The next morning, Gabriel arrived at the office at nine.

At nine-ten, he asked where I was.

At nine-thirty, he was annoyed.

By ten, he was furious.

“Why hasn’t Valeria brought my schedule?”

His assistant hesitated.

“Mr. Torres… Mrs. Montes didn’t come in today.”

Gabriel leaned back in his chair.

A smile slowly appeared.

“She’s waiting for me to call.”

He sounded completely certain.

After all, this wasn’t the first time he had humiliated me.

Before, I always stayed.

I always forgave him.

I always convinced myself that five years of marriage deserved another chance.

So Gabriel waited.

Eleven o’clock.

No message.

No call.

At noon, Isabella arrived carrying two shopping bags.

“Still angry with your ex-wife?”

Gabriel laughed.

“She’ll come back.”

But when he returned home that evening, my closet was empty.

Not dramatically empty.

I hadn’t taken the jewelry he bought me.

Or the designer bags.

Or the expensive coats.

I had taken only what belonged to Valeria Montes before she became Mrs. Torres.

My documents.

My grandmother’s necklace.

My laptop.

And one old suitcase.

On the kitchen counter was my company access card.

Beside it, a resignation letter.

Gabriel read the first line twice.

Then called me.

I declined.

He called again.

Blocked.

That was when his confidence finally cracked.

The next morning, the legal department contacted him.

The divorce agreement he had made me sign “to spoil Isabella” had already been submitted.

And because Gabriel had insisted on separating our finances years earlier, there was almost nothing to negotiate.

His lawyer asked:

“Do you want us to challenge the filing?”

Gabriel immediately answered:

“Yes.”

Then came the question he hadn’t expected.

“On what grounds?”

Silence.

Because I hadn’t tricked him.

I hadn’t threatened him.

He had signed willingly.

He had handed me the papers himself.

That afternoon, Gabriel showed up at my apartment.

Except it was no longer my apartment.

The landlord told him I had returned the keys that morning.

“Where did she go?”

“I don’t know.”

For the first time, Gabriel looked genuinely shaken.

But the real shock came two days later.

During an emergency board meeting, the chairman announced that Torres Group had just secured a major international partnership.

Gabriel barely listened.

Until the conference room doors opened.

A woman walked in wearing a dark suit.

Calm.

Confident.

Nothing like the secretary he had ordered around for five years.

Gabriel slowly stood.

“Valeria?”

I looked directly at him.

The chairman smiled.

“Mr. Torres, you two already know each other?”

Before Gabriel could answer, he continued:

“Excellent.”

“Because Ms. Montes will be representing the investment group that now controls the largest voting block in this company.”

And suddenly…

Gabriel was no longer wondering when I would beg him to take me back.

He was wondering whether I had returned to take everything away.