Divorce To Marry a CEO

Chapter 1: The Emerald Cage

Sophia Blackwell stared out of the grand window, watching the soft twilight fade into darkness. The sprawling gardens and manicured lawns outside were a picture of perfection, but inside her, everything was falling apart. The estate was beautiful, lavish, even breathtaking, yet it never felt like home. It was Marcus’s world, a place where she had been brought in like an accessory, a decoration meant to be admired but never truly loved.

Marcus Hawthorne.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as her thoughts circled back to her husband. He hadn’t come home again. Not that it mattered. Even when he did, his presence was cold, distant, and unyielding. Their marriage was a facade, a meticulously crafted illusion that hid the truth: they were two people living parallel lives under the same roof, bound by societal expectations and family wealth but separated by an emotional chasm too wide to bridge.

Tonight might be the night Marcus would finally come home. After all the late nights and whispered conversations, she longed for a sign—a message, a call, anything that indicated he still cared.

As the minutes ticked by, the shadows in the room deepened, mirroring the ache in her heart. She replayed their last argument in her mind, recalling the hurtful words and the silence that had filled the spaces between them.

"Marcus, can we talk?" she had asked hesitantly, standing at the threshold of his study door. The glow from his computer screen illuminated his face, casting long shadows in the dim room.

He didn’t look up. His fingers continued tapping away on the keyboard, absorbed in his work. "I'm in the middle of something," he replied dismissively, the words sharp enough to cut through the air.

"It’ll only take a few minutes," she persisted, stepping inside. She waited for him to acknowledge her presence, but his attention remained fixed on the screen.

Marcus sighed heavily, his irritation palpable. "What is it, Sophia?" he finally asked, though his tone suggested he wasn’t genuinely interested.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep her voice steady. "I feel like... like we’re growing apart, Marcus. You’re always working late, and when you do come home, we barely talk. I miss you."

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples as if her words were a burden he wished to shake off. "I’m just busy with work. You know that."

"Work?" She echoed, frustration bubbling beneath her surface. "It's not just work, Marcus. You've shut me out. You don’t talk to me anymore. You barely even look at me."

His eyes flickered briefly to her before returning to the screen, filled with the glow of deadlines that loomed larger than their marriage. "Sophia, I can’t deal with this right now. I have deadlines to meet. We'll talk later."

"Later?" She laughed bitterly, unable to contain her emotions. "It’s always later with you. When will later come, Marcus? When will I be more important than your work?"

His expression darkened, and for the first time in the conversation, he looked directly at her, his eyes cold and unyielding. "I don’t have time for this. Go to bed, Sophia."

As he turned away, she felt the walls of their home closing in on her, a prison constructed of silence and indifference. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Instead, she left his office, closing the door behind her with a soft click, knowing that their conversation was far from over but unsure if it would ever continue.

Suddenly, her phone rang, jolting her from her thoughts. Could it be Marcus?

“Marcus?” she answered, her heart racing.