After Leaving My Ex-husband, I Married a Billionaire CEO

Five years of marriage. Every anniversary, my professor husband gave me the same gift without fail: a wildflower plucked from the side of the road.

I'd always consoled myself. Most men in STEM weren't exactly romantics. The fact that he bothered with a flower at all was probably the most romance he had in him.

But that afternoon, while I was at the nicest mall in the city picking out his anniversary gift, I spotted him buying Crystal Gomez a designer bag.

Karl Delgado, the man who was perpetually stiff and restrained around me, was gently tousling her hair, murmuring that he was happy she was finally free of her marriage.

I found Crystal's Instagram later. That was when I discovered they'd always been something more than friends but never quite lovers.

Karl had given her a birthday present every single year for thirty years. Not once had he repeated a gift.

So it wasn't that he didn't know how to be romantic.

He'd simply poured every ounce of his tenderness, his patience, his thoughtfulness into someone else.

A marriage without love had no reason to continue.

I replied to the email from the Canadian company that had reached out to me three days ago

I accept. I can start in ten days.

Karl came home just as I finished sorting through the divorce papers.

He reeked of alcohol, but instead of his usual detachment, he pulled me into a tight embrace.

I pushed him away. He actually looked hurt

Susannah Henson, the dinner ran late. I really couldn't get out of it. I brought you that strawberry cake you like. Don't be mad, okay?

The perfume clinging to his clothes was so thick that even the liquor couldn't mask it.

I smiled bitterly, the corners of my mouth barely twitching.

Since when do you buy cake?

I'd asked him once, early on, if we could celebrate our anniversary with a small cake along with the flower.

He'd frowned, annoyed

I'm a grown man. How would I know what kind of cake you like? If you want one, go buy it yourself.

I never brought up cake again after that.

Turns out he'd always known what I liked.

He just never wanted to buy it for me.

Today's cake was nothing more than a way to shut me up so I wouldn't ask where he'd really been.

After all, Karl's so-called work dinner had been a meal with Crystal.

What I'd been desperate for over five long years was something she got without even trying.

Something sharp twisted behind my ribs, and a slow, fine-grained ache spread outward from the wound.

What's with the attitude, Susannah?

I bought the cake, just like you asked. What more do you want?

Why are you so impossible to please?

Karl's brow furrowed in irritation, as though I were the one being unreasonable.

Before today, I probably would have taken his accusations to heart, turned them inward, questioned myself.

Told myself he was already making an effort. That I should be grateful.

But now, all I could think about was that designer bag, that perfectly wrapped bouquet of roses, and my throat closed up so tight I could barely breathe.

That was when Karl's phone rang.

Mr. Delgado? This is the front desk at your apartment complex. A Ms. Gomez passed out by the entrance. She's had too much to drink. You're listed as her emergency contact. Could you come down?

I watched Karl spring to his feet. He even picked up the strawberry cake he'd just brought home.

Yes, that's me! Please keep an eye on her and make sure she stays warm. I'm on my way!

Only then, as if he'd just remembered I existed, did he toss out a hasty explanation

Crystal just went through her divorce. She's not in a good place. I'm the only person she knows in the city. I can't just leave her alone.

You didn't want the cake anyway. I'm taking it with me.

He was moving so fast.

I couldn't stop myself. My hand shot out and caught his sleeve.

Karl, today is our wedding anniversary.

His stride faltered for half a second. Then, finger by finger, he peeled my hand away.

Susannah, Crystal and I grew up together. She's like a sister to me.

Stop being so childish.

We can celebrate our anniversary any time. But if something happens to Crystal tonight, I'll never forgive myself.

He'd arrived in a rush, and he left in one too.

Within seconds, I was alone again.

I stared at the closed door, teeth sunk into my lower lip so hard the pain blurred with the ache in my chest, every breath burning.

A week ago, I'd had too much to drink at a work dinner. I could barely stand. I collapsed on the sidewalk halfway home.

A stranger used my phone to call Karl. It took seven calls before he picked up.

When he heard what happened, his voice was flat

I'm in the middle of a research paper. I don't have time.

She just had too much to drink. Let her sleep it off.

A passerby stood watching me for a while. When he saw I could still manage a few words, he shook his head and walked away.

I curled up on the side of the road alone, my stomach churning, the cold wind cutting through me until I couldn't stop shaking.

I didn't know how long I stayed there before the worst of the alcohol finally loosened its grip.

But the fever had already set in.

My phone was dead, my whole body burning. I had no choice but to drag myself to my best friend's apartment nearby and knock on her door.

The moment she saw the state I was in, her eyes went red with fury.

Your wife is collapsed on the side of the road and he can't be bothered to come get you?

What research paper could possibly matter more than his own wife?

But back then, all I did was smile bitterly and make excuses for Karl.

His current project is really important.

He couldn't get awayit's understandable.

When I finally made it home that night, Karl was already asleep.

He hadn't waited up for me.

Hadn't worried at all about whether something had happened to me.

I used to tell myself that was just how he was. Absent-minded. Oblivious.

Ninety percent of his life was research. The remaining ten percent was home.

And I was at least everything within that ten percent.

Now I saw it for what it was: a lie I'd been telling myself.

My heart clenched like a fist had closed around it, squeezing and tearing, until even breathing hurt.

I placed the divorce papers in my bag, numb, and contacted a lawyer.

The wildflower Karl had picked that morning and stuck in the vase on his way out had completely wilted.

I stared at it for a long time. Then I wiped my tears and dropped it in the trash.

From now on, I would never again shrink myself to accommodate Karl Delgado.

I was going to live for myself.

He didn't come home that night.

Early the next morning, the landline rang.

I picked up. An upbeat male voice came through the other end

It's that time of year again for the department's couples' travel grant. Should we put Professor Delgado down for two spots like usual?

I froze. Something cold and formless crept up through my chest.

What travel grant?

The man on the other end seemed caught off guard too.

Oh, you know, the annual paid vacation the Research Institute arranges for senior researchers? Once a year, so everyone can unwind.

Professor Delgado applies for the couples' spot every year, doesn't he? Same this year?

My grip on the phone tightened, knuckle by knuckle.

Because Karl had told me, clearly, that he never participated in those trips.

He said travel was a waste of time.

I'd clung to his arm once, playful and hopeful, telling him I wanted to see the ocean in Bali, that I wanted us to take a trip abroad together.

I knew how busy he was. I'd even suggested it myself

We could just go when the Institute does its couples' travel grant. Wouldn't that work?

But Karl only frowned.

What's the point of traveling?

I could read two more papers in the time it'd take.

Now my nails dug deep into my palms, the sting in my nose almost unbearable, and I forced the words out softly

Thenwhere did he go, the past few years?

The colleague laughed, thinking back

Bali, Chiang Mai, and the year before last he went all the way to Iceland.

Didn't the professor take you along, Mrs. Delgado?

Everything went white.

Something detonated inside my skull.

Each word carved into me like a blade twisting between my ribs.

It was never that Karl didn't like traveling.

The person he wanted to travel with had just never been me.

The man on the phone was still talking, cheerful and oblivious

Oh, and Mrs. Delgado, tomorrow night is the celebration dinner for the project going to market.

The Institute is putting on a faculty family appreciation gala. You have to come!

All these years, we really couldn't have done it without the support from families like yours.

My throat closed. I could barely speak.

Okay. I'll be there.

The moment I hung up, my legs gave out and I sank to the floor.

The tears came all at once, violent and uncontrollable.

Karl applied for the couples' spot every single year.

And I, his wife, had never known.

Who he'd been taking was already obvious.

I picked up my phone with trembling hands.

And found that Karl, who almost never posted on Instagram, had just updated his story.

The photo was a bowl of plain rice porridge.

The caption was a single line

After every delicacy in the world, this simple bowl of porridge is still the one I miss most.

I stared at those words and laughed, hollow and bitter.

The longer I laughed, the harder the tears fell.

For five years, I had taught myself to cook for Karl, inventing new recipes to nourish a body worn down by late nights in the lab.

His stomach was weak, so I spent hours studying meals that would be gentle on it.

He said work exhausted him, so I'd crawl out of bed at midnight to simmer soup.

And none of it mattered. In his eyes, it still couldn't compare to a bowl of plain porridge from Crystal.

Fine.

At least I'd seen the truth before it was too late.

Once he signed those divorce papers, everything between us would be over for good.

That evening, Karl sent me a message.

Sleeping at the lab tonight. Don't wait up.

Not a single word about the faculty family appreciation gala.

The next day, I went alone.

Over the years, I'd donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Research Institute through my company.

A gala like this was a valuable opportunity for brand visibility.

Even if Karl hadn't told me about it, I would have shown up.

But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw the moment I walked into the banquet hall. Karl was seated in the front row.

And the person beside him was Crystal.

They were sitting close together, tugging at something between them.

Crystal kept her head down, looking almost sheepish, and spoke in a small voice

Today's the faculty family appreciation galaIs it really okay for me to be here?

But Karl reached over and placed his hand firmly on hers.

You've helped me so much over the years. To me, you're one of my most important pillars of support. How could you not count as family?

Crystal's eyes rimmed red, as if she were deeply moved.

I stood frozen in place, my fingernails digging into my palms until they went white.

But in the end, I just looked away and sat down beside them, my face blank.

The moment they saw me, both their expressions changed.

Crystal flung Karl's hand away almost on instinct.

Karl went rigid for a second, then smoothed over like nothing had happened.

He frowned at me

I didn't ask you to come. What are you doing here?

I didn't feel right leaving Crystal home alone, so I brought her with me.

Don't make a scene at something like this.

I almost laughed. I cut him off.

Got it. I won't make a scene.

Karl blinked, visibly caught off guard.

But I couldn't be bothered to look at him anymore. I just stared calmly ahead.

I'd only come today because I didn't like someone else sitting in my seat.

As for who Karl had brought along, I no longer cared.

Karl watched me, genuine bewilderment surfacing in his eyes.

Because the old me would never have reacted this way.

Back then, the first time I learned that Karl and Crystal had almost gotten together after high school, I'd cried in secret.

Around that same time, Crystal had married someone through an arranged match.

Karl had sunk into a dark mood for weeks.

I couldn't help pressing him about it, and he turned on me like I'd struck a nerve, his eyes ice-cold

If Crystal and I really had something going on, what would it have to do with you?

Would it even be your turn to chase me? To marry me?

After that, whenever I brought up Crystal, the silent treatment began.

No replies to my messages. No words spoken to me. Sometimes he wouldn't come home for days.

Eventually, I never dared mention her again.

I kept telling myself it was fine.

Everyone was married now. There was no point dwelling on the past.

But every time I saw them standing together, the jealousy clawed its way up no matter how hard I tried to push it down.

So today, my calm was what unsettled Karl.

He just assumed I was holding it together for appearances.

That the moment we got home, I'd fall apart and fight with him the way I always did.

But the truth was, I didn't want to fight anymore.

Once the gala began, the host smiled and invited Karl onstage.

Karl was silent for a few seconds.

Then he reached out, took my hand, and led me up with him.

In a few brief sentences, he summed up five years of everything I'd given.

The audience clapped warmly.

But the entire time he spoke, his gaze never left Crystal in the seats below.

I stood in the center of the spotlight.

I listened to the applause I had once fantasized about countless times.

And realized this moment wasn't nearly as happy as I'd imagined.

On the drive home, Karl did something unusual. He reached for my hand first.

He laced his fingers through mine, his tone softer than I'd heard in a long time

Don't overthink it. Crystal really has helped me a lot over the years.

She was in a bad place yesterday, so I stayed with her, and it just made sense to bring her today.

She just went through a divorce. She's not in a stable place. Once she's doing better, I won't keep looking after her.

It's just a big brother looking out for his little sister.

Big brother.

Little sister.

Karl kept repeating those two words.

Like he was trying to convince me.

Or maybe trying to convince the heart that had already strayed long ago.

I turned my head toward the window and said nothing.

Even now, he still hadn't told me about the couples' travel grants.

When I woke the next morning, the space beside me was already cold.

A note in Karl's handwriting sat on the nightstand.

Something came up last minute. Back in two days.

But that night, scrolling through Crystal's Instagram, I saw the ocean in Malaysia.

In the photo, Karl was wearing an ethnic-print shirt I had never seen before.

The man who was always rigid and predictable, who wore nothing but plaid button-downs year-round, stood at the water's edge with a softness in his eyes I didn't recognize.

Crystal was in a bikini, pressed tight against his chest.

The next photo was a convertible draped in flowers.

Birthday balloons trailed from the back.

The caption was just a few short lines

What a shame that we were always more than friends but never quite lovers.

If I'd been a little braver back then, would the person standing beside you now have been me?

I envy her so much, getting to have someone as romantic and tender as you.

I didn't know when the screen had gone dark.

I just sat there, staring at the black glass, tears falling one by one.

Crystal was wrong.

I was Karl Delgado's wife.

But I had never once had that romantic, tender version of him.

He'd never even remembered my birthday.

He said birthdays were a reminder of a mother's suffering.

His own mother had died giving birth to him, so he didn't like celebrating them.

The first year, I didn't know. I cooked an entire table of food and reminded him it was my birthday.

He just rubbed his temples, exhausted

Susannah, can you stop being so childish?

I don't do performative gestures.

Every dish on that table went cold.

But now, every last one of those so-called principles meant nothing when it came to Crystal.

That night, Karl did something rare. He posted a story on social media.

It's a shame that now, our places have already shifted.

No photo. No context.

He deleted it almost immediately.

But I'd already seen every word.

My stomach lurched so violently I had to grip the edge of the counter to stay upright.

My lawyer texted at almost the same moment. The divorce agreement had been reviewed. All it needed was Karl's signature.

I took a long breath, walked into Karl's study, and set the printed agreement on his desk.

Then I started packing.

Most of the things in this house were mine.

But what I could actually take with me was pathetically little.

All those small trinkets I'd once treasured were coated in dust now.

The matching couple items, too. From the day I'd brought them home, Karl had never spared them a glance. He thought they were childish.

I dropped them into a trash bag, one by one.

Last of all, I took down the wedding photo hanging in the center of the living room.

In the picture, I was beaming.

Karl stood beside me, his expression still a little stiff, but the way he looked at me was gentle.

Back then, I believed he truly loved me.

I stared at that photo for a long time.

Then threw it away with everything else.

In the end, all I could take was one small suitcase.

My mind drifted back, years and years ago.

In college, the first time I saw Karl was at the department honors ceremony.

He was ranked first in our year, wearing a plain white dress shirt, standing at the podium. Cool and brilliant.

After that, I chased him for an entire year.

Karl was cold at first.

I asked him to dinner. He said he was busy.

I gave him gifts. He returned every single one with a straight face.

But eventually, bit by bit, I wore him down.

The first time we held hands, the tips of his ears turned bright red.

I laughed and asked him

Karl Delgado, have you seriously never dated anyone before?

He looked at me, completely earnest

I don't really know how any of this works. But I'll do my best to give you a good life.

He was sincere and clumsy back then.

Like love was the only problem in the world he couldn't solve.

So I always told myself he just didn't understand romance.

Now I finally got it.

It wasn't that he didn't understand. It was that my love had made too many excuses for him.

Karl Delgado excelled at everything he set his mind to.

Research. Academics.

Love was no different.

He wasn't incapable of loving someone.

He just never wanted to love me.

So let it end.

I wheeled my suitcase out the front door and called Karl.

He picked up fast.

I was about to tell him to deal with the divorce papers on his desk when he got home.

But in the next second, sounds bled through the phone. Wet, intimate, unmistakable. Heavy breathing and stifled gasps.

I had been married to Karl Delgado for five years.

I knew exactly what that meant.

Every drop of blood in my body went cold.

Even though I'd already decided on the divorce, hearing it with my own ears sent a pain so sharp through me that my fingertips went numb.

I hung up on instinct.

It wasn't long before a message from Crystal came through.

A loveless marriage must be miserable, right?

The person Karl has always truly loved is me.

He's just too burdened by responsibility. He doesn't know how to bring up divorce with you.

So let me say it for him.

Susannah, if you have any self-respect left, walk away on your own.

Don't turn into some pathetic, haggard woman still clinging to a man who doesn't love her.

I stared at the messages, then typed back slowly

I'm guessing you don't want Karl to find out why your ex-husband actually divorced you.

There's no point in trying to provoke me.

I was already planning to file for divorce.

The moment I hit send, I blocked Crystal.

Then I dragged my suitcase to the airport.

I'd barely sat down in the departure lounge when Karl's number lit up my screen.

The second the call connected, his voice came through laced with fury

Susannah, what the hell did you say to Crystal?

She's having a complete breakdown. She keeps saying she wants to kill herself!

In the background, I could hear Crystal sobbing.

I'm sorry

It's all my fault

I shouldn't have gotten so attached to you. Someone like me doesn't deserve to be alive

Karl's voice dropped even colder.

I admit I should have told you about the trip. That was my oversight. But she'd just gone through a divorce. I was only trying to help her clear her head.

There's nothing between Crystal and me. Did you really have to go after her like that?

You're going to call her right now and apologize. Calm her down.

Consider it making amends.

I held the phone and almost laughed at how absurd it all was.

Whatever Crystal told him, he swallowed whole.

A dog would've been harder to fool.

My voice came out ice-cold

Karl, I want a divorce.

The agreement is on your desk.

Sign it when you get home and send me the digital copy.

I hung up and powered off my phone.

Then I walked straight to the gate without looking back.

From this moment on.

Karl Delgado and I were nothing to each other.

When the plane landed, I went directly to my new company to complete onboarding.

Only after everything was done did I turn my phone back on.

Notifications flooded the screen. Missed calls and messages piled on top of each other in an endless cascade.

Karl's missed calls alone totaled ninety-nine plus.