When The Ride Ended

“Owen? Are you awake?”

My phone showed 1 a.m., and Lauren was quietly calling me from outside the door.

I didn’t respond.

Assuming I was asleep, she turned toward the sofa.

I pulled out my phone and checked the surveillance app.

In the living room, Sean had wrapped his arms around Lauren.

She bent down to kiss him, and they collapsed onto the sofa.

They were like two wild dogs.

Absolutely disgusting.

After my cat, Nugget, had a bout of indigestion six months ago, I installed a hidden camera in the living room to keep an eye on him.

Lauren never liked hearing about trivial things, so I hadn’t told her.

Two months ago, I had casually reviewed the footage and discovered her kissing Sean in our home, on the very rug I had personally chosen.

I hadn’t slept a wink that night.

I traced the timeline of their relationship.

Three months.

They had been doing all this behind my back while I went out for groceries, cooked, or delivered their bikes for cleaning.

I felt no sadness, no anger. Only one thing: Dirty.

So dirty.

Watching them become more intimate, I floated silently out of bed and flung open the bedroom door.

I do not exaggerate. Sean practically sprang off the sofa.

“Bro! Why are you up?”

He looked flustered as he tugged at the front of his pajama pants.

Lauren was a little worse for wear.

Her clothes were stripped, and now she was wrapped in a blanket.

Her eyes were pink at the corners.

I walked silently toward the study, and Lauren panicked.

“Listen, I drank too much. I thought you were sleeping…”

I ignored her and tossed the folder from the desk back in front of her.

“Don’t make me sick. Sign it.”

Seeing she couldn’t talk her way out, Lauren’s expression changed.

“It was only one time! You’re discarding all these years of our relationship?”

I sneered.

“Seven years for one moment? Do you think I was born yesterday?”

Lauren tried to deny it, but I cut her off.

.

“How many times has it been? You know. Not even the rest of your life could repay it.”

She had no defense.

I still held in my hands many files related to her career, so she dared not contradict me.

Glancing at the agreement, Lauren finally shouted, “Why should the house be yours? My name’s on it too! I demand half!”

Sean, originally seated on the sofa, perked up.

Hearing talk of splitting assets, he no longer pretended innocence and leaned forward.

“Owen, you two are just living together now. Since your relationship is broken, split it fifty-fifty.”

He no longer called me ‘bro’.

Ambition flickered openly in his eyes.

Hightide City’s real estate was very expensive.

If the house sales were divided, Lauren could pocket two and a half million!

A tempting figure, but I wouldn’t let her have it cheaply.

“This house is mine. You didn’t contribute a single penny.”

I smiled, watching a flash of panic cross her pretty face.

When we married, Lauren had nothing.

Her monthly salary was eight hundred dollars.

I hadn’t held a wedding, and I even added her name to the house I owned.

To this day, she boasted about this past, painting it as our “fairy-tale love.”

Now we had gone from nothing to a clean break.

Lauren’s expression twitched with anger, but she did not argue.

“It’s fine, Lauren. I’ll be here with you every step of the way.”

Sean whispered provocatively in her ear, scattering her already fragile heart.

“Tomorrow, we’ll file for divorce!”

Lauren signed and tossed the papers at me.

“Fine.”

I put the agreement away carefully.

“Three days. Move everything out of this apartment in three days.”

“Three days?” Lauren jumped.

“So much stuff—how can I possibly move it all?”

“Don’t you have plenty of cycling teammates?” I crossed my arms and turned back to my room.

“I’m just issuing the notice. Penalties for delay are on you.”