Too Late For Regret: His Ruined Empire

I gave up my architectural career and used my family's fortune to build my husband Jace's empire. I thought we were a power couple, but I came home to find him intimately comforting another woman-Brenna, the pregnant fiancée of his late partner, who he'd moved into our home without my consent.

When I confronted them, Brenna deliberately smashed my priceless, century-old family heirloom watch.

In a blind rage, I slapped her. But instead of defending me, his wife, Jace violently shoved me to the floor. My head hit the hard marble, the physical pain nothing compared to the shock of his betrayal.

He stood over me, his face twisted with fury, protecting her.

"Don't you ever lay a hand on her!" he roared.

He had put his hands on me. For her. In that moment, all the love I had for him died, replaced by a cold, burning rage. He had taken my dreams, my family's money, and now my dignity.

I picked up my phone and made a single call. "Father," I whispered, my voice shaking. "It's over. And I want him ruined."

Chapter 1

Chloe POV:

My breath hitched, a cold knot tightening in my chest. I stood in the doorway of what I had once considered our living room, the soft glow of the city lights doing little to soften the scene before me. Jace was there, his back to me, his hands gently kneading Brenna' s shoulders. Her head was tilted back, resting against his arm, a soft, contented sigh escaping her lips. It was too intimate, too tender, for mere platonic comfort.

A sharp, painful echo resonated in my mind.

It was exactly the way he used to massage my shoulders after a long, stressful day.

I had married Jace Malone, the ambitious tech CEO, believing in a future built on shared dreams and unwavering support.

I gave up my own burgeoning architectural career, silencing the passion that had once defined me.

I did it for him, for us, for the picture of domestic bliss we were building.

Our lavish penthouse apartment, a symbol of our success, now felt like a gilded cage.

Jace' s company, the empire he so proudly built, had been founded on the seed money from my family.

My family, the Padillas, with their old money and even older power, had silently backed his rise.

I was his wife, his partner, his silent strength. Or so I thought.

Brenna Duran, the supposed pregnant fiancée of Jace' s deceased business partner, arrived at our doorstep like a storm front no one saw coming.

She was fragile, tear-stained, and undeniably vulnerable.

Jace, with a paternalistic flicker in his eyes that I hadn't seen before, declared it his duty to protect her.

He said it was for his late friend's legacy.

He said she had nowhere else to go.

He said it without consulting me, without even a glance at my uneasy expression.

"She'll stay here," he announced, his voice firm, leaving no room