To support my husband’s scientific pursuits, I sent him overseas for advanced studies. But two years later, he walked out of the airport with a young girl. “Seraphina, a junior researcher under me, got seriously ill from radiation exposure during an experiment while trying to protect me. I need to take care of her.” He insisted on bringing her home, converting my study into a lab. Day in and day out, they were ‘doing research’ in there. Until, well, they ‘researched’ a baby into existence. And he still claimed it was just a drunken accident. “Seraphina’s parents are both gone; this child will be her only family. I *have* to keep it.” “Be the bigger person, Harper. Let her have this house so she can focus on her pregnancy in peace.” “You’re so busy with work anyway, no time for kids of your own. This baby could even call you ‘godmother’ later.” I scoffed. That night, I cleared out everything from the house and pulled all funding from his research project. Sorry, but I’m not exactly short on houses. Or kids, for that matter.
“Ms. Harper, are you really going to cut off all funding immediately? Without any buffer time, their project will practically…” “Confirmed. Pull it all. Every last cent.” I didn’t hesitate for a second. The call with my assistant, Kai, had just ended when another call came in. “Harper Reed, what do you mean by ‘do you want to marry me’? You…” “Exactly what it sounds like. What, you don’t want to? Should I ask someone else?” “Who said I don’t want to! You’re not allowed to ask anyone else!” Declan’s voice shot up, then he slowly asked, “So you’re divorced now?” “Almost. Don’t worry, I won’t let you feel grossed out.” “That’s not what I meant. I meant, if you’re in trouble, I can help you.” I paused, then politely declined his offer, but a warmth slowly spread through my chest. He chased me for six years and never gave up. Guess he’s finally getting what he wished for. Only me, chasing after someone unworthy, ending up completely shattered. Not long after I hung up, I heard Julian and Seraphina’s voices behind me. They walked in, arm in arm, Julian carrying a large bag of baby supplies. “Julian’s never been a dad, but he’s already so good at this stuff,” Seraphina cooed. “If I don’t understand, I need to learn. Otherwise, how can I take good care of you… Harper?” Julian froze slightly when he saw me. Seraphina immediately hid behind him, timidly saying, “Ms. Harper, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you’d be back today.” “Don’t worry, I’ll go abroad after the baby is born. I won’t stay here and be an eyesore for you anymore.” Eyesore? I chuckled. Been an eyesore for this long, a little longer won’t hurt. Besides, soon enough, out of sight, out of mind. Just like in the past, the more pathetic Seraphina acted, the more Julian’s heart ached for her. He wrapped his arm around her, comforting her. “What kind of person do you take me for? You have no parents, no family. How could you live alone with a child?” The next second, he looked at me, his tone utterly natural: “Seraphina is pregnant and needs a new bedroom with a more comfortable environment.” “She can have ours. You rarely come back here to stay anyway, with all your overtime.” I stared directly into his eyes, simply replied “Okay,” and walked straight out. Julian, who had prepared himself for my “tantrum,” stood rooted to the spot. Before, when he wanted to convert my study into Seraphina’s lab, I fought him for a whole week, exhausting him completely. But this time… “Harper, what kind of attitude is that? What are you trying to pull now?” Julian chased after me and grabbed my arm. I looked at him impatiently and asked, “Julian, I should be asking *you* that.” “When I made a fuss, you said I was narrow-minded. Now I’m planning to give the entire house to Seraphina, and you think I have ulterior motives?” Julian’s expression flickered, then he let out an awkward cough, pulling my hand. “I’m sorry. I misunderstood you.” I was momentarily stunned. In our six years of marriage, to keep him focused on his research, I was always the one who gave in first. He’d always been so stingy with his words to me, and now he was actually apologizing. “Since you’re willing to change, then stay. Seraphina and I aren’t unwelcoming.” “Tonight, you can make Seraphina your signature sour fish soup.” “She’s had terrible morning sickness lately and craves something sour.” In that instant, I wanted to throw up too. Sure enough, it was all my imagination. “What *is* she, that she deserves me cooking for her?” I snapped back, unable to stand his face, but he immediately scowled and said, “Hmph, I knew you were faking it.” “You’re still that heartless, ungrateful businesswoman with nothing but filthy money in your eyes, no different from six years ago.”
Years ago, because of my mother’s rare illness, I met Julian, who was researching drugs in that very field. I was quickly drawn to his talent and personality and began to pursue him. To have common topics with him, I forced myself to read obscure biology books. To show my determination, after we married, I didn’t hesitate to agree to his continued studies abroad, even investing heavily in his lab and leveraging my connections behind his back. But what I finally got was him returning with another woman. “You’re right. I’m a businesswoman, so a businesswoman’s hands are only for making money, not for cooking.” Before, when he accused me of reeking of money, I’d feel sad. But now, I only felt lucky. Lucky that even though my judgment was poor, at least I had money. “On the other hand, you, you claim to love her so much, but you can’t even bear to cook for her?” “I’ve told you, I only feel gratitude towards her. I just want to take care of her. That child was an accident!” As always, he explained impatiently, then looked at me with disappointment, as if I had committed some grave error. I was too tired to listen anymore, so I shook my hand free and walked out. I didn’t expect that after an all-nighter at the office, I’d open the door to my apartment and see Julian in the kitchen, making breakfast. That was a ‘miracle’ that had never occurred in our six years of marriage. For the sake of his hands, which he needed for experiments, I had always done the cooking at home. I remember even when my hand was bleeding non-stop from a knife cut, he’d avoid me like the plague just to hand me a band-aid, terrified my blood would taint his hands. And now, he held a knife, meticulously slicing bread for Seraphina. “Julian, your hands shouldn’t be doing such things! Put that knife down!” Seraphina ran into the kitchen, and Julian immediately hugged her back, saying tenderly, “You stayed with that radiation source for so long to protect me, and now you’re still willing to have my child. This little thing is nothing.” Seraphina, touched, threw herself into his arms, and a flicker of triumph crossed her eyes as she looked at me standing outside the door. I watched them with cold eyes, then waved my hand, directly instructing the movers to start clearing things out. Julian looked at everything, confused, shielding Seraphina firmly behind him, demanding to know what I was doing. “Nothing much. I’m just divorcing you, so we’re separating first.” “What did you say?” Julian’s face went blank for a second, as if he couldn’t grasp what I was saying. “Divorce… me?” He again showed that ‘I knew it’ expression, full of disgust. “Here we go again. Harper, I’m not falling for your games anymore.” “Tell them to get out. Seraphina is pregnant and needs quiet rest. Don’t you understand that?” I sighed wearily. Before I could speak, a worker rushed down and asked me, “Ms. Harper, the safe you insisted we take—it’s in Ms. Seraphina’s room, and… it’s open. It’s empty.” My heart sank. I spun around to look at Seraphina. She blinked, saying, “Julian gave me that box. I saw it only had some old papers, nothing useful.” She curved her lips at me, her smile sweet and malicious. “So, I burned them all.” *Slap!* I lunged forward and slapped Seraphina across the face. “Those were my mother’s musical scores, her last precious relics! How *dare* you…” My heart ached so much I could barely breathe. But the next instant, Julian actually raised his hand at me— “Harper Reed, for some dead woman’s junk, you dare hit her!”
As the force of his palm rushed toward me, he met my red-rimmed eyes. He seemed to finally snap back to reality for a second, intending to lower his hand. But because of his strength, his wedding ring still grazed my cheek, leaving a thin cut. “Dead woman’s junk.” I stood frozen, my heart turning to ash as I repeated his words. “Fine, I get it.” I turned around and instructed the movers to take the things and leave immediately. But he chased after me. “Harper!” He grabbed my hand, a rare look of guilt on his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know Seraphina would burn your mother’s things.” “But she’s pregnant, it might be hormones, her emotions are unstable.” “You’ve never been a mother, can’t you be more understanding of her? I’ll go get new copies of your mother’s things…” I sharply pulled my hand away, looking at his face, which was already regaining its ‘rational analysis’ look. “Julian, I’ll hire the best lawyers to expedite our divorce proceedings.” “You!” Julian was about to chase after me again, but Seraphina cried out in pain, and he immediately turned and ran back into the villa. After settling my things, I blocked all of Julian’s contact information. I didn’t see him again until a week later at a banquet. This banquet invited many CEOs from biopharmaceutical companies. Julian never used to come to such ‘corrupting’ places, but now, because of the sudden withdrawal of crucial funds, he had no choice but to seek help here. He still had no idea that the person behind that money was me. “Oh my, Ms. Harper, why are you here?” Seraphina covered her mouth, seemingly very surprised. “This place is full of professionals in biomedicine. The discussions aren’t about stocks or funds.” “Someone like Ms. Harper, do you even understand?” Her voice was clear, as if she wanted everyone around to mock my out-of-place presence. But everyone simply gave her a strange look and turned away. “I’m standing here because this banquet is *my* event. Every glass of wine Ms. Seraphina is drinking right now is paid for with *my* money.” “Without me, how do you think these bigwigs would grace us with their presence?” The resentment and jealousy in Seraphina’s eyes instantly overflowed. The next second, Julian actually dismissed her and stood next to me, holding a wine glass. I knew he had networked around, found no one willing to invest in his project, and so he came to me. “Harper, even if you want a divorce, our joint assets are half yours, half mine…” Even he struggled to say such shameless words. I chuckled, then slowly said, “Mr. Julian, did you forget the prenuptial agreement we signed?” “To prove your integrity, didn’t you personally sign an agreement for separate property, terrified to taint yourself with my ‘dirty money’?” Julian’s face immediately turned ugly, secretly regretting it. But he wanted to use our past relationship to make me soften, but I was utterly unmoved. I only spoke of “divorce.” “No, I’m afraid my money would dirty your experiments.” “Harper, are you really going to take it this far?” He gasped, all traces of his refined demeanor were gone. He thrust the wine glass towards me. “Fine then, if you have the guts, drink this, and we go our separate ways, and it’s over for good!” I took the glass without hesitation and drank it all. But after I finished, I noticed that Julian’s eyes, besides anger, held a hint of panic. No, this drink… A wave of dizziness hit me. My vision went black, and I collapsed.
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