I looked down at the black pen in my hand.

With both hands, I snapped the pen cleanly in half.

One half of the pen clattered onto the tiled floor with a sharp sound.

I lifted my head and met Ethan's eyes.

"This agreement has multiple legal flaws. My attorney, Stella, needs to review it personally. I'm not signing it today."

Donna shrieked and lunged forward, grabbing for my collar.

"You little bitch, still trying to play tricks? You really don't know what's good for you! If you don't sign that paper today, I'll tear your face apart!"

Her long nails slashed toward my neck.

I twisted sideways, caught her arm, and shoved her away with force.

Donna stumbled and crashed down onto the floor.

She slapped her thigh and burst into exaggerated wails. "Help! She's assaulting me! The Whitmore family's precious daughter is beating people! There's no justice in this world. She's bullying a helpless mother and daughter!"

The veins on Ethan's forehead bulged.

He lunged forward, grabbed my throat, and slammed me against the wall.

My back hit the hard wall, the impact making me wince.

His grip tightened as his voice turned vicious. "Nora, you really won't give up until you hit the wall, will you? Do you still think you're that untouchable rich girl you used to be?"

My airway was compressed, and the lack of oxygen made my face flush red.

I didn't struggle. I simply stared straight into his eyes.

Through clenched teeth, I forced out the words. "Besides using violence to hide your guilt, what else can you do?"

Ethan glanced at the red marks forming on my neck and suddenly released his grip.

He stepped back, staring at his own hands as a flicker of regret crossed his face.

He took a few deep breaths, clearly trying to soften his tone.

"Nora, fine. I was wrong. How about this. That three-hundred-square-meter penthouse downtown. I'll transfer it to your name tomorrow as compensation. Just sign the agreement and we can part on good terms. Stop making things difficult between us."

I straightened my wrinkled collar and coldly brushed away his hand when he tried to touch me again.

I turned, walked to the door, and stepped out of the room.

The hospital corridor smelled strongly of disinfectant.

I took out my phone and quickly called Stella.

"Stella, have you gathered the full evidence chain for the financial irregularities on Ethan's side?"

Stella's voice came through the phone. "Everything is ready. But to launch the final liquidation procedure, we must obtain the personal seal from the safe in Ethan's desk. Without it, everything we've done so far will be useless. Can you get it?"

"Alright. I understand. I'll find a way."

I ended the call.

I left the hospital and took a taxi straight to Carrington Tower.

At two in the afternoon, I pushed open the door to my private office.

The room was completely empty. My office supplies, documents, even the sofa, were all gone.

Miles was directing a few workers as they carried several potted plants.

He turned around and looked at me with smug satisfaction.

"Oh? Ms. Whitmore, what brings you back? Mr. Carrington has already ordered this office to be fully renovated with non-toxic materials. It's being prepared for Ms. Langley while she waits to give birth."

He stepped in front of me, blocking the way. "Ms. Whitmore, all that useless stuff of yours has already been thrown into the trash. There's no place for you here anymore. You'd better go home and pack up."

Looking at his smug face, I lifted my foot.

The pointed tip of my high heel slammed straight into his shin.

Miles cried out in pain and crouched down, clutching his leg.

"Move."

I walked past him and headed straight for the CEO's office at the end of the corridor.

I pushed the door open. Ethan was leaning back in his leather office chair.

When he saw me walk in, a smug glint flashed in his eyes.

He held a jade personal seal in his hand, casually rolling it between his fingers.

"What is it? Changed your mind? Come back to beg me?"

I stared at the seal in his hand. "Lend me that seal for half an hour. I need to stamp a few documents."

Ethan stood up and walked to the desk, bracing both hands against the surface.

"You can borrow it. There's a charity gala tonight. You'll attend with me and play the part of a loving couple. Behave properly in front of those executives and clean up the embarrassment you caused today. If you make me look good tonight, you can take it for half an hour."

I clenched my fists so tightly that my knuckles turned pale, a wave of nausea rising in my stomach.

Suppressing the disgust churning inside me, I looked at him. "Fine. I agree."

Ethan smiled in satisfaction.

He held the jade personal seal out toward me.

I reached for it, but he stepped forward instead, wrapping an arm around my waist as he leaned down to kiss me.

I turned my head aside and quietly stepped half a step back.

"I need to touch up my makeup. I can't show up to the gala looking this plain. Once I'm ready, I'll go with you."

I slipped the seal from his hand and walked quickly out of the CEO's office.

Back in the corridor, I headed straight into the restroom and locked myself inside a stall.

I pulled out the dozens of documents I had prepared in advance, flipped through them quickly, and stamped Ethan's seal heavily onto every signature line.

Half an hour later.

Ethan's voice suddenly echoed through the hallway over the intercom. "All board members report to Conference Room One immediately for an emergency board meeting. No one is allowed to be absent."

I gathered the documents, slipped the seal into my pocket, and pushed open the door to the conference room.

The conference room was already filled with people.

Ethan sat at the head of the table and tossed a document onto the surface.

"Nora caused a public scandal at the proposal ceremony today, triggering severe negative publicity and dragging down the company's stock price. As punishment, I propose confiscating all of the original shares in her possession."

Jake Hargrove, seated beside him, immediately tapped the table in agreement.

"I support Mr. Carrington's proposal. Those shares shouldn't go to waste. They could be transferred to a trust fund under the name of Ms. Langley's unborn child, securing the future heir's interests. After all, this is for the long-term development of the company."

I walked calmly to an empty seat in the corner and sat down.

My fingers moved rapidly across my phone screen as I sent Stella the final instruction. "Execute all liquidation procedures immediately."

Ethan picked up a freshly printed document titled Compulsory Share Confiscation Agreement and walked over to me.

He slammed the document onto my desk and pushed a box of red ink toward me.

"Press your fingerprint. Nora, I'm giving you one last chance. If you do it now, we can still remain husband and wife."

Those original shares were the last thing my late mother had left me.

They were also my final line.

I lifted my head and looked straight into Ethan's eyes.

My voice was icy. "Ethan, are you really determined to push this to the end?"

Ethan stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking down at me with complete arrogance.

"Nora, stop pretending you're stronger than you are. You can't live without me. Everything you have belongs to Chloe anyway. Today you're paying it all back, with interest. Sign the paper and you can still remain Mrs. Carrington. That's the best ending you're going to get."

The conference room door opened.

Chloe walked in, supported by Donna.

She stroked her stomach and looked at me smugly. "Ms. Whitmore, why don't you hand over the shares and leave already? Staying here like this is embarrassing. You've occupied Ethan for long enough. It's time you gave up the position."

Ethan immediately walked over and gently supported Chloe's arm.

He turned back to me with a frown. "Nora, are you blind? Get up and give your seat to Chloe. Don't you have any manners?"

My phone rang.

It was my father.

Ethan stepped over and pressed the answer button, putting the call on speaker.

My father's furious roar instantly echoed through the conference room.

"Nora! You brat! Hand over all your shares to Mr. Carrington immediately! If you dare drag the Whitmore family down with you, you're no daughter of mine! Do you hear me?"

I lifted my hand and firmly ended the call.

I stood up and picked up the compulsory share confiscation document from the table.

I gripped the edges of the paper and tore it apart.

The thick stack split cleanly into two halves.

I folded the pieces together and tore them again.

I threw the handful of shredded paper straight into Ethan's face.

The scraps scattered all over his head and face.

Ethan exploded with rage. "Nora, do you have a death wish?"

I opened my bag and pulled out the bankruptcy liquidation agreement stamped with his red personal seal.

I slammed the document onto the center of the conference table.

"Open your eyes and look carefully." I sneered as my gaze swept across everyone in the room. "Every available fund and core asset under the company has already been legally transferred."

I pointed straight at Ethan. "From this second on, Ethan, you're not only penniless, you're also drowning in tens of billions of dollars in debt. Take your mistress and the bastard in her belly and go beg on the street."

Ethan lowered his head and stared at the signature at the bottom of the agreement.

The red imprint of his personal seal stood stark against the white paper.

The color drained from his face.

He staggered back two steps, knocking over the leather chair behind him.

The chair hit the tiled floor with a dull thud. a dull thud.

"Impossible," he said, his voice trembling.

He reached out to grab the agreement.

Jake moved faster.

He shoved Ethan aside and snatched the agreement from the table, flipping through the pages rapidly.

The pages rustled loudly as he turned them.

When Jake reached the final page, his eyes widened.

"My dividends are wiped out?" Jake slammed the agreement onto the table and pointed straight at Ethan. "Where the hell did all the company's money go? You incompetent fool!"

The other directors crowded around the table.

Some grabbed the agreement to read it, while others slammed their hands on the conference table.

"Ethan, you're going to explain this today!"

"My money's gone! I'm suing you!"

The conference room erupted into a chaotic storm of shouting and accusations.

Chloe shot up from her chair.

She screamed and lunged toward the conference table.

"This is fake! Nora, you bitch, you forged these documents to trick us!"

Her hand stretched across the table, reaching for the liquidation agreement.

I stepped forward.

I lifted my right foot and drove the pointed toe of my high heel straight into Chloe's shin.

"Ah!" Chloe screamed.

She pitched forward and slammed onto the tiled floor.

Clutching her leg, she rolled across the floor in pain.

"Oh my stomach!" Sweat poured down her face as she looked up at Ethan. "Ethan, help me up. Save our baby!"

Ethan's hand twitched, extending halfway toward her.

But when he saw the pile of debt notices covering the table, his legs remained frozen in place.

I walked up to him and looked down at him.

"Mr. Carrington, you can't even afford pregnancy medication for Chloe now."

Ethan's eyes were bloodshot, the whites filled with red veins.

He let out a hoarse roar and lunged toward my throat with both hands.

"I'll kill you! Cancel the liquidation process right now!"

The conference room door burst open.

More than a dozen security guards in black uniforms rushed in.

The ones in front tackled Ethan to the floor.

They twisted his arms behind his back and pressed his face hard against the floor.

His cheek was flattened against the cold tile.

He struggled wildly, drool spreading across the floor as he fought against them.

"Nora! Just wait! I have connections everywhere. I swear I'll find a way to destroy you!"

I took out my phone and opened a video.

I tapped the screen-cast button and projected the video onto the large screen in the conference room.

On the screen, Chloe was wrapped around a heavily tattooed street thug, the two of them lying together on white hotel sheets.

Chloe's voice echoed through the speakers.

"That idiot has no idea the baby came from you in that bar. Once I get the Carrington family's money, we'll disappear together."

The thug rubbed her stomach and burst out laughing.

Ethan's furious shouting died in his throat.

He stared at the screen in disbelief.

Chloe completely forgot about her supposed stomach pain.

She scrambled across the floor and clung desperately to Ethan's leg.

"Ethan, listen to me! It's fake! Nora set me up. She used AI to fabricate it!"

Ethan lifted the leg that wasn't restrained and kicked Chloe square in the chest.

She was sent flying nearly two meters away and collapsed on the floor, clutching her chest and gagging.

Ethan turned his head to look at me.

He stopped struggling, his voice suddenly full of desperation.

"Nora, she deceived me. I was wrong. Forgive me. Cancel the agreement and let's start over."

The phone on the table rang.

My father's name appeared on the screen.

I answered the call.

"Nora! Everyone outside is saying the Carrington family is bankrupt! What kind of stupidity did you pull this time? Get back here immediately!" my father roared through the phone.

I tapped the screen and ended the call.

Then I blocked the number entirely.

I straightened my suit jacket and turned to Stella standing nearby.

"Stella, the rest of the legal procedures are yours."

"No problem," Stella said, nodding.

I pushed open the conference room door and walked out, leaving Ethan behind in his helpless rage.