A Client Paid Me to Leave My Husband

I’m a breakup expert. My specialty? Helping people cut ties and escape those toxic, dead-end relationships that just won’t quit.

Today, a beautiful young woman walked into my office.

“I want to place an order for my boyfriend,” she said, her voice soft. “He’s decided to divorce his wife.”

I picked up the client file, but my hand froze when I saw the name: Daniel Miller, my husband.

My hand trembled slightly, but the girl across from me, her head bowed, kept talking.

“My boyfriend says his wife is a good person, so he doesn’t want to hurt her.”

I forced a smile, staring at Daniel’s familiar face in the file.

A bitter laugh bubbled up inside me.

Three years as a breakup expert, and I’d finally landed my own case.

1

I set the file down, letting my gaze sweep over the girl.

She wasn’t as striking as I was. Just ordinary. Pleasant enough.

A slim frame, no children yet. Not much life experience, but clearly well-educated.

When she called herself the ‘other woman,’ her eyes darted away with a flicker of awkwardness.

“Ms. Chloe,” she began, “do you have any good ideas for my situation?”

“My boyfriend said it would be best if his wife just decided to divorce him on her own. After all, they’ve been together for so long, and it would just be so awkward.”

She pursed her lips, a shy, almost innocent smile blooming on her face.

If I hadn’t been certain she didn’t recognize me, I might’ve thought she was deliberately taunting me.

I twitched my lips into a professional smile.

“Ms. Ashley,” I said, “how long have you two been together?”

She paused, caught off guard.

“What?”

I raised my voice slightly. “Before I can give you a plan, I need to understand every detail of your relationship.”

She nodded, understanding dawning on her face, her voice as clear as a meadowlark’s.

With every word she spoke, my smile vanished a little more.

“I’ve been with my boyfriend for three years. We met at the hospital.”

“His family member was having a serious surgery that day, and he was so scared. He was smoking in the hallway, and I just happened to pass by and comfort him a bit…”

She gave another bashful smile, her cheeks flushing.

“And that’s how we met. Less than a week later, he confessed his feelings to me.”

Listening to her sweet memories, my heart gave a sharp, painful jolt.

“Did you meet on this exact day?”

“Yes! How did you know?” she asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

I just smiled, my lowered eyelashes trembling.

Of course, I knew. Because three years ago today, I was giving birth to Daniel Miller’s first child at the city hospital.

Calculating the time, they must have met while I was on the operating table.

Difficult labor. C-section. I fainted three times.

The memories now became a consuming poison, burning through me.

I drew a slow, silent breath before asking the next question.

“Do you know he has a child? She’s three. Just started kindergarten.”

“I know, so?” Her earlier shyness evaporated into a careless shrug. “He already promised me that once the divorce is final, I’ll be Lily’s stepmother.”

“The kid’s still young. Doesn’t really know what’s what. After a while, she’ll accept anyone as her mom, right?”

“Ms. Chloe, don’t you agree?”

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the file. I nodded, my voice flat.

“Yes, you’re right.”

What a shame you’ll never get the chance.

Receiving my affirmation, Ashley completely relaxed and continued to gloat.

“Oh, and he showed me pictures of his wife. She has this long scar on her belly, it’s totally disgusting.”

“He told me himself that every time he sees that scar on her stomach, he feels sick to his stomach.”

Ashley suddenly looked at me, a curious glint in her eyes.

“Ms. Chloe, what do you think that woman is thinking? Her stomach is so ugly, but she’s still clinging to her man. Is she just desperate for love?”

She chuckled, a self-satisfied sound.

I laughed too, but my eyes were chillingly cold.

“Is it possible,” I asked, my voice dangerously soft, “that his original wife never knew any of this?”

Ashley raised an eyebrow, her tone absolutely decisive.

“No way!”

“Daniel has a physical aversion to her. Unless she’s an idiot, there’s no way she wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Ms. Chloe, you don’t know, but he’s so passionate with me in bed. He says he has no interest in that old hag at home and was just cooped up and frustrated. Ms. Chloe, wouldn’t you think it’s strange if you hadn’t had intimacy for three years?”

“Strange,” I replied promptly, my eyes numb, fixed on the wedding ring I’d worn on my ring finger for four years.

Daniel and I, we came from different worlds.

But we went from campus sweethearts to marriage, a full eight years.

When I was sick, he’d be frantic, once jumping out of his dorm window in the middle of the night to bring me medicine.

When I was sad, he’d run eight blocks to buy me my favorite chocolates just to make me smile.

During my pregnancy and childbirth, he never missed a single prenatal check-up.

Every time he came home, he’d hug Lily and me first, telling us we were his most beloved family.

Even these past two years, when we hadn’t shared a bed, he’d just soothe me, saying,

“Chloe, you went through so much when Lily was born. I don’t want you to experience that again.”

I thought that as a marriage progressed, it would naturally settle into a comfortable routine.

How could I have imagined that he wasn’t just not wanting it anymore, but that he was getting his fill elsewhere?

A chill spread from my feet, creeping into my bones. I asked my last question.

“What are your divorce demands? Just for his wife to initiate the divorce?”

Ashley shook her head.

“Of course not! And you absolutely cannot let his wife find out my boyfriend cheated.”

“You know, even though Daniel married into her family and got a leg up, he really worked hard to build his own empire.”

“He’s been through so much. If his wife found out he cheated, she definitely wouldn’t let him go.”

I squeezed my fingers, saying nothing.

Ashley, still worried, reiterated her requests, finally adding,

“Ms. Chloe, I know you’re the best breakup expert in the city. I’m really counting on you with my boyfriend and me.”

I nodded, smiling as I agreed.

“Don’t worry.”

After she left, I immediately called my best friend, Jake.

“Get your best detective and lawyer on the phone. I want to know everything Daniel has been up to for the past three years.”

“Oh, and tell my dad too. Daniel cheated. Pull all investments from his company. Now.”

“I want to see what he’s left with when he’s completely on his own.”

2

Jake, my best friend and business partner, was as efficient as ever.

In less than half a day, he dropped a 128GB flash drive onto my desk.

“Take a look, it’s all here.”

I plugged in the drive and clicked open the first file.

The first video, seemingly filmed in a high-end restaurant, showed Daniel, impeccably dressed in a black suit, looking every bit the charming gentleman, presenting 9,999 Bulgarian roses to the woman across from him.

Just three months ago, for my birthday, Daniel claimed he was working late and came home with a single five-dollar rose he’d picked up from a street vendor.

The second video was security footage from a mall.

Daniel had his arm wrapped around Ashley’s waist, shopping lavishly in a luxury store.

Designer clothes, jewelry, accessories-shopping bags piled up at Ashley’s feet. They looked sickeningly sweet, the kind that made your teeth ache.

The cheap little keychain the sales associate gave them as a freebie at checkout? That was the birthday gift he brought home for Lily.

I exited the file, my face expressionless, and opened the next one.

Daniel’s bank statements from the past three years.

Numerous large sums of money frequently transferred between several accounts, accumulating into a colossal amount that made my chest tighten.

It all funneled into a private account ending in 776