Chapter 5

Inside the VIP lounge of a private club, Carter was sitting in the center of the plush leather sofa.

He was swirling a glass of neat Macallan.

A guy with a buzz cut leaned over:

"Man, how is it so quiet today, Carter? Your wife hasn't spammed your Snapchat with fifty calls yet?"

Carter's childhood friend, Mason, chimed in with a smirk:

"Hey, I heard she wanted you to meet her at the family court today? Is she actually trying to divorce you?"

"She's just putting on a show," Jax, the buzz-cut guy, sneered.

"Guys like us, our wives have to beg us to come home. Carter goes home every single night. What more does she want?"

"Exactly," another guy at the poker table agreed. "She hit the jackpot marrying a guy with your net worth. Divorce? She literally can't survive without you."

The guys laughed, throwing in their two cents, the atmosphere growing louder.

Carter didn't say a word. He just threw his head back and downed the whiskey.

He was purposely ignoring her today.

Responding meant giving in. Giving in meant admitting her divorce threat actually carried weight.

He wasn't going to play her game.

The heavy door of the lounge was pushed open, and Hailey poked her head in.

Her eyes were red. "Carter, my stomach hurts a little."

Carter stood up immediately. He set his empty glass on the coffee table and walked over to support her arm. "What's wrong?"

The guys at the table started whistling and teasing:

"Whoa, look at that. I’ve never seen Carter look this stressed before."

"Well, Hailey’s got the golden ticket in her belly."

"Healthy mom, healthy heir..."

Mason tapped his cigarette against the ashtray, looking at Carter, and lowered his voice:

"Man, your wife is seriously obsessed. Last year, my girlfriend was waiting for me downstairs and ran into her. Evelyn interrogated her for thirty minutes asking where you were."

"I used to think she was just crazy, but damn, she actually is clinically insane."

The table erupted into laughter.

"Alright, stop talking. Her call is going to blow up his phone any second. Are we playing poker or what?"

"Of course we are," Jax said, shuffling the deck and slamming it on the table. "I bet fifty bucks she calls within thirty minutes."

"I bet an hour."

"Two hours. Carter said her record during a silent treatment is one day. Don't underestimate her obsession."

Carter helped Hailey sit down on the sofa.

Instinctively, his eyes drifted toward his phone on the coffee table.

The screen remained black.

He handed Hailey a tissue and looked back at the table. "Just play."

The game began.

Chips clinked as they were pushed across the green felt.

Laughter and cursing filled the room.

Three hours passed, and the game was winding down.

Mason stretched his arms, glancing at the coffee table.

"Wait, something's off. It's been over three hours. Not a single call from her?"

Someone else laughed, "She probably spammed his texts instead. Open your Snapchat, Carter. I bet there are fifty unread messages."

Carter didn't reply. He reached out, grabbed his phone, and tapped the screen.

But the most recent message in the chat was still the one she had sent yesterday morning:

[I'm here. When are you getting here?]

His brows knit together.

The men at the table looked at each other. "No way... literally nothing?"

The room went dead silent for a moment.

Suddenly, a phone vibrated. It belonged to Leo, Carter's driver.

He answered, listened for a second, and walked over to Carter.

"Mr. Sterling, it's for you. It's urgent."

Jax’s eyes lit up. "See! I told you! There she is!"

The others started laughing again.

Someone threw their cards on the table. "Damn, I lost the one-hour bet. I'll Venmo you."

The corner of Carter's mouth twitched upward into a confident, lazy smirk.

He crossed his legs and took the phone from Leo.

But the moment he heard the voice on the other end, his smirk vanished.

"What did you say?"

Carter froze, his hand tightening around the phone.

The guys were still joking. "What's the verdict? Is she crying? Is she begging you to come home?"

"Her codependency must have triggered an attack. She's probably hysterical."

Carter slowly lowered the phone from his ear.

His knuckles were white. He turned to Leo, his voice cold:

"Take Hailey home."

Hailey, who had been looking smug a second ago, gasped. "Carter? Where are you going? I want you to take me!"

"Go home."

It was a flat, icy command.

Without looking at her again, Carter grabbed his coat and stormed out of the club.

The moment he arrived at his corporate headquarters, he marched straight to the front desk.

"Did a delivery arrive for me?"

The receptionist stammered, startled by his intensity. "Y-yes, Mr. Sterling. A courier named Ethan Hayes left a package for you about ten minutes ago."

He snatched the manila envelope from her hand and ripped it open.

The words PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE glared back at him. His hands went numb.