Loved in Rebirth

"Fine, fine!" Julia snapped, clearly fed up. She signed the divorce agreement in a burst of anger. Then we went to the courthouse and filed the divorce. "Don't come crying back when you regret it!"

I calmly took out another folder.

"Since we're officially divorced, I don't want a cent of your money," I said. "Just return the private funds I contributed to your family. I trust that someone of your background, a Summers heiress, wouldn't stoop to owing a country boy like me money."

Julia let out a sharp laugh, half furious, half mocking. "Unbelievable… Tom! Return Mr. Reed's money right now!"

The butler, Tom Smith, looked stricken, his voice trembling. "Ms. Summers, the company hasn't been doing well in recent years. All the household expenses came from Mr. Reed's private assets. There's nothing left to return at the moment."

Julia froze, her face filled with shock, as if she truly had no idea. Nonetheless, she refused to show weakness in front of me. "Don't worry. The Summers family can afford to pay back your little sum!"

I nodded slightly. "I'm sure of that. You've always been good on your word, Julia. You'll return the five million I covered for your family, along with the properties I helped purchase. Everything's been verified with David Walsh, my lawyer. It's all documented in the files. Just match the value, and we'll call it even."

Julia's face stiffened, her expression shifting through disbelief, embarrassment, and anger. She'd never realized she'd spent so much of my money. Her expression was a kaleidoscope of colors, but she said nothing as she just picked up the folder and walked out.

By nightfall, she'd transferred all the funds back to me.

"Are you satisfied now?" she asked coolly.

I stayed calm. "Now that we're divorced, we're completely done. No ties, no overlap. Let's not see each other again."

Julia clearly hadn't expected that. She'd been waiting for me to beg her to stay.

"Jake," she said, her tone softening with condescension. "People who can't let go of their pride are impossible to love. I didn't realize how much you'd done for this family before. That was my fault. I'm sorry. If you can just swallow your pride now, we could still go back to how things were."

Her voice turned cold again. "But if you don't, and you come crawling back later, no matter how much you beg, I'll never marry you again."

Inside, I almost laughed. 'Too bad, Julia,' I thought. 'In this lifetime, you'll never see me regret a thing.'

I didn't bother responding. I simply nodded and put away the returned check.

Just then, Ryan ran into the room, throwing himself into Julia's arms. His little face was full of fear.

"Mom, are you and Dad really getting divorced? Is he really leaving us?"

Julia deliberately raised her voice so I could hear.

"Your father's just being dramatic," she said sweetly, stroking his hair. "He's just a country boy. He'd never actually leave me. And you and Ella are still so young. What kind of father could abandon his own children? You'll see. In a few days, he'll come crawling back to apologize and beg me not to go through with it."

I didn't bother correcting her. I turned and walked away in silence.

To them, my quiet exit only confirmed what they already believed—that I was acting out of pride, not resolve.

Their hearts eased. They even reassigned the servant who'd been ordered to keep an eye on me.

My assistant, Finn Thomas, came to me. "Mr. Reed, your father's car will be here to pick you up in the morning."

I nodded absently as I began throwing out everything I couldn't bring with me.

All of it—letters Julia had written to me in the early days of our marriage, and the tiny clothes I'd kept since Ryan and Ella were born until then.

By the time everything was packed and cleared, the first light of dawn pierced through the clouds.

The car my father sent for me was already waiting outside.

With a folder full of property deeds in my hand, I walked out quietly without any anger, sadness, or hesitation.

Just silence.