The shareholders’ meeting of Soriva Group began at nine in the morning.

For ten years, Soren Mallory had walked into that building believing it belonged to him.

The employees stood when he passed.
The executives waited for his decisions.
The media called him a visionary.

But that morning, something felt different.

The atmosphere was heavier.

People whispered in the hallways.

Investors who had once smiled at him avoided his eyes.

Soren adjusted his suit and walked into the conference room with confidence.

He still believed he had one last problem to solve.

Money.

Not control.

Not power.

Not the company itself.

Because in his mind, Iria Valdés was still the woman who had signed papers when he asked her to.

The woman who had loved him enough to step aside.

The woman who would never fight back.

He was wrong.

The moment he entered the room, he noticed the seats were arranged differently.

The largest shareholder position was no longer occupied by his old partners.

There was a new name.

Northmere Partners.

Soren frowned.

He had heard of Northmere.

Everyone in the investment world had.

But he never connected it with Iria.

“Who represents Northmere?” he asked.

The door opened.

And the room became silent.

Iria walked in.

No tears.

No anger.

No hesitation.

She wore a simple black suit, her hair tied back, and carried a folder under her arm.

For a second, Soren forgot how to breathe.

“Iria…”

She looked at him calmly.

“Good morning, Mr. Mallory.”

The distance in those words hurt more than any accusation.

Because once, she had called him Soren.

Not anymore.

He stood up.

“What are you doing here?”

She placed the folder on the table.

“Attending the shareholders’ meeting.”

A few executives exchanged nervous looks.

Soren laughed quietly.

“Don’t tell me you invested in Soriva.”

Iria looked at him.

“I didn’t invest.”

She paused.

“I acquired.”

The smile disappeared from his face.

The chairman of the board cleared his throat.

“Mr. Mallory, Northmere Partners currently controls sixty percent of the voting rights.”

Silence.

Soren stared at the documents in front of him.

Sixty percent.

Impossible.

His eyes moved from the papers to Iria.

“You…”

His voice lowered.

“You bought my company?”

Iria corrected him.

“Our company.”

That sentence hit harder than he expected.

Because it reminded him of everything he had forgotten.

The nights they worked until sunrise.

The first office with broken chairs.

The contracts they reviewed together.

The dream they built before money and ambition changed him.

“You used my crisis.”

Iria’s expression didn’t change.

“No.”

She opened another file.

“You created your crisis.”

The room became quiet.

She continued.

“You convinced me to leave so investors would stop worrying about marital claims.”

She looked directly at him.

“Then you married another woman one month later.”

Soren’s jaw tightened.

“I made a mistake.”

“No.”

Her voice remained calm.

“You made a choice.”

That was when the door opened again.

Everyone turned.

Odette Renard entered.

She was carrying their newborn son.

The same child Soren had used in every conversation with Iria.

“Our son needs you,” he had said.

“Our family needs you.”

But now, for the first time, Odette looked uncertain.

She walked toward Soren.

“What is happening?”

Nobody answered.

Until the chairman placed the documents on the screen.

“Northmere Partners has requested a leadership review.”

Odette looked at Iria.

Then at Soren.

Then back at Iria.

“You did this?”

Iria looked at her.

“No.”

A pause.

“Soren did.”

Odette’s face changed.

Because deep down, she understood something.

Soren had not chosen her because he was brave.

He had chosen her because he believed Iria would disappear.

And now the woman he abandoned controlled his future.

After several hours of discussion, the board voted.

The result was announced.

Soren Mallory would remain CEO temporarily.

But under a new condition.

All major decisions required approval from the controlling shareholders.

Including Iria.

The woman he had removed from his life was now the person standing above his position.

When the meeting ended, Soren followed her into the hallway.

“Iria.”

She stopped.

“You won.”

She turned around.

“I didn’t win.”

His eyes showed confusion.

“I saved what we built.”

“Then why take control?”

She looked at him for a long moment.

“Because if I didn’t, someone else would destroy it.”

His voice became softer.

“Do you hate me?”

For the first time, Iria looked away.

“No.”

That answer surprised him.

“I stopped loving you.”

The silence that followed was heavier than any argument.

Soren lowered his head.

“I thought you would always be there.”

“I was.”

She smiled sadly.

“Until you taught me not to be.”

She walked away.

But before she reached the elevator, her phone rang.

She answered.

“Yes?”

Her lawyer’s voice came through.

“Mrs. Valdés, we found something unusual in the old divorce documents.”

Iria stopped.

“What kind of unusual?”

“The temporary divorce agreement.”

Her expression changed.

“What about it?”

A pause.

“Mr. Mallory never signed the final cancellation clause.”

Iria’s eyes narrowed.

“What are you saying?”

“The divorce may not have been legally completed the way he believed.”

The hallway suddenly felt colder.

Because if that was true…

Then Soren Mallory had not only betrayed his wife.

He had built an entire marriage with Odette on a lie.

And the next discovery would not only destroy his position as CEO.

It would reveal that the woman he abandoned might still legally be the only wife he ever had.