."

She turned and walked out, Liam following her, casting one last victorious glance at Ethan.

The door clicked shut.

Ethan stood there for a long moment.

The nightmare was vivid, but this time, he knew the lines.

He knew the ending he wanted to avoid.

He picked up the papers.

This time, he would write a different final act.