Once a broken Billonaire

Aria's POV

"Mr. Liam, this is your final dose. After this, your body should fully recover." Dr. Lucien said warmly, his voice calm but full of hope.

For the first time in two long, miserable years, Liam smiled... a real smile that reached his dark, tired eyes. "Finally... freedom," he whispered.

My heart soared at the sight.

Liam had been my whole world - even when the world itself had turned its back on him.

Two years ago, after a brutal accident that shattered his spine and crippled his legs, Liam lost everything: his family, his friends, his empire.

They abandoned him the moment his wealth couldn't feed their greed. Only I stayed.

I sold my jewelry, my car, even my mother's old bakery just to afford his treatments.

I fought for him when he couldn't fight for himself, and today... watching him rise from the ashes made it all worth it.

........

The next morning, the impossible happened something I can't believe: Liam stood, It was clumsy, it was shaky... but he stood on the legs that everyone said would never move again.

And within weeks, the man who once ruled the world was walking toward reclaiming it.

He returned to his company, he revived his businesses... and somehow, the man I loved began to drift farther from me, one step at a time.

..........

Today was July 3rd - Liam's birthday. I wanted to remind him of everything we survived, I wanted to remind him of us.

Before dawn, I snuck out, heading to a little art shop downtown. "Morning! How much is this portrait?" I asked, pointing at a display.

"Twenty thousand dollars," the woman said without blinking. I hesitated. Liam deserved more than some random painting off a shelf.

I pulled out a photo from my phone - a rare picture where Liam was laughing, free and real. "Can you recreate this into a custom piece? I want something... unforgettable."

The artist smiled. "I can." Hope ignited in my chest. I watched eagerly as she worked... but minutes turn into hours. She missed her deadline by thirty minutes, and my concern spiraled.

"Please hurry," I pleaded, my voice tight. I needed to catch Liam at home, before he left for work.

Finally, she finished - a masterpiece. The price had skyrocketed to sixty thousand dollars, but I didn't care.

I threw the cash at her, demanded it be wrapped, and sprinted home like my life depended on it.

–––––

But when I arrived... Liam has gone to work. I cursed under my breath, fighting the disappointment clawing at my chest.

Delay is not denial, I told myself.

Without wasting a second, I grabbed the portrait and rushed toward Callahan Enterprises.

There were no taxis in sight, so I ran - under the boiling sun, sweat soaking my clothes, my sandals nearly falling apart.

When I finally stumbled through the massive glass doors, the receptionist gave me a weird look.

Pity. Or maybe... alarm. "Good morning, Mrs. Liam," she said stiffly.

Something was wrong. I Ignoring the tight knot in my stomach, I made straight for Liam's office.

I didn't bother knocking. I flung the door open, a bright smile on my lips, ready to shout... Surprise!

But the word caught in my throat, and the world I knew... shattered.

Liam was there... shirtless - with a woman straddling his lap, her fingers tangled in his hair, her lips on his neck.

My heart stopped. The gift box slipped from my fingers and crashed to the floor. Liam looked up. His face twisted in something I never thought I'd see directed at me: disgust.

"What are you doing here, Aria?" he barked coldly. "You're ruining the moment." I staggered backward like I'd been punched.

"L-Liam..." I whispered brokenly. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The woman smirked, draping herself over him like she owned him. I lost it. "You bastard! How dare you cheat on me after everything..."

THEN HE SLAP ME.

His hand cracked across my face, vicious and merciless. I stumbled, tasting blood. "Don't you ever call my wife a bastard or else," he growled. My mind reeled. Wife?

"What...what are you talking about?" I breath heavily. "I'm your wife." "Not anymore." He threw a stack of papers at me. They fluttered to the floor.

Divorce papers.

I stood there, my heart racing, while tears blurred my vision. "I sacrificed everything for you," I choked out. "Where was she when you couldn't even wipe your own damn tears?"

Liam leaned back in his chair, pulling the woman into his lap again. "She was there... waiting for me to wake up and see the mistake I'd made mistake.

He called me a mistake.

"Please... Liam... don't do this," I whispered. He sneered. "Look at yourself," he said. "You're a pathetic, sweaty mess. Is this the kind of woman a CEO should parade around?"

Each word sliced deeper than the last. "You smell of desperation, Aria and I don't do charity anymore."

I broke then - fully, completely, beyond repair. I stood there, frozen in the middle of his lavish office, humiliated and broken beyond words.

The portrait I had spent hours crafting... the symbol of my love, my loyalty - lay shattered at my feet, just like my heart. Liam didn't even flinch, He didn't care.

Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of them. "You're a coward, Liam," I said, my voice trembling but sharp. "You couldn't even face me like a man."

He chuckled darkly, the sound slicing through the tension in the room. "A man knows when to cut off dead weight," he said casually, stroking the woman's hair like I didn't even exist.

I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to steady my breathing. The pain... it was suffocating.

I bent down slowly, picking up the torn gift box and the battered portrait. The glass had cracked down the middle, slicing right through Liam's smiling face.

How fitting.

"You'll regret this," I said under my breath, not as a threat - but a promise. He smirked, amused, arrogant.

"I doubt it," he said with a cruel wink, without another word, I turned and walked away from him.

Every step was agony, but I refused to collapse in front of him. behind me, I heard the woman giggle and whisper something into Liam's ear.

Their laughter followed me down the long, cold hallway like a curse. When I finally reached the street, the sun was blinding.

The city moved around me - fast, uncaring, loud - just like him. I stood there, clutching the broken portrait to my chest, feeling like the loneliest person in the world.

I had nothing left. No husband. No love. No home.

But as I stared down at the shattered image of Liam's face, something inside me snapped.

The Aria he betrayed... died in that moment. I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand, my jaw tightening.

He thought he broke me. He thought he was wrong.

If Liam wanted a war... Then a war was exactly what he was going to get.