CEO's Regret After I Divorced Chapter 3 What could have happened?

Serena’s POV

The room went deathly silent. Ryan stared at as if I’d spoken in an alien language.

I slipped the wedding band from my finger and tossed it onto the floor at his feet, where it landed with a small, definitive ping.

"Your debt of saving my life was repaid years ago," I continued, each word precise and final. "This replacent ga ends now. I’m done being Sophie’s shadow."

Ryan’s face transford with shock before darkening with fury. He leaned forward, his hands gripping the rails of my hospital bed until the tal creaked under his strength.

"What did you just say?" he growled, his voice barely above a whisper.

I t his gaze unflinchingly, my eyes as cold as winter ice. "I said I want a divorce."

Ryan’s eyes darkened dangerously, his face transforming into a thunderstorm of barely contained rage.

The hospital room’s air pressure seed to drop instantly, the atmosphere becoming suffocating with his dominant presence.

He stared at with cold intensity, his voice cutting like ice. "Serena, you dare bring up divorce as if it’s so kind of ga?"

"This isn’t a ga," I replied steadily. "Our marriage was never real—it was a business arrangent brokered by your grandmother, but you never wanted , and I’m done pretending otherwise."

His large hand gripped my waist firmly as he pinned against the bed, his voice low and fierce: "What gives you the right to ask for a divorce? Without , how would you survive in the outside world?"

I responded coldly: "I’m physically healthy and ntally sound. Why couldn’t I survive on my own?"

Ryan clenched his jaw as he stared at , his gaze growing increasingly cold.

I stared back defiantly, my lips curling into a mocking smile. "Is Mr. Blackwood unwilling to divorce? Don’t tell you’d actually miss having as Sophie’s replacent?"

"You constantly talk about how much you loved Sophie, yet you end up with another woman pretending she’s her... don’t you find that pathetic?"

The veins on Ryan’s hand bulged as his eyes trembled with rage. "Who do you think you are? You’re not even worth missing!"

"Good to know," I said, pushing down the ache in my chest as I forced a brittle smile.

"So you should have no problem signing the divorce papers. Even if I die out there, it won’t be your concern."

Ryan’s nostrils flared, fury radiating off him in silent waves."And what if I refuse?"

"Then I’ll go public," I threatened. "I’ll tell everyone how the great Ryan Blackwood treats his wife—how he lets her be kidnapped and beaten while he’s busy taking another woman to hotel rooms."

Ryan’s eyes flashed dangerously. "You wouldn’t dare bring family business to the public."

"Try ," I whispered, surprising myself with the steel in my voice.

"I have nothing left to lose."

For a mont, I thought he might actually lunge at —his body was coiled tight with rage, his eyes burning with a fury I’d never witnessed before.

But then, remarkably, he stepped back.

"Fine," he spat. "You want a divorce? You’ll get one. But rember this, Serena—once you walk away from being my wife, you lose everything. My protection, my resources, your position. You’ll be nothing but holess without connections."

I smiled then, a small, sad smile. "I was never anything else to you anyway."

His jaw clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grinding.

Without another word, he turned and stord from the room, the door slamming behind him with enough force to rattle the dical equipnt.

"You’ve made a terrible mistake," she said at last, voice sharp but trembling at the edges. "No one walks away from Ryan Blackwood."

I let out a tired breath, eting her eyes without flinching. "Isn’t this what you wanted all along?"

She stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

"You wanted gone. You wanted him. You’ve had both now."

Ivy opened her mouth, then closed it again, faltering. "I just—"

"I don’t care." My voice was flat, final. "Get out, Ivy. And take your damn lilies with you."

When the door closed behind her, I finally allowed the tears I’d been holding back to fall.

Not tears of regret or sadness—but tears of relief, of release. For the first ti in three years, I felt sothing stirring within that I’d almost forgotten existed.

Hope.

Three days later, I was discharged from the hospital.

I had my lawyer draft divorce papers and send them to Ryan’s office. Then I called Maya, my best friend from before my marriage.

"Hey, any chance I could crash at your place for a while?" I asked, trying to sound casual despite the way my hand trembled holding the phone.

"What?" Maya’s surprise was evident even through the phone. "Doesn’t that wealthy husband of yours own like a dozen properties? Why do you need to stay with ? So kind of rich people roleplay thing?"

I bit my lip. "I’m divorcing him. Walking away with nothing but what’s mine."

There was a shocked silence on the other end before Maya exclaid, "Are you serious? I thought you said it was love at first sight with him!"

"Yeah, well... I married in the heat of the mont only to discover I was just a clown in his circus," I replied, forcing lightness into my voice. "If it’s inconvenient, I can always find a hotel."

"No, no, no! You’re absolutely staying with !" Maya quickly responded. "But listen, Serena... since you’re divorcing him and won’t be spending all your ti orbiting around a man anymore, would you consider coming back to work? To our business?"

"I really need you."She hesitated, then confessed, "Honestly, I’m desperate. Celeste—my most promising designer—is in serious trouble. "

"If I don’t find soone to take over her pending orders, I’ll be designing jewelry from a cardboard box on the street."

I frowned, caught off guard.

Maya and I had t four years ago, back when we were both junior designers at a small, cutthroat company.

I’d made waves early on, my instinct for jewelry design quickly gaining attention after a few standout pieces earned buzz in the industry.

Eventually, when the company beca too restrictive—bleeding us dry without giving credit—we left together, we founded Dreamland Studio, where our creative spirits could truly flourish.

After marrying Ryan, I had transferred all my shares to Maya, and she had been running the business successfully for years. What could have happened so suddenly?