I Left Him after He Chose The Sister-in-law

Clementine Stephens stepped into the living room of the Lopez family mansion, squinting against the blinding glow of the crystal chandelier. Her father, hunched and tight with tension, was already bowing and scraping, apologizing nonstop to Benjamin Lopez, the head of the family. Samara Woods, the picture of meek grace, poured coffee with quiet, practiced efficiency.

To Clementine’s surprise, Mckenna Lopez was there too. The whole room hummed with loaded tension, and instead of his usual warm greeting, Mckenna only gave her one loaded, knowing look.

Clementine had barely sunk into her seat when her father’s voice boomed out: "Stephens Real Estate is on its last legs. The Lopez family taking you in is the biggest favor anyone’s ever done you. What the hell do you have to be unhappy about?"

"Please, Mr. Stephens, calm down," Samara cut in softly, setting a delicate porcelain coffee cup down on the table before smoothing a hand over her still-flat belly. "This whole mess is my fault. But sister-in-law, after your brother passed, I’m here carrying his Lopez baby with no one to turn to. Leonidas only treated me kindly out of respect for his late brother. I hope you can understand. If I’ve caused any misunderstanding or trouble, I’ll tell him to keep his distance from me, I swear!"

Her soft voice was thick with grief for the dead and the lonely burden she carried now—enough to tug at anyone’s heartstrings.

Benjamin Lopez snorted angrily. "Why are you even wasting breath explaining yourself to her? She’s just a jealous brat throwing a fit."

Clementine’s brow furrowed. Playing soft against hostility, huh? Hiding behind the victim card to get what she wanted? Next to Samara’s polished, innocent act, Clementine looked irrational, aggressive—like the actual troublemaker. Bullying a pregnant woman? How unforgivable. She’d underestimated this seemingly gentle sister-in-law; with just a few lines, Samara had neatly boxed her into a corner.

Between Samara’s doe-eyed compliance and her father’s growing rage, he ended up shouting right in her face: "You are going to issue a public apology. If you so much as scratch the Lopez family name, you’ll regret the day you were born!"

Clementine scoffed. "Scared of tarnishing the Lopez reputation, or scared you won’t get to squeeze the last few pennies out of them for yourself?"

"You..." Her father shot to his feet, stepping toward her with a hand raised to strike.

But Clementine didn’t so much as flinch. She held her head high, defiant to the bone.

When she was seven, her mother died after a years-long battle with illness. That very same night, her father dragged his new wife and their five-year-old daughter through the front door. Whenever her stepmother punished her, her father always conveniently vanished.

Now this man was shamelessly using her to line his own pockets. If she hadn’t been stupidly head over heels for Leonidas back then, how would he ever have weaseled his way into leeching off the Lopez family in the first place?

But the blow she braced for never came. The raised hand was caught mid-air by another set of long, slender fingers.

Mckenna’s jaw was set, his expression sharp. "Mr. Stephens. If my uncle finds out you laid a hand on his wife, do you think he’ll cut off Stephens Construction’s supply chain first, or freeze your funding?"

Every word Mckenna spoke hit Stephens Industries right where it hurt, and her father’s face drained of all color, turning ashen.

He didn’t think Leonidas would act this recklessly just for Clementine, but her title as Mrs. Lopez still carried weight. Hitting her would absolutely drag the Lopez name through the mud.

For Clementine, Mckenna’s intervention was just a bitter reminder of how naive she’d once been. Caring? What a damn joke.

But since he’d stepped in, she couldn’t very well contradict him. She pinned her father with a cold glare. "Count yourself lucky you didn’t swing. If you had, we’d all be eating the consequences of that."

Frustration boiled over, and she’d completely lost patience for these people’s games.

Before her father could snap back, Benjamin Lopez slammed his cane against the floor, his eyes blazing. "You little brat! Are you threatening me?"

---

Meanwhile, in the dim, stale air of an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Northport, Leonidas Lopez crushed another finger of the man crumpled at his feet. Beads of blood clung to his eyelashes like red, glinting frost.

The man went limp in his own pool of blood, gasping out: "After Mr. Lopez died... the trail went cold... I swear I’m not lying to you..."

Leonidas lifted his foot off the man’s chest and waved a dismissive hand, signaling for them to drag the body out. The killer who’d murdered his brother was still hiding somewhere in Northport. Fearful of leaks, every operative had all their electronics confiscated, but the mastermind still hadn’t shown their face.

Uriel Scott stepped forward, holding out a freshly activated phone. "Mr. Lopez, there’s a situation developing back in the city. A party video leaked, and now rumors are spreading that you and Mrs. Lopez are getting divorced..."

Leonidas was wiping blood off his forehead with a heated towel, and his grip tightened the second the words left Uriel’s mouth. The cold blue glow of the phone screen reflected off his sharp jawline, carving it into something even more merciless than usual...

---

Back in the Lopez mansion living room.

"It’s all a misunderstanding, in-law! This girl’s just reckless, she’s lost her mind. Let me take her home and discipline her properly..." Her father’s forehead glistened with cold sweat.

"You’re overreacting. I still have the decency to respect my elders," Clementine replied coolly. "You’re right, I have caused trouble for the Lopez family. That part is my fault."

Benjamin and Samara both eyed her suspiciously, thrown off by her sudden willingness to comply. Her father, for his part, breathed a shaky sigh of relief.

But then Clementine’s eyes slitted slyly, and she spoke slow, every word deliberate, a sharp little curl tugging at her lips: "I’ll announce our divorce publicly. That’ll kill the rumors and fix the Lopez family’s honor right up."

"Leonidas and my dear sister can be together out in the open, no more hiding."

"And I’ll take the fall for losing my husband. Perfect, isn’t it?"

Turning retreat into advance? She could play that game just as well as anyone.

Bring it all out into the open. Let the storm hit harder than ever.

Mckenna couldn’t hold back a low chuckle. "That’s quite... an elegant solution."

"Sister-in-law, Leonidas and I only care for each other as family. You really don’t have to go this far," Samara sighed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her voice thick with pathetic sorrow.

Clementine wasn’t blind, and she wasn’t stupid enough to buy that it was just familial affection.

Not willing to waste another breath on these toxic leeches, she pulled her phone out of her bag and opened Twitter.

"Sister-in-law, if you really want to leave Leonidas, that’s your choice, but he cares more about his reputation than anything. He’d never want his marriage dragged through the public eye," Samara pressed, pretending she was just warning Clementine not to anger her husband.

But Clementine didn’t even look up. Her fingers flew across the screen, fast and steady.

Did they really think she was still scared? Once, her love for him and her desperate desire to keep the Lopez family happy had made her put him first, above everything else.

But now? She didn’t want Leonidas anymore. Why the hell would she care what happened to his precious reputation?

Suddenly, Benjamin was seized by a rough coughing fit, clutching at his chest.

Mckenna patted his back gently, the picture of concerned grandson. "Easy, grandpa. Your blood pressure can’t handle this stress."

"Stop her!" Benjamin’s shaky, frail hand clamped down on his grandson’s sleeve, his sharp eyes locked dead on Clementine’s phone screen.

Mckenna’s eyes glinted behind his glasses. "Grandpa, if uncle and aunt really can’t make this work, divorce might be for the best. A forced marriage never makes anyone happy. Better to split than stay miserable."

"Now is not the time... cough... for a divorce," Benjamin gasped.

He never cared much for Clementine anyway—he’d much rather Leonidas take care of Samara. But a divorce right now would only confirm the scandal was true.

Samara would be publicly shamed, and the Lopez family would take the hit.

Her father lunged toward Clementine too.

A divorce would ruin the entire Stephens family!

But Clementine dodged him easily, nimble on her feet.

The cold glow of the phone screen reflected off her determined, unyielding eyes.

"Let true love be fulfilled. We part ways, never to meet again."

Her finger hovered over the send button, and she savored the sharp, sweet burst of satisfaction for just one second.

Right as she was about to hit post and send the announcement live, a black leather glove flew through the air, cracking against her phone with a sharp snap.

"Which blind son of a bitch dares—"

The word died in her throat the second her eyes locked with Leonidas’s icy, furious gaze.