Ex Wife's Collapse After Divorce novel Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Vivian’s heels clicked across the marble floor of her office like a countdown timer

She dropped into her chair, pulled out her phone, and dialed Ethan’s number.

It rang once. Twice. Three times.

Voicemail.

She dialed again.

Voicemail.

A third time. A fourth. A fifth.

Each attempt ended the same way that flat, mechanical voice telling her the person she was trying to reach was unavailable.

On the sixth try, the call didn’t even ring. It cut straight to a dead tone.

Vivian pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the screen.

Call Failed.

Her lips parted. Her brow furrowed.

He blocked me.

The realization hit her like a glass of ice water to the face. She sat there, phone in hand, genuinely stunned.

In three years of marriage – three years of arguments, cold shoulders, slammed doors, and silence – Ethan Carter had never once blocked her number.

Not once.

From the couch across the office, Damian watched her expression shift. He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his voice dripping with just the right amount of sympathetic disbelief.

“Did he… not pick up?”

Vivian didn’t answer. Her jaw was tight.

“Viv.” Damian shook his head slowly, a rueful smile on his lips. “I hate to say it, but-

he’s putting on airs. This

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is classic. He wants you to chase him so he can feel important. It’s a power play.”

Vivian’s fingers tightened around the phone.

She knew Damian was probably right. She knew this was likely Ethan throwing a tantrum, making himself feel like the wronged party so he could extract some kind of emotional concession from her.

But knowing it and swallowing it were two different things.

She exhaled through her nose.

“I’ll try from a different number.”

Across the city, Ethan sat at the end of a long mahogany table, a stack of quarterly reports spread in front of him.

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He was halfway through the supply chain restructuring proposal when his phone buzzed.

He glanced at the screen. Vivian.

He declined the call and went back to reading.

It buzzed again. And again. And again.

By the fifth call, Ethan picked up the phone, navigated to settings, and blocked the number without a flicker of expression.

Silence. Finally.

He turned a page.

Three minutes later, the phone rang again. Unknown number.

He ignored it. It rang out. Then a different unknown number called. Then another.

Ethan set down his pen.

He recognized the pattern. Vivian had always been like this – when she wanted something, she’d batter down every door until she got it. The trait that made her a decent businesswoman made her an insufferable human being.

The phone rang again. A fourth unknown number.

Ethan stood, walked to the far corner of the conference room where the city lights glittered through floor-to- ceiling windows, and answered.

“What do you want?” His voice was flat. Not angry. Worse than angry – indifferent.

On the other end, Vivian exhaled. Finally.

“Ethan. I’ve been trying to reach you for twenty minutes.”

“I know. I was busy.”

“Busy?” A sharp edge crept into her voice, but she wrestled it back. She couldn’t afford to lose her temper. Not yet. “Look – I want to talk about what happened today. Can we do that? Like adults?”

Ethan leaned against the window frame. The glass was cold against his shoulder.

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