The Ex-Wife's Counterattack in a CEO Novel

I was reborn into a domineering CEO novel as the tragically doomed ex-wife.

I died in a meticulously planned car accident.

In the hospital, I clung to my final moments, waiting for the male lead.

But he was busy celebrating his mistress's son's birthday.

Irritated, he said, It's just a minor accident. Can't you handle it yourself in the hospital?

His mistress, by his side, added ,Ethan, come blow out the candles. You're practically divorcedwhy's she still clinging to you?"

After that surgery, the one who survived was me.

Divorce?

I wouldn't.

Because, by my calculations,he was going to die soon.

Six monthsI could wait.

When I woke, every inch of my body ached.

My hospital room was filled with monitoring equipment.

The doctor making rounds said," You lost a lot of blood yesterday. If we hadn't had a rare blood type in reserve, we might not have saved you."

I croaked," Thank you."

I'd been reborn into an angst-filled novel.

The female lead, Emily Harper, fled seven years ago after a misunderstanding, pregnant.

The male lead, Ethan Caldwell, was forced into a marriage for family interests.

It was the ex-wife, Sophia Bennett, who loved him for years, using family power to secure the marriage, only to die early.

In the marriage, Sophia lived unhappily under Ethan's cold neglect and provocations.

The day before, on her way to deliver documents for Ethan's company's real estate bid, she got into an accident.

With severe abdominal bleeding, Sophia, feeling she couldn't hold on, called Ethan.

He was at his mistress's son's birthday party.

"It's just a minor accident. Can't you handle it yourself in the hospital?"

Emily's voice followed.

"Ethan, come blow out the candles. You're practically divorcedwhy's she still clinging to you?"

He ignored his wife's final plea.

In the original novel, this unlucky wife died in the crash.

Not anymore.

My rebirth ensured enough of the rare blood type for the surgery.

"After the surgery, your phone kept ringingmarked'Husband.'We notified him about the accident and surgery."

"He's on his way."

My heart was calm.

I looked up at the doctor."He's not important. What about the baby in my belly?"

Sophia had just found out she was pregnant during the accident.

"With the heavy bleeding, the fetal heartbeat was faint. But after we stabilized you, we were surprised to find your baby is as resilient as you."

"Based on all reports, you and the fetus are stable."

I instinctively touched my flat stomach.

Good.

Though I'd become a doomed cannon fodder, I could keep the child and ditch the father.

As the doctor left, a man burst in.

Dressed in a tailored suit, his frame looked striking.

Weak from blood loss, I was barely conscious.

He scowled, his deep eyes glaring at me with resentment.

"Sophia, are you done? You were just delivering documents, and you caused an accident!"

"Do you know how much the company lost because the bid wasn't submitted?"

Enraged, he pointed at me from my bedside."I've been pushing for divorce. You won't sign, and now this accident didn't even kill you?"

I looked at him calmly."You're not dead yet, so I've got time."

"Ethan, when you're gone, no one will even show up to your funeral. Believe it?"

In the novel, after Sophia's death, Ethan shed crocodile tears, then quickly married Emily. But soon after, he got into an accident.

Six months later, Ethan, paralyzed, died in a hospital bed.

His beloved mistress took her son and seized all his assets.

Six months wasn't long.

I'd wait to see his mistress destroy him.

Ethan's expression twisted briefly, his eyes fierce."I just complained about you botching the bid, and you curse me like this?"

I sneered."Ethan, you deserve to die. Everything you do makes me want you gone now!"

He froze, incredulous." Sophia! Did the accident scramble your brain?"

His tone was harsh, his voice rising sharply.

A nurse, returning to change my dressing, overheard.

She scolded him." What kind of husband are you? Your wife just came out of surgery, and instead of caring, you yell at her?"

"Get out! You're not even comforting a pregnant woman's emotional state."

Ethan, stunned, stood rooted."You're pregnant? How can you be pregnant?"

I met his gaze."Is it illegal?"

He seemed cornered, grabbing my IV hand.

"I told you to take birth control! You're so obsessed with me you'd get pregnant to trap me?"

I scoffed." You're the animal who didn't use protection, and you blame me? Do you think birth control is foolproof?"

"Go to the cops and say you forced your wife, and she got pregnant to scam you!"

In the novel, Sophia was a low-presence cannon fodder, always obedient to Ethan, never talking back.

His face darkened with rage.

"You're beyond saving!"

"Your face is bad luck. Talking to you shaves years off my life. That face is all you've gotyour brain's been washed clean by Emily,hasn't it?"

I pushed him away, offering my arm to the nurse for the dressing change.

Ethan, fuming, stormed out, slamming the door.

I remained in the hospital for a week. Ethan never returned.

The lawyer hired by my parents found me.

He presented Ethan's divorce agreement, suggesting I renegotiate the asset split.

"Divorcing now would cost you most of your assets, and the company stock would plummet."

Mr. Lawson disapproved of my earlier impulsive divorce talk.

Before the accident,I'd learned Ethan had reconnected things with his childhood sweetheart.

I nearly signed the divorce papers then.

Mr. Lawson was the only one who truly cared about Sophia.

He'd witnessed her disastrous marriage.

How much did Sophia love Ethan?

Enough to name him the beneficiary of her life insurance.

Her life, filled with sincere, passionate love, ended in betrayal.

When proof of Ethan's cheating landed on her desk, she deluded herself.

Until her final moment, she hoped Ethan loved her.

"Sophia, signing that agreement would only benefit Ethan and his mistress!"

I looked at the document, smirking."I'm not divorcing."

"Ethan's sitting on billions in assets. If he dies, I could hit the jackpot.""

He was dying soon anyway.

Why divorce?

The day I was checked out of the hospital, I received an anonymous email with a paternity test for Ethan and a child, plus photos of a smiling" family of three" at Disneyland.

Sophia rarely ever saw Ethan smile.

The sender thought this would break her.

I felt nothing.

I archived the email and forwarded it to Mr. Lawson to keep as evidence.

Back at the villa, I saw the housekeeper let Emily Harper in.

"After all these years, my son with Ethan is seven. Sophia, you still won't let go?"

Her tone was haughty, as if sheowned the place.

"You've been Ethan's free tool for years, and you're still happy?"

Emily didn't expect my retort.

Seething with anger,, she pointed and yelled," Sophia, if I hadn't left the country seven years ago,do you think you'd have married Ethan? Now I'm back with our son. If you had any sense,you'd get the divorce papers signed."

I glanced at the boy she held, raising an eyebrow.

He looked like a Caldwell.

But this kid wasn't Ethan's.

"If I recall, even if you hadn't left, Ethan wouldn't have married you."

"I heard your breakup was due to a leaked photo scandal"

Emily froze like a statue, her face draining of color. She glowered at me." You're slandering me! That was proven to be a photoshopped smear!"

She wouldn't admit it, twisting the truth."If you hadn't seduced Ethan at that gala, I wouldn't have been taken away. Your family forced him to marry you!"

Think she could hide it?

Only Ethan, the fool, bought her story.

The Harpers had nearly stripped Ethan bare, and he was still counting their money.

I sneered, looking at her like a clown." So you know Ethan chose to marry me. You think I'll divorce just because you say so?"

Seething with rage, she lunged to claw my face.

I dodged.

She crashed into a $20 million antique vase in my living room.

Crash!

It shattered.

The housekeeper, who let her in, was well aware of the vase's value.

Her eyes filled with fear."Mrs. Caldwell...Miss Harper accidentally broke it. If you hadn't dodged, it wouldn't have shattered."

I looked at the housekeeper, who clearly saw Emily as the lady." Go settle your wages with the butler. You're fired."

She tried to argue.

But I'd brought along three bodyguards from the hospital.

They loomed behind me, and she left quietly.

Emily's eyes darted around nervously.

I gestured to the bodyguards to surround her and eyeed the fragments.

"That vase you broke? Twenty million. Card or check?"

Emily, who'd been scraping by abroad, had no money.

She'd returned because Ethan was rich and easily manipulated.

Her lips trembled, but she bluffed."That junk vase is worth $20 million? I'm not falling for it!"

I sat on the sofa, glancing at her."Won't pay? See you at the police station."

As I spoke, the police I'd called arrived.

The boy with Emily started crying.

She rushed at me." You called the cops?"

I looked at the kid, sneering." Normal people call the police for illegal trespassing, especially when you destroy a million-dollar heirloom."

As Emily and the boy were taken away, she realized I meant business.

Struggling, she screamed," Sophia,you're a pathetic nobody! Ethan will never love you! You're the clown!"

In the police station's mediation room, I stressed Emily's actions.

"Destroying a$20 million heirloom, plus illegal trespassing."

Emily panicked, her face pale, crying delicately."Sophia, it was just an argument"

I stared coldly." I don't know you. Trespassing in my villa is a crime, let alone breaking my vase."

"Sophia, I was just bringing Ethan's son to his father's home! You want me jailed?"

I sneered."Pay the $20 million now, or I won't settle. This house is mine. If that kid's Ethan's,I'll still sue him for cheating, and he'll leave with nothing!"

"Sophia! Who's left with nothing?"

Ethan's voice came from behind.

His tone was vicious."What are you doing? You're so vile. I just want a divorce, and you retaliate against Emily?"

He was livid, his voice rising.

Before, Sophia loved him to death.

Whenever Ethan got mad,she'd back down, desperate to please him.

But I wasn't that pushover.