Chapter 162

Chapter 162

The sky hung oppressively low, as though about to collapse.

The autumn rain, which had just paused for a moment, began pattering down again without warning. Raindrops struck the iron courtyard gate with dull thuds.

Thaddeus's gaze slowly lifted from the agreement and settled on the face he'd longed for day and night.

Scarlett looked down at him. There was no hatred in her eyes—only the deathly stillness of looking at a stranger.

This stillness was more devastating than hysterical accusations.

Thaddeus closed his eyes and forced himself to swallow the metallic taste rising in his throat.

When he opened them again, all the struggle, unwillingness, and madness in his eyes had vanished.

He knelt on one knee and picked up the rain-soaked agreement.

Streams of rain slid down his pale, handsome face.

He pulled a fountain pen from the inside pocket of his suit and turned to the last page.

The pen tip pressed against the soaked paper. Stroke by stroke, he signed his name—

Thaddeus.

The force penetrated the page. It even tore through the dampened paper.

This signature severed their absurd three-year marriage completely—and also severed five years of his hopeless entanglement, day after day, night after night.

Scarlett stood beneath her umbrella. Her grip on the handle suddenly tightened.

She'd thought he would tear up the agreement. That he'd fly into a rage like before. She'd even expected him to threaten her using Orla and Arthur...

But he didn't.

He signed so decisively—so decisively it gave her an inexplicable unease.

Thaddeus handed the signed agreement to Scarlett.

Then, from the other side of his suit, he pulled out a waterproof document folder and held it out to her.

"What is this?" Scarlett didn't take it. Her eyes were full of wariness.

"Take it." Without allowing argument, Thaddeus pressed the folder into Scarlett's hands.

Scarlett instinctively opened it and glimpsed just the tip of the iceberg inside.

One glance was enough to shock her.

Inside were absolute controlling interest transfer documents for three multinational subsidiaries under the Getty Group!

Beyond that, there were over a dozen top-tier private properties he owned across the globe, and several irrevocable overseas family trust funds.

Even more—at the very bottom were two newly established, astronomically valued growth funds. The beneficiaries' names were clearly written: Arthur Getty, Orla Getty.

The amounts were staggering—enough to buy a small country!

This was Thaddeus tearing up half his commercial empire by the roots and laying it at her feet!

"Are you insane?" Scarlett's heartbeat skipped. She instinctively tried to throw the folder back at him. "I don't want your charity! Thaddeus, do you think you can wash away your past sins with this money? You can forget it!"

"It's not charity." Thaddeus pushed the folder back.

He stood in the rain, letting the water beat down on him.

He looked deeply at Scarlett. Only a tenderness deep enough to break hearts remained in his eyes.

"Scarlett." He called her this way for the last time. "This is what I owe you."

"You're right. If I stay by your side, I'll only bring you danger."

Thaddeus's gaze moved past the iron gate toward the house deep in the courtyard. His eyes held deep longing and reluctance.

But he quickly pulled his gaze back. "Take these things. Take Arthur and Orla, and leave with Sawyer."

His voice was extremely soft, yet carried an irrefutable finality. "Go as far as you can."

"And never... never come back to Silverlight City."

After saying this, Thaddeus made no further delay.

He turned around, straightened his back, and walked into that relentless drizzle.

Scarlett watched Thaddeus disappear. The document folder in her hands felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Her emotions were impossibly complex.

Did she hate him? Of course.

But Thaddeus's deathly yet tender gaze, that tone like someone settling their final affairs—it filled her with an inexplicable panic.

"Scarlett, what's wrong?"

Footsteps sounded behind her. Sawyer came out quickly with an umbrella and pulled her inside.

"He signed it." Scarlett's voice was dry. She handed Sawyer the divorce agreement and the thick document folder.

Sawyer took the documents. He first glanced at the signed divorce agreement, relief flashing in his eyes.

But when he opened the other folder and pulled out the thick stack of equity transfer documents and trust files, his usually calm and gentle face changed dramatically! "This..."

The more Sawyer read, the deeper his frown became.

"What is it? Sawyer, is there a problem with these documents?" Scarlett keenly sensed his alarm.

"There's a problem. A huge problem!" Sawyer's head shot up.

He spread the documents across the coffee table in the living room, his voice tight. "Scarlett, do you think Thaddeus just left with nothing? Is it that simple?"

"He stripped away all of the Getty Group's cleanest, most profitable assets and transferred them into your name! Even those offshore trusts—he set up the highest level of firewalls. No person, no debt can touch them!"

Scarlett was stunned. "What... what does that mean?"

"It means he hollowed out the Getty Group completely!" Sawyer took a deep breath. "What he left himself is a Getty Group that looks good on the surface but is actually burdened with massive debts and could implode at any moment!"

Scarlett's face turned deathly pale!

"Ulysses is currently mobilizing a hundred billion dollars to short the Getty Group on international markets." Sawyer's gaze fell on the raging rain outside the window, his voice low. "If it were the complete Getty Group, with Thaddeus's methods, maybe he could still fight Ulysses to a draw."

"But now he's given you all the assets."

"He's holding a riddled empty shell and going to face Ulysses's siege..."

Sawyer looked into Scarlett's eyes, trembling with shock. "He never planned to survive."

"He's made himself the target. He's turned the entire Silverlight City Getty Group into bait to draw all of Ulysses's firepower and hatred."

"Only when the Getty Group is completely destroyed will Ulysses feel his revenge is complete."

"And only then will you and the children be absolutely safe!"

Outside the window, a ghastly white lightning bolt tore across the sky.

Scarlett's hand trembled violently.

The document folder slipped from her grasp, hit the carpet, and scattered across the floor.

In her ears, Thaddeus's words from moments ago in the rain kept echoing—

"This is what I owe you."