CHAPTER 20: BEHIND COLD EYES

Third POV

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Rome couldn’t stop the anger from bubbling up inside him as he drove home, his hands tightening around the steering wheel.

His thoughts were chaotic, refusing to settle after everything that had happened today. After all these years of searching, of wondering, of holding onto faint hope... he had finally found her.

The woman he had once loved with everything he had.

The woman who had disappeared without a word.

And she’d been hiding this whole time—so close. Just within reach.

For so long, he had believed she had run far away—probably with another man.

That belief had built up so much resentment and bitterness in him over the years. He had painted her in his mind as a heartless woman—someone cruel enough to turn her back on him without looking back.

But reality... was more complicated than that.

And so was he.

He knew—though he hated to admit it—that he was also at fault for what had happened between them. But pride had always kept him from facing that truth.

Still, whenever he thought about their past—about what they once had—old wounds reopened, and the pain came rushing back.

The anger. The hurt. The regret.

Yet, beneath it all, stronger than anything else... was the desire.

To see her again.

To hold her again.

To reclaim what was once his, like nothing had changed—like he hadn’t spent years building walls just to survive without her.

The moment Rone stepped out of his car, his anger flared even more.

Standing just outside his house, directly blocking the entrance near the garage, was a woman. Her presence alone made his blood boil.

His jaw clenched as he slammed the car door shut and pressed the horn—hard.

BEEEP—BEEEP!!!

He laid on the horn again, but the woman didn’t flinch. She just stood there, unmoving, staring straight at his car.

When it became clear she had no intention of getting out of the way, Rome growled in frustration, stepped out of his car, and stormed toward her with fury in his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped coldly. "Didn’t I already tell you not to come near my house again?"

The woman flinched at the harshness in his voice but held her ground. Her voice trembled.

"R-Rome... I just wanted to see you. Is that so wrong?"

Her eyes were pleading, almost desperate—but Rome’s expression remained hard as stone.

"Tsk. What’s the point of coming here just to see me?" Rome said coldly, his voice laced with disgust as he couldn’t help but grimace at the sight of the woman standing before him.

"In just a few days, our final divorce hearing will take place... and finally, I’ll be free."

The woman’s expression crumbled. Tears pooled in her eyes as she took a hesitant step toward him. But the moment Rome shot her a sharp, warning glare, she froze in place.

"N-No! You can’t do this to me, Rome!" she cried, her voice breaking with desperation. "You can’t leave me—I never agreed to this divorce you keep talking about!"

But Rome’s face remained unreadable, cold as stone.

"There’s nothing you can do. I’ve built a solid case against you. The court will approve the divorce—whether you like it or not."

"N-No! Don’t believe those pictures, Rome! None of them are true—it was all a setup to ruin me!" the woman cried hysterically, her voice rising in panic as she desperately tried to explain.

"Oh, really?" Rome scoffed, eyes narrowing. "Because from what I saw in those photos, you didn’t look forced at all. In fact, it looked like you were the one initiating everything."

"That’s not true!" she shouted, her voice cracking. "I would never cheat on you, not even once! Please, Rome... you have to believe me. Please!"

Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, but Rome’s expression didn’t waver. He simply stared at her—cold, distant, unmoved.

No matter how much she begged, he had already made up his mind.

The woman standing in front of him was still his wife—at least for a few more days. But soon, she would officially become his ex.

And those photos she kept insisting were fake? They had been sent to him anonymously. He didn’t know who the sender was at first, but the moment he saw who she was with in those pictures, it all made sense.

He had a pretty good idea of who wanted him to see the truth.

Because the man in those photos—the one she was with—was none other than the person he despised the most. The one who never failed to meddle in every relationship he ever had.

The photos showed his wife smiling and looking far too comfortable with that man. It was obvious they were on a date. They looked close—too close. In some shots, they were holding hands. In others, they were kissing.

But the most damning of all were the pictures taken of them lying side by side in bed, their bodies intimate and bare under the sheets.

Judging by the timing and setting of the photos, he was convinced something had happened between them.

"So... you’re telling me none of that is true?" he asked dully, his tone devoid of emotion.

"Y-Yes... I swear, none of it is real!" she stammered through her tears.

"Then how do you expect me to believe that all of those photos were just a setup?" His voice was cold, each word like a blade.

"It was D-Daniel!" she cried, nearly hysterical now. "Yes, it was Daniel! He befriended me—got close to me on purpose! He planned everything just to ruin us, to turn you against me!"

Rome didn’t even flinch. He just looked at her with the same dull gaze, as if her words had no weight anymore—as if he had heard enough lies to last him a lifetime.

"Oh? And what now?" Ingrid froze at his words, noticing there wasn’t even the slightest change in Rome’s expression.

"Did all of his brilliant plans work—using you against me? Did he actually gain anything from it?" Rome asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"H-Huh?"

"Tsk!...You know, Ingrid, if only you had been a good wife—if you had just stayed quiet and behaved while under my roof, without flirting around—maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have rushed things and filed for divorce so quickly."

He took a slow step toward her.

"But you didn’t" he said bitterly.

Without warning, Rome suddenly grabbed her chin, tilting her face toward him so she couldn’t look anywhere else but into his eyes.

His gaze bore into her, sharp and unrelenting, as if he were looking straight through her soul.

"You could’ve had one more year under my roof," he said coldly, his voice low and deadly calm. "But now? It’s over—early."

Ingrid felt a chill crawl down her spine. Rome’s eyes weren’t just cold—they were terrifying. Her heart raced as anxiety twisted inside her, and her eyes darted nervously around, hoping to see anyone—who could help her in case Rome did something worse.