The Billionaire's Mistake

Ella stood looking at herself in the mirror. She'd put on a long black, glittering dress. Her hair done up in an elaborate updo. She wore her wedding jewelry, the rings of course, but also a necklace studded with diamonds and emeralds with a bracelet to match. Spoils of her arranged marriage. Nathaniel Woods had needed a wife to access his trust fund. A rule set in stone by his grandfather when the will was written up. Nathaniel had been in no hurry to settle down, but he wanted to start his architecture firm. He needed money to do that. He didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps by starting another retail franchise. Ella and Nathaniel's families had been friends since before they were born, so when their parents suggested an arranged marriage for the sake of the trust fund they didn't need to think it over for long. Ella had always liked Nathaniel, even nursed a high school crush on him. Nathaniel didn't think Ella was his type, but she was pleasant, smart and pretty enough.

Ella had fully dove into the fundraiser, working long hours getting it going on short notice. She already had over 200 people commit to going with donation pledges. She'd booked a venue, hired caterers and live music performances. It would be held in a historic building with a fantastic ballroom and outdoor courtyard. There would be dancing. She was especially excited for that. It had been so long since she'd danced with Nathaniel. When the day arrived, she put on an off the shoulder, corset top dress with a flowing, glitteirng skirt. She chose deep red, a color that seemed to compliment her dark hair and vivid blue eyes. She kept her hair down, but pulled back one side above her ear with a diamond studded hair comb. She went downstairs in search of Nathaniel. "Honey?" she called. "Are you ready?" She entered his home office just in time to see him slap his laptop shut and stand up. "Why are you in here?" he asked sharply. "Just looking for you. I'm sorry if I startled you. We need

Ella went straight home and called a lock smith. She asked to have all the locks on her house changed as quickly as possible. They promised to have a man out within the hour. She locked his security code out permanently. He would have to call her to be let in. She didn't expect him to come back for awhile anyway, but just in case. She wanted to know when he was coming and going. She set to work finishing up things from the fundraiser for the next few hours. When she needed to get up and move, and get away from her computer, she decided to pay her family's lawyer a visit. She would not be using his lawyers. She called from the car to make sure at least one of them would be at the firm. When she arrived, she suddenly felt sick. Was her marriage actually over? It was hard to process. Divorce had never crossed her mind. In fact, she'd vowed to stay loyal, in it for the long haul, to make a real loving marriage out of this. She'd kept her vows, he had not. The thought of him being with Ve

Ella was proud of herself for not crying when she'd been served the divorce papers. She was shattered. All her visions for the future had been shattered. But she wouldn't show Nathaniel her pain. He wouldn't get the satisfaction.In the days following sending the papers off she had found an apartment and begun looking into law school again. She had enough of a nest egg set up to pay for the first year of her basic needs, but she'd need the alimony her prenup would award her to go to school and continue living until she could get a job after passing the bar. She packed up her things, careful to leave any expensive gifts Nathaniel had given her behind. Jewelry, fancy dresses, perfume bottles costing hundreds of dollars each. She knew she could sell it all off, but she didn't want anything to do with it. It felt dirty. Vera could have it. She kept the wedding ring though, that was hers fair and square and she'd keep it as insurance in case she ever needed some cash. A wedding ring seale

When she arrived back at the mansion that night the house was empty. Good, she thought to herself. She made herself a Caesar salad with grilled chicken to eat. She pulled out her laptop and began applying for law school. She selected her preferred schools and applied at them first. She hoped her name would help her get in. She hadn't dropped her married name, Woods, yet. She'd handle that after everything settled. The front door closed and Nathaniel walked into the living room where Ella sat. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Applying for school,” she said simply. “What? Why?”She looked up, shocked at the rise of volume in his voice. “What does it matter to you?”“I won't have my wife going to school like I can't support the family. None of the other wives in our circles go to school or have full careers.”“Ummm... have you forgotten that I'm not your wife anymore? What I do doesn't affect you.”“You still hold the role until the divorce is final. You don't need to do any stupid s