He Chose His Ex So I Chose My Empire Chapter 02
The apartment was quiet when Liam came home.
He carried the late-autumn chill of Manhattan in with him, his expression as calm as if he’d just stepped out of a boardroom.
I spoke first.
“Liam, did you donate to the foundation?”
He looked up at me.
His blue eyes held no emotion, just a flicker of acknowledgment.
“Yes.”
He said it as if confirming a business transaction that had nothing to do with me.
I clenched my fists, forcing my tone to stay light.
“So, will you lean my way during the evaluation? After all, I am your wife.”
Liam frowned.
He looked at me, his expression turning serious.
“Elara, this is a professional decision, not a personal favor.”
“I won’t change the standards because of our relationship.”
The meaning was clear.
Even as his wife, I was no exception.
I didn’t press him.
I was already familiar with that cold feeling in my chest.
He always shut me down with infuriating logic.
And I always seemed to forget, always hoped I might be the one exception.
Liam didn’t look at me again. He went straight into the study.
The glass door to the balcony was slightly ajar, and I heard him on the phone.
The night wind scattered his voice, but I still caught the name.
“Serena…”
When he said her name, his tone was softer, more relaxed than I was used to.
He’d never spoken to me like that.
A few minutes later, he hung up and came out of the study.
He walked to the door and took his dark gray cashmere coat from the rack.
“I have a last-minute dinner tonight. I’m heading out.”
I nodded, not saying a word.
Liam was handsome, with deep-set features, a high-bridged nose, and gold-rimmed glasses that softened his sharp edges.
His tailored suit made him look perpetually sharp and precise.
He adjusted his cuffs and left.
That night, he came home very late.
And all the questions I had planned to ask him died on my lips when I saw the photos posted by the local media.
The pictures were from a famous private club on the Upper East Side.
Serena, in a black gown, stood at the center of a small group.
Liam stood beside her.
There were two other people in the photo, but the camera had clearly focused only on them.
The headline read: Tech Founder and Rising Philanthropy Star Discuss the Future.
So the “last-minute dinner” was an intimate meal for four with Serena.
I realized there was nothing left to ask.
Between Serena and me, he had already given his answer.
For years, on the nights he came home late, I would leave a lamp on by the bed for him.
That night, I turned it off.
And that night, I slept soundly.
The next morning, we met at the breakfast table.
We were like two roommates sharing an apartment.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, landing beside his coffee cup, but not a single word passed between us.
After breakfast, we went our separate ways to work.
The moment I arrived at the foundation, I could feel the charged atmosphere.
Everyone was gathered around Serena, as if she had already won the Legacy Initiative.
“Serena, that photo from last night was gorgeous. You and Liam look so good together.”
“Right? Is Liam easy to get along with in private?”
Serena answered in her usual measured tone.
“We’ve known each other for many years. He’s not difficult. No one needs to worry.”
Several people chuckled.
I didn’t need an explanation to know what that laughter meant.
I quietly returned to my desk and opened an old article I hadn’t looked at in years.
It detailed Liam and Serena’s relationship at Stanford.
It mentioned that to support one of Serena’s startup projects, Liam had invested the first large sum of money he had ever earned.
If I weren’t his wife, I might have found the story of young love romantic.
Unfortunately, I was.
Seeing the past repeating itself in that article just made me feel sick.
So it wasn’t that he didn’t know how to give for love.
He just wasn’t willing to do it for me.