The Heir He Needed, the Wife He Betrayed Chapter 09
I knew Cole would not let go easily.Â
So as soon as I had finished recovering from theÂ
miscarriage, I started dating different men.Â
I was bold and unapologetic, leaving him no room.Â
to cling to hope.Â
When Cole found me, I was kissing a man I hadÂ
just met in the dim light of a movie theater.Â
“Evelyn, what are the two of you doing?”Â
His furious roar drew angry looks from everyone inÂ
the theater.Â
I did not pull away. Instead, I deliberately leanedÂ
close to the man’s ear.Â
“You should go first. My hard–to–shake husband isÂ
here.”Â
The man let out a low laugh, his tone teasing.Â
“I thought everything you told me before was justÂ
a joke.”Â
I let go of his hand with an easy smile. “Don’tÂ
worry. I won’t drag you into this.”Â
Just as I was about to get up, he gently wrappedÂ
an arm around my waist.Â
“Does that mean once you two are divorced, I getÂ
to be official?”Â
His voice carried deliberate intimacy, and his gazeÂ
swept provocatively over Cole not far away.Â
“Then I’ll have to work harder.”Â
That open display of closeness instantly ignitedÂ
Cole’s rage.Â
His eyes reddened, and he rushed forward in a fewÂ
strides. “Let her go! She is my wife!”Â
I did not want to become a spectacle for everyoneÂ
to watch.Â
So I took the man’s hand and headed out first.Â
Cole immediately chased after us.Â
Under the cold white lights of the theater hallway, IÂ
turned around and looked at him with undisguisedÂ
disgust.Â
“What rotten luck, running into you.”Â
“What are you even doing here?”Â
I tugged at the corner of my mouth. “I don’t recycle.Â
trash.”Â
Cole’s face instantly turned deathly pale.Â
But being humiliated by me in front of anotherÂ
man filled him with such intense shame and angerÂ
that he could not help shouting.Â
“Evelyn, we’re still married!”Â
I gave a cold laugh and shot back, “So you doÂ
know we’re still married.”Â
“You didn’t seem to care about that when youÂ
were sleeping with someone else.”Â
“It doesn’t matter whether you sign the divorceÂ
agreement or not.” I shifted slightly, gesturingÂ
toward the man beside me.Â
“The man next to me doesn’t mind.”Â
Every last trace of color drained from Cole’s face.Â
“Evelyn… give me one more chance, okay?”Â
His voice was terribly hoarse, filled with desperateÂ
pleading.Â
I smiled lightly and lifted my chin, revealing the hickey on my neck.Â
“Even after this, can you still put up with it?”Â
Cole clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw went rigid.Â
He forced the words out through clenched teeth. “As long as you’re willing to come back.”Â
“I can pretend nothing happened.”Â
His chest rose and fell violently, as if he were desperately suppressing an emotion on the verge of exploding.Â
“Let’s just call it even, okay?”Â
“That won’t work.”Â
I took a step closer to him and lowered my voice.Â
“For every time you slept with Madison behind my back, I’ll sleep with him once.”Â
“That would be fair, wouldn’t it?”Â
Cole’s expression twisted with pain. “Evelyn, I’mÂ
begging you. Don’t degrade yourself like this.”Â
“Degrade myself?”Â
I laughed as if I had just heard the most absurdÂ
joke in the world.Â
“When you went out chasing pleasure, it was justÂ
men being men. But when it’s my turn, suddenlyÂ
I’m degrading myself?”Â
I looked at him, and the last trace of warmth in myÂ
eyes disappeared.Â
“Cole, I finally understand now. You never trulyÂ
respected me.”Â
“And you never truly respected women.”Â
“You and your father are the same at your core.”Â
We had once known each other better thanÂ
anyone else in the world.Â
Because of that, we also knew exactly how toÂ
drive the blade into each other’s most vulnerableÂ
place.Â
“No! I’m not!”Â
Cole denied it violently, as if he had been burned. His eyes were red.Â
“Evelyn, I’m not him! I’ll change. Please believeÂ
me…”Â
“Cole,” I interrupted him calmly, my voice filled onlyÂ
with complete exhaustion and detachment.Â
“I don’t want to hear a single word about winningÂ
me back.”Â
“Sign the agreement. Let’s get divorced.”Â
“That way, everyone gets what they want.”

