The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 532

New York City, the heart of the financial district. 3:00 PM. Sunlight sliced through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the executive suite, illuminating the rich mahogany floors. Christian Lancaster sat motionless at his desk, a lit cigarette pinched tightly between his fingers, his eyes glued to his glowing monitor. He wasn't looking at the financial news. He was staring at a batch of high-resolution photos sent by one of his buddies. The shots were of a massive plaza directly opposite The Eiffel Tower. It was entirely locked down, draped in an endless red carpet, with crews unloading what looked to be an ocean of deep purple roses. Tucked away in the corner of one photo was a man in a sharp navy suit standing center stage. His profile was slightly out of focus, but Christian recognized that silhouette anywhere.

Sebastian Thorne.

Their private group chat was absolutely blowing up. Liam Foster sent the first text: *Holy shit, is that Sebastian? Is he staging a massive proposal right in front of The Eiffel Tower?*

Barney "Bear" Baxter immediately replied: *Look at the sheer scale of that setup. How much money is he burning on this?* Another guy chimed in: *No idea what the bottom line is, but it's enough cash to keep us drowning in top-shelf liquor for the rest of our lives.*

Liam fired off another text: *I heard the girl is Charles's granddaughter. Dr. Sullivan.*

Bear: *Charles? As in the guy holding a top-three spot on the Forbes global list?* Liam: *Yep.*

The chat fell dead silent for a few agonizing seconds. Then Bear dropped a thumbs-up emoji, followed by a blunt question: *Christian, isn't that your ex-wife?* Several more seconds dragged by. The message wasn't unsent, but Christian didn't type a single word in response.

Liam scrambled to run damage control: *Bear, shut the hell up.*

Bear wasn't backing down: *Did I say something wrong? It's the truth, she's his ex. It hasn't even been a year since they signed the papers, and she's already traded up.*

Liam swore at him: *Will it kill you to keep your goddamn mouth shut for five seconds?*

Bear fired back: *I'm just saying it's a brutal look for Christian. Look at the kind of money and effort this guy is dropping. Then look at how Christian got married. They literally just snapped a quick photo outside The County Courthouse and called it a day.*

Christian stared blankly at the screen. The cigarette burned all the way down to his knuckles, searing his skin, but he didn't even flinch. He remembered marrying Evelyn three years ago. There was no grand proposal. No flawless diamond ring. No ocean of roses, no fireworks tearing through the sky. He had simply waited for her outside The County Courthouse. She had shown up in a plain white blouse, her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, completely bare-faced. The clerk had looked at them and asked, "Are you both entering into this marriage of your own free will?" He had said, "Yes." She had echoed it. "Yes." They had snapped a quick photo against a stark red backdrop, sitting stiffly next to each other, a solid fist's width of space between them. That photograph was still shoved in the back of his desk drawer. He hadn't looked at it once since the day it was printed.

His phone started vibrating violently on the desk. He picked it up. It was Liam. "Christian, don't let the garbage online get to your head. We've got your back."

Christian crushed the smoldering cigarette into an ashtray. "Let's go get a drink."

Liam didn't hesitate. "Done. The usual spot. I'll drag Bear and the others out."