Divorced, Then He Inherited a Fortune

The day Fred and I walked out of the courthouse with our finalized divorce papers in hand, his billionaire father finally tracked him down.

His old man was sitting on a multi-billion dollar empire. We are talking about a sprawling three-story estate and a subterranean garage packed to the brim with luxury cars. Fred was his one and only heir. Suddenly, his future was blindingly bright, and I had just been officially reduced to the role of the ex-wife.

Damn it. What kind of joke was this?

I had dragged myself through the mud and starved right alongside him for ten long years!

I never in a million years imagined I was only one signature away from becoming a billionaire's wife.

The regret was eating me alive. I was furious! How could fate be so endlessly cruel to me? What did I do to deserve this?

Fred and I had been together since we were eighteen. He was dead broke for a solid decade. Even the ring he proposed to me with was fashioned out of a pull-tab from a soda can! When things were at their absolute worst, we were crammed into a tiny, two-hundred-square-foot studio apartment, surviving on ten dollars a day and washing down stale bread with tap water.

But look at him now. Fred had hit the ultimate jackpot, and we were legally strangers.

If my best friend Brooke had not come running over to congratulate me on becoming a filthy rich socialite, I would have never known. I still had Fred's social media blocked. That very afternoon, barely a month after our divorce, this bombshell news blew my entire reality to pieces.

It was also that same afternoon when Fred rolled up in a sleek black Maybach just to rub it in my face.

He stepped out of the luxury ride looking like a magazine cover, decked out in a tailored suit and tie. Dark aviators covered half his face, leaving only his sharp jawline and tightly pressed lips visible. He looked ridiculously, devastatingly handsome.

I will admit it right now. A huge reason I agreed to marry him back then was simply because he was gorgeous. A one-in-a-million kind of gorgeous.

Just picture it. A fresh-faced, fiercely passionate eighteen-year-old boy handing his entire heart over to you. How could anyone resist that? Not to mention, given his legendary high school track record of taking down every tough guy across five neighboring districts without losing a single fight, his stamina was absolutely incredible.

Look, I am only human. The attraction was intoxicating. You would have fallen for it too.

But who could have guessed that ten years of grinding poverty would shatter that rose-tinted filter into dust.

And yet, here he was again, tall and commanding and gorgeous, because money had just given him the ultimate glow-up.

As he handed me a manila folder, the heavy luxury watch on his wrist caught the afternoon sun. The diamonds were so blindingly bright they almost seared my retinas.

So my question is, under these specific circumstances, can I take him back to family court and petition for a brand new division of assets?

Asking for a friend. It is urgent.

"Allie, I came over today because I want to renegotiate custody of Toby."

I stared at him blankly.

The folder in my hands suddenly felt like it was on fire. I practically threw it back at his chest.

"In your dreams!"

Internally, I was panicking. If Fred really wanted to fight me for custody now, I would lose without a shadow of a doubt. I just wanted a little bit of his newfound cash, but this guy was coming for my actual life!

"In my dreams?" Fred let out a dry, mocking chuckle. "With my current resources, Allie, I assure you it is very much a reality."

My heart did a terrifying stutter. "Don't you dare! Fred, Toby is only three years old. He needs his mother."

"He needs his father too." Fred took a step forward. His presence was completely overwhelming. I instinctively shrank back. "And as his actual flesh and blood, I will obviously treat him better than whatever new stepdad you try to bring into the picture."

I rubbed my nose awkwardly, forcing the most pathetic smile I could muster. "If you are worried about my dating life, I will break up with him. I will break up with him right now! Tomorrow! It is done!"

Fred clearly had not expected me to offer up a breakup so easily. He froze, completely thrown off guard.

I immediately took advantage of the silence, keeping that sickeningly sweet smile plastered on my face. "I heard your biological parents found you. Congratulations."

Fred let out a soft scoff through his nose.

It was the absolute truth. His sudden transformation into a trust-fund heir felt like a wild hallucination.

He reached up and pulled off his sunglasses. Those deep, expressive eyes stared down at me for a long moment before he let out a contemptuous laugh. "What, are you regretting it now?"

"Regretting it so much I could die." I nodded, laughing softly. "So Fred, how about we go down to City Hall and get remarriage papers?"

"Keep dreaming." His face instantly went ice-cold. He turned his back on me, walking straight into the apartment to scoop a sleepy Toby right out of his bed.

He announced he was taking Toby out for the day. Obviously, I was not going to let that happen. If the man had motives to steal my custody, I was not letting my kid out of my sight for a single second.

Thankfully, Toby was on my side. He rubbed his little eyes and instantly burst into tears the second he saw me. "Mommy! I want Mommy!"

Toby always seemed to naturally clash with his dad. Ever since he was born, Fred found the little guy mildly annoying. He complained Toby took up too much space in bed and made too much a fuss at dinner. It was almost as if Fred was just a slightly older kid, constantly throwing a jealous fit because his exclusive attention had been stolen away.

So Toby thrashed in his arms, reaching out to me with big, watery eyes full of tears.

Left with no other option, Fred let out a defeated sigh and shoved the boy into my arms.

Sitting in the backseat of Fred's luxury car, Toby looked up at the roof with massive confusion in his tiny eyes.

"Mommy, the car lost its hair." He pulled a chubby little finger out of his mouth to point.

Fred scoffed from the driver's seat. He pressed a button, and the convertible roof smoothly slid into place.

"Whoa!" Toby scrambled up from my lap, his eyes sparkling like stars. "Daddy, Daddy!"

Fred finally cracked a smile. "At least you remember how to call me Daddy. Good to know someone in this car has a conscience." He let the words hang in the air for a second before adding quietly, "Unlike some people."

My smile faltered. I knew Fred just needed to take a few jabs at me to feel better, so I let it slide. It did not matter. His words barely had any real sting to them anyway.

Honestly, I knew exactly what today was about. Fred just wanted to make me uncomfortable and flash his wealth in my face out of pure spite.

Whatever Toby pointed at, Fred bought without blinking. Snacks, toys, anything the kid desired. He even rented out an entire floor of a high-end steakhouse right in the middle of the day.

Look at me, Allie. I am filthy rich now.

Every single movement he made screamed that exact sentence. It was incredibly annoying.

That money was not mine, and it was stressing me out. I propped my chin on my hand, frantically trying to brainstorm a game plan.

Right in the middle of my scheming, a terrible sense of dread washed over me. My chest tightened for absolutely no reason.

And then I looked up and saw my supposed rich boyfriend standing in the restaurant lobby, screaming his head off at the manager while his current girlfriend stood right beside him.

In that exact moment, Fred stiffened up like a cornered beast.

The ex-husband meets the current fake boyfriend.

If this was not a catastrophic disaster, I do not know what is.

I ducked my head, desperately trying to shrink into the upholstery, but Fred was already moving. He lunged forward and threw a brutal punch, catching the rich kid square in the jaw. The guy stumbled back, barely missing the wall.

"Are you insane!"

The rich kid, Cole, was completely stunned by the ambush. His body reacted faster than his brain, and he immediately swung a heavy kick right back at Fred.

In seconds, the two of them were locked in a vicious brawl. Cole's girlfriend was standing off to the side, having an absolute meltdown. "Stop fighting! We are leaving! We do not even want to eat here!"

The saddest part was that neither of the guys fighting even fully understood why they were getting hit.

I let out a heavy sigh of pure exhaustion and threw myself between them, looking like a martyr. "Stop it!"

My kid was sitting right there. This was terrible parenting!

Fred held a hand to his bruising jaw and screamed at me, completely betrayed. "You are two-timing him, and you are still trying to protect him?"

Cole's girlfriend caught onto that immediately. "What do you mean, two-timing?"

Oh God. Before I could even attempt damage control, Cole completely lost his mind. "Who the hell is two-timing who? Who the hell are you?" He snapped his head toward me, his face red with fury. "And who the hell are you?"

The amount of cursing coming out of his mouth was spectacular. I swore the guy was a walking bleep machine.

But wait a minute. He definitely was not this clueless the last time we met. He had a garbage temper, sure, but he at least knew how to play along. Why was his brain completely short-circuiting today?

"Cole, what are you doing here?" I asked loudly, hoping the hint would land.

But Fred was standing right there, glaring at us with laser focus. I could not even risk making a facial expression. I knew my face probably looked like absolute death.

Thankfully, Cole was not entirely stupid. He swallowed whatever string of insults he was about to spit out next.

It was like a lightbulb finally clicked in his head. In that moment, he just stood there with his mouth hanging open like a fish gasping for air.

Silence. Dead, agonizing silence. The awkwardness was so thick I wanted to dig a hole through the marble floor and bury myself.

But surprisingly, a tiny sliver of petty joy bubbled up in my chest.

Was I the only one suffering in this nightmare scenario? No. Cole was drowning right beside me. Thinking about that made me feel significantly better.

"Cole, you better explain this right now. What does he mean, two-timing? Who is she?"

Now it was the girlfriend's turn to explode. "Do not forget all the pretty words you said when you were begging me to date you!"

Cole was sweating bullets. "Sienna, let's talk about this at home. Just wait until we get home!"

"Why should we wait? You explain it right here, right now! Who is she?" She thrust a manicured finger so close to my face it almost poked my nose. Off to the side, Fred crossed his arms and watched the chaos unfold with a freezing, cynical sneer.

Did you think Fred was the only one enjoying this?

Absolutely not. I was having a fantastic time. Turns out karma comes fast for jerks like Cole.

But I knew one thing for sure. He would never dare explain the real situation in front of Fred, no matter how bad this blowup got.

If the vibe was not so dangerous, I would have crossed my arms and smirked just like Fred. But I could not.

I had to drop my gaze, pivot on my heel, and play the victim to get both of us out of this mess. "I should go."

As I lowered my head, I forced my eyes and brows into an expression of profound sorrow and quiet heartbreak. Self-deprecating and painfully lonely. Fred was staring right at me. I knew he saw it.

I did not say a single word until I was entirely out of the restaurant.

Holding that in was exhausting!

"So, Allie. Is this the incredibly wealthy, deeply devoted man you traded me for?"

Apparently, holding it in was exhausting for Fred, too.

He walked up holding Toby, flashing a massive, brilliant smile. "Serves you right."

He was enjoying my misery way too much.

Half of his face was swollen from where Cole had clocked him, but his eyes were curved into bright, gleaming crescents. It was like the sun breaking through heavy clouds. Stunning.

I have to hand it to Fred. The man knows how to look good.

You do not punch a guy in the face! Cole really was a piece of trash.

I let out a long sigh and threw my hands up. "Men. Always chasing the next shiny thing. The novelty wears off eventually."

Fred jumped like he had been burned. "Stop making stuff up. I am not like that, and you know it."

That shut me up instantly.

Alright then. I reached over and took Toby back into my arms. The little guy was already whining from hunger. "I want meat!"

Fred leaned in, his smile returning. "Daddy is going to take you to get fried chicken!"

He walked around with a bruised face, completely unbothered by the weird stares we were getting from the people on the street. He did not look like a guy who just got beat up. He looked like a guy wearing a badge of honor.

I had no idea what he was so proud of.

He spent the entire day showering Toby with two things he never had before: unlimited free time and unlimited cash. By the time we headed back, Toby was so exhausted he was dead asleep against my shoulder.

Toby was usually a very easy kid. Back when Fred was killing himself trying to get his startup off the ground, he worked late into the night. I raised Toby practically on my own.

But I never realized that having a quiet, ridiculously cute kid would actually make me a hot commodity on the dating market.

At least, that is what the overly enthusiastic neighbor lady told me.

She explicitly said she was only offering to set me up with her highly successful nephew because Toby was such a well-behaved boy.

Of course, she made sure to remind me multiple times that being a divorced single mom was a huge disadvantage, whereas her nephew owned three fully paid-off properties in the city and drove a Mercedes.

Just for context, the apartment building we lived in was practically crumbling. Anyone with real money would never step foot in this neighborhood.

I politely declined every time she brought it up. Eventually, her patience wore thin, and she hit me with a brutal parting shot.

"You really think you are such a catch, huh?"

I just gave her a tired smile and mentally cursed Fred ten thousand times.

When you fall in love with someone truly breathtaking in your youth, it ruins you. Because for the rest of your life, no matter who you meet, your brain will unconsciously compare them to him.

The year Fred and I got married, I sneaked my birth documents out of my parents' house.

He grew up in the foster system. My parents thought he had no family, no backing, and no future. But I was incredibly stubborn. I firmly believed that without the nightmare of dealing with awful in-laws, Fred and I would never have any real problems.

By the time my parents realized what happened, the ink was dry. They were so furious they refused to attend our little wedding.

I brushed it off. I was convinced that with enough time, they would eventually see how amazing he was.

After we got married, Fred treated me like gold. He was desperate to make something of himself so he could give me the life I deserved, so he threw himself into starting his own company.

Building a business from scratch is pure torture. But he never complained once. The only thing that changed was that his time with me shrank, and his overtime hours stretched deep into the night.

I did not mind. That is just how life works. If a man gives his woman happiness, she will gladly stand behind him and hold down the fort.

And that is exactly what I did.

Except our bank accounts were always empty. His company bled money constantly, and since I was a full-time stay-at-home mom, my own savings vanished entirely.

So honestly, what good is love?

Money is the only thing that actually matters. With money, you can do whatever you want and buy whatever you want.

Just look at Fred now. He has money, which means he gets to have his success.

So who cares about pride?

I was lying on my bed, debating whether I should swallow my pride and text him goodnight. The moment I picked up my phone, I saw a missed video call notification sitting on the screen.

Toby was sprawling on the mattress, kicking his little feet in the air and blowing bubbles with his saliva, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

"Did you call your dad on video?"

"Yep." Toby giggled and threw himself at me for a hug.

I was amazed he figured out how to use the buttons. I leaned in, super curious. "What did you and Daddy talk about?"

"Mommy is finding Toby a new daddy."

Toby dropped the bomb effortlessly.

I froze. "What?"

"Finding a new daddy."

I was speechless.

Are you kidding me? Out of everything I told that nosy neighbor lady to reject her nephew, the only words this kid retained were "new daddy"? And he spent five minutes repeating that to Fred?

Fine. Toby was officially a little traitor.

I had to do damage control immediately. What if Fred completely misunderstood?

I frantically typed out a message, only to see the bright red exclamation point pop up. He had blocked my number.

Great. Absolutely useless.

Now I had to wait a whole week until Fred came to pick up Toby again. I was sitting at home, restless and waiting, when someone finally showed up at my door. Except it was not Fred. It was the fake boyfriend.

Cole looked absolutely furious. He literally kicked my front door. "Allie!"

I jumped off the couch in a panic. "What?"

"You are going to come with me and explain this mess!" Cole's brows were knotted together, his face a picture of pure frustration.

It clicked immediately. He wanted me to go do damage control with his girlfriend.

"I can explain it, sure." I crossed my arms and sat back down on the couch, finally holding the upper hand. "Fifty grand. I will make everything crystal clear for her."

Cole looked like he had just swallowed a bug. "My sister already gave you three hundred grand, and that wasn't enough? Are you absolutely obsessed with money?"

"That was a completely separate transaction."

"How is it separate?" Cole scoffed. "Does my sister know you are still secretly going on dates with Fred?"

"Get lost." My patience was gone. "If you are not paying, get out."

Cole scowled. "I have never met a woman as incredibly greedy as you!"

I just shrugged. He kept swearing under his breath, thoroughly agitated. "Fine, fine, I will pay! Just hurry up and come with me!"

Honestly, clearing the air was not that hard. A fake relationship is a fake relationship, and a misunderstanding is just a misunderstanding.

But Sienna was not just any girl.

Cole had spent months putting her on a pedestal and worshiping the ground she walked on. She was way out of his league, and she knew it. The second any real drama or red flags popped up, a girl like her cuts her losses and walks away without looking back. She had a line of guys waiting for her anyway.

So I spent twenty minutes talking until my throat went dry, only to secure front-row seats to their official breakup.

Cole's face was beet red. He begged, pleaded, and apologized, but it was completely useless.

I almost felt bad for the guy. He was young, rich, and handsome, yet he was playing the pathetic puppy dog. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I clutched my purse tightly, ready to slip out while they were distracted.

Thankfully, I made him wire the money before we even left my apartment. That cash was securely in my account, and there were zero refunds.

The two of them were engaged in a screaming match, so neither of them noticed me inching away.

I had just taken a step toward the exit when a hand suddenly clamped down hard on my arm.

The veins on Cole's forehead were bulging. He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Fine, Sienna! You think you are so great? We are done!"

He yanked me forcefully to his side, his fingers wrapping tightly around my hand. "You were completely right! I have been messing around with her this whole time! Who do you think you are? You think I was going to stay loyal to you?"

I was paralyzed.

What the hell was happening? Why was he dragging me down with his sinking ship?

I stomped hard on his foot, kicked him away, and bolted.

Whatever. I already got my money. Taking part in his theatrical revenge plot would require an entirely different hourly rate.

I practically sprinted out of the restaurant, feeling fantastic. Making fifty grand in one afternoon was better than robbing a bank! Cole was such an easy target. That is what he gets for having a sister like his. Serves him right!

Tonight, I was going to buy Toby the expensive shrimp he loved, and maybe even a whole box of those fancy cheese sticks.

"Allie!"

The second I stepped onto the pavement, someone called my name. The voice was painfully familiar.

I froze in my tracks. My neck felt like rusted metal as I slowly turned my head.

Unsurprisingly, Fred was standing right there.

He was leaning against his car, smoking a cigarette. The afternoon sun was blinding, making his sharp face look pale and exhausted.

"What are you doing here?" I frowned, my eyes fixating on the cigarette in his hand. I hated it.

"What? Am I interrupting your date?" Fred's lips curled up slightly. "Crazy coincidence. I happened to be eating here too."

The corners of his eyes were slightly red, probably irritated by the smoke. He took the cigarette from his lips, dropped it onto the concrete, and crushed it out violently beneath his shoe. The look he gave me was pure venom.

"How dare you leave Toby home alone?"

"I didn't." I stared at him, exhausted. "I dropped him off at Brooke's place."

"He was getting in the way, right? You were just so desperate to go out and secure your next husband."

Fred took a step forward. I took a step back.

His face was terrifying. His eyes were even worse.

I swallowed hard, too afraid to fire back. He was never this volatile in the past. Even when his company was failing and people were humiliating him left and right, he always kept his temper perfectly in check.

"Fred, I am not on a date," I explained softly.

He turned his head away. "I do not care if you are on a date. It has absolutely nothing to do with me."

His words hit me like a physical blow. When it comes to tearing someone apart, the people who know you best know exactly where to slip the knife.

"Allie, I am taking Toby. That is a promise."

He spun around, yanked his car door open, and slammed it shut with terrifying force. The sound echoed like a gunshot straight through my chest.

The thrill of getting the cash vanished instantly.

I had no idea why I was suddenly so upset. I was the one who dumped him first. He was rightI had nothing to do with him anymore. Why was I feeling so heartbroken?

I was being pathetic. I deserved this.

But seeing Fred look so deeply hurt while saying such incredibly vicious things completely broke me.