Desmond gripped the steering wheel tightly as he made his way home. He had planned to go straight back to his company after leaving the hospital, but now, his mind was too clouded with questions and realizations. He needed time to process and a cool space to think.
'Anabel is a billionaire heiress?' The thought hit him again, settling heavily in his chest. His ex-wife was the only daughter of the richest man in the state. How had he never known? But why did she keep it from him for so long?
His mind drifted back to the day she walked out of his house after signing the divorce papers. He remembered the way she left without a single penny. She didn't demand any compensation. She didn't even fight for assets. Rather, she told him that his money won't solve half of her bills.
"I don't even need your money. It won't solve half of my problem. You can have it all." Those were the exact words she said.
And then, she was gone. Taken away in a Rolls Royce. His mother and sister had mocked her endlessly after that, convinced she had run straight into the arms of a sugar daddy. Someone wealthy, powerful, someone who would fund her every desire.
But now, Desmond had seen the truth. It hadn’t been a sugar daddy. It had been her car. She has a different life. A life she had kept hidden from him.
Like a flash, another realization struck him. He began to think maybe she was the reason Orton’s Group gave him multiple contracts.
Every million-dollar deal he had received from them and every financial push that had helped build his empire had all been because of her.
Then, after they divorced, everything stopped. Now, thinking back, he could clearly remember her statement when he had visited Orton’s Group with Daniella.
"The contract was assigned to Desmond’s company all because of me. Now that I’m gone, do you think he can still get it?"
Back then, he had dismissed the words, thinking they were nothing more than bitter spite. But now, he could see why she says that.
He remembered the senior manager refusing to finalize the contract that day, insisting that Anabel had to sign.
"The contract validity depends on Anabel’s signature. Without Anabel, no contract." The senior manager said. From that day, Orton's group cut tiles with him.
Now he could see why everything happened. She stopped the contract. And also...he remembered the 1 billion contract Daniella claimed she got for him. Now, he doesn't need to be told to know it was Anabel. That day, Anabel tore the contract paper, and they were escorted out of the event hall.
"But why did she hide it from me?" He asked himself. "Had she never trusted me from the very beginning?"
The thoughts weighed heavily on his mind as he drove in silence, replaying every memory he had with her. And for the first time since leaving the hospital, he felt lost.
.
.
.
Desmond stepped into the house with a mind filled with heavy thoughts. He was exhausted from everything that had transpired less than an hour ago. Seeing Anabel and uncovering the truth about her identity. It was too much all at once, and now, he needed time to think.
As he walked into the living room, he spotted his mother sitting comfortably on the couch, engrossed in a television program.
“Good evening, Mom,” he greeted, and his mother glanced up and smiled. “Welcome back, my son.” She paused briefly before tilting her head. “How was work today?”
Desmond hesitated for a moment before giving her a simple reply. “Fine.” But something in his tone made his mother raise an eyebrow.
She studied his expression for a second before lowering the volume on the television. “I don't think it's fine. Your face is saying otherwise. What is it?” she asked, leaning forward slightly. “Is there something bothering you? You look stressed."
"Yeah, stress from work. I just came back from work." Desmond replied, but his mom did buy that.
"What I'm seeing is not stress from work. You look bothered. Tell me, what is that?" She asked.