Chapter 8
Barrington’s heart skipped a beat. His fist clenched before he even realized it.
He pulled away the resignation letter on top, revealing a single sheet beneath it–a handwritten
note.
[Barrington, if you’re reading this, it means I’ve already left you for good.
[I’ve liked you since I first started university. But I always knew your heart belonged to Vionnet, so I kept my feelings buried.
[Three years ago, when Vionnet went abroad, I heard you went drinking at a bar. I was worried something might happen to you, so I went to find you. I didn’t drug you, Bennington. Sure, I liked you, but I’d never stoop that low just to keep you.
[I thought, maybe, just maybe, I could win your heart over time. But I was wrong. From beginning to end, the one you loved was always Vionnet.
[Now, I’m setting you free. From this moment on, let’s never see each other again.]
Barrington’s hand trembled as he read the date at the bottom–three months ago.
‘Three months ago… That’s when she had the surgery,‘ he recalled. ‘She’d already made up her mind to leave me back then?‘
His body stiffened. His lips trembled uncontrollably, but he kept trying to convince himself: It’s fine. Xanthe just resigned. We’re still married.
He stood frozen in place. His lips parted, trembling slightly, but he kept repeating to himself, ‘It’s fine. She just quit her job. We’re still married. She must’ve misunderstood something. Misunderstandings can be cleared up.‘
Trying to compose himself, he drew in a slow, shaky breath and turned to the next page.
Just as he thought nothing could go worse, the title printed in bold at the top glared at him and
made his vision blur.
[DIVORCE AGREEMENT]
Still holding onto the slimmest hope, he tried to convince himself it meant nothing. ‘Maybe it’s just a blank form. Besides, I haven’t signed anything. It’s not valid.’
But when he flipped to the next page, his heart dropped.
The signature at the bottom was unmistakable–his own!
“No… that’s impossible. When did I sign this? It has to be fake!”
Even as the words left his mouth, the memory hit him–just a few days ago, Xanthe had asked him to sign a document.
Back then, Vionnet had been calling non–stop, rushing him to come over. He hadn’t even looked at what he was signing…
‘So this–this is her anniversary gift to me?!‘ he realized.
The edges of the resignation and divorce papers crumpled in his tightening grip.
“Xanthe… How come? How come you did it to me!” he roared, his voice restrained with rage.
He thought that was the end of it–until he noticed one more sheet tucked beneath it all. With
The CEO’s Secretary Resigned with DiveSSA
60%
8:02 pm
trembling hands, he pulled it out.
And the moment he saw what it was, everything inside him shattered. A tear slipped down his cheek, tracing the edge of his jaw before falling to the floor.
It was an abortion report, the image of a baby printed clearly on the page.
“We… We had a child?” he muttered, his breath caught in his throat.
He had always loved children. But years of heavy drinking had weakened his fertility. Only in the past year had his health improved, and they’d finally started trying.
The child had come… only to end as a brutal clinical report.
And just like that, Barrington crumbled, his knees giving out. Before he could even try to keep his balance, he slumped to the floor.
His vacant eyes stared at the empty space in front of him. “Xanthe… why couldn’t you have waited a little longer? I could’ve explained everything… Why did it have to end like this?”
Overwhelmed with regret, he pressed a fist to his chest and pounded it hard.
‘If only I’d been honest with her sooner about Vionnet…’ he cried inwardly, ‘maybe Xanthe wouldn’t have gone through with all this. Maybe the baby would still be here…’
His face had gone ghostly pale. His throat closed up, and he couldn’t even make a sound as the tears kept coming.
In the silence, he seemed to hear Xanthe’s voice echoing in his ears.
“Honey, would you rather have a boy or a girl? What should we name our baby?”
Her voice repeated over and over again, growing softer each time.
Suddenly, Barrington jerked around, and his arm knocked into the side of the safe next to him. Something fell with a small clink–a flashdrive.
He looked down, figuring, ‘It’s not there earlier. She must’ve put it inside.‘
His fingers shook as he hesitantly picked it up.
Slowly, he plugged it into the computer.
Within seconds, the screen revealed a single folder with two video files in the drive.
Staring at the familiar thumbnails, Barrington realized the videos had been recorded in the villa.
His brows drew together as he moved the cursor over the first one and hovered over the play
button.
