CHAPTER 17
Griffin had already begun regretting his marriage when the private investigator delivered a file about Chloe that intensified his remorse to unbearable levels. The envelope contained photographs and a detailed report.
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The pictures were totally explicit—not amateur stuff, but high–quality professional shots that showed everything. And right in the center of each one was Chloe, his supposedly pure, innocent wife.
His stomach dropped as he flipped through them. In some, she stared right into the camera with a look he’d never seen on her face–hungry and knowing. In others, she was tangled up with different men–including guys he’d actually met through business–looking totally into it in ways she never had with him.
One photo showed her in a hotel room he recognized from a business trip, with the city skyline visible through windows just like the ones she’d been so eager to get busy against in their apartment. The timestamp showed it was taken just three weeks before their wedding.
Griffin’s hands shook as he put down the photos and picked up the report. The dry, factual language somehow made it all worse.
The report spelled it out in black and white: Chloe wasn’t some innocent girl. She was actually a high–end escort who’d been with half the executives in the city. She specialized in creating the perfect girlfriend experience, building a whole fake persona based on what each client wanted. Apparently, what Griffin had wanted was a sweet, innocent girl with a secret wild side–and she’d played him like a fiddle.
She wasn’t even his former classmate like she claimed. That whole backstory was completely made up, with fake records and even paid actors who’d pretended to know both of them, “reintroducing” them at some charity event he barely remembered.
There were money trails too–payments from an account he didn’t recognize to photographers, makeup artists, and some shady company that specialized in creating fake backgrounds for people. She’d planned everything down to the smallest detail.
Staring at all the evidence spread out on his desk, Griffin felt sick to his stomach. The woman he’d chosen over me–the woman who’d made him throw away twelve years‘ of real love–was nothing but a carefully crafted lie designed to get at his money. And he’d fallen for every bit of it.
Realizing he had rejected my genuine twelve–year devotion for this fraud–and
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nearly destroyed his company in the process–made Griffin physically ill. He confronted Chloe immediately, throwing the photos in her face. Naturally, she denied everything, playing the victim. “Griffin, who gave you these? They’re fake–obviously photoshopped! You know my background. Would someone like me do these things?”
Then her eyes narrowed as she found a convenient scapegoat: “This must be Tessa’s doing! She’s jealous I married you, so she had these fakes created. It has to be her!”
Watching Chloe deny the evidence, Griffin realized how foolish he’d been to fall for her act.
“Photos can be faked, but what about audio and video?” Griffin pulled out more evidence. “Are you going to tell me these are all faked too?”
The recordings and videos were undeniable Chloe calling different men “husband” and engaging in explicit acts with numerous partners.
With irrefutable proof laid bare, Chloe had nothing to say.
Unable to wait another moment, Griffin had his lawyer draft divorce papers
specifying that Chloe would leave with nothing.
At first, she refused to sign, returning to her usual tactics–crying and claiming
undying love for Griffin, begging him not to be so cruel.
Griffin responded with a cold laugh and slapped her hard across the face.
When Chloe realized Griffin was determined to divorce her, she dropped the act completely, revealing her true character.
She screeched, “There’s no such thing as walking away empty–handed! I don’t care what I was before–I’m your legal wife now, and Hayes Enterprises is our joint property. I’ll divorce you, but I want half of everything.”
Her eyes gleamed with malice: “You don’t want this getting to the press and hurting your already struggling company, do you?”
Griffin laughed bitterly at her threat. “You really are vicious, Chloe.”
“You’re no better,” she countered. “Tessa stood by you for years and remained just an assistant. She loved you completely, and how did you treat her? We’re both terrible people!”
Her words struck Griffin’s deepest wound, making him tremble with self–loathing. Suppressing his rage, Griffin agreed to her demand for half his assets.
They both signed the divorce papers and received their divorce certificates the next day.
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While Chloe was gloating over her sudden wealth, men hired by Griffin knocked her unconscious.
When she awoke, she found herself in the city’s most notorious gentlemen’s club- one known for catering to clients with violent tendencies.
Griffin’s cold smile as he arranged this was chilling. This would be Chloe’s fate.
His rise from nothing to CEO of Hayes Enterprises hadn’t been solely due to my help. He wasn’t a weak man.
When it came to ruthlessness, no one surpassed him–not even for a woman he once claimed to love.
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