The Billion-Dollar Divorce (Ian and Chloe) novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1 It's Time To Let Go

Ian Hamilton's first love, who had left him six years ago, suddenly returned from abroad. She was now accompanied by a five-year-old son. Using business trips as an excuse, Ian had been avoiding going home for an entire month.

It was their third wedding anniversary. Chloe Irvine had prepared a candlelit dinner and bought a gift for Ian. She sent him a text, but by 9 pm, he still hadn't come home. Instead, Chloe received a call from Ian's younger sister, Mia Hamilton.

Mia reminded Chloe to check the message she had sent. After hanging up, Chloe opened her chat with Mia. Her smile froze the moment she saw what was on the screen.

The plate in Chloe's hand fell and shattered on the floor. A piece of ceramic scraped her ankle, and bright red blood began to ooze from the cut. But Chloe didn't have any reaction.

Mia had sent Chloe a screenshot of Ian's Instagram post. It showed that he had booked out the entire Riverfront Promenade and set off birthday fireworks, all for his first love and their son.

Chloe bent down to pick up her phone and swiped through the screenshots one by one: the beach, the yacht, the fireworks and the bouquets of roses.

And there was her husband, holding a four-or-five-year-old child in one arm. His other hand, still bearing their wedding ring, rested intimately on the waist of another woman.

It was a set of beautiful, romantic photos captioned, [A blueberry cake I made with my own hands, for the loves of my life.] Even through the screen, the overwhelming affection felt almost tangible.

Chloe's mind went blank. All thought seemed to shut down. Frantically, she checked Ian's Instagram, only to find it completely empty. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. It was only then that she realized he had hidden his account from her.

The screenshots shattered the last shred of hope she still held for Ian. Refusing to give up, she called him. When he didn't answer, she called again.

After he hung up for the third time, she received a text from him with just one word "Busy." The impatience in that single word was unmistakable.

Helplessness, anger, jealousy, and denial twisted together inside Chloe. It was a storm of emotions she could not control. She curled into herself, hands clutching her head as though her heart were being ripped apart.

Waves of suffocation rose in her chest. She grabbed fistfuls of her own hair and screamed out in raw frustration, before finally breaking into heavy, wrenching sobs.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She struggled to her feet and opened it. Mia stared in shock at Chloe's disheveled appearance. "Chloe, are you okay?" Still tear-streaked and pale, Chloe simply shook her head.

Mia stamped her foot in anger, "Chloe, let's go to the Riverfront Promenade to find Ian right now."

Chloe took a slow breath to steady herself. "Mia, I can handle what's happening with Ian myself." Her mother had just undergone heart bypass surgery and was still in the hospital. Now was not the time for her to fall apart.

By the time Mia left, it was already midnight. Chloe wandered through every corner of the house like a ghost.

She and Ian grew up together. Everyone knew she had loved him since childhood. But they also knew Ian was still haunted by a past love, someone he could never forget. In the end, he married Chloe only to fulfill an arranged family obligation.

Throughout their three years of marriage, she had clung to the naive belief that if she tried hard enough, she could eventually win his heart. But instead of his love, she was met with the news of his extravagant reunion with the one he had never forgotten.

She had given him everything—her childhood crush, her adult love and all her precious youth. Now, it was time to let go.

Her mind knew exactly what she had to do, but her heart ached so deeply that it felt hard to breathe. The conflict was unbearable. That night, Ian still did not come home.

She saw her husband's hand, still wearing their wedding ring but resting on that woman's waist. And that caption, dripping with a love that wasn't for her, pierced her straight through the heart.

A wave of nausea rose suddenly in her stomach. Chloe pushed Ian away and knelt beside the bed, retching violently. The lights turned on, and whatever intimacy had filled the room moments before vanished completely.

Ian got out of bed and gently patted Chloe's back. "Are you feeling sick?" he asked. Chloe pushed his hand away, got up, and walked straight into the bathroom. She wasn't ill. She was just utterly disgusted.

Ian frowned slightly as he watched her walk away, then went downstairs to pour a glass of water for her. He didn't notice her red, swollen eyes, her strained voice, or the fresh cut on her ankle.

A few minutes later, when Ian returned to the bedroom, Chloe had already come out of the bathroom and was getting into bed.

He handed her the glass of water. "I'll book a restaurant tomorrow to make up for our anniversary," he said. There was no explanation, no guilt, just a flat announcement.

Chloe ignored the glass he offered, got into bed, and said flatly, "No need." A bitter disappointment washed over her. 'So he remembers it's our anniversary, and yet he chose to book out the beach and set off fireworks with his old lover and their son.'

Ever since they married, she had taken care of his every need, refusing to let him lift a finger at home. Yet he had willingly lowered his pride and even baked a blueberry cake with his own hands for that woman and her son.

He had cheated on her and had a five-year-old son with his former lover, and yet he could still act as though nothing was wrong, touching her with familiar intimacy, standing before her without a trace of shame, and speaking those painfully casual words.

For the first time, Chloe realized that the man she had loved for so many years was so hypocritical. An uneasy silence fell between them, thickening the air. Just then, the screen of Ian's phone lit up.