From fourteen to twenty-nine, I stood by Owen Brown as he rose from a struggling illegitimate son to become the head of the Brown family. Yet when he reunited with Kayla Watson, the ex-girlfriend who had abandoned him, he didn’t hesitate to ask me for a divorce. Owen said, “Nicole, the lifestyle you’ve enjoyed all these years should have been hers.” Faced with his pressure, I quietly tucked away his cancer diagnosis and coldly watched them spend his final days together. But after his death, his soul lingered, still hovering around me. ***** “Kayla is back.” “Nicole, I want a divorce.” Owen said this while I was still holding the chocolate cake from the south side of town that I’d just bought. This chocolate cake was extremely popular, but since Owen loved it, I had waited in line for three hours to get it for him. Now he wanted a divorce. I stood frozen, not even putting down the chocolate cake in my hand. “Owen, have you lost your mind?” I said. “I’ve been with you for fifteen years.” “Back then, Kayla betrayed you multiple times for that million dollars and almost got you killed.” “Now you want to divorce me for her?” Hearing my words, Owen suddenly smashed the water glass on the table and said, “Enough!” “Kayla already told me her mother was critically ill back then, and she had no choice.” “Nicole, do you think she’s as cold-blooded as you?” “You even turned your back on your own birth mother.” I stood stunned, looking at his disgusted and determined expression, feeling nothing but heartache. Years ago, my father was an alcoholic gambler, and my mother tried to sell me for money to run away with her lover. If I hadn’t noticed and escaped in time, I might have been dead already. But in Owen’s eyes, these experiences somehow became my fault. Meanwhile, Kayla, who had betrayed and deceived him multiple times, had become an innocent and kind-hearted person in his mind. I clenched my fists, a thousand thoughts racing through my mind, but ultimately I choked back tears as I reached out to grab the hem of Owen’s shirt. “Owen,” I asked, “can we please not get divorced?” Owen shook off my hand and said impatiently, “Impossible.” “Nicole, I’m informing you, not asking. You have no right to refuse.” “You should prepare to hand over your work at the company as soon as possible.” The door slammed shut, leaving me alone in the empty mansion. I sat on the cold floor, feeling like this whole situation was absurdly ridiculous. Owen didn’t come home that night. My phone rang in the middle of the night. I answered—it was Kayla calling. She said, “Nicole, you’ve schemed and plotted all these years.” “Thank you for cultivating such a loyal servant for me.” After mocking me, she quickly switched to a pitiful tone: “Owen, is Nicole still unwilling to let us be together?” “I really had no choice back then.” “Someone as selfish and greedy for wealth as her would never understand you.” I heard Owen’s disparaging words about me: “If she won’t agree to the divorce, I’ll find a way to force her out with nothing.” Then came the disgusting sound of heavy breathing. I hung up immediately and ran to the bathroom to throw up. Afterward, I slid down to the floor and pulled out the crumpled diagnosis paper from my pocket. The diagnosis stated that Owen was in the late stages of cancer. If Owen had actually cared about me, he would have noticed my unusual behavior. That chocolate cake from the south side was far too sweet—doctors had long advised him against eating overly sweet or greasy foods, which is why I never let him eat this cake before, let alone wait in line for hours to buy it for him. When I received the diagnosis at the hospital, I felt utterly hopeless.
I stood by Owen for fifteen years, gradually helping him become the power holder of the Brown family that he is today. I clutched the diagnosis report and rushed everywhere, hoping for a miracle, only to receive disappointing answers each time. That’s why I personally bought that chocolate cake, wanting to tell Owen about this, but never expected he would give me such a shocking surprise. My initial breakdown and panic disappeared after witnessing Owen’s heartlessness. I feel fortunate now. I gripped the diagnosis report and shakily stood up. My phone lit up again. Susan Thompson sent me a screenshot. It was a screenshot of Owen posting a photo of himself and Kayla together on social media. He wrote: [I’m so grateful you’ve returned to me. True love isn’t afraid of the passage of time.] Looking at the glaring photo and text, I felt sick. I thought, “True love? Were those fifteen years we spent together just torture in his eyes?” I suddenly remembered how we endured everyone’s mockery when we first got together. Back then, Owen was the despised illegitimate son who was constantly suppressed, and I was the troubled girl. During his career development, countless people predicted Owen would abandon me. But each time, he would hold my hand tightly and tell me firmly, “Nicole, I will never let you down.” His promises were so resolute back then. I watched him struggle and persevere, fulfilling each promise he made to me. Owen gave me a grand wedding, romantic surprises, and the status of his wife. I thought we would grow old together like this, only to discover it was all just my wishful thinking. ***** Seeing that I hadn’t replied, Susan called me directly. She asked, “Nicole, what’s going on? How is Owen with Kayla now?” I wiped the tears from my face and told her everything. Susan has been my best friend since childhood and knows everything about Owen and me. After hearing what I said, she couldn’t help but curse angrily, “What is Kayla playing at? She claims she had her reasons, but she never explained in all these years. Now that Owen officially controls the Brown family, Kayla suddenly starts talking about her hardships? And he actually believes her?” “Susan, as long as he believes her words, it becomes the truth,” I sighed softly. I continued slowly, “Kayla’s lies don’t need to be clever; Owen wants to believe them. Besides, Owen is already in the late stages of cancer.” Susan remained silent for a long time before finally asking, “Will you forgive them for this reason? Does his terminal illness give him the right to do whatever he wants?” The faint sound of crying made me feel helpless. I think I understand why Susan reacted this way. She once had a very happy family—wealthy background, loving parents. Like a carefree princess, her biggest worry each day was deciding which dress to wear. Later, Susan’s father, Eric Thompson, was in a car accident. After three days of emergency treatment and more than half a month in the ICU, he suddenly asked Susan’s mother, Debra Green, for a divorce. He said, “After facing death, I realized who I truly love. Life is short, and I don’t want to betray my own heart.” It was then that Susan and Debra discovered Eric had been having an affair and had a daughter only a year younger than Susan. Eric and his mistress had grown up together. Years later, they reconnected, despite both having their own families.
Love born from pain and entanglement becomes infinitely more precious. Debra was on the verge of collapse. She never imagined her own husband had been having an affair for over ten years. What they called love was even painful in his eyes. No matter how others tried to persuade him, Eric insisted on divorce. In the end, he left behind Debra, who had become mentally unstable from the breakdown, and Susan, who was exhausted from caring for her. And Susan’s half-sister was none other than Kayla. My current situation must have triggered her memories of the past. I softly reassured Susan, “Susan, I won’t agree to the divorce. Without me, Owen couldn’t have inherited the Brown family business so smoothly. He won’t easily leave me with nothing.” Kayla overestimated love’s importance to me. Compared to such an intangible thing, the wealth and power I already possessed mattered far more. ***** Upon learning I wouldn’t agree to the divorce, Owen became furious. He wanted to remove me from my position. But I also owned shares in the Brown Group, and I was managing the most important project for the company over the next three years. Owen couldn’t provide sufficient reasons to convince the board to dismiss me, so he fought against me relentlessly. He was already addicted to work, and to defeat me, he spent most of his day at the company. Meanwhile, Kayla couldn’t handle my provocations and would throw tantrums whenever Owen didn’t respond to her messages. A reclaimed love is precious. Owen had no choice but to appease Kayla while rushing to complete his work while she rested. Beyond that, he seemed determined to compensate Kayla for the luxury she had missed. Jewelry from auction houses, designer handbags from luxury stores, and even a multi-million-dollar mansion were all gifted to Kayla. Rumors about my marital problems with Owen quickly spread throughout New York. I knew these were all Owen’s provocations against me. He understood better than anyone my devotion to our promises and took pleasure in humiliating me this way. Kayla, eager to prove that she and Owen shared true love, created an online account specifically to share their history. How he secretly loved her in his youth but was too insecure to approach her. How Kayla, proud since childhood, missed her true love due to a momentary stubbornness and misunderstanding. How they reunited years later and, despite numerous obstacles, couldn’t help being drawn to each other and falling in love. In Kayla’s stories, I was portrayed as the villain who deliberately created misunderstandings that drove them apart. According to her narrative, even my refusal to divorce now was attributed to my vanity. Because of these rumors, Kayla quickly attracted over a million followers. Many believed her words and angrily insulted me on my social media accounts, some even threatening me to force me into divorce. Susan was furious about this and tried to report it to the police several times, but I stopped her. I watched as Owen eagerly introduced Kayla to high society. Everyone talked about how happy Owen was now, completely different from the reserved man he had been with me. People’s attitudes gradually changed, and some even gently suggested I agree to the divorce. I chose to ignore all of these comments. Outsiders love to gossip about others’ private affairs because they don’t know how much the person involved has suffered. They just want her to abandon years of dedication to fulfill some so-called perfect love story. Just as this matter was being widely discussed, Owen died.
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