He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

Roxanne stepped forward, the hot hotel lights beating down on her neck. "That is a blatant lie!" she barked, her voice cutting through the murmurs of the gathering crowd.

"Then tell everyone exactly who he is!" Christian shouted back, stepping directly into her personal space.

Roxanne clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms. The humid night air felt suffocating. She needed to get out of that place before he dragged her reputation through the dirt. She spun on her heel to head inside, but Christian lunged forward, his fingers clamping tightly around her wrist to yank her back.

"Does Richard know that you’re sleeping around with other men?" Christian spat, his breath hot against her cheek.

"Stop it, Christian! You are embarrassing yourself!" Roxanne whispered, her voice laced with venom. Her eyes stung with a sudden, unwanted prickle of tears. Maintaining this level of restraint was draining the absolute last of her energy. "I am not sleeping with that man," she said, her lower lip trembling despite her best efforts.

"Then what exactly does he want with you at a luxury hotel at this hour?" Christian demanded, gesturing wildly.

Roxanne’s grip on the thick manila envelope tightened. She looked at his flushed, arrogant face, and a cold clarity suddenly washed over her. "Do you really want to know, Christian?"

"Yes! I want to know!" Christian bellowed, playing to the spectators holding up their glowing phones. "Say it out loud in front of everyone here!"

Roxanne looked at the blank faces of the strangers her so-called husband had just dragged into their private misery. She exhaled a slow breath, letting the tension drop from her shoulders. Then, she extended the heavy envelope toward him.

Christian snatched it out of her hand, his eyes scanning the blank exterior for any markings or logos.

"Those are signed divorce papers," Roxanne stated flatly.

The words hit Christian like a physical blow. His jaw went slack, his eyes widening to massive circles as his gaze snapped from the paper up to her face.

"I am completely done with you, Christian Westbrook," Roxanne said, her voice steady and resolute. "Sign the papers and forward them directly to Harry. He is my attorney."

Christian swallowed hard, his throat dry. The document suddenly felt heavy, nearly slipping from his numb fingers.

Roxanne didn’t wait around to watch him process the shock; she turned and began walking briskly toward the hotel’s sliding glass doors.

Christian tore the envelope open, letting out a forced, hysterical laugh that echoed under the awning. "That’s impossible. She won’t divorce me. She loves me," he muttered to himself, pulling the stapled documents out into the light. "She always comes back. She always forgives me."

But as his eyes scraped across the bold legal headers, his vision blurred. The text sharpened again, revealing the cold reality of the filing. His breath hitched. He lifted his head and saw her already approaching the threshold of the lobby. He broke into a frantic run.

"Roxy! Wait! You can’t do this to me!" Christian yelled, his voice cracking as he chased her down the tiled walkway. "I will not grant you a divorce! I will fight for this marriage with absolutely everything I have! I love you, Roxy, and if that’s a crime, then I am guilty!"

Roxanne stopped dead in her tracks. She swallowed a bitter lump in her throat, but she refused to turn around.

Those words, the ones she had starved to hear for years, hurt first. Then, a wave of hot anger replaced the pain. She remembered the endless, lonely nights she had spent waiting up for him, begging for a crumb of the affection he was now shouting in a parking lot. Every single memory was just another time he had broken her heart.

She took a breath and continued walking. Too late. You taught me how to stop loving you, Christian. That ship has sailed.

Christian sprinted, overtaking her just before she could cross into the air-conditioned lobby. He blocked the doorway, his chest heaving. "Before you walk through those doors, there is something you need to see," he said, pulling out his phone. "Then you can decide if you still want to push forward with this lawsuit."

Roxanne looked at him, her eyes blazing with pure, unadulterated fury. "I am not having a conversation with you while you are behaving like a lunatic," she said, her voice terrifyingly calm even as her fists whitened.

Christian stared back, his eyes swimming with a volatile mix of desperation and malice. "You will completely change your mind the second you see this. Trust me, Roxy, you want to see this."

Roxanne held his gaze for a beat, then looked past his shoulder. "I don’t care what pathetic trick you’re trying to pull."

"Even if it’s a video that makes the entire country believe you’ve been sleeping with Richard Vance?" Christian asked softly.

Roxanne froze, the blood draining from her face as her pulse spiked violently in her ears. Evidence? How? A cold sweat broke out along her spine. She straightened her posture, slowly lifting her chin to look him dead in the eye.

"Yes, Roxy," Christian whispered, seeing the crack in her armor. A smug smile crept back onto his face. "I have hard evidence. If you walk away from me tonight, I will leak the video to every major media house in the country. Your high-flying career will be over before the ink even dries on your contract."

Roxanne looked at the blinking cameras of the onlookers, then let out a quiet sigh. She looked back at her husband, the man she had once loved for six years, and felt nothing but a deep, hollow pity.

"I meant it when I told you that you would never blackmail me again, Christian," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You are completely free to do whatever you want." She stepped around him, pushing past his shoulder.

Christian’s face contorted in confusion. "They don’t want you in that family!" he yelled after her, desperation making his voice shrill. "If you’re doing this divorce because you think you have a shot with Richard, you’re dreaming! The Vances will never accept a woman like you!"

Roxanne stopped. As much as she loathed admitting it, the words stung because they hit the exact nerve Margaret Vance had exposed earlier. He had a point.

"Just so you know how hated you are," Christian called out, taking a few steps closer to her back. "The evidence I have wasn’t even obtained by me. Someone in that family gave it to me tonight on a silver platter, just to force you to leave their family alone."

Roxanne swallowed hard, the cold air of the lobby blowing against her face. There it was. The proof that she was being hunted from the inside. Her eyes burned, but she kept her back rigid, refusing to let him see her falter.

Just then, the phone clutched in her hand began to vibrate violently against her palm. She looked down at the illuminated screen.

The caller ID flashed a single name: Richard.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!