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Ecliptic Exodus

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu

I went to the City Clerk's office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk's pitying look told me my entire life was a lie. "The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single." The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate. Gray's text to her was the final blow: "Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we're done with the charade." I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray's life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance. How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury. I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street." "I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray." If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world.

Modern Revenge Divorce

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3RD PERSON POV.

"Hey, Mary." A guy called, entering a restaurant.

"What are you doing here, Frank?" Mary asked him, with eyes on him as if he was a ghost.

Frank sighed, walking up to the counter. "I know we are not supposed to be meeting each other randomly." He paused then look around in fear.

"But these days I have been having bad dreams about before."

Mary furrowed her brows, then shook her head, realizing what he meant. "Don't go there, Frank. It's just your fear. That is the past we are all trying to forget, so please you need to leave. I've got to start my work."

He nodded. "But, you can serve me still, right? It is the early morning."

She sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'm just doing my job."

Frank went to sit on one of the chairs, as he waits.....

••••••

ARIA'S POV

"Detective Carson!" Someone called me.

I turned around from my desk to see it was officer Brandon.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Captain Reynolds calls for you."

"Why?" I asked with a raised brow.

He shrugged. "Don't know."

I nodded. "Okay. I'm coming."

He left with a nod.

"Are you shuddering to see the captain?" My partner Detective April Hale asked me.

I and April have been partners for three years, and equally friends.

She's black and beautiful, and we always got each other's backs.

I can't say the same for my first partner.

I scoffed. "Why should I be? I just don't know of any reason he should be calling me."

"I can actually think of one. Ever since you ran into that old town, you've been so obsessed with finding out more about it." April said.

"But he doesn't know about it," I told her as a matter of fact.

She looked at me like I was crazy. "You don't know your boss, do you? You have been here for 5 years, and you still don't know nothing can be hidden from the eyes of our Captain."

I narrowed my eyes in thought. "Seriously? You think he knows?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and it's high time anyways. After all, you'll need his permission."

Of course. I hope he allows it.

"I'd better get going, then," I told her, and she nodded.

I got into my Captain's office.

He looked up from his desk, and at me. "You're here."

I nodded.

"Have a seat." He told me, pointing at a chair.

I sat down quietly.

"So, you have something to tell me. Don't you?" He asked.

I sighed. Does he have to start it this way?

"I do, Sir, and I'm sure you know," I told him.

He scoffed. "You're damn right I do, but why?"

I gulped. "Well, being a detective is all about mystery solving, isn't it?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, only when it becomes our concern, but you in particular have a reason." He said.

"Well, don't know. I just... I just want to know the mystery behind it." I stuttered.

"I just don't think I should take that as an answer, and besides this is not a case, Carson."

I nodded. "I understand Sir, but please grant me this. It is highly possible, that there might be something involved, probably even death. We just need to investigate what happened that sent a whole town away from their home."

"That place has been there, and no one has cared to find out what happened." He argued.

"But we can, after all, it's under our jurisdiction."

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