THE WIFE HE BETRAYED BECAME HIS GREATEST REGRET

"Before midnight, you will no longer be my wife."

Eleanor Hayes stared at her husband, waiting for him to laugh, thinking he was only joking about that statement but he didn't laugh.

Adrian Blackwood stood before her in a perfectly tailored black suit, his wedding ring still on his finger and a divorce agreement resting in his hand. Behind him, three hundred guests watched them beneath the glittering chandeliers of the Blackwood family's anniversary gala. For three years, Eleanor had defended this man against everyone who said he would eventually discard her. She did everything to make sure this man would not become a failure or a laughing stock in the society, but tonight, he was about to prove them right.

"Adrian," she whispered, forcing a smile because the cameras were still pointed at them. "What is this? If you're upset with me, we can talk about it at home."

"At home?" He glanced at her as though she had said something ridiculous. "You still think you have a home here?"

Eleanor smile disappeared immediately, at that moment she couldn't think of anything else, her head become blank immediately "What" she whispered in her head. A few guests exchanged uncomfortable looks, they could not fantom what was going on. Someone near the champagne table whispered her name.

Eleanor tightened her fingers around the small evening bag she carried, she became uncomfortable immediately because a part of her tells her something bad will go wrong and the other part is unsure of what will happened tonight. Inside her was a silver wristwatch she had spent six months saving to buy for Adrian, it wasn't expensive compared with the gifts his family exchanged, but it was the first present she had ever bought him with the money she had earned entirely on her own, she had planned to give it to him after the gala when everybody has gone home.

"Please," she said quietly but only Adrian could read her lips.

Adrian raised the divorce agreement.

"Then you should have thought about that before betraying me."

The words struck her harder than a slap.

"Betraying you?"

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

"I don't."

He gave a short, humorless laugh.

"Of course you don't. You never know anything when you're caught."

Eleanor searched his face for some sign that this was a cruel joke, a misunderstanding, anything that would explain why the man who had kissed her forehead that morning was now looking at her as though she were his greatest enemy but she found nothing.

"What have I done?" she asked.

Adrian didn't answer, he turned toward the large screen behind the stage with a document in his hand, one of his workers came to meet him on the stage and gave him another document again.

Eleanor recognized the second one immediately, it was a confidential financial report from Blackwood Holdings, a document she had helped Adrian review two months earlier when one of his company's major projects was in danger of collapsing. She had worked on it late into the night, checking figures and identifying a costly error that even the company's senior analysts had overlooked. He sets up a projector to show everyone in the ballroom evidence of why he was divorcing Eleanor and how she betrayed him.

Beside the report, was a photograph of her entering a hotel lobby, the date was printed beneath it, it was week earlier.

The ballroom erupted in whispers.

"Is that Mrs. Blackwood?"

"Why would she be meeting someone from a competing company?"

"I knew something was wrong with that marriage."

Eleanor could barely hear them, she was staring at the photograph, she remembered that day, she had gone to the hotel to meet a supplier for a small design project she had been developing privately, she had never handed anyone Blackwood's confidential information.

"Adrian, that's not what it looks like." Her voice trembled

"Then explain it." Adrian shouted at her in front of everyone

"I can explain the photograph. I can explain the meeting. But those documents-" before she could finished her statement Adrian interrupted her

"Were found in an email sent from your account."

Her mouth fell open. "What?"

"Our security team traced the leak to you."

"No." She shook her head immediately. "That isn't possible."

"You expect me to believe someone entered your account, stole company documents and framed you?"

"Yes!" Her voice rose before she could stop it. "Because I didn't do this!"

Adrian's expression changed immediately, it was so quick that she almost missed it, doubts flickered behind his eyes, or maybe recognition then it vanished.

"You should have thought about the consequences before you decided to sell my company secrets."

"I never sold anything to anyone."

"Enough."

Eleanor became silence, she knew only words could not prove her innocence but at the same time she didn't know that her so-called husband does not trust her and he would believe anything bad they said about her.

Adrian turned toward the guests.

"As of tonight, Eleanor Hayes is no longer associated with Blackwood Holdings, our marriage will be dissolved, and the company will pursue every legal action necessary to recover the damage caused by her betrayal." He speak buoyantly as if he was already waiting for this moment for a long time.

Eleanor stared at him, she couldn't believe he would end a marriage of three years, just like that on a baseless rumor without trying to asked her about it first, instead, he made an announcement to the public without her knowing. Every morning she had woken before him to prepare his breakfast when he was exhausted, every night she had waited for him when business meetings ran late, she had defended him when his own relatives called him incapable of leading the family empire. She has speak to many business executives in stand for him, paving a way for her husband to collab with them. When his company nearly lost its biggest client, she had sat beside him until sunrise, helping him find a solution. He had held her hands afterward and promised that one day, when the pressure eased, they would finally have time for themselves now he was standing in front of the same people she had defended him against, destroying her reputation without allowing her to speak.

"Look at me," she pleaded.

Adrian turned away. "Sign the papers Eleanor, I am not in the mood to talk with you"

He placed the folder on a nearby table, and turned his head to the other side avoiding eye contact with her, Eleanor looked down at the document, she couldn't believe what her eyes is seeing. The first page contained her name, the second outlined the divorce settlement and the third stated that she would make no public claim against Blackwood Holdings.

There was a final clause requiring her to surrender any company documents in her possession and refrain from disclosing confidential information.

She looked up slowly. "You prepared all of this before tonight?"

Adrian's didn't reply to her question instead he was trying to avoid eye contact with her as if he knew what he was doing wasn't right.

"You knew you were going to do this."

"Sign it, Eleanor." He shouted at her

"When?"

"Oooh Goodness Eleanor, stop asking questions and sign the papers, I don't have answers to all this questions" he turned away

"When did you decide that three years of marriage meant nothing to you?"

"Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be."

She laughed once, but there was no humor in it.

"You humiliate me in front of your entire family, accuse me of a crime I didn't commit, and now you're telling me not to make things difficult?"

His eyes hardened.

"You want the truth? Fine. I'm tired of pretending this marriage was a good decision."

Eleanor stopped breathing for a moment "Huuuh"

Adrian continued.

"My family was right about you. You were never suited for this life."

There it was, the thing she had feared hearing since the day she married him not because she believed she was beneath him, but because she had spent three years trying to prove that she belonged beside him, she looked at the man she had loved and realized that he had just used her deepest insecurity as a weapon.

Before she could respond, a woman's voice came from behind him.

"Adrian, darling, the guests are waiting."

Eleanor turned around to see who was that.

It was Victoria Sinclair, she approached in a champagne-colored gown, her dark hair arranged elegantly over one shoulder, she looked beautiful, composed and entirely comfortable in a room where Eleanor felt as though she were slowly suffocating.

Victoria had been Adrian's first love. The woman his mother had always wanted him to marry, the woman who had disappeared from his life three years earlier, shortly before Eleanor became his wife and tonight, Victoria was wearing the diamond necklace Eleanor had once found inside Adrian's private safe.

Eleanor remembered asking him about it, he had told her it was an old family heirloom.

Victoria touched the necklace lightly trying to show Eleanor what she couldn't achieve as his wife, she Victoria has it now

"I hope I'm not interrupting," she said, although the small smile on her face suggested she knew exactly what she was doing.

Adrian's expression softened when he looked at her, it was the same expression Eleanor had once believed belonged only to her.

"No," he replied. "You're right on time."

Victoria stared at Adrian and then they both gave each other a smile and a simple hug then he slipped her hand into his, then she faced the guests.

"Since everyone is already here, I suppose there's no reason to hide our happiness any longer."

Eleanor's stomach tightened, she was standing but now it seems as if she was not feeling her leg on the ground any longer.

Victoria lifted her left hand flawlessly, a diamond ring glittered on her finger and then she flaunted it, to the right and to the left so the audience will catch a glimpse of what she is about to say even before she says it.

"We're getting married," she announced with a smile on her face, a smile that is translating that she has won.

The applause began hesitantly, then grew louder as Adrian placed an arm around Victoria's waist. The audience now believed, Eleanor is the antagonist here, because she betrayed Adrian.

Eleanor remained motionless, he hadn't merely prepared to divorce her, he had also prepared to replace her immediately and he had invited her to witness it.

She looked at Adrian one last time with a curiosity saying who is this man exactly, who have I been with for the past three years, she whispered to her self.

"Did you ever love me?" She asked

The question escaped her before she could stop it. Adrian turned towards Eleanor amd he looked directly at her then he said, "That doesn't matter anymore."

Eleanor felt the last fragile piece of hope inside her break, she picked up the divorce papers, her fingers trembled as she turned to the signature page. For a moment, she thought about refusing, she thought about screaming, exposing every private detail of their marriage and forcing him to admit what he had done but the people around her were already watching her as though she were a disgraced woman begging to remain in a life that no longer wanted her.

She wouldn't give them that satisfaction and then she signed her name on the divorce papers, immediately she finished signing the papers she placed the pen on the table.

"There," she whispered. "You have what you wanted."

Adrian glanced at the signature. "Security will escort you out."

She looked at him in disbelief.

"You can't even allow me to leave on my own?"

"You're no longer a guest here."

Those words finally made her understand that he didn't want her to leave with dignity, he wanted everyone to see her being thrown away.

Two security guards approached.

Eleanor lifted her chin and walked toward the ballroom doors without allowing them to touch her but she could hear the whispers following her, she could feel the stares, but she refused to look back.

The doors closed behind her only then did her legs begin to shake. She reached the marble corridor leading to the entrance and stopped beside a tall window, beyond the glass, rain poured over the driveway, where luxury cars waited to carry their owners home.

Her phone vibrated, she checked and it was a message from Adrian.

"Do not contact me again. My lawyer will handle everything."

Eleanor stared at the screen until the letters blurred, then she pressed the phone against her chest and let out a breath that sounded almost like a sob, she had no idea where she would sleep that night. Her parents were gone, the small apartment she had owned before marriage had been sold to help pay for a business project Adrian had promised to repay her for. Her personal savings had been tied up in the same project. She had trusted him with her whole life, he had manipulated into selling many things that could be an asset to her and now she had nothing she could reach for without remembering him.

Her phone rang again, this time, the number was unfamiliar.

She almost ignored it but she eventually bossom the courage to picked the call.

"Hello?" Her voice trembled

"Mrs. Eleanor Hayes?"

"Yes. Who is this?"

"My name is Daniel Foster. I'm an attorney handling the estate of your late grandmother, Margaret Hayes."

Eleanor straightened. "My grandmoth

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry to contact you at such a difficult hour, but I've been instructed to reach you personally if your marriage to Adrian Blackwood ever ended."

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

"What are you talking about?"

"I understand that this may come as a shock. Your grandmother left you a substantial inheritance, including shares in a private investment company."

Eleanor closed her eyes, trying to understand how is it possible for her grandmother to do that, she had not seen her grandmother in almost two years before her death, they had never been especially close, and Eleanor had assumed that whatever little money remained after the funeral had gone to charity.

"I think you've made a mistake," she said. "I'm not wealthy. I don't own any investment company."

"You do now, Mrs. Hayes."

The lawyer paused.

"And there is a matter of considerable urgency. I need you to come to my office tomorrow morning. There are documents that require your attention, and one of them concerns Blackwood Holdings."

Eleanor's heart began to beat faster.

"Why would my grandmother have anything to do with my husband's company?"

"I cannot explain the full circumstances over the telephone, but your grandmother was a shareholder in a company that has maintained a significant interest in Blackwood Holdings for many years." The lawyer said buoyantly

Eleanor leaned against the wall.

"How significant?"

"Significant enough that your signature will be required before certain decisions can be made."

She stared at the rain outside, a minutes ago, Adrian had thrown her out as though she were a woman with no value now a stranger was telling her that she might have a say in the future of his company but before she could ask another question, the lawyer spoke again.

"There is one more thing, Mrs. Hayes."

"What?"

"Your grandmother left specific instructions that I was not to reveal the contents of her private file until your marriage had ended."

Eleanor felt a chill move down her spine.

"What file?"

"The file concerns your husband."

Her throat tightened.

"What does it say?"

"I don't know everything your grandmother intended you to discover, but I have read the first page."

He paused.

"And I strongly advise you not to trust anyone in the Blackwood family until you have read the rest."

The call ended a moment later.

Eleanor remained by the window, holding the phone as rain battered the glass, she had spent three years believing she knew the man she married. Tonight, he had shown her how little she understood. She wiped her face immediately, opened her contacts and scrolled to Adrian's number.

Her thumb hovered over the screen then she deleted it. She promised herself that moment that she would not call him or even try to explain or prove herself to him and she would not spend another night trying to prove that she deserved to be loved.

Eleanor was heartbroken thinking she has gone from something to nothing but the phone call with lawyer brought her hopes up again. Because now she knew something even bigger is waiting for her at the lawyers place.

Tomorrow, she would meet the lawyer, she would find out what her grandmother had hidden. Eleanor felt determined that she would try every possible best to be a strong and successful woman but now thr efforts is for herself not for her husband.

She slipped the phone into her bag and walked toward the exit, her leg was weak as she was walking.

Behind her, inside the ballroom, the celebration continued. Adrian Blackwood raised a glass to his future bride, smiling as guests congratulated him on finally making the right decision.

He believed his marriage was over, he believed Eleanor was powerless, he believed he had protected his empire then his phone vibrated. A message from the company's chief financial officer appeared on the screen.

"URGENT: We have a problem with the Hayes estate."

Adrian's smile faded, he opened the attached document, at the top was the name of a company he had not thought about in years.

Below it was a list of shareholders and beside the largest voting interest was a name that made the blood drain from his face.

"MARGARET HAYES."

Adrian stared at the screen then he read the message beneath it.

"Her granddaughter is the legal beneficiary. If the transfer is completed, she will have the power to block the merger."

His gaze lifted toward the ballroom doors, he looked uncertain because Eleanor had just walked out of his life and she might have taken the future of his empire with her.