Chapter 182

Brandon knew he was in the wrong, so he gritted his teeth and stayed silent.

"Don't push him to the edge, Caroline."

With that, he hung up the phone.

I let out a cold laugh, not caring at all.

That evening, Simon and Francis brought me the latest intel.

"Brandon's stuck in his office. Shareholders and employees who haven't been paid for a month are all over him."

"They're demanding answers. The company mysteriously lost ten million dollars, and everyone's blaming Brandon. He's been trying to borrow money all day, but no one's willing to help. He's completely cornered."

"His only way out now is to sign the equity agreement."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Keep pushing him. Let's see what he does then."

"But that ten million dollars is still on Brandon. If you divorce him, won't you also be saddled with that debt?"

I had no intention of paying a dime to the Jordan family. After a moment of thought, I said, "I'll call Mr. Franklin. Wait for me."

After hanging up on Simon, I called Travis, who picked up quickly.

"Mr. Franklin, here's the situation..."

I explained everything to Travis, and he nodded. "I've heard about it. If you divorce now, you'll likely be burdened with the debt. But there are ways to handle it legally."

I suddenly understood and thanked him repeatedly. "Thank you, Mr. Franklin. Could you draft a divorce agreement for me? I want Brandon to leave with nothing and give up custody of the kids."

He nodded. "Sure."

After hanging up, I asked Savannah, "Did we sell the house Brandon and I used to live in?"

Savannah shook her head. "Not yet. The market's bad right now, so it's still listed."

I nodded. "Let's go back."

Savannah and I returned to the house I'd lived in for nearly ten years.

Brandon probably hadn't been back in a long time. The place felt desolate, nothing like it used to.

Savannah looked puzzled. "Caroline, why are we here?"

"We're waiting for Brandon. He'll have no choice but to sign the equity agreement. When he's penniless, he'll come back here."

Savannah nodded, somewhat understanding. She always followed my lead without question, staying with me.

That night, Francis called. "Ms. Sharp, he signed it."

I was thrilled and thanked him. "You've worked hard. I'll have Simon give you a bonus. Take a good rest."

He thanked me and hung up.

Sure enough, Brandon came back that night, looking nothing like his former confident self.

His white shirt was disheveled, and his tie was nearly torn apart. He held his suit jacket in his hand, his eyes red from sleepless nights, hair a mess.

Seeing me, he rasped, "Are you satisfied now?"

There was no more anger in his voice.

I chuckled. "Satisfied? I lost the company I built with my own hands."

"Then why didn't you give me the money before? Why?"

"If you had turned your dad's shares into cash for me, maybe things would be different now. Why did you do this to me?"

He wasn't angry, just defeated.

I sneered. "Brandon, do you really not know the real reason?"

"Tell me, in these ten years of marriage, how much genuine care did you show me? How did you treat me?"

"From the moment we got married, you kept cheating. Even after I had our child, you drugged me, trying to take over my company."

"Wasn't Eugene, the guy around my mom, sent by you? He's Elora's uncle, right?"

"In your plan, I should've been dead months ago. But when you heard about the urban renewal project, you decided to keep me alive. Isn't all of this your doing?"

"Everything you did was to get the Sharp family's money. So why shouldn't I do this to you? I think I haven't been harsh enough."

"Compared to what you did, my actions are nothing. Brandon, you deserve this!"

Brandon sat on the couch, silently listening.

He rubbed his face. "So you knew all along. You've been pretending this whole time?"

"Yes, every interaction with you made me sick."

"If it weren't for today, I wouldn't have tolerated it."

"I suspected something was off back then. I was right."

I sneered but said nothing.

He continued, "All these years, you never respected me, did you?"

"When I pursued you, you didn't respect me. You only married me because I treated you well, like a servant."

"In your family, I had no status. Every holiday, I felt inferior. Why?"

"Didn't I try hard enough? Didn't I work hard enough?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Brandon, I never looked down on you. You looked down on yourself."

"If I really thought that way, I wouldn't have married you. There are plenty of good men in Skyview City."

"Even when I found out you cheated, I thought I could forgive you for the kids. But you tried to kill me, and you involved my mom. I can never forgive you."

"You brought this on yourself."

He stayed silent for a moment.

I took out the divorce papers and placed them on the table, both already signed by me.

"Let's divorce. You know we can never be together again."

To my surprise, Brandon suddenly laughed maniacally and tore the papers to shreds.

"Dream on. I'll never divorce you. We're stuck together for life."

"Caroline, you'll always be my wife."

"So what if the company is gone? As long as I stick with you, half of the urban renewal money is mine, half of your shares are mine. You'll always have to give me half."

"And I'll never divorce you."