On a stormy night, my younger brother was buried in a mudslide while my husband, Hayden, stayed with the woman he loved, listening to piano music. He used his authority to hold back the rescue team. Just to calm that woman’s fears. When they found my brother’s body, he transferred five million dollars. “Road delays. Stop making a scene.” Later, I miscarried, was kidnapped, and jumped from a moving car. His response was always the same. “She didn’t mean it. Be reasonable.” Only after I disappeared completely did he realize every “accident” had been a carefully laid trap. But when he found me in New York, dragging his broken leg, I just smiled, holding my new husband’s arm. “Mr. Hayden, your belated concern is cheaper than garbage.” Vienna’s POV In San Francisco’s elite circles, Hayden was famously known as the “cold-blooded devil.” He controlled a massive shipping empire with an iron fist. Yet he had once poured all his tenderness into me. That year, I was just a poor student working as a dock recorder. After a chance encounter in a rainstorm, he brought me onto his private yacht. And I stayed for five whole years. Everyone said that block of cold, hard steel had finally softened. For me. He would fly a helicopter across the strait during a typhoon just to bring me a box of cold medicine. Because I casually mentioned “wanting to see snow,” he built an artificial ice and snow palace on a tropical island. Most shocking of all, he married me despite his family’s opposition, even though I had no background. After marriage, he protected me so tightly no one could touch me. In the fourth year of our marriage, San Francisco was hit by a massive mudslide. My brother, a teacher, was buried beneath the rubble. Hayden wasn’t just a tycoon-he was also the sponsor and commander-in-chief of “Blue Shark,” the largest private rescue team in the area. When it happened, he was coincidentally conducting inspections nearby with his elite squad. I frantically called for help. On the other end, his voice was steady and reassuring. “Don’t worry. I’m here. Calvin will be fine.” However, as the golden rescue window ticked away second by second, the rain kept pounding the crumbling ruins. I knelt in the mud, my nails torn, my hands covered in blood, yet the heavy excavators and professional search and rescue team he’d promised never came. Trembling, I called him again. This time the phone rang for a full minute before someone answered. “Hayden! Where are the excavators? Where’s the rescue team?” I was crying. “Calvin’s been buried for three hours. The muddy water is about to fill the pit…” “Vienna, calm down.” On the other end, the background noise wasn’t the chaotic storm and machinery sounds, but an eerie silence. I could faintly hear soft piano music. “The road is blocked. The equipment can’t get through.” His voice was low, with a trace of stiffness. “Wait a little longer. I’m trying to arrange air transport.” “The road is blocked?” A supply truck had just driven past nearby. My heart sank bit by bit. “Hayden, tell me-where exactly are you right now?” “I’m at the dispatch center…” Before he could finish, a sweet, delicate female voice suddenly came through the phone, carrying a coquettish gasp. “Hayden, there’s thunder. I’m scared…” Then came Hayden’s instantly gentle consolation. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here. Put on your headphones and you won’t hear it.” A thunderbolt exploded over my head, shattering my last thread of sanity. That was Grace’s voice. Hayden’s “sister” who was supposedly recovering abroad, who allegedly suffered from severe depression and panic disorder. I quickly opened Grace’s social media account. Her latest post was from ten minutes ago. The location tag showed the safest hillside villa in San Francisco. In the photo, Hayden sat on the carpet by the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a storybook. Outside, rain poured violently, but inside was warm and cozy. The caption read: “On this stormy night, I’m lucky to have you beside me, driving away all my nightmares.” “Hayden.” I said, “You’re not coordinating the rescue. You’re with Grace, aren’t you?” Silence on the other end for a moment, then came his helpless explanation. “Vienna, Grace’s condition relapsed. On thunderstorm nights like this, she self-harms. Your brother is just buried-he’s not in immediate life-threatening danger. The rescue team will arrive shortly. Be reasonable and stop always targeting a sick person.” “Reasonable?” I laughed. “My brother’s life hangs by a thread in muddy water, and you want me to be reasonable? Hayden, in your eyes, is Grace’s fear of thunder more important than my brother’s life?” “Why have you become so unreasonable?” His tone grew impatient. “I told you I’d make arrangements for your brother. Can you please stop being hysterical?” The call was disconnected. I stood in the pouring rain and watched helplessly as a support beam holding up the ruins nearby collapsed with a thunderous crash. The mudslide instantly filled the pit that still had a sliver of space. “Calvin-!!!” I threw myself desperately at that pile of mud, frantically digging with my hands. But it was too late. When the belated firefighters finally arrived and dug him out, that sunny, cheerful boy who always called me “sis” was already cold and stiff, his mouth and nose filled with sludge. The doctor glanced once, then sighed and covered him with a white cloth. “Suffocation lasted too long. If only professional equipment had arrived half an hour earlier… or even twenty minutes earlier to prop up the space, perhaps he could have been saved.” My vision went black, and I completely passed out. When I woke up again, three days had passed. I lay in the hospital bed staring at the ceiling. The nurse was changing my bandages. Looking at the wounds covering my hands, she couldn’t help but sigh. My phone vibrated. It was a message from Hayden. No explanation. No apology. Just a notification that he’d transferred five million. Then a voice message. His tone carried that familiar condescension, that tiredness. “Grace hasn’t been well these past few days. I can’t leave right now. Take the money and fix up your family’s house. The rescue team said they were delayed. Road conditions. The weather. No one could’ve done anything. Stop with the tantrums. I’ll come back when I’m done here.” Listening to that voice message, my stomach churned with nausea. Natural disaster? Road condition delays? In reality, he had personally diverted the helicopter and advance team that should have rescued Calvin, all to comfort Grace. He didn’t even know that Calvin was already gone. I pulled out the IV needle from the back of my hand and walked to the window. On the LED screen downstairs, news about the Hayden Corporation was playing. On camera, Hayden wore a custom-tailored suit, protectively escorting Grace-who wore sunglasses-into a car. When reporters asked about Grace’s condition, his brow furrowed slightly, his eyes full of concern. “She was a bit frightened and needs rest. I hope everyone won’t disturb her.” In that moment, the last ember of warmth in my heart was completely extinguished. I returned to the hospital bed and pulled out my brother’s death certificate from my bag, then dialed my lawyer’s number. “Mr. Chen, this is Vienna. That divorce agreement we drafted before-it can take effect now.” “I don’t want any property division. I just want the fastest way to sever all ties with Hayden.” After hanging up, I removed my SIM card and casually tossed it into the toilet. The water swirled, carrying away all the past. I touched my bare ring finger. The custom diamond ring he’d proposed with, the one that meant “forever,” used to be there. Somewhere in the ruins, that ring was already buried in the mud. Just like Hayden’s love for me. It looked brilliant, but couldn’t survive a single storm. In the end, it could only rot in the mire, never seeing the light again. “Hayden,” I whispered to the empty hospital room. “This time, you destroyed everything yourself.”
Vienna’s POV Calvin’s funeral was hastily arranged. There were no mourners, no proper farewell-just me, sitting alone on the cold hard bench at the funeral home for an entire night. Hayden didn’t come. I heard that Grace had developed a “high fever from excessive fright.” He stayed by her side at the hillside villa without leaving, not even making a single phone call. The moment the funeral ended and I walked out of the cemetery, a sharp pain suddenly tore through my lower abdomen, like someone grinding a dull knife inside. My vision went black. I barely managed to stay upright by holding onto the wall. Using my last bit of strength, I made it to the hospital. After a series of tests, the doctor held my report with a complicated expression. “Ms. Vienna, congratulations. You’re pregnant-six weeks.” “However, your physical condition is very weak. Combined with the previous emotional trauma, there are signs of threatened miscarriage. You must be hospitalized immediately for fetal preservation.” “Pregnant…” How ridiculous. My brother had just died, and my marriage was already dead in name only. This child came at the worst possible time, like a cruel joke from fate. Was it conceived while kneeling in front of those ruins? Or was it heaven’s last bit of compensation, taking pity on me? I walked out of the consultation room. Passing through the VIP waiting area, my footsteps suddenly froze. At the end of the corridor by the floor-to-ceiling window, the man I’d loved for five years stood backlit, carefully holding another woman. Hayden wore an iron-gray handmade suit, his posture straight. But now he was slightly bent over, holding a wet wipe, his movements incredibly gentle. Grace looked up at him, her eyes and brows filled with delicate, timid laughter, letting Hayden carefully wipe away the lipstick smudged at the corner of her mouth. “How can you be so careless? You even smudge your lipstick drinking water.” Hayden’s voice was deep and rich, carrying an indulgence I hadn’t heard in a long time. “There, all clean now.” “Hayden, you’re so good to me.” Grace leaned into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist, her voice sweet and soft. “Without you, I really don’t know what I’d do.” “Silly girl, I’ll always be with you.” Hayden gently patted her back, like comforting a fragile treasure. They stood in the light, a perfect match. And I stood in the dark corner, clutching that crumpled early pregnancy test result, like a clown that couldn’t see daylight. From beginning to end, Hayden never looked back. His heart and eyes were full of Grace in his arms. He didn’t notice me just a few meters away. I couldn’t even feel heartache anymore-just a numb coldness spreading along my spine. I turned and rushed into the nearby bathroom. Turning on the faucet, cold water rushed over my fingers. I looked at myself in the mirror-my eyes utterly lifeless. Just then, the sound of high heels echoed behind me. Grace walked in. She was touching up her makeup in the mirror. When she saw me, that delicate, helpless expression instantly vanished, replaced by undisguised smugness and contempt. “Well, if it isn’t Vienna?” Grace leisurely twisted open a tube of lipstick, carefully applying it while looking in the mirror, smiling carelessly. “You look terrible. Are you sick? Hayden was just outside. Why didn’t you go say hello?” I turned off the faucet and looked at her through the mirror. “Grace, you don’t need to act in front of me.” “Act?” Grace let out a light laugh, then turned to face me, arms crossed, her gaze boldly raking over me. “I’m not acting. Hayden genuinely cares about me. You know what? The doctor just told me my body’s too weak. I need to rest up before I can try to conceive. When Hayden heard that, he panicked. He insisted on bringing me in for a full workup. He was scared something might happen to me.” At this point, Grace leaned closer, lowering her voice, her tone full of malicious provocation. “Vienna, your brother is dead, and you’re about to be kicked out too. Hayden told me he’s been tired of you for a long time. He just hasn’t mentioned divorce because he felt sorry for you. Now I’ve thought it through-I want to give him a child. Once I’m pregnant with the Hayden family heir, do you think the position of Mrs. Hayden will still belong to you?” My hand unconsciously moved to my lower abdomen. There was already a child here. Hayden’s flesh and blood. But looking at that arrogant face before me, then thinking of the man outside who was so tender toward a murderer, I suddenly felt nauseous. “Grace,” I lifted my head. “You’re so eager to climb up-are you afraid Hayden will find out that you deliberately faked illness that day to keep him there, and that you killed my brother?” Grace’s smile froze, then became even more vicious. “Don’t you dare slander me! It was clearly your brother’s bad luck! Vienna, I advise you to know your place and get lost early, before Hayden personally kicks you out. That would be too humiliating.” With that, Grace snorted coldly and walked out triumphantly on her high heels. I stood there, listening to Grace outside resuming that saccharine voice calling “Hayden,” followed by the man’s gentle response and their footsteps fading away. I lowered my head, looking at the test result in my hand. After a long while, I tore that paper into pieces bit by bit and threw it in the trash. Since he didn’t deserve to be a father, this child had nothing to do with him.
Vienna’s POV When I went downstairs, I accidentally lost my footing and fell. Blood flowed from beneath me. The doctor said the baby couldn’t be saved. The doctor seemed reluctant: “After all, this is a life, and your physical condition…” “I don’t want it to come into this world and suffer.” I interrupted the doctor, my voice as light as smoke. “Thank you.” I walked out of the consultation room. I just wanted to escape this suffocating place as quickly as possible. The elevator doors slowly opened. Just as I was about to step in, I froze. Inside the narrow car, Hayden was carefully supporting Grace. The two were intimately positioned, like conjoined twins. Seeing me, a flash of panic crossed Hayden’s eyes. He instinctively released his arm from around Grace. “Vienna? What are you doing here?” He looked at me, his tone urgent: “Where don’t you feel well?” Grace also came closer, her eyes scanning me: “Right, if you’re sick you should speak up. Don’t bear it alone. Hayden was just talking about you, saying you must be exhausted handling the funeral by yourself.” I felt my stomach churn. I sidestepped to avoid their touch: “Stomach discomfort. Just checking. No need to worry.” With that, I retreated to the elevator corner, staring intently at the jumping floor numbers, not wanting to stay a second longer. Hayden looked at me, opening his mouth to say something, but the elevator dinged as it reached the lobby. The catastrophe happened in that instant. As soon as the elevator doors opened, a man in a hospital gown, looking deranged, suddenly rushed over waving a fruit knife. “Nobody move! Don’t anybody move! I want to see the director!!” In the chaos, the man grabbed both me and Grace, who were at the front. The cold blade instantly pressed against my carotid artery. A stinging pain came, and I could even smell the rust on the blade. Grace was only grabbed by the arm-still some distance from the knife. “Help! Hayden, save me!!” Grace let out a scream and struggled desperately. This movement instead provoked the mentally unstable man. “Shut up! Scream again and I’ll kill you both!” The man roared. The knife in his hand trembled uncontrollably, cutting a bloody line on my neck. I bit my lip tightly, not making a sound, my whole body rigid, not daring to move. I knew that struggling now would only make things more dangerous. But Grace acted like she’d gone mad, crying and shrinking toward Hayden: “Hayden! I’m scared! Save me!!” Hayden stood several meters away, his face ashen, his gaze locked on the man. “Let them go! I’ll give you whatever you want!” “I don’t trust you! You’re all liars!” The man became even more agitated, wildly waving the knife, about to lose control. Grace’s screams became even more piercing: “Hayden! He’s going to kill me! Save me now!” In that moment, Hayden’s rationality seemed completely shattered by those screams. He didn’t look at me once. Instead, he charged toward Grace’s side. “Let go!” Hayden grabbed the man’s wrist and forcefully pulled Grace into his arms. “You’re asking for death!” Enraged, the man lost control of the knife in his other hand and slashed forward viciously. I only felt a sharp pain in my arm as blood instantly gushed out. Because of the tremendous force of Hayden snatching Grace away, the unbalanced man gave a hard shove, and I was thrown heavily backward. A dull thud. My lower back slammed hard against the solid marble pillar, then I fell to the ground in a mess. A tearing, sinking pain came from my abdomen. I curled into a ball, cold sweat instantly soaking my back. “Grace! Grace, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” Hayden’s panicked voice sounded in my ears. He held Grace tightly in his arms, nervously checking her up and down, as if the person in his embrace was a fragile treasure. “Hayden, my stomach hurts so much… I’m so scared…” Grace huddled in his arms, trembling, her face streaked with tears-completely unharmed yet crying pitifully. “Don’t be afraid. It’s over now, it’s over.” Hayden scooped her up horizontally, his expression anxious as he rushed toward the emergency room. “Doctor! Get a doctor over here!!” From beginning to end, he never looked back. Never looked at me once. I lay on the cold floor, clutching my agonizing abdomen, watching Hayden’s back as he ran frantically carrying Grace. My vision gradually blurred. That knife had cut my arm, but it felt like it stabbed into my heart, shredding those remaining, ridiculous traces of love to pieces. The noisy voices around me gradually faded. I closed my eyes, a painfully bleak smile forming at the corner of my mouth. Hayden, this time, you made your own choice.
Vienna’s POV I was sent to the wound cleaning room by a nurse. The cut on my arm was deep, flesh torn open, but I didn’t make a sound as the doctor stitched it. Through the wall in the VIP ward, Grace’s tearful voice came through clearly: “Hayden, I was so scared… I thought I’d never see you again…” “It’s okay now. I’m here.” Hayden’s voice was low and gentle. “Did you get hurt anywhere? Let me have the doctor check again?” “No need. As long as you hold me, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” One wall apart, I watched the nurse cut the suture thread. The last bit of feeling in my heart was also cruelly severed. That was my husband. When I was covered in blood, he was holding the culprit, tenderly comforting her. He didn’t even ask “where is she.” When heartache reaches its extreme, it truly becomes numbness. After bandaging the wound, I refused the recommendation to stay for observation and left the hospital alone. I returned to the hillside villa. This was the home I’d shared with Hayden for four years of marriage. But the moment I opened the door, a strange perfume smell hit me in the face, sickly sweet and nauseating. I rushed upstairs. In the master bedroom, the simple curtains I’d carefully selected had been replaced with Grace’s favorite lace pink. The cherished wedding photo at the bedside was gone, replaced by an artistic photo of Grace. The study was even worse-a complete mess. With trembling hands, I pulled open a drawer. This was where I kept my brother’s belongings. My brother’s diary from when he was alive. His award certificates. That broken watch found in the ruins. All of it, gone. In their place were Grace’s fashion magazines and cosmetics, brazenly filling the corner that once belonged to that young man. “Looking for this?” A mocking voice came from the doorway. Grace leaned against the doorframe, holding a black garbage bag like it was something filthy. “Your dead brother’s stuff-I found it unlucky, so I had the servants throw it in the backyard to feed the dogs.” “Grace!!” My rationality completely snapped in that moment. I rushed forward to grab the bag, but Grace dodged sideways. The garbage bag hit the floor with a “smack,” its contents scattering everywhere. The watch shattered into pieces. Grace stepped on my brother’s award certificate and ground it with her foot, a vicious smile curling her lips: “Stop wasting your energy. Hayden said from now on, I’m the mistress of this house. I can throw away whatever I want. Not just this junk-even you will eventually be cleaned out like garbage.” “You’re asking for death!” I raised my hand and slapped Grace hard across the face. Grace’s face snapped to the side from the blow. But instead of fighting back, Grace suddenly grabbed my collar, pulling us both toward the staircase. Then, before I could react, Grace released her grip and shoved me hard! My foot slipped, my body falling backward uncontrollably. As I tumbled down, I instinctively protected my abdomen, but the violent impacts still felt like my organs were being displaced. Bang! I crashed heavily onto the first-floor marble floor. My forehead split open, blood instantly flowing down, my vision a sheet of red. “What’s going on?!” The door was pushed open. Hayden strode into the entrance. He immediately saw me on the floor, face covered in blood, and Grace standing at the top of the stairs, covering her face and “trembling.” The moment Grace saw Hayden, tears burst forth like a dam breaking. She stumbled down and threw herself into Hayden’s arms: “Hayden! She went crazy… I was just trying to help her tidy up the house, and she hit me and tried to push me down the stairs… If I hadn’t grabbed the railing, I’d be the one on the floor now…” Hayden looked at Grace’s swollen face, then at me on the floor. “Vienna! You’re absolutely unreasonable!” He strode over to me, looking down from above. “Grace is already in poor health, and you’d be so vicious toward her? Where has your upbringing gone?” I lay on the floor, my whole body in bone-shattering pain. My lower abdomen sent waves of suffocating, sinking sensations. I struggled to lift my head, looking through blood-blurred eyes at this man: “It was her… she threw away my brother’s belongings… it was her who pushed me…” “Enough!” Hayden cut me off sharply, his face full of disgust. “You’re still lying! Grace wouldn’t even step on an ant-how could she push you? But you-what have you become!” With that, he didn’t even look at the blood pooling beneath me. He turned and scooped up the “frightened” Grace in his arms. “Hayden, my face hurts so much… am I disfigured?” Grace curled in his embrace, crying her eyes out. “You won’t be. I’ll take you to a doctor-the best doctor.” Hayden’s voice instantly became gentle, as if the furious man from moments ago was my hallucination. He strode out the door carrying Grace, leaving me only a resolute, cold back. The villa’s main door stood open. The late autumn wind poured in. I lay on the floor, a pool of glaring blood gradually spreading beneath me.
Vienna’s POV When I opened my eyes again, it was that suffocating white once more. The smell of disinfectant drilled into my nostrils. I moved my fingers and discovered someone was tightly gripping my hand. Hayden sat by the bed, his eyes full of bloodshot veins, his chin sprouting dark stubble. His entire being radiated a decadent, broken feeling. Seeing me awake, the joy in his eyes hadn’t yet fully bloomed before it was drowned by thick guilt and pain. “Vienna, you’re awake…” His voice was hoarse. The hand gripping mine was trembling, his eyes instantly rimming red. “Why…why did you hide it from me? If I’d known you were pregnant, I never would have treated you like that. That was my child too…” I looked at him. I gently pulled my hand back and rubbed it against the sheet. “Tell you?” My voice was hoarse. “When? At the hospital, while you held Grace and wiped her lipstick? At the elevator, while you pushed me toward a knife to save her? Or maybe…when Grace shoved me down the stairs?” Hayden froze. He opened his mouth but couldn’t make a sound. “I…” Hayden awkwardly turned his face away. “I know I wronged you, but I really didn’t know… I’m devastated too. That was the child we’d hoped for for four years.” He paused, then explained: “Besides, Grace didn’t mean it. She was just too frightened, so she accidentally pushed you. You also slapped her-her face is still swollen… Let’s just let this matter go, okay? We’re still young. We can have children later.” Let it go? A human life, plus my brother’s belongings-in his mouth, could all be dismissed with “you also slapped her”? Ridiculous and pathetic. I closed my eyes, not even having the strength to mock: “Get out.” Hayden didn’t leave. Perhaps to make up for the guilt in his heart, over the next few days he set aside all company business and stayed by my hospital room without leaving. Hayden, who had never taken care of anyone, learned to test the temperature of my porridge and feed me himself. He learned to peel apples in one perfect strip. He even had expensive supplements stewed and coaxed me to drink them three times a day. “Vienna, this just arrived from home. The temperature is perfect. Have a sip.” I leaned against the headboard, staring at the withered yellow leaves outside the window. Just then, Hayden’s phone on the bedside table vibrated again. This was already the fifth time today. Hayden glanced at the caller ID, his brow furrowing slightly, but he still answered. “Hayden…” Grace’s weak, tearful voice was especially clear in the quiet hospital room. “I had a nightmare. I dreamed that psycho was chasing me with a knife… I’m so scared. Can you come back and keep me company?” The previous times it was “dizziness,” “wound pain,” “the power went out at home.”The reasons varied wildly, but the goal was only one-she wanted to prove she could summon him away at any time. Hayden glanced at me, somewhat hesitant: “Grace, I’m at the hospital…” “Don’t come! Hayden, save me!” A scream suddenly came through the phone, followed by a crash of things shattering. Hayden’s expression changed drastically. He stood up abruptly: “Grace?! What happened? Don’t be scared, I’ll be right back!” He hung up, hastily set the still-steaming nutritional supplement on the table, and looked at me somewhat flustered: “Vienna, something seems to have happened with Grace. I need to check on her. Eat while it’s hot. I’ll come back after I handle this.” With that, he grabbed his coat and rushed out of the hospital room like the wind, not even waiting for my response. The door swung shut, bringing in a gust of cold air. I slowly turned my head and looked at the bowl of soup on the table, growing cold. It was always like this. The moment Grace crooked her finger, his guilt, his promises, his vows all became a joke. Gone in an instant. I picked up the bowl and poured it into the trash. Cold food, I don’t eat. Dirty men, I don’t want either
Vienna’s POV On discharge day, the sky was terribly overcast, much like my current mood. My phone vibrated. It was an automated text from the marriage registration system: [Your divorce application has been successfully submitted.] Looking at that message, I even found it somewhat ironic. Four years of marriage, ending so quickly. I didn’t hesitate. I opened the ticket booking app and purchased a one-way ticket to Manhattan for a month from now. The timing was perfect-the early morning of the day after the divorce would be finalized. This time, I was truly leaving. Clean and thorough, leaving no retreat. Dragging simple luggage back to the villa, I just wanted to pack the last of my personal belongings and take them with me. However, the moment I pushed open the door, that familiar suffocating feeling hit me again. The living room was brightly lit. Grace, wearing a silk robe, was directing servants to change the carpet colors like a mistress of the house. Hayden sat on the nearby sofa reviewing documents. Though fatigue showed on his face, he didn’t stop Grace from ordering everyone around. When she saw me enter, Grace froze for a moment. Then she immediately put on a timid look and scurried behind Hayden in small steps, hiding like a mouse that had spotted a cat. “You’re back.” Hayden set down the documents. Seeing me, a trace of concern flashed in his eyes. He instinctively stood to help me. “Vienna, why didn’t you call me to pick you up from the hospital? Are you feeling better?” I sidestepped his hand and headed upstairs. “No need. I’m just back to pack my things.” “Pack your things?” Hayden’s expression darkened. “Where are you going? This is your home. How long are you going to keep this up?” “Home?” My steps paused slightly. Looking at Grace in her robe, I smiled. “Since another woman lives here, this isn’t my home.” “Don’t misunderstand…” Grace suddenly emerged from behind Hayden, her eyes red-rimmed, looking like she’d suffered great injustice but still had to consider the bigger picture. “I know I was wrong before. I shouldn’t have touched your brother’s belongings, and I shouldn’t have accidentally pushed you… I’ve felt terrible about it these days. I’ve been staying in the guest room, waiting for you to come back so I could apologize to you in person.” As she spoke, she observed Hayden’s expression. “Hayden told me it’s your birthday at the end of the month. I thought, to express my apology, why don’t I organize a big, lively birthday party for you at the villa? How about that?” Grace stepped forward and continued. “I’ll invite all of Hayden’s circle of friends. That way, I can formally apologize to you in front of everyone and help you calm down.” A birthday party? An apology? I found it absurd. How could someone like Grace ever sincerely apologize? She just wanted to use the birthday party as an excuse to assert her dominance in front of everyone again, or she was plotting some nasty scheme to humiliate me. “Not interested.” After saying this, I lifted my foot to leave. “Vienna!” But Hayden called out to me, his tone carrying helplessness and persuasion. “Grace means well. She knows she was wrong and has been trying to make amends these past few days. Your birthday is coming up. Everyone gathering together, having fun, clearing up past misunderstandings-wouldn’t that be good?” He paused, walked a few steps closer, his voice low. “Besides, I want to give you a proper birthday. Too much has happened recently. We both need a fresh start.” Looking at the man’s matter-of-fact expression before me, I only felt my stomach churn. A chance? Where was there any chance left between us? In another month, we’d be strangers. I really wanted to throw that divorce application in his face, wanted to loudly tell him Grace’s true nature. But seeing the provocative gleam in Grace’s eyes, and then Hayden’s attitude, I suddenly felt exhausted. If I refused now or made a scene, Hayden would just call me “unreasonable” again. “Petty.” Then came the endless arguments, the dragging on. Only a month left. I didn’t want to waste my last days on fights that didn’t matter. “Do whatever you want.” I lowered my eyes. “I’ll show up. That’s it.” With that, I didn’t spare them another glance. I went straight upstairs and closed the door. From downstairs came Grace’s delighted squeal. “Wonderful, Hayden! She’s finally willing to forgive me! I’m going to make this party absolutely spectacular!” I leaned against the door, listening to that grating laughter, and slowly closed my eyes. Go ahead and plan it. Consider it the final act of this absurd marriage.
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