"When you've come to your senses, sign the divorce papers."

As she spoke, Glenda pulled a divorce agreement out of her bag.

I looked at it and thought about the fact that it had only been a little over two hours, at night no less, and she'd already gotten the whole thing drawn up. Just how desperate was she?

I went to open it, but she pressed it flat under her hand.

She frowned. "What's there to read? Just sign it."

I brushed her hand aside. "What, did they pass some new marriage law? A man getting divorced isn't allowed to read the agreement?"

Glenda pressed her lips together but said nothing more.

When I flipped it open and read it, I actually laughed out of sheer anger.

Even the old emperors of history never signed a treaty this lopsided.

Every asset in my name was to go to her.

The house, the car, the savings, even the little electric scooter I used for grocery runs.

And half of my parents' house and assets went to her too, plus half of their monthly pension going forward.

I really did laugh from the anger. "Glenda, I won't even get into the fact that you're eyeing the pickled-pepper fish head we eat at home. How thick is your skin, to want a cut of my parents' assets on top of it?"

Glenda shot back at once. "Thomas, you got cancer, which leaves me with nothing to rely on for the rest of my life. That makes you the guilty party in this marriage. So you should walk away with nothing, and everything in this household is mine. Is it wrong for me to want the fish head too?"

The hell?

Getting cancer made me the guilty party in the marriage.

Was there something wrong with her?

Marie Larson jumped in right away.

"If you hadn't gotten cancer, then once your parents died, everything of theirs would be yours, right?"

"Yours means my Glenda's, no problem with that, right?"

"But you got cancer, so it should all have been my Glenda's already. Now we're only asking for half. No problem with that at all!"

The hell!

I honestly had to hand it to them, the sheer shamelessness, to be able to say things like that out loud.

Gilbert Pruitt threw in his line too. "If you're a real man, you'll agree to it."

Max Pruitt even said, "Thomas, I'm warning you, don't spit on a hand that's giving you a break. If you don't sign, I'll make your life hell every single day."

"You've already got cancer, Thomas. Think you can take me cursing you out day after day?"

"And you think I'll only come after you? From now on I'll hire some punks to go harass your parents every single day."

"Just be careful those two old bags don't die before you do."

I turned a cold look on him.

"Max, when your parents made you, did they stick your mouth where your ass goes?"

"Say one more word about my parents and watch what I do to you."

Max wilted on the spot, because he knew I had connections with some very powerful people out there.

I pulled my gaze back and turned to Glenda. "You've taken everything you could take. Why not take my game studio too?"

Glenda sneered outright. "That garbage studio of yours hasn't made a dime in almost a year. What would I want it for?"

I nodded and asked again, "So you're really sending me off with nothing, not even leaving me the money to treat my illness?"

But then Glenda suddenly took my hand.

"Thomas, actually, there's something I haven't told you yet."

"The thing is, I'm pregnant. And it's most likely a boy."

"So just walk away with nothing. And don't die for nothing either. Before you go, why not do something for the child?"

I raised an eyebrow. I'd just finished a full physical. Did she really think I wouldn't know whether she was pregnant?

She was obviously lying.

So I asked, "What else can I do?"

Glenda lit up, practically glowing. "I'm going to buy you accident insurance. Then you pretend to drown while fishing, and leave a little more money for me and the baby!"

The venom in her was unreal.

I mean it.

After hearing her out, everything I thought I understood about people had been turned on its head.

I stubbed out my cigarette, let out a breath, and said,

"Here's what we'll do. We get divorced first."

"As for how the assets get split, there's no way we'll ever agree on that."

"So we settle it in court."

Glenda and her family traded a glance, weighing it out.

Right then my phone rang and I picked up without thinking. It was my assistant, Dave Sanford. "Dave, what's up?"

I held the phone a little away from my ear, because Dave talks at full volume.

"Tommy, the bank's chasing the loan again. They want that three million paid back fast!"

I didn't make anything of it, just said, "All right, got it."

Then I hung up.

Glenda's eyes darted, and suddenly she spoke.

"We can divorce first, and I know people, so we can skip the waiting period."

"The rest of the assets, fine, we'll go to court."

"But I have one condition. That junk studio of yours has to have nothing to do with me. Otherwise you owe millions and I'll end up paying it off for you!"

I almost laughed out loud. "Fine, I agree. But honestly, I never figured you'd be this considerate of me."

What she didn't know was that the game my studio built, Gilbert Group had put fifty million on the table for it, and that money went straight into the studio's company account.

So the next morning, Glenda's texts came at me like a death summons, hurrying me off to sign the divorce.

We went to the county clerk's office and divorced. The corners of her mouth, the look in her eyes, all of it was joy she didn't bother to hide.

Once we walked out, I headed straight for a big Mercedes G-Wagon parked at the curb.

She pulled open the passenger door, then turned back to me and said, "Thomas, leaving you, I get to ride in a G-Wagon. Staying with you, this would've been my whole life, and that's it."

I didn't say anything. I just smiled.

But after Glenda climbed in, the G-Wagon backed up, the passenger window rolled down, and I got a look at the driver.

A man so fat his eyes were nearly swallowed by the flesh of his face. Glenda's old suitor, Julian Lawrence.

He sneered at me. "Thomas, once your cancer kills you, I'll toss your folks a lousy couple hundred for the funeral, and I'll take real good care of your ex-wife for you."

I said nothing, walked past a curbside food stand, and headed straight for Gilbert Group.

By now I felt nothing at losing Glenda, not a trace of regret.

Getting to divorce her was heaven finally opening its eyes.

When I reached Gilbert Group, the receptionist came jogging over at once, all deference. "Mr. Swanson, you're here. Ms. Gilbert is waiting for you in the rooftop banquet hall."

Then she led me up to the top floor.

Inside the banquet hall there were already a few dozen people, a lot of them Gilbert Group's senior executives, along with the company's shareholders.

Amy Gilbert, in a black gown that made her look every bit as beautiful and regal, came toward me too.

She held out her hand with a smile, and only after we shook did she say, "Besides the executives and shareholders, I've invited quite a few game streamers as well. It's to get ready for the game's launch push down the line."

Then, with a conspiratorial air, she took my arm and steered me over to a corner, where we sat down on a couch.

And she sat right up against me, close enough that the two of us looked a little suggestive.

Amy lowered her voice. "Mr. Swanson, I hear you got divorced?"

I gave a rueful laugh and told her the short version.

When she'd heard it, her mouth fell open in shock. "How can there be a person like that? Even if she just didn't want to weather the hard times with you, I could understand that. But to bleed you dry, and to use you for insurance fraud on top of it!"

I only smiled. "Whatever the case, the divorce is a good thing for me."

Right then, someone walked over.

Glenda's voice carried across the room. "Thomas, have you got any shame left? A man who's dying, and you're still out chasing women?"

Julian patted her hand and put on a show of scolding her. "Don't go running your mouth. That's Ms. Gilbert!"

Then he turned to Amy, all smiles. "Ms. Gilbert, I'm Julian Lawrence. My family used to run a toy factory, and now I mainly deal in game and anime merchandise. I'm hoping we might have a chance to work together."

He shot me a glance. "As for this one, Thomas, he's got cancer, he'll be dead any day now. You'll want to be careful you don't get taken in by him."

Amy's face went cold, her brow drawing together. "From what I understand, the one with cancer is the woman standing next to you!"