Chapter 1 THE END OF US
The courtroom was silent.
The air felt too thick to breathe in, like even the walls were waiting for the sound of my heart breaking.
The judge looked at me with a calm eyes. "Mrs. Robert, do you still wish to proceed with this divorce?"
For a second, I almost said no.
But then my eyes met his, George Robert, the man the world called the Ice King. My husband. My mistake.
He sat across the table, his face calm and unreadable, like always. Not a flicker of emotion. Not even a hint that this moment mattered to him.
The suit he wore today was the same shade of black he had worn on our wedding day. But , this time there was no warmth in his gaze, no trace of the man who once smiled at me across the aisle. My fingers clenched under the table, trying to hold onto it for the strength I didn't in me.
"Yes," I finally said. My voice didn't shake but my heart did.
The pen trembled in my hand as I signed the papers. Lea Robert.
The name I had once worn with pride.
The name that would stop belonging to me the moment that ink dried.
George didn't move, didn't say a word. When it was his turn, he signed on the paper like it was a business deal. To him, maybe it was.
The scratch of his pen against the paper sounded louder than the judge's voice. That was how our marriage ended, not with shouting, not with tears, just the sound of ink and indifference.
The judge nodded, stamping the final page. "The divorce between George Robert and Lea Robert is hereby finalized."
And just like that, it was over.
The man I had loved for three years, the one who once swore he would never let go, just sat there in silence as our marriage died.
I waited for him to look at me. Just once. To show something, regret, relief, anything. But he only gathered the papers, stood up, and walked out. Not even a backward glance. That hurt even more than his usual silence.
The moment I stepped outside, I was almost blinded by camera flashes.
Reporters surrounded me like sharks.
"Mrs. Robert! Why did you file for divorce?"
"Did the Ice King finally melt and break your heart?"
"Are the rumors true that you're leaving with half his fortune?"
I said nothing. I kept walking, holding tightly unto my purse like it was the only thing keeping me standing.
Their voices sounding like one loud, meaningless noise. The more they shouted, the harder I clenched my jaw. I couldn't give them what they wanted, a sobbing, broken woman. No. I had lost enough already. They weren't getting that too.
The headlines had already crowned me "The Woman Who Tamed the Ice King."
Now they called me "The Wife Who Walked Away from her marriage."
If only they knew how wrong they were.
If only they knew I didn't want to walk away.
But the man I loved left me no choice.
Somewhere, behind one of those camera lenses, I knew George's PR team was already spinning the story. The perfect CEO. The quiet, dignified split. It was all a performance, one I had been cast in without permission.
My friend Lilly was waiting outside the court building.
Her eyes softened when she saw me. "Let's go home, Lea."
I nodded, too numb to speak.
As we drove through the city, I stared out the window. Everything looked the same, but nothing felt familiar anymore. The shops, the lights, the streets, this had been our city. Now it was just another place full of memories I wanted to forget.
George and I used to dream of growing old here.
We used to argue about baby names and where to build our lake house.
Now those dreams felt like someone else's story.
I remembered him painting that dream in his deep, calm voice. "A little girl with your smile," he had once said, brushing his fingers through my hair. I blinked the memory away before the tears could fall. That man didn't exist anymore.
When I finally got home to my parents' old villa, I walked straight to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. My reflection in the window looked unfamiliar, eyes red, hair messy, expression empty.
I used to be the woman who could make George Robert smile.
Now I was just the woman who had to pretend she didn't care.
The house smelled faintly of lavender, my mother's favorite scent, but it did nothing to calm me. Every corner felt too quiet, too still. I have always hated silence. Now, it was all I had left.
I took a deep breath and tried to stop the tears. But they came anyway.
For months, I had felt him slipping away, late nights at the office, no calls, no warmth. When I asked what was wrong, he just said, "It's better this way."
He never explained. Never fought for us.
So I filed the papers, thinking maybe it would wake him up.
I thought he would stop me.
He didn't.
He let me walk away like I meant nothing to him.
Maybe I pushed him too hard, asked for too much. Or maybe he had stopped loving me long before I noticed. The thought made me sick. Because if he had, then all the moments we shared meant nothing, and I refused to believe that.
My phone buzzed on the counter. A new headline popped up:
"The Ice King is Free Again. George Robert's Divorce Finalized."
Free… I murmured.
The word stabbed deeper than I expected.
I laughed bitterly and swiped the notification away. Maybe that was what he wanted all along, freedom.
Maybe I had been the fool who believed he still loved me.
Lilly came in quietly. "Do you want me to stay the night?"
I shook my head. "No, I'll be fine."
She hesitated, then squeezed my shoulder. "He doesn't deserve your tears, Lea. One day he'll realize what he lost."
When she left, the silence came back, heavier than before.
The rain started not long after, tapping against the window like it wanted to come in. I wished it would. At least then I wouldn't be alone.
I stood by the window, looking out at the city lights. Somewhere out there, George was probably sitting in his office, calm as ever.
He had always been good at hiding his feelings. Maybe that was why everyone called him the Ice King. But once, he wasn't cold with me. Once, he laughed, teased, held me, told me I was his everything.
I had given up my career, my friends, my life to stand by his side.
And he gave me silence in return.
The pain in my chest turned to anger.
He wanted me gone? Fine.
He wanted me to stop caring? I would.
But one day, when he realized what he had thrown away, I wanted him to feel this pain too.
The same sharp ache in his chest.
The same sleepless nights.
The same regret.
I wiped my tears, straightened my shoulders, and whispered to the rain,
"You wanted this, George. Don't regret it when I finally stop loving you."
Thunder rolled in the distance as if the sky had heard me.
It sounded like a promise.
Somewhere deep inside, I hoped he heard it too. Because no matter how cold he has become, George Robert had once loved me, and I was done being the only one who remembered.