I Quit Your Love Story

I would rush over every single time I found out that Daphne Quinn cheated on me. I would take pictures, record videos, call the cops on her lover, and even get into fistfights with him in public. At one point, I even stripped her lover naked in front of a crowd for everyone to see. When Daphne cheated for the 13th time, I was actually already on my way to the hotel when a message from my boss suddenly popped up. He needed me in Asheville pronto to handle an urgent project. I'd been working on that project for over a year. Hell, I'd practically staked my entire career on it. I stared at the screen before turning the car around without a shred of hesitation. I finally made it home after slaving away for a month. So, I was understandably exhausted. Daphne was sitting comfortably in the living room, watching TV. When she saw me, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Why didn't you come catch me last time? Cyrus and I waited forever for you at the hotel." I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. "My boss needed me to be there personally for a project. I was working overtime in Asheville when it happened, so I didn't bother going." A flicker of disbelief crossed her face. I looked at her and suddenly felt utterly drained. I no longer had the strength or energy to continue starring in her melodramatic plays. So, I said, "Daphne, let's get a divorce." Chapter 1 The Last Time I Threatened Divorce Daphne wasn't surprised to hear me mention divorce. After all, I'd threatened her with it before. It had worked the first few times, but she'd grown tired of hearing it over and over. Just as I'd expected, she didn't believe me. "Go on, then. What kind of scene are you planning to make this time? Take pictures? Record videos? Call the cops?" Then, she abruptly changed her tone. "Or do you want to go to jail?" I was taken aback. I knew she was threatening me, and she genuinely had the means to get me sent to jail. Daphne was a lawyer. So, she'd represented Cyrus Wilde and sued me every single time I caught her cheating on me with him. She'd accused me of hurting a promising young man with his whole future ahead of him when she was in court. She demanded that I pay Cyrus compensation and publicly apologize to him. She even made me post an apology letter on social media every day, making sure I followed through. She went over every word of my apology letters, and I couldn't post them until both she and Cyrus approved them. The two of them often discussed whether I was truly remorseful. They would make me rewrite the letter if they sensed any insincerity in my wording. The most I'd ever had to do was handwrite more than a hundred apology letters in a single day. I was at a loss. "Daphne, getting a divorce isn't illegal!" The atmosphere grew tense. Daphne studied me, as if trying to figure out whether I was lying. I held her gaze without looking away. She was startled, as if she'd realized that something was different this time. She was just about to ask me something when a bright, cheerful voice suddenly rang out from the living room. "Honey, answer your phone! Leave that stuck-up loser at home and come see your darling Cyrus!" "Honey, answer your phone! Leave that stuck-up loser at home and come see your darling Cyrus!" The ringtone broke the serious mood, bringing our conversation to a stop. We both looked awkward for a moment. Daphne explained helplessly, "Young men these days are big on making things feel special. He insisted I change my ringtone to his voice. Don't take it the wrong way." What was there for me to be upset about? I just hadn't expected the famously no-nonsense lawyer to go along with something so childish. I waved it off casually. "It's fine. That's how young people act when they're dating." Daphne was taken aback yet again. For the first time, she actually declined Cyrus's call. "Are you angry? Why?" Her question left me baffled. She hadn't thought I was angry when I'd been hysterical at her betrayal in the past. Now that I was perfectly calm, she thought I was upset. How strange. She took a few steps toward me. "Did your business trip go well?" I stepped back, putting some distance between us. "Work went well. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll get a promotion and a raise next month." I couldn't help smiling as I said it. My smile only seemed to irritate her more. "Then, something else must have happened!" I couldn't understand her thought process. I actually found Daphne annoying for the first time in years. I was just about to shake my head when the ringtone rang out in the living room again. I didn't want to get yelled at again, so I urged her, "Just answer it! Otherwise, he'll get worried!" Daphne only picked up her phone when she saw that my expression was perfectly normal and she couldn't tell that anything was different. Before she answered, she said to me, almost as if making a promise, "I'll change the ringtone later." Chapter 2 Behind Closed Doors After my shower, I was half asleep when I sensed someone trying to open the guest bedroom door. Daphne stood outside for a long time after finding it locked. Back when we were dating, we'd made a promise that we'd never sleep in separate rooms no matter how badly we fought. So, I'd insisted on sharing a bedroom with her even after she cheated on me time and time again. However, I'd been the one to take the initiative by moving into the guest room this time around. She called out to me several times, but I was too exhausted to talk. So, I just lay there and didn't bother responding. … The next morning, the first thing I did after waking up was text Jack Carver, my divorce attorney. Daphne and I had been married for nearly ten years, and we had a lot of assets to divide. I really had to plan ahead if I didn't want to end up with the short end of the stick. Jack was taken aback when I brought up divorce again. Then, he sounded exasperated as he snapped, "You're trying to get divorced again? I've got enough work as it is." I understood his frustration. After all, I'd had him draft countless divorce agreements before, only to lose my nerve right before handing them to Daphne. Once, she had stumbled across the agreements by accident. She didn't even bother to read them before reaching for a pen. My panic set in the moment I saw her about to sign, so I immediately dropped to my knees and begged her not to sign. She looked down at me with an air of superiority, as if she'd known exactly how I'd react. "Victor, have you no shame? Weren't you the one who had these divorce papers drawn up? So, what's this? If you're going to put on an act in front of me, at least know your limits." Given my past behavior, it was no wonder nobody believed me when I said that I was serious about getting divorced. I continued speaking into the phone. "Jack, draw up another agreement for me. I want the bigger share of our assets. Ideally, I'd like her to walk away with nothing. I'll pay you the going rate for your legal services." I went into considerable detail about Daphne's and my financial situation over the years. Eventually, Jack noticed that something was different this time. "Are you sure?" I nodded. "Absolutely. If this ends up in court, I'll need your help then, too." He said nothing more. After we hung up, he sent me a document shortly afterward. This time, I didn't hesitate. I took the divorce papers and headed straight to Daphne's company. I felt a flicker of fear as soon as I arrived. At first, the people at the company had kept me away because Daphne was cheating on me with an employee. Later, I was the one who couldn't bring myself to go. I was afraid I'd see something I desperately didn't want to witness. Still, I couldn't keep avoiding this. I had to do this before I fold over again. The receptionist recognized me and personally escorted me to the elevators. I was just about to press the button when she stopped me. "Sir, this elevator is reserved for Ms. Quinn and Mr. Wilde. You can't use it." I froze, realizing that Daphne and Cyrus's affair must be common knowledge by now. I didn't give the receptionist a hard time. I simply turned and waited for the other elevator, and I could tell she was relieved. … When I arrived at Daphne's office, she was still in a meeting. I waited alone, looking around while I had the chance. Only then did I realize that her office had practically become her second home. There was a small bedroom with a full set of toiletries, all in matching couples' styles. There was even a wedding photo starring Daphne and Cyrus above the headboard. A wave of bitterness washed over me. When Daphne and I got married, she'd insisted on receiving 1.88 million dollars. I knew she needed the money to start her business, so I'd given it to her. That left me completely broke, so we naturally didn't have the cash to spare for wedding photos. When we finally had the money, she kept saying she was too busy. I never imagined she'd taken them with someone else. I was still lost in my thoughts when the office door suddenly swung open. A man and a woman entered with their arms around each other, apparently unwilling to wait another second. They immediately began stripping off each other's clothes, and the office was soon filled with their intimate sounds. I stood there awkwardly before finally clearing my throat. Chapter 3 The Agreement She Never Read Cyrus and Daphne immediately stopped caressing each other at the sound of me clearing my throat. When he saw me, he tightened his arms around her and gave me a taunting look. He was already upset that she had changed her phone ringtone, and now I'd practically delivered myself to him. To him, I'd just offered myself up as a target of his ire. "You've got some nerve showing up here! What are you doing in my house?" His house? If I wasn't mistaken, this was Daphne's office, which meant it counted as marital property. If anything, it should've been my home. Nevertheless, I didn't feel like arguing with him about it. "I'm here to drop something off." He assumed I was trying another new trick to compete with him for her. However, he wasn't worried. After all, she was now carrying his child. He took a few steps toward me, excitement written all over his face. "Victor, there's something I need to tell you. Daphne's pregnant with my baby. She's going to be a mother! You should be happy for her, too. You know how badly she's wanted a child!" I froze, unable to believe what I was hearing. She then walked over, wrapped her arms around him, and smiled happily. "Victor, you can't blame me for this. I'm not getting any younger. If I don't have a baby now, I might never get the chance." I could barely keep myself standing. Daphne and I had two pregnancies during our marriage. The first pregnancy had come at a bad time. We were poor, and both our careers were just starting to take off. She had an abortion without telling me, saying we could have children later. The second time it happened, she had already been cheating on me. When I first found out Daphne was cheating, I went to the hotel alone to catch her lover. Cyrus and I got into a fight. She rushed to help him, but he shoved her away. The doctor told us the baby hadn't survived. I still remember how she reacted when she woke up in the hospital. She had sworn up and down that she'd never contact him again or cheat on me again. She even sent him away. Things between us improved for a time, and I stayed by her side as she slowly recovered. Alas, a leopard couldn't change its spots; the same could be said for Daphne. She brought Cyrus back to the fold in less than a year, going right back to sleeping together in hotels. The only difference was that he no longer fought back whenever I went to catch them. He just let me hit him. And now, they were having a child together. I looked at the two despicable cheaters in front of me and slapped him across the face. I slapped him so hard that he dropped to the floor. The second his ass landed on the floor, he immediately started crying out that his head hurt from the slap. Daphne instantly slapped me right back and glared at me viciously. "You're never going to change, are you? I might've let you bully him before, but he's the father of my child now. No one gets to touch him except me." She scoffed. "I could give you a baby if you want one so desperately. However, you'll have to wait until after I have this baby!" I couldn't believe how disgusting she had become. I couldn't believe I'd spent all these years loving someone who was nothing but trash. I didn't want to waste my breath arguing with trash like her anymore, so I threw the papers at her. "Sign them, and I'll leave right now!" Daphne had already been uneasy about my change in behavior the day before. Regardless, her sharp mind escaped her in the heat of the moment as she quickly assumed I was pulling the fake-divorce-papers stunt again, thinking that I was throwing yet another tantrum. So, she signed the agreement without even reading it. "Don't you ever get tired of this same old trick? How long are you going to keep this up? What a joke." Then, she grabbed Cyrus and rushed off to the hospital. I felt a weight lifting off my shoulders upon seeing her careless signature on the divorce agreement. After I took a moment to myself, I swiftly had a few people come in to trash the office. After all, the divorce agreement clearly stated that all of her shares in Aerosea Group would belong to me. Now, Aerosea Group was mine for the taking. Chapter 4 We're Divorced Daphne had no idea she'd already been fired from Aerosea Group because of one careless signature. Regardless, she saw red when she came home that evening and found me lounging on the couch watching a movie. She stormed over, grabbed me by my arm, and demanded, "How can you sit there and watch a movie like nothing happened? Do you realize you nearly left Cyrus disfigured? How are you going to make it up to him?" She was so furious that her face contorted into an ugly scowl. I, on the other hand, remained utterly calm. "Daphne, have you forgotten that he once beat me up, too? I nearly ended up disfigured as well. And how did that turn out, huh?" Daphne froze at my words, remembering what had happened when we lost our second child. After her miscarriage, she made it seem that she'd punished Cyrus by firing him and sending him elsewhere. In truth, she was also protecting him, as she knew I'd go after him again if I got the chance. So, she'd decided to act first rather than wait for me to make Cyrus pay myself. Thus, she sent him somewhere no one could find him and planned to bring him back once the scandal died down. Alas, Cyrus still couldn't escape my revenge. I'd hated him so much back then that I'd gone straight to his city alone, determined to get back at him. What I hadn't expected was that Daphne cared about him so much she'd assigned him several bodyguards to protect him. Naturally, I was no match for them and nearly got beaten badly enough to leave me disfigured and permanently disabled. Daphne had rushed to keep the whole incident under wraps. As a result, not a word of it got out. Of course, it also meant that her darling lover never bothered apologizing. My words seemed to affect Daphne, but she still insisted on defending Cyrus with unreasonable arguments. "Then, you should understand how painful it is to be disfigured! How could you hurt someone else just because you nearly ended up disfigured yourself? Besides, he's so much younger than you. He's at the age when looks matter most!" I was stunned by her twisted logic. "His face isn't mine anyway! Why should I care?" She had the gall to look as though my apathy shocked her. "Do you know how long Cyrus cried after he nearly disfigured you? He even said he wanted to pay for it with his life! How could you say something so heartless?" Heartless? If I were really that cruel, she wouldn't still be standing here and giving me such attitude. I had no intention of saying another word to her, let alone looking at her. And so, we were left at a standstill once more. The air between us seemed to ice over with every passing second. … When it finally hit her that I wasn't going to budge on this matter and would never, in my right mind, apologize, she turned and went straight to the bedroom to pack her bags. "I'm moving in with Cyrus to take care of him. He said I can come back when you're willing to apologize to him. So, you're staying here to think about what you've done!" She spat before quickly puttering away to pack her things. That suited me just fine. After all, I was now the sole owner of this house as per the divorce agreement. Honestly, she was sparing me the headache of me personally kicking her out if she moved out on her own. … A short while later, Daphne had packed the clothes she needed. I noticed how little she'd packed, so I helped her stuff a few more sets of clothing just in case. It would just mean more junk for me to throw away if I didn't. She found it strange that I was helping her pack without being asked, so she stopped what she was doing. In the past, I'd always begged her to stay whenever she tried to leave. Yet, I was actually speeding things up for her so she'd leave this time around. Finally, she asked, "Are you really that eager for me to leave?" "Yes," I replied. "We're divorced."