Bound to You, Broken by You

When Selene met his gaze, she said calmly, “In that case, we'll file for divorce tomorrow. I’ll have someone draft a severance agreement now. Once you sign it, the child will finally feel at ease.”

When I heard her words, the doubt in my eyes disappeared, replaced by a glimmer of hope and expectation.

I pressed my lips together and answered softly, “Alright.”

Selene’s lawyer was efficient. In just two hours, the severance agreement was delivered to me.

Without hesitation, I signed my name.

And at that very moment, I clearly heard a soft, relieved sigh inside me.

Merrick happily grabbed the agreement and said with a smile, “Finally, I don’t have a crazy dad anymore! No one at school can make fun of me now.”

Facing his words, I stood there stunned.

Beside him, a hint of mockery flickered in Selene’s eyes.

“When you were taken away from home, someone took photos and posted them online,” she said coldly. “Because of you, he has had to endure a lot of judgment at school.”

Her tone carried open blame without an attempt to hide it.

But she seemed to forget that everything started because of her.

I didn’t argue back anymore.

I went along with her words, letting her push all the blame onto me, just as she wished.

But when I saw the contempt in her eyes, it reminded me of the second time she asked for a divorce.

Back then, I couldn’t accept it. Like a madman, I ran to her company and in front of all her employees, I shouted myself hoarse, accusing her and her assistant, Cyrus.

She stood among the crowd, completely unaffected, watching me coldly like I was some kind of clown putting on a show.

And I had forgotten those employees were all paid by her. They would never judge their boss’s private life so casually and certainly wouldn’t risk their jobs for someone unrelated to them.

Everyone just watched, eyes full of curiosity and ridicule, as if I were nothing more than a spectacle, leaving me nowhere to hide.

Instinctively, I wanted to run. But then I heard voices rising from the crowd.

“He’s good-looking but he’s nowhere near as capable or refined as Cyrus. If I were the boss, I wouldn’t pick that pretty boy either.”

“Yeah, people cheat all the time, especially the rich ones. He’s such an idiot. Doesn't he know how to just turn a blind eye?”

“If I were him, I wouldn’t make a scene. I’d just take the money and live comfortably as a kept man. Why go crazy and make yourself a joke?”

I stood there, surrounded by them all, their whispers cutting deeper than any blade.

Hearing those whispers around me, I suddenly remembered the year Selene started her business.

Back then, I had helped her chase her dream of becoming a strong, independent woman again and again, I helped her secure contracts with major clients.

I drank endlessly at dinners to win deals for her, until my stomach bled and I ended up in the hospital with an ulcer.

I still remember her sitting by my bedside, gripping my hand tightly, tears streaming down her face as she choked out, “Warren, I’ll never let you down in this life. I’ll give you a home and we’ll grow old together.”

I opened my mouth, wanting to tell everyone that it was she who had promised me a future, she who had said we’d grow old side by side.

But before I could speak, Cyrus came running over, crying.

He dropped to his knees in front of me with a thud, banging his head against the floor as he pleaded through tears.

“Mr. Guile, I never meant to come between you and Ms. Tarn. If you don’t like me, I’ll resign right now and never see her again. But please, I’m begging you, don’t make a scene here anymore. If you keep this up, how will Ms. Tarn ever face her employees again?”

He looked like a devoted, selfless man—someone who only cared about Selene’s reputation. And with just one sentence, he made me out to be an unreasonable madman.

Selene watched him kneeling there, crying and begging on her behalf.

She walked over, heartbroken and helped him to his feet. Then she turned to me and shouted in anger, “Enough! Warren, we’re getting a divorce! I can’t spend another day living like this! I’ve had enough of this suffocating life!”

In Merrick’s essay, he even wrote about that day. That’s when I learned he had skipped his extracurricular class and gone to her company to play with Cyrus.

And in his essay, he wrote:

“My dad isn’t just crazy. He makes me feel so embarrassed. I don’t understand why I have a dad like him. I wish Cyrus were my dad instead.”

So, I agreed to the divorce and I signed the severance agreement.

To Selena and Merrick, it was a day worth celebrating. They could hardly wait to take the signed agreement and go out together.

While I was packing my things, Selene’s social media was updated.

In the photo, she, Merrick and Cyrus were all wearing matching family outfits.