She Left Me For My Broken Copy
On our anniversary, Aria pulled a divorce agreement from her purse. Lets get a divorce.
Kai Miller cant be saddled with the reputation of a homewrecker.
I tipped back the glass of Cabernet, swallowing the heat behind my eyes. Fine.
1
The terms of the divorce settlement were far from restrictive; in fact, they were exceedingly generous.
If I were to view our three-year marriage as an investment, there was no asset on earth with a greater return. I scanned the pages line by line. Beyond the substantial cash, trust funds, jewelry, and real estate, the most crucial part was the intellectual property: she was gifting me all the patents under the Beaumont family name that my animation studio could possibly use, and those she couldnt gift, she signed over generous long-term licensing agreements for their use.
A woman who divorces her husband only to continue lifting him up and providing him a foundation is rare, a unicorn.
I took my time, and Aria didnt rush me. In the reflection of the glass-walled restaurant, I could see her constantly checking her phone, replying to messages.
But even the thickest contract has an end.
I signed my name, deliberate stroke after deliberate stroke. This was likely the last time the names Leo Sullivan and Aria Beaumont would appear together on the same document.
Aria finally pocketed her phone. She accepted the contract, and a look of profound relief settled on her face, softening her mouth.
We did know each other well. If anything ever comes up and you need assistance, you can reach out to Mr. Preston, my assistant.
I managed a slight, slightly cynical jest. Ill be sure to hold tight to the Beaumont familys coattails.
Aria raised an elegant eyebrow, stood up with a decisive movement, and walked away, leaving me with her disappearing silhouette.
I sighed. She hadn't touched her food. Taking the signed divorce papers and leaving so quickly, she must have been in a hurry to let someone know the path was cleared.
She didnt look like the cunning, formidable CEO the business pages talked about; she looked like a woman madly, recklessly in love.
She had been the same three years ago when we first married. She hadnt wanted to be separated from me for a moment, in public or in private. During those first months, we were practically inseparable. Her devotion was so obvious that even the older members of the Beaumont clan didn't dare give me any trouble.
An orphan who relied on student subsidies throughout college, yet I married into a top-tier family and somehow managed to avoid even a sliver of condescension.
In the marriage with Aria, shed walked ninety-nine steps, and then shed held my hand and pulled me through the last one. From my paralyzing fear of intimacy to my acceptance of her proposal, she had cleared every obstacle and silenced every critic.
Arias love was always a generous, obvious offering.
I just never expected such an intense, profound feeling to have an expiry date as short as three years.
Yesterday, her warmth was scorching me, and today, she could turn and shine just as fiercely on someone else.
I called the waiter to order a fresh table setting. We were at the exact same exclusive restaurant where she had proposed. Every bite I would now take would be a bite of memory.
Let it be this way.
Three years of friendship, three years of marriage, and now this sudden, clean break. Yet, I couldn't find the capacity to truly hate her.
Well part ways. Well both find happiness.
Aria, I wish you well.
I will always wish you well.
2
I had barely stepped outside the restaurant when my phone buzzed with a notification.
I pulled it out. It was a new post from Kai Millers profile.
[The real talent is in the trenches. The most incredible street food is at the Night Market. Tonight, I brought a very special guest. Welcome to my world, Her Royal Highness!]
[Can you believe some people have never been to a street fair? Glad to initiate her into the life of the common folk tonight.]
The accompanying nine-grid photo collage was artfully composed. In every picture, Aria wore a look of indulgent resignation, letting Kai guide her hand as she sampled different skewers and snacks.
This was the first time she had been explicitly pictured on his profile. Before, it was only a fleeting shadow or a close-up of a wrist.
This was Aria Beaumont's efficiency. Moments after signing the divorce agreement, here she was, in all her dazzling glory, all over another mans social media.
I almost wanted to laugh.
Maybe in Arias mind, Kai wasn't a home-wrecker. Maybe he was the innocent party, a young man who accidentally fell for a woman who happened to be married.
But to pursue a married woman without any attempt to cover it upthat was its own contradiction.
The first time I heard Kai's name was in a casual chat with one of my old professors.
We have a new transfer student this year, Kai Miller. Reminds me a lot of you, Leo. That same hunger, that competitive spirit.
I hadn't thought much of it then. The second time, however, it came from Aria herself.
I was at a board meeting at the Museum today, and I ran into a student working a volunteer gig. Turns out hes your schoolmate, a few years behind you. What a coincidence.
Shed wrapped her arms around me and swayed. Honey, he reminded me of the first time I saw you. Middle of a summer heatwave, you were wearing this heavy, ridiculous costume, handing out flyers at the amusement park. You have no idea how much my heart ached for you then.
I smiled and didnt say anything.
I knew. Of course, I knew.
A few months into my freshman year, my luck had turned freakishly good. I kept running into benefactors. An older student council member got me a highly paid tutoring job. My department head constantly pulled me into paid research projects. The school suddenly created a generous meal subsidy program specifically for low-income students
I wasnt an idiot. The moment Aria showed up at my dorm with a top-of-the-line Wacom tablet and a new iPad Pro, I knew she had been pulling the strings.
In my first year of college, plenty of wealthy girls had tried to throw money at me. The poorer I was, the more desperately I held onto my small amount of dignity and self-respect.
Arias help and her pursuit were like a slow, steady tide, incredibly respectful. She never put any psychological pressure on me. And, to be honest, I needed a girlfriend to fend off the more obnoxious, entitled rich guys who viewed me as a challenge.
So, I didn't outright reject her. I was mostly conflicted about what to do with the expensive gifts. I had no idea about the etiquette of dating, let alone accepting gifts from a wealthy woman who was actively pursuing me. No one had ever taught me these social rules.
My father was an alcoholic. He died in a car crash when I was in middle school, drunk behind the wheel. He drank because he missed my pretty mother, who had run off with a rich man. He used to hit me, especially my face. Hed shout that I was destined to be just like her, a bitchs destiny, serving the rich
His death gave me a $20,000 settlement. Other than that, it only gave me peace.
Aria had seen my confusion. She said, I dont just use pretty words to court someone. My friends would laugh me out of the city if I did.
Leo Sullivan, I like you. If youre willing to give me a chance to pursue you, please accept these gifts, alright?
How could anyone not fall for Aria, when she was like that?
3
Because Kai Miller reminded her of me, because he was my schoolmate, Aria had immediately arranged for Mr. Preston to set him up with a good-paying flexible job.
When she told me about it, she was curled up in my arms, expressing regret that we hadn't met earlier.
I wish I had been your next-door neighbor, she mused. That way, I could have brought you home to my family right after your father died.
Shed giggled, lost in her fantasy. How could that not be a childhood sweetheart story, right?
I thought that would be the last I heard of the name Kai Miller. But over the next six months, Aria mentioned him constantly, casually.
I cant believe there are still people as genuine as Kai Miller in 2025. He came to the office today with a huge sack of potatoes, said they were from his family farm, a gift to thank me for the job.
Kai is just tragic. Can you believe he has three older sisters and a younger one? And despite that struggling family, he still got into Georgetown.
His parents are trying to force him to go home and marry some local landowners daughter. Theyre monsters, how could parents be so shortsighted?
Kai brought me another one of those homemade chicken pies today I have to admit, the chicken was actually pretty good.
Kais little sister is doing well in school, too. Even if the parents are clueless, at least his sisters love and support him.
Kai Miller, Kai Miller, Kai Miller
For half a year, I watched, clear-eyed, as her heart slowly drifted toward him.
I couldnt stop it.
Because Kai was everything I once was, but amplified: more pitiful, more fiercely resilient, more genuine, more broken. He was the perfect new project.
As someone who climbed out of the mud, I didnt have the right, nor the perspective, to look down on someone still struggling through it.
So, I began running a mental simulation: What if Aria asks me for a divorce?
I spent countless sleepless nights creating fictional scenarios, and I settled on my final strategy.
I would not be hysterical. I would not beg for affection.
At my core, I was still that poor kid, and I would fiercely protect my dignity.
Aria, if that simulation ever comes true, let us separate with grace.
We walk our own paths now. From now on, our roads do not cross.
4
The news of our amicable divorce set the entire social circuit on fire.
Back when we married, all the local heirs and heiresses couldn't get enough of us. We were the ultimate ship: the gender-flipped fanfiction of the Brooding Artist and the Heiress Dynamo.
My contact list still had a few die-hard Aria-and-Leo shippers, including the biggest one, my old college roommate and best man, Dustin Shaw.
Dustin was sending me a frantic series of texts.
[Wait? You guys actually did it?]
[Did Aria get a terminal illness? Is the Beaumont empire going bankrupt?]
[I was going to be the godfather to your children, man!]
[Is the rumor true that Aria traded up for the newer, angstier college boy model?]
I replied to that last one: [Yeah. It's true.]
The screen showed Dustin is typing for a full ten minutes before he finally sent: [I NO LONGER BELIEVE IN LOVE.]
I managed a slight pull at the corner of my mouth. My fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Maybe there never was any love. Maybe it was only Arias Savior Complex.
Dustin was still spiraling. He had witnessed every step of my journey with Aria.
[My OTP is officially sunk!]
[Holy cow! Shes moving fast! She cheated?]
Dustin then sent me a screenshot and a link. It was a still image of Kai and Aria running through the rain, their intense eye contact radiating a palpable, cinematic romance.
It was gorgeous, moving, and instantly ready for a movie poster. It had been posted by a popular street-style blogger.
[The world is a giant rom-com, and this NPC got to witness the leads rainy rendezvous.]
The comment section was filled with enthusiasm.
[I ship it! Take my money!]
[Is this a new movie? Where did Hollywood find these two? Theyre gorgeous!]
[Some people are falling in love in the rain, some are just sitting on the toilet trying to stand up.]
I refreshed the feed, and the video was already gone.
The Beaumont machine was fast. Aria was the sole heir, and her information couldn't be public fodder. This meant the entire family knew the divorce was final.
And given Arias personality, she would never have been this openly affectionate with another man while married.
Right as I thought that, my phone rang.
I looked at the screen. It was Vivienne Choi, Arias mother. The phone instantly felt hot in my hand. She was a global figure, the sole daughter of the Choi family, the overseas shipping magnates. Arias father was practically the one who married up.
I felt a primordial fear rooted in my own low birth.
I slid to answer. Mrs. Choi
The voice on the other end was clipped and furious. Leo Sullivan, did you get plastic surgery recently?
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