Chapter 1013

Claire immediately turned to leave.

She hadn’t realized Felix was out in the courtyard.

If she had, she would have preferred suffocating in her room over coming outside.

It was tragic to think that a couple who once shared the most intimate bond had devolved into two people who couldn’t even stand the sight of each other.

But the moment she turned, Felix called out to her.

“Claire, do you really want this divorce?”

As much as Claire loathed facing him and wished she didn’t have to exchange another word with him, she always had time to discuss their divorce.

Twenty-four hours a day, in fact.

She had endless patience for that.

So, she turned back, facing him with absolute composure, and delivered her unwavering answer. “Yes.”

Felix stood in the shadows, his dark eyes quietly fixated on her.

The glow from the garden lights cast harsh shadows over his face, making his expression unreadable.

After a long silence, he asked another question.

“Will leaving me really make you happier than you are now?”

When his grandmother demanded he give Claire a divorce that morning, he had been adamant in his refusal.

But she had told him that keeping Claire would only trap her in a miserable life.

So, while he stood out here smoking, he kept thinking… and thinking.

It had been a very long time since he’d seen Claire genuinely smile at him.

She used to smile so effortlessly.

Even when her own uncle practically sold her for millions of dollars in wedding funds

to some creepy old billionaire, she had never been this despondent.

Was it truly this marriage that had broken her spirit?

Claire was genuinely taken aback by the question.

The Felix she knew would never ask something so vulnerable.

He was always cold, always flawlessly rational.

She didn’t know what had suddenly provoked this change of heart.

But she didn’t care enough to dig. deeper. She simply gave him the honest truth, her tone deadpan and devoid of any emotion. “I don’t know if I’ll be happy but for me, getting a divorce will definitely be a relief

A relief!

The word hit Felix like a physical blow to the chest.

His usually calm eyes immediately contracted, a storm of complicated emotions surging within them.

The bitter sting of rejection.

The fury of being cast aside.

And above all, an endless, terrifying desolation.

He stared hard at Claire’s placid face, desperately searching for any crack in her armor, any sign that she was lying.

But all he found was absolute certainty.

The wind in the courtyard seemed to die completely.

Felix’s jaw was clenched tight, his Adam’s apple bobbing painfully as he forced a swallow.

He looked at her the way a man looks at a priceless treasure right before it slips through his fingers forever.

His heart felt like it was being methodically carved to pieces by the blade of her ‘relief.’

It took an eternity for him to force his voice through his teeth. It sounded heavy, almost like he was questioning the universe itself or making one final, pathetic attempt to hold on.

“Why can everyone else in our circle settle and make do, but we can’t?”

He had seen countless marriages built entirely on convenience and corporate mergers.

Take Shawn Selwyn, for example.

Felix could even promise her that he would never touch another woman.

He could give her all the respect she deserved.

Or, if they had a child, he could transfer half of his shares in the company to her name giving her the ultimate security.

As long as they didn’t divorce.

As long as the marriage continued.

But all the brilliant negotiation tactics that made him a ruthless force in the

boardroom died in his throat.

Claire simply smiled a sad, hollow smile.

“They can settle because they never actually had anything real to begin with. They

don’t know what they’re losing.”