[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-2603222E6F78-146":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},146,48,"Chapter 48: \"I Want a Divorce.\"","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">A sharp, rhythmic rap sounded against the door of Albert Harrison’s study.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Come in,\" Albert’s steady voice echoed from within. Rose Harrison took a deep breath, steadied her trembling hands, and pushed the door open.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Rose! How have you been lately?\" Albert looked up, his face softening into a warm, paternal smile as he spotted her.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I’m doing fine, Dad. But… there’s something I need to talk to you about,\" Rose replied with a faint, forced smile.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"What is it? Go on,\" Albert said, leaning back with an expectant, gentle expression.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Rose hesitated. The name Maximus Anderson hovered on her lips, a weight she was finally ready to drop. She closed her eyes, exhaling sharply. \"Dad, I want a divorce.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Albert froze. The air in the room seemed to vanish. \"What did you say?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I want a divorce from Maximus,\" she repeated, her voice firmer this time.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Albert studied her face. He looked for the hesitation, the doubt, the typical wavering of a daughter caught in a high-stakes marriage. He found none. He sat in silence for a long moment, weighing the gravity of her request. \"Are you sure? Is this truly what you want?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Perhaps the months of agonizing had finally reached a tipping point. In this moment, the answer was clearer than it had ever been. \"Yes. I’m certain.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Then so be it. You have my full support,\" Albert declared, his voice dropping into a resolute tone. He offered a reassuring smile, his eyes steady. \"Rose, if you’ve made up your mind, don't look back. Your father will always be your shield.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The dam broke. The tears Rose had been holding back for months flooded out. She collapsed into her father’s arms, her body wracked with deep, suffocating sobs. Albert sighed, his face tightening with sorrow as he pulled her close, gently stroking her back until her frantic, broken breathing finally began to subside.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">***\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The following morning, the envelope arrived on Maximus Anderson’s mahogany desk.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He stared at the divorce papers as if they were a death warrant. As he scanned the cold, legal terminology, a sharp, searing agony pierced his chest—as if a thousand invisible knives were carving into his heart. The text blurred, the fine print swimming before his eyes. He couldn't—he wouldn't—believe this was happening.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">For weeks, he had been waiting. He kept telling himself that if he just gave her space, if he just held his ground, Rose would come to her senses. He had told himself he would find the right time to explain everything, to mend what had been broken by his own cold hand.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">But his expectations were nothing more than a delusion.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He reached for his phone, his movements frantic. He dialed her number, over and over, until his fingers were numb. Each time, the line was met with the mechanical, hollow voice of an automated operator: \"I’m sorry, the person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">At that moment, a dark, cynical voice in his gut told him the bridge was burned. She had poured everything into this marriage, and he had been too blind, too late, and far too cruel to realize the damage until it was irreparable.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Yet, a stubborn, desperate hope clawed at his chest. *Don't give up,* it whispered. *Just push a little harder.*\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He shoved his phone into his pocket, grabbed his keys, and bolted for the door.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">When he arrived at the Harrison Estate, however, the heavy iron gates remained locked. Albert had already ordered the security detail to revoke Maximus’s clearance. He wasn't even given the courtesy of an announcement.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His black Cayenne sat idling in the dirt by the entrance, a luxury ghost in the grey afternoon. Maximus climbed out, standing helplessly before the gates.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Autumn weather in this city was temperamental; a sudden, vicious downpour lashed out from the clouds. Maximus stood motionless in the deluge, his expensive suit soaked through, his eyes fixed on the third-floor window of Rose’s room. The curtains were drawn tight. The woman he had pushed away was no longer there to watch him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The rain fell in sheets, a cold, relentless curtain between him and the life he had once discarded. He stood there, a fool in the storm, staring up at the empty window, waiting for a miracle that refused to come.\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272923018]