Too Late, Ex-Husband I’m Remarried to a Billionaire

It was the first major business gala my son hosted after we returned to the city, and he insisted I tag along to support him. The moment we pushed open the heavy oak doors of the grand ballroom, I bumped straight into a broad chest. The familiar scent of sandalwood hit me, making me step back instinctively, but a firm grip clamped around my wrist before I could retreat. Leo gasped, trying to push the man away, but Marcus’s bodyguards immediately blocked him. Marcus stared down at me, his brow furrowing with unearned frustration. "Vivian, just because I gave you a lavish wedding back then but didn't sign the official marriage license, you threw a tantrum and disappeared for seven years? Was it worth it?" Before I could even snap back, Marcus pulled me forcefully into his chest. "But now that you’re back with the kid, it’s fine. We’ll register our marriage properly. Let me make it up to you." Panicking at his touch, I struggled out of his grasp and violently shook him off. I frantically brushed off my dress, terrified that a certain someone would notice any trace of another man's cologne on me. Years ago, just because my jacket had a faint trace of a scent that wasn't his, Ethan had locked down the entire city to find out who it was, and then kept me up all night punishing me. This city wasn't like our life abroad. It was better to keep a low profile. Marcus watched me frantically brushing off my dress, a sudden flicker of pain crossing his eyes. "Sir, please let go of my child." My voice was ice-cold as I glared at the bodyguard holding Leo back. There was no joy of a long-awaited reunion on my face, only sheer disgust. Marcus quickly gestured for his bodyguard to release Leo. He looked at me, his eyes filled with a sudden, suffocating regret. "Vivian, it’s my fault. I shouldn't have let you raise our son all by yourself overseas all these years." "From now on, you both stay with me. I will give you everything you deserve." As he spoke, he reached out to hug Leo. I instantly stepped in front of my son, shielding him. "Marcus, he is not your son." Hearing this, Marcus actually chuckled. "Stop playing mind games with me, Vivian. The boy is innocent. You can't keep him fatherless forever, can you?" Seeing Marcus completely lost in his own delusions, I lost the patience to argue. "Believe what you want," I cold-shouldered him, turning to leave with Leo. Marcus tried to follow, but a familiar woman's voice cut in from the side. "Wait... is that Vivian Sterling?" I turned around and recognized her as Mrs. Gable, one of my father’s former business partners. I gave her a polite smile. Looking at me and the growing boy next to me, Mrs. Gable looked surprised. "Oh my gosh, is this your child with Marcus? He’s so big now! No wonder we haven't seen you at any charity galas for years. You were busy raising him!" I froze, about to correct her. But before I could speak, Leo beat me to it. "I’m not Marcus's son. My dad has a name, and it’s not Marcus. His name is—" I quickly covered Leo’s mouth. Our company had just secretly completed its restructuring after moving back from abroad. Ethan’s identity could not be leaked yet. I smiled at Mrs. Gable. "My boy is just being playful. But he really isn't Mr. Foster's child. I’ve been happily remarried for years." With that, I raised my left hand, showing off the ring on my index finger. It was a simple, classic gold band, nothing like the massive five-carat diamond Marcus had once used to propose to me. Without waiting for her reply, I took Leo’s hand and walked straight into our private dining room. I didn't care about the dark, stormy expression on Marcus’s face behind us. Inside the private room, everyone showered me with compliments, praising my elegance. I scanned the room, relieved to find no old acquaintances from my past. After a few glasses of red wine, my face felt warm. I excused myself to go to the restroom to freshen up. The moment I stepped out of the restroom, Marcus blocked my path. He pinned me against the marble wall, trapping me. The heavy scent of his sandalwood cologne enveloped me. Once, this scent brought me peace. Now, it only made me sick to my stomach. "Why did you tell them the kid isn't mine? You ran away right after you found out you were pregnant back then!" I looked at him, slightly stunned. So he knew I was pregnant back then. Dead memories suddenly rushed back. I felt like I was thrown right back to that rainy night when I held my pregnancy test, excited to find him at his office. But instead, I had overheard a hushed conversation through the cracked door. "Just file a fake marriage certificate with Vivian first. She’s head over heels for you anyway. Register the real marriage license with Mia. She needs that security to recover." That old, suffocating despair washed over me again. Without thinking, I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. "I got rid of that baby years ago. Do you really think I would keep a child belonging to a man like you?" "Marcus, keep dreaming!" Marcus stood there, stunned by the slap, before letting out a low, bitter laugh. "What kind of man am I?" "Vivian, you were the one who turned your back on your entire family just to have a wedding with me." "And now you expect me to believe you aborted our baby?"Thinking about the past made my mind drift back. Years ago, Marcus was just a bodyguard hired by the Sterling family. He had saved my life during a kidnap attempt by my father's business rivals. Like a cliché movie plot, I fell hard for him. Because he saved my life, my father tolerated our relationship. It wasn't until Marcus put his own father into a secure care facility that I realized he was never just a bodyguard. He was the unacknowledged, illegitimate son of the Foster family. From then on, he spent every day and night fighting a bloody war to take over his family's empire, constantly covered in new scars. The day he finally became the CEO of Foster Industries, I ignored my father’s warnings and insisted on holding a massive, high-profile wedding with him. Not a single member of the Sterling family showed up that day. When we exchanged rings, I genuinely believed Marcus was my entire world. Until I heard that conversation outside his office door. Until I discovered that his personal secretary—whom he always claimed to protect because she was his childhood nanny’s daughter—was actually the woman registered on his legal marriage certificate. I had slammed the door open and screamed at him, throwing every document in his office at his face. He hadn't said a single word. Outside the glass walls, the employees whispered, thinking I was just a crazy mistress demanding a title I didn't deserve. No matter how much I screamed the truth, no one believed me. The way they looked at me that day... I could still feel the humiliation even after all these years. It wasn't until Mia complained that I was "too loud" that Marcus finally reacted. He looked at me with cold, dead eyes and told me to get out. So I did. I packed my bags and moved three thousand miles away. I closed my eyes, forcing myself back to the present. Seeing the tears in my eyes, Marcus gently reached out to wipe them away. "Vivian, stop being angry. If you want, we can have another wedding. An even bigger one." He spoke so casually, as if he were granting me some royal favor. I looked up, staring right into his eyes, and exposed his disgusting thoughts. "Marcus, I know exactly what you want. You want to keep your perfect wife on display while keeping your little side-chick happy." "But everyone has to pay for their actions." I paused, my voice dropping. "I paid for my stupidity with the life of my first child." I wiped my own tears and turned to walk away. But he hugged me tightly from behind. "Vivian! The agony of losing you for seven years was my payment!" Marcus’s arms tightened around me, as if terrified I would vanish. "I know you never remarried over these years. You were waiting for me, weren't you? Now that we have our boy, we can finally be a real family." "I don't need you!" I slammed my high heel down onto his expensive leather shoe. He groaned in pain and loosened his grip, allowing me to break free. He looked at me, a tiny spark of hope still lingering in his eyes. I turned my head, crushing that last bit of hope. "Marcus, if you ever harass me again, I won't hesitate to use the entire Sterling family fortune to crush you." "By then, you'll be the one left with absolutely nothing."I returned to the private room. The moment I saw Leo’s face—which looked seventy percent like Ethan's—my heart finally settled. Leo handed me my phone. "Dad just called on SnapChat. He said he’s coming to pick us up." My heart skipped a beat. I knew I couldn't hide it from him anymore. Inside the SUV, Ethan sat next to me in complete silence. The atmosphere was incredibly tense. I knew he was waiting for an explanation, so I mumbled softly, "Nothing happened between us. I shut him down." Ethan finally turned to look at me. I thought he was going to snap, but he only let out a soft, tired sigh. That night, he held me tightly in his arms. He kept asking me in a low voice, "Are you going back to him?" I patiently reassured him over and over, "No, Ethan. I am your wife now." Later, after he exhausted me, I drifted into a deep sleep. That night, I dreamed of the worst year of my life, right after I lost my first baby. The Sterling family had found me and sent me to London for college to get away from everything. Life abroad wasn't easy, and because I felt I had broken my father's heart, I didn't dare ask him for much money. During a rainy night in a bad neighborhood, a mugger pulled a gun on me. It was Ethan who threw himself in front of me and took the bullet. I stayed by his bedside in the hospital for two weeks before he finally woke up. At that moment, I cried like a baby. I didn't know how I could ever repay him. I just went to the hospital every single day after my classes to take care of him. On the afternoon he was finally discharged, he turned to look at me. "Vivian, do you really want to pay me back?" I looked at him and nodded. He gave a soft, charming smile. "Then marry me. I really need a wife right now." So we got our marriage license. We became partners, and that partnership had lasted for six beautiful years. At the breakfast table the next morning, Ethan suddenly spoke up while cutting his steak. "Once our company's restructuring is finalized, Foster Industries will be the first one I destroy." I looked up in surprise, realizing he was incredibly jealous. But Foster Industries was the biggest player in the city. If Ethan went after them so aggressively right after returning, it would make future local partnerships very difficult. I told Ethan my concerns. Instead of arguing, Ethan gestured to his assistant, who immediately placed a thick folder on the table. I opened it and found detailed reports of Foster Industries' illegal operations and corporate espionage over the past few years. It turned out that after I left, Marcus had actively tried to ruin my family's business. My fingers turned white clutching the papers. Ethan smiled faintly. "I guess being your husband isn't enough to make you hate him. But this should do it." I rolled my eyes at him, my tone turning deadly serious. "Leave Foster Industries to me. I want to ruin him myself."I took Leo back to the Sterling estate and started organizing the evidence against Marcus. Coincidentally, the Sterling family still had an active joint venture contract with Foster Industries. I took the termination papers and drove straight to their headquarters. But the moment I walked into the lobby, I ran straight into Mia. She looked much more exhausted and withered than she did years ago. The moment she recognized me, pure hatred flashed across her face. "Vivian Sterling? You actually have the nerve to show your face here again." I tried to walk past her, having no desire to speak to her. But she stepped sideways, blocking my path. "You just got back to the city and you're already running to Marcus? Are you really that desperate?" "What? Are you here to scream and beg for a title again, just like last time?" I ignored her insults, held up the folder, and looked her in the eyes. "I am here today as the representative of the Sterling family to terminate our contract." When Mia saw the official legal documents in my hand, her smug attitude instantly crumbled. She tried to say something else to save face, but I pushed right past her and stepped into the elevator. When I entered the CEO’s office, Marcus looked up. Joy instantly flooded his face. "Vivian! I knew you didn't hate me. I literally just ordered a bouquet of roses to be sent to your place this afternoon." I sat across from him, feeling nothing but annoyance. "Marcus, I warned you. If you keep harassing me, I will use my family’s entire network to pull you down from your pedestal." "Don't forget, your half-brothers are still watching you like vultures, waiting for you to slip up." Marcus laughed it off. "Vivian, I know you don't have the heart to do that. I know you're just saying angry words because you're still hurt." He stood up and walked over, trying to grab my hand. "Sweetheart, please stop fighting with me. Let’s get remarried, okay?" I let out a cold, mocking laugh. "We were never legally married. How can we get remarried?" He froze. Before he could speak, his secretary rushed in, breathless. "Mr. Foster, Miss Miller is acting up again. She’s in the lobby cutting her wrists... there's a lot of blood." Marcus’s first instinct was to bolt out of the room, but then he looked back at me. "Vivian, stay here. I’m just going down to check on her. Wait for me." I watched him run out, finding the whole scene utterly hilarious. This was the man who claimed he had been living in agony ever since I left. Even when I was standing right in front of him, his first choice was still that other woman. I looked at the documents on the desk. My job wasn't done yet; I couldn't leave without his signature. I waited until the sun began to set before he finally returned. Seeing me still sitting in his office, his eyes lit up with hope again. "Vivian, you’re still here. I knew it..." "Sign the papers, Marcus. I don't have time to waste with you." Leo had been calling me on SnapChat over and over, and my anxiety was rising. "I’m not signing it!" Furious, I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm with terrifying force. "You say you don't love me, but why did you wait for me for so long?" "You're just bitter. You're waiting for me to explain everything, aren't you?" Looking at his delusional face, I felt a wave of nausea. I violently wrenched my arm free and ran for the exit. But the office door was locked from the outside. I pulled out my phone to call the police, but someone was already knocking frantically on the door. "Mr. Foster! There's a man downstairs. He’s here for Mrs. Sterling!" Ethan? Ethan was here! I pounded on the door frantically, but Marcus grabbed my hands, pinning them behind my back to stop me. "Throw him out," Marcus ordered through the intercom, his voice cold. But the door was suddenly kicked open with a deafening crash. Ethan walked in, holding a tactical pocket knife pressed against the assistant's neck. "Throw me out? You think you have the balls?"