All Chapters of The Heiress He Took for Granted: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

Ethan called ten minutes after my resignation was approved.For one second, I thought he had finally noticed I was leaving Hale Creative.Then his cold voice came through.“I sent you the East Harbor revision file. Fix it within an hour and send it back.”So he still had no idea.He had approved my resignation without reading it, just like he had signed our divorce agreement without reading it.As I packed my personal belongings into a cardboard box, several coworkers leaned against the printer and watched the show."She actually resigned? I thought she would cling to this company forever.""Why wouldn't she? She's the boss's wife. Hale Creative may be small, but it's still Ethan's company. Where else is she supposed to go?""Don't be cruel. Even if she never works another day, she can always go home and swipe Mr. Hale's card."They didn't bother lowering their voices.At Hale Creative, everyone knew Grace and I didn't get along. They also knew Ethan always took Grace's side.When Grac

Chapter 2

Ethan discovered the frozen card seventeen minutes later.He called six times. On the seventh, I put him on speaker and drove into our lakefront apartment's garage."Did you freeze the card?" he asked, his anger held down by a thin thread."Yes.""Are you out of your mind? My card got declined in front of a client. Do you know how humiliating that was?""Didn't you say you wouldn't use my money again?"The other end went quiet for a second.A month earlier, the statements showed he had bought Grace a gaming console, a custom gown, designer bags, and a five-star rooftop birthday party with fireworks.On my birthday, he gave me a handwritten card and said the company was expanding, so we had to be frugal.When I confronted him, he said I didn't trust him and insisted Grace was only a sister figure.Looking back, I understood something. Once a person gets used to being favored, they stop feeling indebted.Ethan took a breath, as if he had finally found an explanation that suited him."I k

Chapter 3

In the entryway, my velvet slippers had been kicked into a corner.Men's leather shoes and silver heels sat in the middle of the shoe cabinet. I recognized the heels. Ethan had bought them for Grace with my card.I pushed the door open.Grace walked out in my silk robe and slippers, holding my bone-china cup. Red wine stained the rim, and she moved like she owned the place.When she saw me, panic flashed across her face, but it vanished almost at once. "Sofia, why are you home at this hour? I thought you were at the office."As she spoke, she deliberately set the cup on the coffee table.A cigarette butt floated inside it. That was the matching cup Ethan had given me.I used to save it for weekend tea. Ethan knew I hated smoke and had once quit for half a year because of me.Now the living room reeked of smoke.Ethan sat on the sofa with his shirt collar open. When he saw me, he froze for half a second, then frowned. "Did you leave work early again? Sofia, even if you're my wife, you c

Chapter 4

The mocking curve at Ethan's mouth froze.Grace froze too, but her shock quickly turned into a light she could barely hide.She spoke before Ethan did, her voice soft with fake reproach. "Sofia, how could you scare him like this? Ethan was only angry. You've been married five years. Don't ruin it because of me."As long as she looked wounded, Ethan would decide I had bullied her, embarrassed her, forced her into a corner.This time, Ethan didn't look at her. He stared at the divorce agreement, his voice suddenly hoarse. "When did this happen?""Three days ago. You signed it.""Impossible." His head snapped up. "I signed the East Harbor authorization."I flipped to the last page and pushed his signature toward him. The handwriting was messy and rushed, just like it had been when he was hurrying to the airport.Ethan's face turned pale. "You tricked me.""I told you to read it.""You knew I was in a hurry.""You were in a hurry to go with Grace," I said. "So you didn't have time to read

Chapter 5

Ethan's first reaction was denial. "I didn't approve it.""The system record says you did.""Impossible."He lowered his head and frantically searched the admin backend until he finally found the approval history. The record was short and merciless.[Resignation approved.]The timestamp was from the afternoon he had been sitting on a hotel terrace in Sicily, choosing jewelry for Grace.Ethan's fingers tightened around the phone until his knuckles turned white.He immediately called HR. The moment the call connected, he exploded. "Who gave you permission to let her go? Do you know who she is?"HR sounded terrified. "Mr. Hale, the approval came from your account. And you said in the management meeting that if Sofia got emotional again, we should let her go...""When did I ever say to fire her?""You said she was hurting the team atmosphere by acting like the boss's wife. You also said the company doesn't support dead weight."Ethan's face shifted from pale to gray. Of course he had said

Chapter 6

On the third day after East Harbor blew up, Grace smashed a computer at Hale Creative.The news reached me while I was in a morning meeting at Nero Harbor.My assistant handed me a tablet. "Someone leaked that Miss Whitman lost control in a conference room. She said everyone was jealous and she could finish it without Sofia."I glanced at the headline and pushed the tablet back. "Continue the meeting."Without me covering for her, East Harbor returned Grace's proposal seven times. She didn't understand cost models, port safety, or supplier qualifications.Her beautiful presentation slides were only frosting. Once the frosting melted, there was nothing underneath.At first, Ethan still defended her. He told the team that Grace was under too much pressure and that everyone needed to give her time.But contracts did not give her time. Nero Harbor's legal team began breach proceedings. Hale Creative tried to outsource the repair, violating the confidentiality clause.A week later, the summ

Chapter 7

Hale Creative lost the case.The breach damages, legal fees, and project losses stacked together into a sum large enough to crush a small company.Ethan sold the company car, mortgaged the office, and emptied his accounts, but it still wasn't enough. Then he remembered the North Side apartment.It was the apartment he had bought for Grace to "stay in for a while."He had paid the down payment with my money and covered months of mortgage through the company. He thought it was under his name until an agent found the title had been transferred to Grace.Grace had been missing for half a month.When Ethan found her, she was living there in a robe, surrounded by takeout boxes and red wine. The video later appeared online because Grace posted it herself.In the clip, Ethan stood in the doorway, his voice tight with anger. "Give the apartment back."Grace tilted her head and smiled. "You said it was for me. Ethan, don't tell me you're the kind of man who takes back gifts.""That wasn't my mon

Chapter 8

On the day the divorce officially took effect, Ethan sent me a long email.He didn't ask me to withdraw anything. He didn't bring up the past to bargain. He only said he was sorry.He said he once believed loving a strong woman was easy because she didn't cry, make scenes, or force choices.Only later did he understand that strong people weren't unable to hurt. They simply walked away quietly once the hurt went deep enough.I read the email and didn't reply. Some apologies, when they arrive too late, are only useful as farewells.Six months later, I officially became CEO of Nero Harbor.At the celebration, my father pinned a black obsidian Bellandi brooch to my dress and said softly, "Welcome home, princess." This time, I didn't hate the title.A princess wasn't someone who waited to be saved. A princess could also be the person holding the contracts, the docks, the fleets, and the direction of her own life.Grace left Chicago later. I heard she changed her name and became a receptioni

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