Ashes of Our Marriage

The day we divorced, I gave up custody of our son. For once, Logan looked up at me. “Coral. “You nearly died on the operating table giving birth to him. “And now you want to abandon him as well?” I slid the signed divorce papers across the table. “That’s right.” Logan stared at me long and hard before letting out a scoff. “So you’re weaponizing the boy to force me to come back to you?” I didn’t offer an explanation. Instead, I placed my access card on the table–the one that had once granted me access to every conference room in the Reed Group. Five years ago, I stayed by his side throughout when the business faced its darkest chapter, edging on bankruptcy. Logan had declared there and then that I was the only lady of the household. Yet now, he believed that social standing was all I cared about. Not at all convinced, Logan refused to sign the petition on my terms. He simply uttered icily, “I have no time for your games.” Days later, my body was laid before him. Reality sank in. There was no turning back for us anymore. Chapter 1 Logan Reed didn’t sign the divorce agreement. He glanced at the papers only for his phone to buzz. After reading the text message, Logan grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. It was clear that he had lost his patience. He paused at the door and looked back at the stuff on the table. “Take them all back. “Make sure you don’t lose the access card.” I looked up, my tone indifferent. “You can take the card with you. I have no use for it.” At last, Logan met my gaze, his eyes filled with nothing but annoyance. “Coral, do you honestly have any idea how many people would kill to get their hands on this card? “I basically handed this to you because I trusted you. “It’s not meant to be a prop for you to play hard to get.” Turning on his heel, Logan took off. I sat there, staring at the black access card with downcast eyes. Five years ago, I was there for Logan through his darkest days when the Reed Group nearly faced bankruptcy. Eventually, the business emerged from the ruins. At the celebration gala, Logan set the access card down on my palm in front of the office and said, “Starting today, Coral has access to every corner of the Reed Group.” “Her word is my command.” At that moment, I couldn’t believe that a marriage born out of convenience would eventually turn into love. What I never saw coming was that the day he made his comeback would also be the day I was written out of his life. Two years into our marriage, he found a new lover. It was Elise Harper, the secretary, who had stood out among thousands of applicants. Ever since she came into the picture, Logan had grown more distant toward me. Even the occasional intimacy felt nothing more than a half-hearted, mandatory routine to him. When Logan threw his jacket on, I caught a whiff of the familiar cologne. It was the scent he always carried before meeting Elise. Simply because Elise preferred it. My favorite bottle of fragrance lay abandoned in the cabinet, collecting dust. The card was not my concern. It didn’t take long before my phone started blowing up with notifications. “Mrs. Reed, the final bid for the West Coast development needs to be locked in tonight. I can’t reach Mr. Reed. Could you approve the numbers with your access?” “We have an urgent transfer that needs to clear tonight, Mrs. Reed, but it requires the highest authorization. Can you log into the system to verify the release?” “Ma’am, Mr. Reed talked about issuing temporary access for Ms. Harper last week, but since it grants executive-level clearance, we need your approval in line with company policy.” I paused and let out a cynical laugh. “I no longer hold any power in the Reed family. “From now on, you don’t have to go through me for anything related to the Reeds or the business.” After sending a mass response, I turned off the device. The world finally fell silent, but only for a few seconds. Soon enough, the sound of frantic footsteps came up from behind. The butler chased me down in a panic, the black access card and divorce papers in hand. “Ma’am, you leave something so important just lying on the table? Mr. Reed would be upset if anything were lost.” I didn’t take the things from him. The butler looked at me and sighed, his voice softening. “You still hold a place in Mr. Reed’s heart, ma’am. “Not to mention, you have a child with him. Your position in this house cannot be shaken. “Whatever the other woman does, she can’t take your place.” At that point, I chuckled. Days earlier, I tried Logan’s number three times when I ran a high fever. He didn’t pick up the phone once. Lying in the hospital bed, I stared at the explicit photos of Elise and Logan in bed. You seem eager, Mrs. Reed. Care to join in?” Met with my silence, Elise sent another photo, one that would haunt me for the rest of my life. My son, Teddy Reed, sat quietly in another room. Elise pointed the camera at Teddy, her face beaming. “If you’re feeling shy, you can also sit in the next room and watch the child.” I felt the air sucked right out of me. It was true that my place as Mrs. Reed remained secure, but I had no desire to keep it. The butler looked at me, wanting to persuade me further. However, he simply sighed in the end. “If you’re that worried, you can leave the card in his study. “Since he’s refusing to sign the petition on my terms, you can just dump the papers.” I headed straight for the Thornton residence. Chapter 2 I stood before the manor, overwhelmed by memories. Back then, my marriage to Logan was one of convenience. At first, there was no love between us. We were just strangers living under the same roof. However, when two people spent enough time together, feelings that shouldn’t be there were bound to develop. Logan would replace my cold coffee with a cup of chamomile tea when I stayed up late at night, working on corporate reports. At business dinners, he would take every drink meant for me, only to claim afterward that he was doing it to protect the family’s reputation. So when things went south for the Reed Group, my father, Charles Thornton, told me to come home. Charles warned me not to waste my time with Logan as his family was a sinking ship, but I didn’t walk away. Instead, I sold all my shares in the Thornton family business and, together with my late mother’s inheritance, invested everything into the Reed Group. It was all to keep Logan’s head above water. When Charles found out, he nearly disowned me right there and then. Since then, he had gone no contact with me. There were times I wondered if I had made a huge mistake. Those doubts disappeared when a business rival kidnapped Teddy to force Logan to give up his last chance at rebuilding his empire. At the time, the Reed Group was in desperate need of a cash infusion. Securing the contract would help pull the company out of the red. However, Logan didn’t play by the business rival’s rules. He practically risked his life to bring Teddy home safe. As he stood in the hospital corridor covered in blood, I believed my gamble had paid off. I even thought to myself that once the Reed Group was back on track, I could return home with my head held high and tell Charles, “Dad, my choice was right all along.” Too bad a harsh reality awaited me. Human hearts were fickle. With that in mind, I was ready to step into the house and apologize to Charles when the maid stopped me. “You are not welcome here.” I assumed that Charles was still upset over the incident years ago, but the maid added. “The family has gone bankrupt. Mr. Thornton put his pride aside to ask for your help, but your husband turned him away without hesitation.” The words hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea. I pushed past the maid, desperate to get answers from Charles. However, he lay in bed, his body hooked up to several devices. The maid sneered, “Your rejection pushed him into such a severe illness that he’s been unable to walk ever since.” Losing my grip on sanity, I raced back home to grill Logan, but the latter claimed to know nothing of the matter. Just then, Elise emerged from his bedroom, holding Teddy in her arms. “Oh, are you talking about the plea for capital? I thought he was a scammer, so I handled it myself. “My bad, Mrs. Reed.” Snapping at her offhand tone and the fact that she was holding Teddy, I lunged forward. “You witch!” Logan held me down, locking me in his embrace. “It’s not a big deal. Why are you getting so worked up? “Elise has dozens of calls to go through every day. Of course, she’d be skeptical when there’s a request for substantial funding.” I shouted, “Logan, do you think you’d still be the CEO if it weren’t for my family?” “That’s enough.” Logan sighed, as if I were the unreasonable one. “Your father isn’t terminally ill. Why are you so emotional? “Tell you what. I’ll make time to visit him with you once things calm down a bit. “I’ll hire the best medical team out there, so he can spend a few more years with you. Does that work?” I froze, my blood running cold. My mind wandered back to the maid’s remark. Charles was barely lucid due to the illness. Yet, he shut down the idea of the family reaching out to me. “She doesn’t care about the family anymore. She’s a Reed through and through now. Don’t go contacting outsiders.” My knees nearly buckled under me. Had I not made the trip home, we would have spent the rest of our lives hating each other, right up until the day he died. I let out a deep breath before turning to Logan, my resentment growing. From that day forward, I gave him the silent treatment for days and spent all my time at the Thornton residence. My behavior didn’t go unnoticed. One day, I stepped out of the Thornton residence to find Logan there at the gate. With my eyes welling up, Logan pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away my tears. “I’m sorry. I should’ve paid more attention.” I looked at him in disbelief. Logan was never one to yield. Yet, there he was, apologizing to me. In the end, I didn’t decline his offer to take me home. During the drive, he said, “I’ve reassigned Elise to a different department. I won’t have further contact with her.” I thought that our life was right back on track. Days later, I spotted Elise outside the office building, holding Teddy’s hand. “Daddy, I don’t want to go home. I want to be with Mommy Elise.” Chapter 3 My footsteps halted as I looked at Teddy in disbelief. Teddy gripped Elise’s hand, his face full of defiance. Catching my silhouette, Elise got down to Teddy’s eye level and murmured, “Sweetheart, I only work for Mr. Reed. She’s your mother.” “She’s not!” Teddy yelled, “My teacher told me that a mommy is someone who loves Daddy and makes him happy. Elise, Daddy smiles more when he’s with you. I want you to become my mommy!” Color drained from my face. Was this the son I once agonized over whether I should leave behind? Every time I had imagined what Teddy’s life would look like after the divorce, I would break down in tears, terrified that he’d suffer at the hands of others. However, my worries were all in my head. Accepting my reality, I approached Teddy and said curtly, “Fine. Since you want her to be your mommy, you’re no son of mine.” The crowd stared at me in disbelief, murmuring how cruel I was. However, no one saw me sobbing violently on the drive home. That same day, I was involved in a car accident. From the ambulance, a paramedic gave Logan a call. “Coral Reed has been in a car wreck. You need to get to the hospital now.” Logan said irritably, “Cut the prank. She spends her days tending to her garden. How could she be in an accident?” On the other end of the line, Elise’s sweet voice echoed in the background. “Logan, stop talking on the phone. It’s time to cut the birthday cake.” Teddy urged, “Hurry up, Daddy!” Logan barked into the phone, “I don’t have time for you. You can call me to claim the body if she actually crashed and flatlined.” He hung up. I barely made it out of the hospital alive that day. It took everything for the medical team to snatch me back from the Grim Reaper. By then, I had lost all hope in Logan. That was when the call from the Thornton household came in. “Miss, you need to get here right now. Mr. Thornton isn’t going to make it.” I yanked the IV lines out and made a mad dash to the Thornton residence. The door swung open to reveal Charles, covered in blood. He lay there, his lips blue. “We couldn’t get in touch with the doctors sent by Mr. Reed, so we had to bring in the nearest local doctor. “According to the bloodwork, the doctor said that Mr. Thornton was poisoned, and the poison has spread to his entire system. “It’s not a common toxin. Without the right cure, Mr. Thornton won’t hold on much longer.” Poison? It didn’t make sense. Since nothing like this had ever happened before, I checked the surveillance footage. The cameras caught one of the medical staff making a phone call in the garden. “Ms. Harper, the deed has been done according to your request.” As she spoke, the medical officer walked back to the room, fished out a vial from her pocket, and emptied the liquid into his drip. Blinded by rage, I stormed straight to Elise’s home. When the door swung open, I grabbed her hair and hit her. “How dare you hurt my father, snake!” It wasn’t her retaliation that came. Instead, Logan pushed me out the door. With nothing but a towel around his waist and love bites visible on his neck, Logan carefully lifted Elise to her feet. “Are you alright?” His voice was tender. However, his gaze was cutting when he turned to me. “What has gotten into you, Coral?” “She tried to kill my father!” I shouted and showed the surveillance footage. Logan smirked. “Coral, look at the timestamp. “Elise was still my secretary at the time. I put her in charge of coordinating with the medical team for the Thorntons. Is there something wrong with her carrying out my instructions?” Propping herself against the wall, Elise got on her feet. “Mrs. Reed is just looking for an excuse to take her anger out on me, sir. You didn’t have to call her out.” “This won’t fly with me!” Logan jumped in curtly. “If I let this slide now, there’s going to be a next time. Since you’re highly suspicious of the medical experts I have sent, you can start making your own arrangements for Charles.” With that, Logan was ready to close the door, his eyes reflecting his disappointment in me. “Wait!” I jammed my hand in the door gap and grabbed Elise, my eyes red-rimmed. “Give me the antidote! Give it to me!” “Coral, have you had enough!” Logan pulled Elise behind him and hissed at me through clenched teeth, “What antidote are you talking about? Elise didn't poison anyone.” Elise sighed. “Exactly, ma’am. Your tears are very convincing, but I can’t keep acting out these wild fantasies with you.” Consumed by rage, Logan swept his arm and gave his secretary a call. “Barricade the Thornton estate. No doctors are to get anywhere near the place without my permission.” Chapter 4 “No, Logan! You can’t do this! My father is going to die!” Dropping every bit of my pride, I clutched Logan’s hand and looked at him through tears in my eyes. Charles was the only family I had left. I couldn’t lose him. However, Logan threw my hands off and led Elise back inside aloofly, shutting me out in a state of despair. The antidote was out of the question now, but the doctors had to get through. There may still be a slight chance. In the end, I pounded the door until my fingers bled. Only then did Logan open the door once more. His expression froze when he saw my blood-stained hands. It took a while before he said, “Coral, here is your final chance. Apologize to Elise now, and I’ll let the doctors pass.” Elise giggled from inside the room. “Oh, forget it Logan. She’s here to make my life hell. Why would she apologize to me?” Logan narrowed his eyes. “Do I need to repeat myself? Apologize, or Charles’ treatment ends now and forever.” I stared at the man I had loved for so many years, my tears running dry. Without another word, I stepped inside and scanned the photos of them together around the room before approaching Elise. “I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to accuse you. I shouldn’t have barged into your home and hit you. I’m so sorry.” Holding onto a tiny glimpse of hope, I added. “Can you give me the antidote? I swear I won’t press charges. I’ll leave Logan too, and you can be his wife.” Elise tilted her head and looked at Logan. “Is that supposed to be an apology? It sounds like another accusation to me.” Rising to her feet in disappointment, Elise brushed past Logan and let out a sigh. “I guess I will never get a genuine apology from her.” Logan stared me down, feeling let down more than ever. He clenched his fists and snarled through gritted teeth. “Ask for her forgiveness. Put your heart into it.” My blood ran cold. Elise stopped, the pride of a winner spread across her face. I bit back the lump burning in my throat and kept my head down. “Please, I beg you.” Logan turned back to Elise. “Is that better?” With Elise giving the nod, Logan came to me. “Alright, the ban has been called off. You can go now.” Logan tried to pat my shoulder, but I flinched away from his touch. He watched me leave in a hurry, his arm still hanging in the air. For a brief moment, he was stunned. While on my way back, I kept beating myself up. I shouldn’t have gone to Elise’s place and wasted my time. I should’ve known that I would never get my hands on the antidote. However, I couldn’t afford to wallow in regret. As soon as I stepped into the car, I dialed the hospital number. “Hello there, please send an ambulance to the Thornton residence. The address is—” “Huh?” The voice on the other end interrupted. “We just received a call from that same address.” “What did you say?” My voice went numb. “Oh, here is the log. The caller reported a death. We are on our way to transport the body.” My ears started ringing, my vision went dark, and for a moment, I was consumed by the silence. By the time I snapped back to reality, my vehicle slammed into the mountain cliff across the road. “Hello? Hello? Ma’am, are you still there?’ The voice from the phone kept calling out. I slumped against the steering wheel as the flames engulfed me bit by bit. Chapter 5 It was an hour later when the police got in touch with Logan. “Sir, your wife has been in a fatal accident. We need you to come and identify her remains.” Logan didn’t even flinch at the news. He simply watched Elise browsing for clothes, his eyes clouded with annoyance. “Still pulling the same stunt? Tell her to come up with something believable next time. Does Coral think I’m an idiot?” The line went silent for a bit. Picking her head up, Elise approached with a dress in her grasp, her voice laced with hurt. “Is Coral at it again? It has only been two hours since her apology. Mr. Reed, it doesn’t seem like you can rein her in.” Triggered, Logan pulled a grimace and barked at the phone. “Tell Coral this. “If she ever plays this game again, I’ll pull the plug on her father.” He cut the call short, not giving the caller a chance to explain. Logan was fuming. To vent his frustration, Logan told the sales clerk to ring up everything Elise had been eyeing. Unable to hide the smile on her face, Elise grabbed a few dresses and slipped away into the changing room. Logan sat on the couch, his expression dark and tense. Just then, a breaking news notification popped up on his phone. “A deadly crash on a mountain road outside the city left a luxury sports car engulfed in flames. The driver was killed in the accident.” Reports of car crashes were common enough. However, the sports car engulfed in flames was one of only three in the entire world. One of them was a wedding anniversary gift that Logan had given to me. Logan’s finger hovered midair. He tapped on the news. His gaze locked onto the screen when the photo of the crash site loaded. A charred arm dangled from the stretcher, so badly burned that it was unrecognizable. Nearly everything had been reduced to ashes. The only thing that survived the flames was the distinctive platinum band on the ring finger. With his eyes widening, Logan jolted up from the sofa. Hovering just inches away, my soul sneered at the horror in Logan’s eyes. Logan claimed I was the one playing games. By the looks of him, who was putting on a show now? Elise stepped out of the changing room to find Logan staring intently at his mobile screen with a menacing look. “Logan, a car fire wouldn’t do that much damage. I bet Coral staged the whole thing to mess with your head.” As Logan stayed silent, Elise dialed back her tone. “But I can’t believe she’d burn such an expensive car. I guess she’s not going to give up until you go back to her.” Logan stared at the ring for a long time, his tensed body eventually relaxing. It was as if he had finally found a reason to convince himself it wasn’t true. He put his phone face-down on the side, his voice turning indifferent. “You have a point. Since she has a flair for drama, I am not going to give her what she wants. “I’ve let her get away with too much.” Get away? It was the most ridiculous thing I had heard. Before I married Logan, I was the princess of my family. However, I was stripped of all dignity from the day I became his wife. More times than I could count, I wondered if Logan had cheated because I wasn’t good enough. That day, I stayed close to Logan and Elise, watching them shop for hours on end. I was there when they shared a kiss under the shade of a tree and enjoyed a drink with one straw like a couple hopelessly in love. It was at that moment that a call from the hospital came in to let Logan know that no one had claimed Charles’ body. My eyes welled up. In the end, I didn’t even get the chance to see my father for the last time. Even now, my soul was bound to Logan. I desperately wished that, for once, Logan would choose to trust the hospital. Just this once. However, Elise furrowed her brows, her voice irritable. “Is she ever going to stop? She fakes her own car accident, and now she’s making a sick joke out of her father.” Logan’s expression turned grim. “Coral was just pleading for Charles moments ago, and now she’s using him as part of her act! “We’ll see how long she’s going to keep up with it.” Logan told the driver to bring the car around and made his way to the hospital on the double. The morgue was freezing cold. Logan stormed into the room angrily. He shoved the medical staff out of the way to get to the gurney before ripping back the white sheet. It was like the world stood still, and all sounds died.