Poof! Wife Status, ERASED

Chapter 9: How Dare You Say You're Sorry to Her?

Ethan Vanderbilt recognized Olivia Smith. She was one of Sophia Roberts' sponsored students, though after graduation, she had become Sophia's assistant.

Though furious, he held back for Sophia's sake, unwilling to make a scene in public.

"What are you doing? Causing trouble at mine and Sophia's anniversary—what's your game?" He strode forward, voice sharp with reprimand. "After everything Sophia did for you, is this how you repay her? Get out of here!"

Sophia had always cared deeply for the students she sponsored. If she found out Olivia had disrupted such an important occasion, the disappointment would crush her.

But Olivia didn't even flinch. Instead, she laughed bitterly when he finished speaking.

"Ethan Vanderbilt, you dare talk about being sorry to her? Then tell me—whose ashes are these?"

Gone was the timid reverence she once held for him. Now, her face was twisted with rage.

Ethan froze, his gaze locking onto the name engraved on the urn before jerking away as if burned.

"What kind of sick joke is this? Or are you trying to extort me? Security! Drag this ungrateful wretch out!"

This couldn't be Sophia. She was supposed to be preparing a surprise for him!

Olivia must be lying, trying to manipulate him!

Olivia let out a hollow laugh and hurled Sophia's suicide note and phone straight at Ethan's chest.

"Read it! See for yourself who the real disgrace is!"

The familiar phone case made Ethan's breath hitch. Mechanically, he took it, entering their anniversary date as the passcode.

What greeted him were explicit photos—filthy, intimate shots of betrayal—laced with taunting messages.

With each scroll, his face paled further.

She knew. She had known all along.

The Isabella Thompson in these messages was nothing like the sweet, docile woman he saw. Here, she was vicious, gloating, shoving every affair in Sophia's face.

At first, the texts had been innocent—polite greetings to her benefactor. But soon, they twisted into something ugly.

Then, two months ago, he'd given in to temptation and promoted Isabella to his executive secretary.

The first taunt came soon after.

"Since you're always so busy, sis, I'll take care of your husband for you~"

Beneath it was a photo of them tangled in bed, half-dressed.

That same day, he'd missed Sophia's brand ambassador launch, brushing her off with excuses about work.

Through it all, Sophia never replied.

But he could feel her despair.

After her father's death, her mother had abandoned her, stealing what little remained.

His Sophia had grown up unwanted, even a bite of meat at dinner earned with wary glances. She was fragile, terrified of betrayal.

It had taken him twenty years to earn her trust, to make her believe in love again.

And now, he'd destroyed it all.

Agony lanced through him as he unfolded the suicide note with trembling hands.

A single line stared back at him.

"Ethan Vanderbilt, we're even now."

"NO—"

His knees hit the ground as a scream tore from his throat. The pain of loss was a physical thing, wrapping around him like chains, paralyzing him.

The crowd murmured in confusion, but Olivia strode to the Ferris wheel, retrieving a document and slamming it onto the ground.

"Sophia's last wish was to divorce you. She said it takes two to betray a marriage."

Ethan didn't hear her. His hands shook as he grabbed the divorce papers, the familiar handwriting sending a fresh wave of agony through him. Desperate, he snatched the urn from Olivia.

This couldn't be his Sophia.

His radiant star, reduced to ashes? Impossible.

"You're lying! This is fake—Sophia's alive, tell me she's alive!"

Olivia stiffened at his sharpness, but then Sophia's psychiatrist stepped forward.

Also one of Sophia's sponsored students, the doctor wordlessly handed Ethan a thick medical file.

"Her depression relapsed two months ago. She couldn't sleep, couldn't function—and as her husband, you didn't notice?"

Due to her traumatic childhood, Sophia had always struggled with mild mental illness—her quietness, her distance. Ethan knew this. That's why he'd hidden his affairs, terrified she'd unravel.

"Sophia took her own life. She wanted nothing to do with you in death. You don't deserve her."

Ethan flipped through the records.

Her depression had resurfaced after his first betrayal.

Every stolen moment with Isabella after that had been another push toward the edge.

He hadn't just broken her heart.

He'd handed her the knife.