The Billionaire's Satisfying Revenge on His Gold-Digging Ex

"Ethan Ashford, take a good look. That is the court's divorce decree. As of today, we are no longer husband and wife."

Delia Pruitt didn't hand me the papers—she flung them. The crisp sheets slapped against my chest before scattering across the floor.

The words hit like a physical blow. A chill spread from my core, freezing me in place.

I bent down, fingers trembling as I retrieved the judgment. Disbelief warred with the ink on the page. When I looked up, the woman before me wasn't the gentle wife I knew. Her gaze, once warm, had turned to ice—contemptuous and cold.

"Delia... you're joking, right?" The knot in my stomach already knew the answer.

"Look at you, Ethan." She crossed her arms. "I'm one of the wealthiest women in Harbor City now. Chairwoman of a listed company. Do you honestly think a delivery driver deserves a seat at my table?"

Her question hung in the air, dripping with venom.

I hadn't received a summons. No mediation, no warning. She'd been smiling at me just this morning.

Then it clicked. Delia had used her connections to bypass due process entirely. She'd severed our marriage behind my back.

——

The irony was bitter. Just hours earlier, I'd been convinced my life was finally coming together.

I'd been at the delivery station, organizing orders on my battered electric scooter. The air smelled of exhaust and cheap grease. Then a hush fell over the yard as a sleek obsidian sedan with the plate "88888" rolled through the gates.

A coworker nudged my ribs. "Holy hell, look at that."

Every rider stopped dead. The rear door opened and a woman stepped out—stunning, dressed in a tailored gown worth more than our combined annual salaries.

"Damn, is that a celebrity?"

"Idiot, that's Vivienne Ashford's ride," another whispered. "The Ashford Group's Chairwoman. Imagine having a sister like that."

I froze. Vivienne's sharp gaze swept across the sea of yellow vests. She spotted me instantly.

Shit.

I ducked my head, abandoning my scooter and slipping toward the dorms. I needed to disappear. I hurried into the locker room, planning to change and bolt out the back.

But the moment I turned around, she was blocking the doorway.

Vivienne's expression was dark, her posture radiating the kind of authority that made CEOs tremble. I stepped back, clutching my helmet like a shield.

"Hehe... Sis." I scratched the back of my head. "Why come personally? You could've just called."

"Drop the act." Her voice cut through the air. "Father sent you to the grassroots to gain experience, not play dress-up. You hid your identity to deliver takeout? If my contact at Civil Affairs hadn't flagged your name on a marriage registry, I wouldn't have known where to find you."

I opened my mouth to explain, but she raised a hand.

"You married a woman from a common family," she continued, her tone dropping. "Wholly unworthy of the Ashford name. Were you planning to hide this forever?"

I sighed, dropping the facade. Vivienne had protected me since childhood. She was the public face of our empire, fierce and commanding, while I strategized in the shadows.

"Sis, listen. Delia is gentle and considerate. A rare woman." I met her eyes. "And she's not 'common' anymore. She's a respected businesswoman in Harbor City."

Vivienne let out an elegant snort. "A few hundred million? You call that rich? Her sudden rise, her success—that was all you. You worked yourself to the bone to elevate her, just so the family might accept her."

I chuckled. "You know me too well."

"Why go to such lengths?"

"Because her background is humble, and her heart is sensitive." My voice softened. "If I'd told her I was the Ashford heir from the start, she would've felt inferior. She would've run."

I looked my sister in the eye. "Living under an assumed name proved everything. She didn't care that I was poor. She stuck by me when we were scraping pennies for meals. Three years of poverty, just to be with me. That's true love."

When I first met Delia, I was captivated. But I was the helmsman of the Ashford empire, and she was an ordinary worker. The gap between us was a canyon my family would never accept.

I didn't want a woman who loved my money. I wanted a woman who loved me.

So I devised a plan. I became Ethan the delivery driver. I used my resources in the shadows to turn her into a rising star, preparing her for the day she could stand beside me as an equal.

I thought I'd succeeded. I thought we were ready.