Untouchable Ex-Wife: She Rules a Secret Empire

"Leanna, I want a divorce."

The frigid declaration drifted from behind Leanna Dunn like a blade of winter air, stopping her in the middle of her movement as shock hollowed her mind blank.

She had devoted the entire day to cooking a birthday meal for her husband, Derek Shaw.

Yet after she had waited alone for three endless hours, this cruel sentence was all she received in return.

"Wh-what did you just say?" she murmured numbly, her voice faint with disbelief, as though her ears had betrayed her.

Three years earlier, Derek's mother, Janice Shaw, had pulled Leanna back from the edge of death. To repay that kindness, Leanna married Derek while he remained trapped in a vegetative state and spent every day caring for him without complaint.

Three months ago, Derek had finally awakened, and Leanna truly believed their suffering had ended at last—that they could finally live as husband and wife instead of strangers bound by obligation.

Never in her worst dreams had she imagined that only three months after opening his eyes, he would already be desperate to cast her aside.

Derek's dark eyes carried unmistakable irritation as he stared at her. In a clipped, merciless tone, he repeated, "We're divorcing. I'll give you five hundred million dollars, and after that, neither of us will owe the other anything."

The words struck Leanna so hard her knees nearly gave out beneath her. She reached for his sleeve on instinct, clinging to it just to remain standing.

During those endless days and nights spent tending to Derek, she had unknowingly surrendered her heart to the man she cared for so faithfully.

And now, with a few indifferent words, he intended to erase everything they had shared and force her out of his life.

Her eyes burned crimson as tears gathered uncontrollably, clouding her sight. In a trembling voice filled with quiet desperation, she pleaded, "Can't we stay married?"

But Derek brushed her hand away without hesitation, his expression turning colder. "Kristine has returned. This marriage has to end."

Kristine Todd? The woman who abandoned him the moment he became trapped in a vegetative state?

A heavy weight crashed into Leanna's chest. Refusing to accept his cruelty, she demanded bitterly, "Derek, I stayed beside you for three years and cared for you every single day. Does that devotion mean nothing compared to a woman who left you the instant you collapsed?!"

"Enough!" The calm indifference Derek usually wore vanished beneath open fury. "Leanna, watch your words. You have no right to speak badly about Kristine. Pack your belongings and leave this house immediately. Kristine will arrive any moment now."

A mocking laugh escaped Leanna's lips. She had not even agreed to the divorce yet, and already he could not wait to welcome his former lover back into their home.

It felt as though freezing water had been dumped over her from head to toe. An unbearable cold spread through Leanna's body, while disappointment carved painfully into her heart.

No sooner had Derek finished speaking than the sound of suitcase wheels rattling across the driveway echoed through the mansion entrance. Then came the overly eager voice of Derek's assistant, Cayson George. "Miss Todd, let me carry your suitcases upstairs to the room Mr. Shaw prepared for you!"

Leanna turned toward the doorway and saw a woman dressed in flowing white step gracefully inside behind Cayson. It was Kristine.

Obviously, Derek had personally arranged for Cayson to bring her here.

The instant Kristine crossed the threshold, her gaze went straight to Derek. Acting as though Leanna did not exist, she hurried over, wrapped herself around his arm, and beamed brightly. "Derek, I can finally stay by your side again from now on. Aren't you happy?"

Leanna's eyes never left Derek's face. She watched him give a faint nod as a soft smile curved his lips. In his eyes lingered a tenderness she had never once received—a warmth reserved entirely for one woman alone.

So those perpetually distant eyes of his were capable of looking at someone with affection after all.

Sadly, that gentleness had simply never belonged to her.

A stabbing ache tore through Leanna's chest. Watching the two of them stand together so intimately felt like torture.

Sensing Leanna's stare, Kristine slowly turned and swept an assessing glance over her from head to toe.

Leanna stood there in a modest cream blouse, her face drained of color and her reddened eyes swollen from holding back tears.

Kristine tilted her head innocently and asked Derek with feigned curiosity, "Derek, who is she? Is this your new servant? She looks rather young."

Derek cast Leanna a careless glance before replying indifferently, "She's no one important. You don't need to pay attention to her."

Leanna inhaled deeply, but the crushing ache tightening around her chest only worsened, making every breath feel painfully difficult.

She had devoted three years of her life to nursing Derek through his vegetative state, yet in his eyes, her worth did not even compare to that of a household maid.

Something inside her finally broke apart completely.

Forcing down the sob threatening to escape, Leanna slowly straightened and lifted her gaze to meet Derek's eyes with newfound resolve.

"Fine. I'll sign the divorce papers! But five hundred million won't do. If you want this marriage to end, then I want one billion dollars as compensation!"