Divorce, Then Live Auction Chapter 2

When the stream first went live, only a few hundred people were watching. The chat was sparse, filled mostly with trolls and skeptics.

Who is this? Desperate for attention much?

’Mr. Ex’? Is this some new way to clout-chase off Kim Vance?

She’s pretty, but she seems completely nuts.

I ignored their malicious comments. I offered the camera a perfect, gentle smile—the one that had belonged to the former Mrs. Vance.

“Good evening, and welcome to the fire sale of secrets.”

“My name is Ava Sterling. As of an hour ago, I am the legal ex-wife of Mr. Kim Vance. The ink on the divorce papers is barely dry.”

One sentence, and the chat went silent.

Then, it exploded.

HOLY SHIT? EX-WIFE? Kim Vance got divorced??

Is this for real? Isn’t today their anniversary?

I adjusted my position, my smile never wavering. “To celebrate my newfound freedom, and to thank my ex-husband for his… care… over the past three years, I’ve decided to host this little auction.”

“Now, for our first item.”

I mirrored my phone screen to the camera.

“Proof of the purely platonic friendship between Mr. Vance and the beloved actress, Victoria Lane.”

“The bidding starts at one million dollars.”

With that, I played a ten-second clip.

The scene was the presidential suite of a five-star hotel. Kim and Victoria were tangled together on a sofa, their clothes in disarray. Their breathy moans and whispers were unmistakable. While the crucial parts were heavily pixelated, their faces were in crystal-clear high definition.

The livestream broke.

The viewer count shot from hundreds to a hundred thousand, then to a million, and it was still climbing.

The hashtag #KimVanceCheatsWithVictoriaLane rocketed to the top of the trending charts.

A user with the handle “CarterThorne” began flooding the chat with high-tier gifts. Rockets, supercars—one after another, the screen was filled with flashy animations.

Carter Thorne. Kim’s arch-nemesis, the heir to the Thorne Industries fortune.

He typed directly in the chat: Ten million. Cut the crap and send me the video.

My smile widened. “Sold.”

“Mr. Thorne, thank you for your generosity.”

“The video has been sent to your private messages. I hope you enjoy the show.”

The words had barely left my lips when the official Thorne Industries social media account was updated.

They posted a single, high-resolution screenshot from the video, taken at a particularly damning angle. It was the exact moment Kim had pinned Victoria beneath him.

The caption read: “Impressive stamina, Mr. Vance. @VanceCorp”

A second later, my phone began vibrating uncontrollably. Calls from Kim and Victoria were coming in one after another.

I glanced at the screen, silenced my phone, and declined them all.

Holding the phone up to the camera, I showed the audience the screen full of missed calls.

“It seems my ex-husband is a little agitated.”

A text message from Kim popped up, the rage practically radiating through the screen.

Ava, are you insane?! Stop this right now!

I let out a soft laugh and showed the text to the millions of people watching.

“Insane?”

“No.”

“I’ve never been more sane in my life.”