When Love Ends, I Set You Free

When Claire Bennett’s young male assistant mistakenly filed for divorce registration instead of a marriage license for the ninety-ninth time, I stormed into her office.

“Claire, is this what you call the value of a master’s degree from a top university?”

“If he can’t even get this right, then fire him already!”

Claire lifted her eyes from the pile of documents and glanced at my phone with an indifferent tone.

“I told you before, someone like him is never suited for grunt work.”

“If you’ve got time to argue with me, you could’ve scheduled it yourself.”

She didn’t even bother looking up as she spoke.

I bit back my words and turned to leave the office.

[ Dad, I don’t want to marry Claire anymore. ]

What Claire didn’t know was that her position as the Bennett family’s heir depended on our arranged marriage.

If the marriage fell apart, there were plenty of others in her family ready to take that seat.

My father only sighed on the other end of the line and told me to think carefully before making a decision.

But I already knew—there was no going back for me and Claire this time.

I stared at my phone: ninety-nine notifications of divorce appointments.

“It was just a mistake. Tell him to be careful next time.”

“He’s busy. It’s normal to slip up occasionally.”

“Don’t pick on a fresh graduate. I’ve already reminded him.”

Excuses. Every time.

Every mistake of Ethan Miller, every failed appointment, was covered by Claire’s indulgence.

My chest burned, like needles pricking my heart.

Just as I slipped my phone away, Claire rushed out of her office.

“You had to alarm both families over this?”

“Adrian Walker, when will you learn to control that spoiled temper of yours?”

Her brows knitted as she scolded me without pause.

I was about to retort when something tugged at my hand.

I turned, and it was none other than Ethan.

“Adrian, I swear I didn’t mean it. The page kept jumping around. I really thought I clicked marriage registration!”

“Let me reschedule it for you and Ms. Bennett. This time I promise I won’t mess up.”

He looked pitiful, his boyish face filled with guilt. Phone in hand, he began tapping away again.

Claire’s eyes brimmed with tenderness.

Ethan held out his phone with the appointment screen open, right under my nose.

“No need.”

I kept my expression cold, trying to shove the phone away. But his hand slipped, the screen flipped briefly, and in that flash, I saw it—an intimate selfie of him and Claire cheek to cheek.

I grabbed his wrist. He panicked, let go, and the phone crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.

Everyone in the office looked over, but no one dared to speak.

Ethan froze, his lips trembling.

“Ms. Bennett, that phone… it had my mom’s last voice messages to me. She’s gone… that was all I had left of her…”

“What do I do? What do I do now?”

Claire’s heart ached; she pulled him into her arms, whispering comfort.

My fists tightened as that image of their smiling faces seared into my mind.

Claire had a phobia of cameras. She never took photos with me—not even wedding pictures. Yet with another man, she had dozens of intimate selfies.

I swallowed the rage threatening to explode. I turned to leave.

But Claire blocked me.

“You break his phone and think you can just walk away?”

“Didn’t you hear? Those were his mother’s last words to him!”

“Adrian, at least say you’re sorry, even if you don’t mean it.”