After Divorce, I Became a Top Star
Chapter 1
My husband, Harrison Hayes, brought his
mistress home for the family dinner.
The snickers and pointed stares of my
relatives landed squarely on me.
My cousin, smirking, asked, “Hey, Harrison,
bringing a girl home, isn’t your wife gonna be
jealous?”
Harrison chuckled, nonchalant. “My wife is
easygoing, she won’t mind.”
Easygoing? He just takes my tolerance for
granted.
Of course, what right does an orphan raised
by the Hayes family have to argue with the
newly appointed CEO?
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Looking at the woman, I understood why he
brought her.
She looked exactly like his deceased first
love.
A wave of weariness washed over me.
I shoved a nearby antique vase to the floor. It
shattered.
Everyone stared, stunned.
“Harrison,” I said, my voice steady despite the tremor in my hands, “It’s either me or her at this dinner.”
Harrison merely glanced at me. “She’s just here for dinner,” he said, his tone dismissive. “Don’t worry, the Mrs. Hayes position is still yours.”
I looked him straight in the eyes, my voice firm despite the tears welling “I’m–·
く
It was probably the first time I’d ever defied
him. For a second, he seemed taken aback.
Then, his new girlfriend feigned a pitiful
expression.
“Mrs. Hayes, I begged Harrison to bring me. If I’m upsetting you, I’ll leave right now.”
I ignored her, my gaze fixed on Harrison.
“Enough!” he snapped. “Your temper’s getting
worse by the day! Either eat or get out!”
He seated the woman in my usual place.
I let out a bitter laugh.
His message was clear.
I took off the jade bracelet my mother–in–law
had given me at our wedding and placed it
before him.
“Here,” I said, handing it to him, “This is yours again.”
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Harrison raised an eyebrow. “Claire, what’s
the meaning of this?”
I stared at him, each word measured. “I’m not going to be Mrs. Hayes anymore.”
Harrison scoffed. “You’re just an orphan.
Without me, without the Hayes family, where else can you go?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Just sit down and act
like a lady.”
My relatives chimed in, their false concern thick in the air, urging me to back down.
I ignored them, grabbed my phone, and headed for the door.
As I opened the door, Harrison’s cold voice
cut through the air.
“Claire, if you step out of this door today,
you’ll be replaced as Mrs. Hayes, and you can
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forget about ever coming back.”
I paused, then walked away, never looking
back.
I was an orphan raised by the Hayes family.
My grandmother and Harrison’s grandmother were friends. When my grandmother passed, she entrusted me to Harrison’s grandmother’s
care.
Many envied my life, growing up in the Hayes household and marrying Harrison, becoming Mrs. Hayes.
But only I knew the true cost.
A Mrs. Hayes ignored by everyone, a Mrs. Hayes whose husband’s heart belonged to another, a Mrs. Hayes in name only.
When we married, he’d said he could only give me a ceremony; his marriage certificate
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would only ever belong to Sarah Miller.
Sarah Miller, Harrison’s first love, the woman etched into his heart. She’d died of cancer
seven years ago.
So no one expected that the multi–million
dollar wedding would be without a marriage license.
But what choice did I have?
The moment he pulled me from the swimming
pool, I fell in love with him.
I’d naively believed I could melt the ice
around his heart.
But I forgot: the living can’t compete with the dead.
After escaping the Hayes house, I wandered
the streets aimlessly.
Harrison’s words “Without the Hayes
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ཞན ་། །
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family, where else can you go?”
reality.
