Category: English

Author’s Note: As far back as I can remember, my mother spoiled me rotten while being incredibly strict with my sister. She bought me the prettiest dresses and enrolled my sister in the most expensive SAT prep classes. She told me I was going to be a star and didn’t need to waste time on useless things like studying. But behind my back, she told my sister: “You need to study hard so you can make something of yourself. Your sister is just a pretty idiot. She’ll spend her whole life in the palm of my hand, making money for me.” When I was little, the media called me a prodigy child star. Surely, I couldn’t be that much of an idiot, right? 01 My entire childhood was spent bouncing between movie sets and commercial shoots. Later on, the acting gigs gradually dried up. In high school, I finally returned to a normal campus. The moment I walked into the classroom, a lot of people recognized me. “Isn’t that Chloe Sterling? She was in all those shows.” “She’s even prettier in person than on TV.” After briefly introducing myself to my new classmates, I walked over to the empty seat next to Maya Sterling and sat down. I whispered to her, “I’m really behind on the basics. Please help me out.” A girl sitting nearby chimed in, “You guys know each other?” I smiled, my eyes crinkling. “Maya and I are twin sisters.” “But you guys don’t look alike at all! You’re so gorgeous, and Maya is…” Maya’s face instantly darkened. I quickly cut the girl off. “Maya gets amazing grades.” Growing up, whenever our relatives praised my looks, Mom would casually mention how Maya had just passed another advanced piano exam or scored top marks in English. She’d talk about her ranking in the latest mock exams. Maya worked so hard to be excellent. But in our relatives’ eyes, I was just a beautiful, useless vase. No one really liked me. Some relatives even felt bad for Maya. At family dinners, they would pull Mom aside and whisper, “You should stop playing favorites and treat Maya better. If you ask me, when you get old, she’s the only one you’ll be able to rely on.” Whenever that happened, Mom would smooth things over with a smile. “I can rely on both of my daughters.” 02 Maya could never hold her head high around me. That is, until I scored dead last on a pop quiz. The smugness in her eyes was impossible to hide. When we got home from school, she practically shoved her report card into Mom’s hands. “Mom, I made it into the top five of the class this time! I moved up again.” Mom took the report card, a proud smile spreading across her face. “Not bad at all. Keep working hard, aim for first place.” Maya shot me a sideways glance. “Didn’t my sister get first place this time?” Mom looked up at me in surprise. Maya smirked. “First place from the bottom, that is.” Mom’s expression instantly relaxed. “It doesn’t matter if her grades are bad. Your sister isn’t going to take the academic route anyway.” The smile froze on Maya’s face, and tears welled up in her eyes. “If I had scored dead last, you would have chased me around the house with a belt! Why do you play favorites with her?!” Mom quickly snapped, “Shut up! Are you and your sister the same?” Unable to hold them back, the tears spilled down Maya’s cheeks. She grabbed her backpack, stormed into her room, and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Mom sighed. “Ignore her. Go wash your hands for dinner.” At the dinner table, Mom kept putting my favorite foods onto my plate. “Chloe, sweetie, you’re going to be a star. It doesn’t matter if your grades aren’t great. “If you ever feel unhappy at school, Mom will write you an excuse note and you can take a trip somewhere to relax.” The way Mom treated me versus Maya was completely different. But for some reason, it always left a lingering unease in the bottom of my heart. 03 That night, I stepped out of my room to get a glass of water and saw Mom carrying a bowl of soup into Maya’s room. The door was left slightly ajar, and their voices drifted out into the hallway. “Mom, you’re too biased! Why do you treat Chloe so well? You never yell at her. “She’s just a little prettier and makes a little money, so what? “She’s just built on makeup and styling. If you had sent me to auditions when we were little…” “Do you think being paraded around on camera since childhood is a good thing?” Mom interrupted her, poking Maya’s forehead with her index finger. “Do you have a conscience? I took every cent she made from acting to pay for your elite tutoring.” Maya sniffled. “But you buy her such expensive dresses, and I get nothing.” “What do those things mean in the long run? They just turn girls into empty vases,” Mom sneered. “A dress costs a few hundred bucks. The tutoring I’ve paid for over the years has cost hundreds of thousands.” Maya went silent. Mom took a tissue and gently wiped the tear tracks from Maya’s face. “Maya, remember this. You are the only treasure I am truly cultivating. “You need to study hard so you can make something of yourself. “A pretty idiot like your sister will spend her whole life in the palm of my hand, working just to make me money…” Hearing Mom call me an idiot, Maya finally smiled. She picked up the soup from her nightstand and took a sip. “Don’t worry, Mom. I promise I’ll study hard. One day, I’ll step right over Chloe.” Mom nodded, smiling as she stroked Maya’s hair. Standing frozen in the hallway, a dense, prickling pain stung my chest. Everyone thought Mom favored me. When we were little, she bought me beautiful clothes and expensive toys. Maya had to earn her rewards through grueling studying. I always got things effortlessly. But deep down, I always knew she favored Maya. When I was on set, it was always just my agent keeping me company. Meanwhile, Mom was busy shuttling Maya back and forth between elite tutoring centers. Unlike how she treated Maya, she never scolded me. She never disciplined me. She seemed to spoil me to the core. It turned out, she was trying to raise me to be useless. She wanted to raise an empty-headed, beautiful idiot. A girl who would willingly stay by her side forever, acting as her personal golden goose. She remembered every single academic achievement Maya ever earned. But she forgot that the media once called me a prodigy child star. I was never an idiot. 04 The next day, we had an AP US History pop quiz. When the tests were handed back, I got a 50. An F. Maya looked at my paper and frowned. “How did you suddenly score this high? Did you cheat off me during the test?” She didn’t lower her voice, and our classmates turned to look at us. “No way. Did Chloe really cheat?” “She used to get like 20s on every subject. Today’s test was super hard, and she got a 50? Definitely cheated.” “Chloe just has a pretty face. Maya is way better than her.” The teacher, who was handing out the rest of the papers, heard the whispers and looked over. “Who cheated?” I didn’t say a word. He walked over to my desk and scrutinized my paper. “There is an issue with your test, Chloe. You either left the short-answer questions entirely blank, or what you wrote matches the textbook word-for-word. Did you copy from the book?” “I didn’t,” I said, pursing my lips. “I memorized a few chapters of the textbook last night.” “Then recite it for me right now. Let’s hear it.” I closed my eyes and began reciting from Chapter One, word for word, without missing a single syllable. The classroom fell dead silent. After a good while, the teacher interrupted me. “You memorized the first five chapters of the textbook in a single night?” I nodded. “I have a good memory. I used to memorize an entire script in one night.” The teacher patted my shoulder. “Learning isn’t just about memory; it’s about mastering study methods. Keep working hard, and aim for a passing grade next time.” As the teacher turned away, the students around me started whispering. “Chloe is actually kind of amazing.” “Anyone can memorize a book.” “Oh yeah? You try reciting five chapters of a history textbook word-for-word in one night.” Maya narrowed her eyes, studying me suspiciously. “Why the sudden interest in studying?” I offered a small smile. “I just read it casually. Studying doesn’t seem that hard.” Maya scoffed coldly. “Studying isn’t just about memorizing.” 05 The moment we got home, Maya told Mom about the history test. “Why the sudden interest in books?” Mom asked. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I just memorized a few chapters.” Mom seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and gently coaxed me. “Acting is already so exhausting for you. Why waste your time studying those things?” “But getting into a good film school still requires a decent GPA.” The smile on Mom’s lips stiffened. I forced a wry smile. “Forget it. My foundation is so bad, I probably couldn’t get into a film school anyway.” Mom quickly comforted me. “Chloe, you have so much acting experience! Even if you don’t go to film school, you’ll still get plenty of roles.” I began to understand. In Mom’s eyes, I was supposed to be a compliant idiot. If I showed even the slightest hint of an independent thought that she couldn’t control… She would snuff it out immediately. If I wanted to genuinely study, she definitely wouldn’t allow it. That night, I lay in bed scrolling through Reddit. I stumbled upon a thread titled: [How do I secretly study without the toxic people in my life finding out?] The comments offered tons of methods. Importing study materials into a fiction reading app. Listening to Spanish vocabulary audio disguised as a Spotify playlist. Finding a straight-A student to tutor you, and if you get caught, just say you’re secretly dating… I had to admire the creativity of the internet. I opened my iMessage contacts. I scrolled down to the only genius I knew: Liam Harrison. He was a year older than me, and both his parents were university professors. He was brilliant—already accepted into MIT on a full-ride during his junior year. We had co-starred in a few shows when we were kids, so we knew each other well. I asked him to tutor me, and he agreed. More accurately, he agreed after I sent him a childhood photo of him peeing his pants out of fear of a horse on set. 06 That weekend, I met him at a cafe. I arrived early and ordered coffee and pastries. When Liam walked in, he looked incredibly impatient. He wore cargo pants and a plain white tee, with black headphones resting around his neck. It made his pale skin stand out even more. The boy had grown up quite a bit. His features were sharper, his gaze aloof. He looked like the kind of guy who wasn’t easy to get along with. He sat down across from me, raising an eyebrow. “Chloe, are you okay? Since when do you want to study?” I lowered my eyes. “Because I don’t want to be controlled by someone else for the rest of my life… I want to break free, and my brain can’t be completely empty.” He stared at me for a moment, then didn’t ask any more questions. He dropped the mocking smirk. And started helping me rebuild my academic foundation from scratch. My foundation was truly terrible. Liam tutored me while constantly having to take deep breaths to keep his patience. We had to review math concepts all the way back to elementary school. When the session was over, I asked him, “Is there any way to keep people from noticing that my grades are improving?” He scoffed. “You have so much room for improvement, it’d be hard not to notice.” “But at my level, I can’t exactly control my score perfectly.” Liam thought for a moment. “How about you try getting a flat zero?” “A zero?” “When I was a kid, I was super rebellious. My parents realized forcing me to study wasn’t working, so they challenged me to get a zero. They said if I could score a perfect zero, they’d leave me alone.” “What’s so hard about getting a zero?” “You can’t leave any questions blank, and you have to get a zero in every subject.” Liam lifted his eyes to look at me. “I found out that no matter how randomly I guessed, I could never hit absolute zero. I realized that the only way to score exactly zero is if you know the correct answer to every single question, so you can perfectly avoid them all. “After I finally scored that zero, my parents backed off and congratulated me on mastering self-directed learning. “Crafty old foxes.” Listening to Liam complain about his parents… I suddenly felt very envious of him. 07 I took Liam’s advice and started working toward scoring a zero. The lower my score, the greater my actual progress. At first, Maya and Mom were wary of my newfound “studying” habit. But when they saw that no matter how hard I tried, my scores remained at the absolute bottom of the class, they gradually let their guard down. Eventually, I didn’t even have to hide my books from them anymore. In their eyes, I was a confirmed idiot. No matter how many books I read, the knowledge just wouldn’t enter my brain. I paid close attention in class, filled out every single answer on the tests… And yet, my scores kept dropping lower and lower. In their eyes, I was no longer a threat. Maya even started giving me unsolicited advice. “Sister, just give it up. Studying requires natural talent.” A disdainful smirk played on her lips. Her sense of superiority was impossible to hide. I sighed deeply. “You’re right. Studying is just too hard.” I rubbed my temples. Who knew? Trying to score a perfect zero is incredibly exhausting! 08 That evening, I was studying in my bedroom. Mom walked in holding a bowl of bird’s nest soup. “Chloe, why waste so much time reading?” “The harder it is, the more I want to try.” I looked up at her. “Did you need me for something, Mom?” “I really think you’re better suited for acting. There’s a movie that wants you for the second female lead, and the paycheck is huge.” I was currently a senior in high school, and my study load was massive. I didn’t want to take any acting roles, but I knew I couldn’t refuse outright. I replied mildly, “I’ll look at the script when I have time.” Mom smiled. “I’ll have them email it to you in a bit.” Not long after, the script arrived in my inbox. The moment I saw the director’s name, I had a bad feeling. Director Vance had a notoriously sleazy reputation in the industry. He was known for tricking young actresses into filming R-rated, highly explicit scenes. He would verbally promise to edit them out in post-production, only to leave them completely intact in the final cut. When the deceived actresses complained after the premiere, they would just get cyberbullied and called hypocrites. The script Vance’s team sent me was written very vaguely. You couldn’t tell there was anything wrong with the scenes at all. However, the proposed salary at the bottom of the email was several times higher than what I usually made. Did Mom seriously not suspect anything was wrong? I closed the email, moved my mouse, and clicked on an email Liam had sent me. It contained the AP review notes compiled by his straight-A roommate. Final exams were coming up soon. Anyone who made the top five in the school was practically guaranteed a spot at an Ivy League university. During the holidays, the top students would even get a sponsored trip to visit Harvard and MIT. Mom cared deeply about this opportunity. She desperately wanted Maya to place in the top five. Maya spent every single second of her free time in tutoring. Every day, she had to take a handful of brain-boosting supplements and stimulants. She often studied until two or three in the morning. Ever since Maya started high school, Mom’s need for control had grown increasingly suffocating. If Maya slacked off even a little, she would be severely reprimanded. Maya never got a moment to breathe at home. Because of this, she frequently fell asleep during classes at school. Whenever her grades slipped even a fraction… Mom blamed it on her not working hard enough, and became even stricter. As an actress, observing subtle emotional shifts is basic training. Mom didn’t notice it. But resentment was already brewing in Maya’s eyes. After one class, the teacher left an entire whiteboard full of key concepts. Once the teacher left, many students simply took out their phones and snapped pictures of the board. I also took out my phone to take a picture. “Chloe, is that the newest iPhone?” “That model is super expensive, it’s like over a thousand bucks.” “Can I see it?” I finished taking the picture and handed my phone to them. When it came to material things, Mom never skimped on me. I used to think it was because she knew acting was hard work and wanted to compensate me. Now I realized, she was trying to raise me into someone who only cared about material desires—a superficial shell with no independent thoughts. Just then, someone chimed in. “Are you two really sisters? Chloe has the newest iPhone, and Maya is still using an ancient flip phone.” Maya, sitting next to me, instantly froze while taking notes. Her pen halted, leaving a dark ink blot on the paper. She muttered, “What’s the big deal about a phone? It just distracts you from studying.” I remembered how embarrassed Maya was about using a flip phone. She had begged for a smartphone for ages. She repeatedly promised it wouldn’t affect her studies. But no matter how much she pleaded, Mom absolutely refused. 09 Not long after, the results of our final mock exam before finals were posted. I stared at the bulletin board. My fingertips trembled with excitement. My score was— Dead last in the school. A perfect zero. I had finally done it. After more than two years of grueling effort, I had actually done it. But the only person I could share this joy with was Liam. I took a picture of the bulletin board and sent it to him. Liam replied instantly: [Congratulations.] I smiled and texted back: [I finally did it.] He asked: [What’s your actual level at right now?] [I took two past AP exams for practice. I can definitely hit the cutoff for top-tier universities.] Liam sent a sticker of someone patting a dog’s head: [Keep it up. Try to become my underclassman at MIT.] I sent back a laughing sticker: [Liam, I still prefer being your older sister.] When we were little, I was taller than him, and he followed me around calling me “big sister” for a long time. But once he found out I was a year younger than him, he never said it again. He sent back two exclamation marks. [Chloe, I am a year older than you! And I’m taller! By a lot!!!!] Suddenly, my homeroom teacher’s voice sounded behind me. “Chloe, come to my office.”

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I am deaf. Whenever people gossiped about Declan Cross’s endless affairs, I would just turn off my hearing aids. As long as he told me nothing happened, I believed him. Until I brought him lunch at the office and saw his newly hired assistant straddling his lap. Her body was soft, her eyes seductive: “Declan, isn’t it bad if I eat all the food your wife made for you?” His familiar voice was low and hoarse: “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a meal.” Later, he spent twenty million dollars at a charity auction just for the chance to have dinner with me. But I didn’t want it anymore. 1 “I’m telling you guys, absolutely no one is allowed into Mr. Cross’s office this afternoon.” The executive secretary finished speaking and winked at the other assistants in the bullpen. “I don’t know what kind of background this new girl, Blair Kensington, has. She just got hired as his personal assistant, and now she’s getting really personal.” “You don’t know her? She’s the heiress to the Kensington Group! Their only daughter. She gets whatever she wants. If you ask me, the current Mrs. Cross is probably going to be…” She made a slashing motion across her neck. “The current Mrs. Cross has no money, no background, and she’s deaf. If it weren’t for their shared history, he would have divorced her ages ago, right?” The mocking voices drifted into my ears. This time, I hadn’t turned off my hearing aids. Declan and I had our honeymoon phase too. Back then, no one thought we would make it. Accurately speaking, no one thought I would make it. I had no prestigious family background, and I was deaf. Standing next to the golden boy, Declan Cross, I looked completely out of place. But whenever we walked together, Declan would hold me tight, refusing to let go. He wanted to bring me to work with him every single day. His rich friends teased him, his employees catered to me, and everyone respectfully called me Mrs. Cross. Unfortunately, good things never last. I don’t know exactly when he changed. Maybe it was the first time he worked late and didn’t come home. Maybe it was the first time he went clubbing with his boys and didn’t tell me. Or maybe it was the first time he forgot our anniversary. People often maliciously reminded me, dropping hints that Declan’s new mistresses looked a lot like me. Whenever that happened, I would just turn off my hearing aids. When we got married, Declan told me that everyone in his elite circle was driven by hidden agendas. He said I shouldn’t believe a word they say. I took that to heart. I smiled and asked him, “Then who can I believe?” He said, “Harper. You can always trust me.” So, I would ask him if the rumors were true. He would say, “No.” And I believed him. I would ask him, “Do you still love me?” He would say, “Yes.” He didn’t know there was one sentence I never said out loud: If you ever stop loving me, I will leave. I will never beg you to stay. Declan was a notorious playboy, famous for his wandering eye. I was the only one stupid enough to believe he would never do anything to betray me. But Declan remained exactly who he was. The people around him started treating me worse and worse. His friends joked that I was a desperate cling-on, and his employees stopped giving me any respect. Listening to the secretaries gossip, a dull ache throbbed in my chest. I thought I didn’t care anymore. “Ahem! Stop talking!” A sharp-eyed secretary spotted me. She plastered on a fake, corporate smile: “Mrs. Cross, you can just leave the lunchbox here. Mr. Cross is in a meeting right now. It’s not a good time.” I dodged her outstretched hand. “Is that so? Then I really need to see what kind of crisis is keeping him from eating his lunch.” 2 “You can’t!” The secretary who had just been trash-talking me blocked the hallway doors. “Mrs. Cross, without Mr. Cross’s explicit permission, I cannot let you in.” A fleeting look of mockery flashed in her eyes. I smiled, glanced at her name tag, and said firmly: “I am going in.” Normally, if a secretary said that, I would just turn around and leave. But today was different. Just as I was leaving the house with the lunchbox, I received a package from Blair Kensington. An envelope containing an ultrasound report that pushed me straight into the abyss. The secretary had no intention of moving. “I’ll say it one more time. I am going in.” She bit her lip and looked down, refusing to budge. I laughed. It seemed that because Declan no longer loved me, even a secretary felt she could walk all over me. “You’re fired.” Hearing that, she finally panicked. Her eyes went wide, and she stuttered: “Y-You! I work for Mr. Cross! What gives you the right to fire me?!” I didn’t waste my breath. I called the HR Director. The very first time Declan brought me to the company, he stood in front of all the senior executives and said: “My wife’s word is my word.” I just never used that privilege. Until now. The HR Director acted fast, coming up personally to escort her out. Before she left, the secretary glared at me furiously: “You can’t even keep your own husband in check, and you’re throwing your weight around with me?!” “Just wait until Miss Kensington becomes the new Mrs. Cross! I’ll be back!” The HR Director looked at my face awkwardly. “Mrs. Cross, please don’t be angry…” I wasn’t angry. I just felt pathetic. “Mrs. Cross” was just a title, and Declan had made it clear it was no longer exclusive to me. Since when had I become so worthless in the eyes of a secretary? I looked her dead in the eye: “She’s right. So, while I still have a little power left, get the hell out.” That was the first time I ever lost my temper in front of the staff. No one dared to breathe. No one dared to stop me. Declan’s office was massive. As I walked down the corridor, a wave of melancholy washed over me. I had designed and decorated this place with him. Declan had insisted on installing a hidden, private rest suite with a shower in the back. He had rested his chin on my shoulder, biting my earlobe: “Harper, I want to leave traces of our love in every single corner of this room…” He spoke shamelessly, and he delivered. To the point where every time I visited the office, he would drag me into that hidden room. Now, I stood in front of that very door, listening to the murmurs inside. “Ah~ Declan…” The girl’s voice was coquettish. “Declan, isn’t it bad if I eat all the food your wife made for you?” His familiar voice was low and hoarse: “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a meal.” Just a meal. I didn’t have many talents, but my one skill was cooking. Declan loved my food. He begged me to make him lunches. He knew I always dreamed of opening my own high-end restaurant. But he always told me to wait a little longer. My heart felt like it had been beaten with a baseball bat. My icy hand pressed the door handle. The door opened. Blair Kensington was straddling his lap. Hearing the sound, she shrieked and buried her face in Declan’s chest. A guilty, unnatural flush spread across Declan’s face. “Who told you to come in?!” The moment he saw it was me, the frown on his face froze. His eyes went wide. 3 In a split second, he grabbed his suit jacket and wrapped it tightly around the girl, covering her completely. It was a deeply protective gesture. A storm of uncontrollable emotions raged in his eyes. The heavy, sickeningly sweet scent of perfume solidified in the air. The atmosphere was suffocating. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and spat out two words: “Get out!” I didn’t know how I managed to control my body, but I took a step forward. I walked over to the mahogany desk. I set the lunchbox down. “Do you have anything else you want to say, Declan?” The veins on his forehead bulged. He bit his lip. His beautiful eyes looked like they were covered in a layer of fog. Declan bit his lip until it bled, finally regaining a shred of clarity. The scene was incredibly ugly. When had Declan ever looked this pathetic in front of me? His voice was laced with fury. He enunciated every word: “Get. Out. Now.” I didn’t linger. “Okay. Whenever you’re free, Mr. Cross, we can have a proper talk.” I closed the door behind me. My crushed heart shattered into a million pieces on the floor. I could never pick it back up. From inside, I heard a loud CRASH. Declan had smashed a glass against the wall. Before I left, I caught Blair shooting me a triumphant, mocking look. But I didn’t care anymore. I was tired. I just wanted to leave this place. Fast. As far away as possible. Unable to wait for the elevator, I ran down the stairs like a madwoman. My heart was in agony, tears blinding my vision. I missed a step and tumbled forward. “Are you alright?” A deep voice came from above me. A strong, firm hand gripped my waist. “I’m fine. Thank you.” I quickly stood up, turning my head to wipe away my tears so I wouldn’t look completely humiliated. I took a deep breath to compose myself. I looked up to see a man in a bespoke black suit, bending down to pick up my purse. His long legs bent slightly, the fabric pulling taut over his lean, muscular waist. His proportions were perfect, incredibly striking. It was Asher Pierce, currently the biggest corporate partner of Cross Industries. “Declan… he’s a bit tied up right now. You might want to reschedule, Mr. Pierce.” He smirked, raising a slashed eyebrow: “Who said I was here to see him?” 4 Seeing my confusion, Asher leaned forward and handed me my purse. The ultrasound report Blair had sent me had spilled out onto the floor along with it. A family scandal is meant to be kept private, yet he had seen everything. I was so embarrassed I didn’t know what to say. “Miss Harper, it seems you’ve run into a bit of a problem. My firm just happens to have an excellent legal department. Would you do me the honor of letting me help?” I really did need a specialized divorce attorney, and Asher Pierce’s firm was one of the top in the country. I just hesitated because of his business partnership with Declan. And the sheer awkwardness of the moment. Seeing my hesitation, Asher let out a soft chuckle. It was short, but it contained no mockery or negativity. “My dad was hospitalized a few days ago. The doctors said his diet has been fantastic lately thanks to your meal plans. “When you have time, I was hoping you could customize a new menu for him based on his current condition. “You don’t need to worry about my relationship with Declan. In my eyes, my father’s health is worth a hell of a lot more than money. So, Miss Harper, treat it as a favor to me, okay?” When Declan and I first got married, his startup was struggling. Because I loved cooking and dreamed of opening a restaurant, I got certified as a professional chef and a licensed nutritionist. I won over many of his early clients meal by meal. Especially the wealthy ones, who value their health above all else. My connection with Asher Pierce started because I designed a specialized diet plan for his parents. Asher was impeccable. His eyes were sincere, and I had no reason to refuse. “Then, thank you.” When I returned to our penthouse, Declan wasn’t home. I started packing my things. The apartment was new, all the furniture was new. I was the only thing that was old. I hadn’t noticed before, but I actually owned very little here. Two suitcases were enough to pack my entire life. While cleaning out a drawer, I found the “Couples Journal” Declan and I used to keep. My half of the journal was much thicker than his. He had stopped writing in it shortly after we got married, while I had kept it going until recently. I remembered back in high school, I was always stuck on the final, hardest math problem. I would write the word “Solution” and then just stare blankly at the equation. Declan had smiled, his face radiant: “Let me guess whose little idiot doesn’t know how to solve this and is too stubborn to ask me?” I flipped to the very last page and picked up a pen: [Declan Cross is a math problem I can never solve. No matter how many times I write ‘Solution’, I will never get any points.] Declan didn’t come home that night. I sat on the floor, flipping through his old journal entries. The further back I read, the more he loved me. 5 Declan was angry. I didn’t return his calls or texts. I moved back to the old, small house my mother had left me. I asked his secretary and found out he had flown to Paris for a “business trip.” A notification popped up on my phone. It was an Instagram post from Blair. A picture of her and Declan feeding pigeons in front of the Eiffel Tower. Compared to explicit photos, this kind of sweet, domestic intimacy was a dull knife carving out my heart. I understood what she was trying to do, but she wasn’t a very smart player. Because in my relationship with Declan, she was too low-class to even register. She wanted to win, she wanted the prize, but I didn’t want to play anymore. So, I easily tapped the ‘Like’ button. I refreshed the page, and the post was gone. I don’t know if Declan saw my ‘Like’ and made her delete it. It didn’t matter anymore. Asher’s efficiency was terrifying. We finalized the divorce settlement terms that very day. The documents were delivered to me the next morning. Declan called me, his voice accusatory: “Where are you? Why aren’t you home?” “I moved out. I’m never going back. Let me know when you return to the States so we can meet up.” The line went quiet for a moment. Suddenly, Declan scoffed. “Harper, you’re making a massive deal out of nothing.” “Now, get your ass home immediately, or don’t bother coming back ever!” He hung up, just like he did every time we fought. Waiting for me to go coax him back. I didn’t go back that night. Declan blocked my number and my social media. Then, he posted a picture of himself at a club, with an arm around two different models. I saw it on my burner account. Declan was always like this. If he didn’t want to communicate, he would force me to go find him over and over again. To prevent completely losing track of him, I had added his friends on burner accounts. [Hahaha! Tonight’s tab is on Mr. Cross!] [Declan, fighting with the wife again?] [Place your bets! Let’s see how many days Harper can last before she comes crawling back to Declan!] [I give her one day!] The group chat was buzzing. Declan’s best friend even set up a literal betting pool. I clicked into it and placed my bet on: [Breakup/Divorce]. After all, they had made money off me for years with these bets. It was time I won some of it back. The VIP Club was owned by Declan’s best friend. Members only. Hearing I was there, he immediately alerted the VIP room. Before I even opened the door, I could hear the voices inside. “Hahahaha, I told you! She couldn’t even last a day!” “Knew she’d rush over the second she heard you were at the club.” “Pay up, pay up!” I pushed the door open, ignoring their mocking gazes. I walked straight up to Declan. He raised his whiskey glass, smiling smugly, and patted the empty seat next to him. “Finish this drink, and I’ll take you home.” “Ooooh~” The crowd jeered. “No need.” I pulled the divorce papers from my bag and handed them to him. “Read this over. Make sure there are no issues. Sign it, and I’ll leave.” Declan’s eyes swept over the words ‘Divorce Agreement’. His voice dripped with ice. He slammed the papers onto the table: “Harper, what the hell is this?” 6 Everyone in the room was a socialite shark. Seeing the tension, the guy singing put down the mic, and the loudmouths shut up. Even the thumping background music was muted. Everyone sat frozen, terrified to make a sound. Except for Asher Pierce, sitting in the shadowy corner, leisurely taking a sip of his red wine. The atmosphere was suffocatingly tense. I stared at the large, bold word “DIVORCE” on the document. I spoke calmly: “Exactly what it says.” “Declan, we’re getting a divorce.” You could hear a pin drop in the room. My voice was crystal clear. I heard someone gasp. In the past, Declan was always the one using breakups or divorce to manipulate me. Every single time, I was the one who bowed my head, apologized, and begged for reconciliation. This was the first time I had ever initiated a divorce. Declan’s face was terrifyingly dark, his jaw clenched, his jawline sharp enough to cut glass. “Declan, it must be because I ate the food Harper made for you. She’s mad.” Blair Kensington leaned in close to him, her eyes downcast, looking incredibly pitiful: “Let me apologize to her for you, okay?” Blair was wearing a very loose, flowing dress, clearly to accommodate her pregnancy. She deflected the main issue, playing the victim perfectly. She calculated that because I was a dignified woman, I wouldn’t publicly air out her dirty laundry and humiliate everyone in the room. Declan’s best friend jumped in to smooth things over: “Come on, Harper. You two have been through hell and back for years. Are you really going to throw a fit over a lunchbox?” “Yeah, just take the papers back…” I laughed. It had been like this for years. They were all Declan’s friends. They always spoke up for him. They covered for him, and they told me that since I was Mrs. Cross, I needed to be “magnanimous” and “forgiving.” “Don’t try to talk her out of it.” Declan leaned back aggressively into the leather sofa. “I want to see what kind of stunt she thinks she’s pulling!” He glared at me intensely: “Harper, this trick doesn’t work on me.” “Take these papers and leave right now, and I can pretend none of this happened.” 7 I took a deep breath: “Declan, I’m not pulling a stunt.” “I’m completely serious. Let’s get a divorce.” Declan stared at me, his eyes burning into mine, but he didn’t move. Dark emotions swirled in his eyes. After a long pause, a low chuckle came from the corner of the room: “Mr. Cross really is just like the rumors say—deeply in love with his wife!” “You act like a playboy on the outside, but deep down, you’re terrified she’ll actually leave you, aren’t you?” Asher Pierce swirled the wine in his glass with his long, pale fingers. He stepped out of the shadows, looking like a noble, centuries-old vampire. “What a wonderful, devoted husband!” The moment the words left his mouth, Declan exploded: “Bullshit!” Declan yanked the cap off a pen, ready to sign. His best friend grabbed his arm. “Declan! Wake up! Don’t do something stupid!” Declan had a volatile temper. In moments like this, the more people tried to stop him, the more rebellious he became. With a swift stroke of the pen, his signature was on the paper. “Harper, don’t you dare come crying to me begging to get back together!” Seeing him sign, Blair couldn’t suppress the triumphant smirk on her face. Only after signing did Declan remember to actually read the terms. He fully expected me to be greedy and demand half his empire. When he saw that I only asked for the profits from the specific projects I had personally secured for him, he frowned. He felt uncomfortable, but he didn’t know why. Soon, that fleeting emotion was replaced by arrogance. He scoffed: “Harper, you’re really taking this act all the way, aren’t you?” “Trying to draw a clean line with me?” “If you walk away with this little money after being Mrs. Cross for years, people will say I’m cheap.” “Tell you what, I’ll throw in the villa we lived in.” Anyone could hear the heavy mockery in his voice. I curled my lips into a smile and gave him a slow clap: “Since Mr. Cross is feeling so generous, I have a big gift for you too.” 8 I pulled Blair’s ultrasound report from my bag and slapped it right onto his chest. “Fuck!” Caught completely off guard, Declan couldn’t react in time. The paper smacked against him with a sharp thwack. His immediate reflex was to stand up and strike back. But when he saw the contents of the ultrasound report, his raised hand froze in mid-air. His eyes bulged. His face was a mix of sheer disbelief and panic. He instinctively reached for the signed divorce papers on the table. But a pair of long, elegant hands snatched them away a fraction of a second faster. Asher Pierce handed the agreement to me: “Hold onto these.” Asher was a veteran of the corporate battlefield, famous for never showing emotion. Strangely, why did I get the feeling he was actually… happy right now? He looked at Declan with a distinct air of triumph: “Thank you, Mr. Cross, for contributing to my law firm’s win rate.” Declan was clearly still in shock from the revelation that he was about to be a father. Before leaving the VIP room, I shook my phone: “By the way, don’t forget to Venmo me your bets. I’ve already sent a group payment request.” “I let you guys treat me like a joke for years. Consider this my appearance fee for playing the clown.” Before walking out the door, I couldn’t resist a final piece of self-promotion: “If anyone has any healthy catering or diet needs, feel free to contact me.” After sending the payment request in the group, I saw Asher instantly send his portion. Wow. Truly a born businessman. He knew I was going to divorce, and he was the only other person in the chat who voted [Divorce]. He really never missed an opportunity to make a buck. “Congratulations.” Asher congratulated me. I wanted to smile, but my facial muscles refused to cooperate. It probably looked worse than crying. I turned around, letting the cool night breeze hit my face. I whispered, “What’s there to congratulate…” Using the excuse of “post-sale customer service,” Asher insisted on driving me home. We didn’t say a word the entire ride. “Thank you, Mr. Pierce. I’m going upstairs now.” I tried to pull the car handle, but it wouldn’t budge. Asher got out of the car and opened the door for me personally: “Miss Harper, it takes courage to walk away from a toxic relationship. You are very brave.” “And leaving the wrong person is absolutely something worth congratulating.” 9 Good news stays indoors; bad news travels a thousand miles. According to the high-society gossip mill, Declan lost his mind that night. He dragged Blair straight to a clinic to get an abortion. In the end, it was Arthur Kensington, Blair’s powerful father, who rushed to the scene to stop the madness. The rumor mill quickly connected the dots: my divorce request and Declan dragging Blair to an abortion clinic. The verdict was unanimous: Blair was the mistress, and Declan was the cheating bastard. Many high-society wives sympathized with me, outraged on my behalf. Blair called me several times, screaming and cursing. Her tone had lost all its soft, “green tea” sweetness. She sounded like a feral banshee. I listened for a while and then laughed out loud: “Wow. So even wealthy heiresses can’t curse without resorting to genitals and bodily fluids?” “I just forwarded a recording of this to Declan. I wonder what he’ll think of his sweet little angel now?” Blair instantly shut up. The Blair Kensington who didn’t know me in high school only knew the “Mrs. Cross” version of me. Elegant, poised, gentle, and understanding. But back in high school, I was notoriously untouchable. Even the school bullies called me “Boss.” Because I had no family to back me up, I had nothing to lose. If anyone bullied me, I fought back with everything I had. I didn’t care if I got hurt. By messing with me, she had kicked a steel plate. I cleaned out the villa, handed the keys to a realtor, and told him to sell it as fast as possible. That same day, I moved back into the old house. I never knew my father. My mom had me out of wedlock, and she never spoke a word about him. But that didn’t stop her from loving me. She was the best mom in the world. When I was little, surrounded by my mom and grandparents’ love, I thought I was the luckiest kid alive. Later, my grandparents passed away. Then, my mom left me too. While cleaning out my mom’s belongings, I found a stash of heavy anti-depressants. 10 That was when I realized she had been battling severe depression for years. The neighbors always whispered that I was an illegitimate child. They called my mom a shameless homewrecker who got knocked up by a rich old man and abandoned. When I was little, I didn’t understand what they meant. My mom would just cover my ears, take me home, and make me my favorite clam chowder. “Bastard” and “homewrecker” didn’t sound like good words. I asked my mom, “Am I a bad kid?” She gently wiped my face: “Our Harper is the best, best, best kid in the whole world!” When she was alive, she shielded me from every storm. Knowing how much pain she endured before she died, I actually felt a strange sense of relief at her passing. She was free, wasn’t she? Thankfully, I had a little savings. The house my grandparents left and my mom’s house were both under my name. They bought them early when prices were low, and they were in prime downtown locations, perfect for renting. That was how I ended up renting a unit to Declan and his mother, which started this whole story. I shook my head. Ever since the divorce, this was the first time I had actively thought about him. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. Maybe when you accumulate enough disappointment, you just go numb. I cleaned up both properties. I didn’t hire a cleaner. I just wanted to do physical labor to empty my mind. I wanted to open a high-end restaurant, and there were a lot of places I needed to spend money. I planned to rent one of the units out. I checked online and saw that rent in this downtown area had gone up significantly. That was the first piece of good news I’d had in a while. When your body is exhausted, your brain doesn’t have the energy to dwell on unhappy things. I slept from 2:00 PM straight through to 8:00 AM the next day. When I checked my phone, I saw a text from Asher: [Do you have time tomorrow to come to the hospital and check on my dad?] I smacked my forehead. Crap. I promised him I’d help, and I completely forgot. I quickly replied: [I’m free.] I went online and ordered some premium beef ribs and wild rice. The old man loved my beef and wild rice soup. I decided to make him a batch. Once it was done, I texted Asher, asking which hospital his dad was in. He called me directly, saying two words: “Come downstairs.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “418543”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My parents were famous. I only ever saw them on television. They were always on the front lines of war zones, claiming the environment was too dangerous, so they left me in the countryside with my grandmother. But later, they adopted their deceased colleague’s daughter. They brought her to live with them, pouring all the love and compensation they owed me onto her. She became their precious darling, never having to look at her parents through a cold screen. Years later, when they finally remembered I existed, I had already survived a severe fever that burned away any remaining affection I had for them. 01 I got sick. It wasn’t critical, but it lasted a long time. It started with a bet I made with my parents’ adopted daughter, Harper, to see who could reach the top of the mountain trail first. The winner could ask our parents to attend their parent-teacher conference. When I pushed myself to the limit, braving the cold morning wind and dew to reach the summit, I saw my parents and Harper—playing the perfect family of three—smiling and pitching a tent, getting ready to photograph the sunrise. Seeing me arrive, Harper smiled brightly and spoke up. She said, “I only said we’d race to see who gets here first. I didn’t say how we had to get here.” She said, “Chloe, haven’t you figured it out yet? On the same path, to reach the destination, you only have your own two feet. But I have Mom and Dad to carry me. You lost from the very beginning.” My parents, holding their cameras behind her, heard our conversation and realized what was going on. They looked a bit awkward and were about to invite me to watch the sunrise with them. But I had already turned around and walked away without a second glance. “Let her go!” I heard my mother’s angry voice from behind. “Why can’t she be sensible like Harper? If she knew how to be close to her parents like Harper does, instead of always wearing that cold, miserable face, why would we ignore her?” Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but find it ridiculous. My parents always said I didn’t know how to soften my stance, that I didn’t know how to get close to them or please them. But during the fifteen years they were absent from my life, I couldn’t even see them. How was I supposed to learn how to be close to them? How was I supposed to know how to do something no one had ever taught me? After returning home, I fell ill. It should have just been a slight chill from the morning dew, but I developed a high fever. My entire body felt heavy, completely drained of energy. Before completely passing out, I managed to dial 911 for an ambulance. Then, I plunged into darkness. During that time in a coma, I saw my childhood again. When I was very young, I always saw my parents on TV. And only on TV. They were nationally renowned journalists. College sweethearts who shared the same passions and ideals. After graduation, they chased their shared dream, rushing to the front lines of major news events. Later, they even volunteered to go overseas to war zones, eating and living with refugees devastated by conflict. Before they left, they took one last photo. In the picture, I was still a baby swaddled in blankets, held by a smiling, gentle man and woman. A family of three, happily leaning against each other. At that time, I didn’t know that would be the last time I would be hugged by my parents for the rest of my life. That was the one thing that made me beat my chest in frustration countless times during my childhood. I hated myself for not developing memories earlier—so I could at least remember what it felt like to be in my parents’ arms. That would have definitely been an experience worth remembering for a lifetime. Unfortunately, there are no “what ifs.” Communication technology wasn’t very advanced back then. I was dumped with my grandmother, who lived alone in a rural town in the Midwest. The old woman didn’t really know how to use the clunky cell phone my parents left her. At the beginning of every month, she would lean on her cane and walk miles to the post office in town to see if there were any letters for us. When I got a little older, she took me with her. Every time before we left the house, I would put on my nice Sunday dress that I usually saved for special occasions, and I would wear two flower clips in the shiny black braids Grandma tied for me. I thought my parents could see me through the letters, so I had to dress up beautifully for them. But I never received a single letter. It wasn’t until third grade, when my English teacher assigned us to write a letter to our mothers, that I finally realized letters were only sent one way. My parents wouldn’t magically appear in the post office to hear me tell them how much I missed them. Thankfully, even without letters, we had the television. My parents had been abroad for years, missing Thanksgiving and Christmas for seven or eight years straight. Occasionally, they would ask someone to send Grandma some new appliances. When that 45-inch color TV was set up in our living room, it drew many neighbors to come and watch. Grandma was hospitable, inviting everyone in to watch TV together. Once the antenna was set up and the TV was turned on, it happened to be the evening news. The anchor in a suit said a few words, the screen cut, and a man and a woman in plain clothes holding microphones appeared on the screen. In that instant, my eyes lit up. The people on the news were my parents. Standing in front of the smoke of war, they concisely reported on the local situation and urged society to extend a helping hand to the innocent refugees suffering from the disaster. Looking at their faces, which were much more weathered than in the photograph, I walked toward the TV in a daze. “Daddy, Mommy…” I looked up, calling out to them loudly, but received no response. 02 From then on, watching the news became my unbreakable habit. They weren’t on the news every day, but whenever they were, I would always have a good dream that night. In the dream, my parents took me with them, and we went exploring together. They would hold me in their arms, rub my head, and call me their sweet girl. Later, I started middle school in the town. By then, cell phones had slowly become more common. One day after school, I dug out that old cell phone from Grandma’s nightstand that hadn’t been turned on in a long time. I charged it, and when I found the number saved under my parents’ names in the contacts, my heart pounded uncontrollably. The call didn’t go through; the phone plan had been out of minutes for a long time. Later, I saved up my allowance for a long time, silently reciting that string of numbers that represented my parents every day. Finally, on my birthday, I gave a ten-dollar bill to the owner of the convenience store at the edge of town and borrowed her phone to dial that number. The phone rang for a long time. Just when I thought no one would answer. That gentle male voice that haunted my dreams day and night sounded. “Daddy!” I shouted his name excitedly, telling him it was Chloe. But he was silent for a long time. It seemed he couldn’t even remember that he had a daughter named Chloe back in his hometown. When he finally spoke, his voice was rushed. He said, “Chloe, Daddy is busy with work. I’ll call you back later. Be a good girl and listen to Grandma.” After saying that, he hung up directly without waiting for my reply. Holding the phone, which had been warmed by my ear, I felt a deep sense of loss. That was the first time in my memory that I had spoken to my father. A child’s intuition is actually very sharp. On that very day, I suddenly realized something. My parents didn’t miss me as naturally as I missed them. From then on, I couldn’t break the habit of waiting in front of the TV for the news, but when I waited, I was never as excited as before. I used to imagine I was a loved girl, thinking my parents also wanted to see me through the screen. But now, I finally understood that they didn’t seem to love me. To them, I was a stranger who left little impression because we had been apart for so long. 03 A turning point happened when I was in high school. At that time, in order to get into the journalism industry, I buried myself in my studies all day. High school required boarding, so I naturally lost the opportunity to watch the news every day. One day after evening study hall, I saw Grandma standing at the classroom door leaning on her cane. She had even specifically put on a new dress. As soon as she saw me, she said excitedly, “Chloe, your mom and dad are back! Let’s go pick them up.” In that moment, the books in my hand fell to the floor, and the whole world was reduced to a ringing sound in my ears. I was going to see my mom and dad. They would finally no longer be just cold images existing on a screen. I could throw myself into their arms and act spoiled. I could hold their hands, sit next to them, and show them all the certificates of achievement I had earned over the years. Growing up in the country, I didn’t have any special talents. Those certificates commending me for ranking first every year were the only things I could proudly present. I wanted to know if they would be proud of me. I hurried to the station with Grandma. While waiting, I adjusted my hair countless times. I quietly bought a pack of wet wipes to clean my face. Using the reflection on the steel armrests of the station seats, I checked my appearance over and over again, constantly regretting that I hadn’t washed my hair before coming out. I was afraid my first impression on them would be bad, but then I thought, since they are my parents, they shouldn’t judge. I had already entered puberty by then, and my ignorant self-esteem had long since taken root. I thought, since my parents neglected me so much when I was little, when I see them, I should act a bit reserved so we’d be even. Grandma and I ultimately didn’t wait for my parents. When we had been sitting at the station until past midnight, a friend of my dad’s came looking for Grandma. He said my dad had called him, saying they were stopping in Washington D.C. for only a week. Once they finished handing over their work, they would be deployed again, so there was no need to make the trip back to their hometown. They told us not to wait. I listened to this news numbly, my head dizzy, only feeling that this was exactly what they would do. But there was an added layer of contempt for them in my heart. I thought, Grandma is getting old. Even I know to respect and care for her, yet they let their own mother’s expectations fall flat time and time again. Perhaps they weren’t as wonderful as I imagined, perhaps… they weren’t even as good as me. After going back, I got a high fever. While I was sick, I found out the reason for their return from the uncle who came to visit me. The war zone they were stationed in had been completely destroyed by artillery fire. The attacks came too suddenly; the journalists were a step too slow to evacuate, and many were injured. My parents, to record the war-torn city firsthand, forcibly delayed their departure until the very end. Their best friend—the photographer who had braved life and death with them—died as a result. They carried the weight of their friend’s life and expectations, making them even more unwilling to stop. After returning to regroup, they quickly packed their bags and headed to the front lines again. As if to express their guilt, they had someone buy new cell phones for Grandma and me. They even took the initiative to call me. But we were indeed strangers. After exchanging a few polite words on the phone, we had nothing left to say. Before hanging up, my dad told me to study hard and said that mom and dad were waiting for me ahead. But my attention was entirely on the crisp “Daddy!” from a little girl that came through the receiver. Yes, they had adopted their colleague’s daughter. That girl, five months younger than me, was very pitiful. Her mother died when she was very young, and now she had lost her father. My parents took her in. War is cruel and dangerous, but they kept Harper by their side. 04 Later, perhaps it was out of genuine heartache for Harper. To ensure Harper could grow up happy and safe, they returned to the States, stopped being journalists, and found stable government jobs, settling down in the city. They used all their savings from over the years to provide for my sister, giving her the best education and family environment. From beginning to end, no one remembered the mother and daughter forgotten in the countryside. Slowly, my beautiful fantasies about my parents began to dissipate. I no longer longed for their love, and the journalism major I had once prioritized was crossed out of my plans. Seeing this, Grandma often comforted me. She said, “No matter what, Grandma will always love Chloe. So Chloe has to treat herself well. If Chloe loves herself, Grandma will be happy.” I studied harder and harder, wanting to pass my exams early and get a good job so Grandma could live a better life. But things rarely go as planned. During my junior year of high school, Grandma slipped on a puddle at the doorway while going out to buy groceries and fell. She didn’t tell anyone, living alone as usual. She even promised over the phone that when I came back for the monthly break, she would make my favorite braised pork ribs. But before the monthly break arrived, I saw my parents who had returned to the hometown to handle Grandma’s funeral. They stood at the door of the principal’s office, followed by a girl with a tan complexion. As soon as she saw me, she snorted coldly and turned her head away. She was truly confident and arrogant, wearing all her emotions on her sleeve. As for my parents, looking at the decent middle-aged man and woman standing in front of me, we were speechless, the atmosphere strange and awkward. Until they told me that Grandma had passed away. They came to pick me up to fulfill Grandma’s dying wish, to take me to the city to raise me. In that moment, my whole world seemed to shatter. I forgot how I cried and screamed, begging them to take me to see Grandma. But ultimately, all I saw was a cold tombstone. They comforted me as if it were their right, saying that without Grandma, I still had Mom and Dad. Their words of comfort felt unfamiliar and stiff, like they were reading lines from a script. Harper, whom they had adopted, made a face at me from behind them. “Mom and Dad don’t owe you anything. When I was suffering with them in the war zones, who knows where you were enjoying yourself.” She looked very indignant, muttering this in the background. It was that single sentence that completely ignited my fury. Ignoring my parents’ attempts to stop me, I rushed forward to hit her. My parents tried to pull us apart several times but failed. It wasn’t until I fiercely yanked a tuft of hair from Harper’s head, her scream piercing the silence of the cemetery, that a sharp slap echoed. The mother, who had always been praised for her elegance, looked at her palm in a daze, then at my red and swollen cheek. Belatedly, she tried to step forward to touch me. I turned my head to avoid her. Behind me, Grandma’s warm smile was printed on the black-and-white photograph. I finally realized that in this world, I was completely alone. Even though I had found my parents, they already had another daughter. They poured all the guilt they owed me onto her. In the end, they even hurt me for her sake. “Don’t expect anything from them anymore, and don’t love them anymore. From now on, love yourself well.” In the dream, an old and kind voice sounded. The gentle tone was so familiar. She said, “They are foolish. They lost their best girl. They will regret it.” I couldn’t help but let my eyelids flutter, and a tear slid from the corner of my eye. 05 When I woke up again, my heart just felt empty. All the emotions born from yearning for parental love had vanished. I was calmer than anyone else. Seeing me awake, the nurse checking the beds showed a look of sheer surprise. “You’re finally awake! You were in a coma for four days,” she said, about to call my parents. She came back a moment later, looking a bit awkward. “Your mom was just here. She must have had an emergency; I can’t reach her right now. She should be back later.” I knew what was going on. Today was Harper’s parent-teacher conference. Since my senior year, the two of us had been fiercely competing in grades. Finally, in the latest diagnostic test, I took the first place that Harper had always held. But Harper said that even if I got first place, it was useless. Mom and Dad wouldn’t care. They would still only go to her parent-teacher conference. I refused to accept that, which led to our race up the mountain. Thinking about it now, it was just a pointless ego battle. My parents’ love was illusory, but knowledge was solid. I had already achieved the rank I wanted; there was no need to compete with Harper anymore. In the evening, my mother finally arrived. The nurse had finally gotten through to her half an hour ago. She rushed over, holding a box of cake. She was perhaps a bit guilty and apologetic. But when the nurse told her I had already discharged myself and left, the guilt on my mother’s face instantly turned into anger. I didn’t have a phone, couldn’t hail a cab, and didn’t even have spare change for the bus. I could only walk home. It was easy for my mother to catch up to me driving halfway. Before she even rolled the window down completely, her angry voice reached me: “Chloe! Why are you so insensible! Do you have any manners, standing your own mother up?!” “I waited for you from 8 AM to 5 PM.” I looked at her calmly. “I had no money on me. You only paid the medical bills. I was starving, couldn’t buy food, and could only walk home first.” She hadn’t expected me to say that. She froze for a moment, then turned her face away and told me to get in the car. I obediently got in. Sitting in the front seat, she spoke awkwardly: “I was delayed by something. I bought you a gift to apologize. You shouldn’t be mad at your parents over such a small thing.” Hearing this, I calmly looked around and finally rested my eyes on the cake box. “It’s my sister’s favorite brand and flavor. Looks like she did well today, is this her reward?” As if I had hit a nerve, she took a deep breath, ready to explode again. But the moment she looked up, she met my calm, unrippled gaze in the rearview mirror. There was no grievance or anger like before, just a calm narration of a fact. “Chloe?” She sounded unsure and startled, calling my name. I just curled the corners of my mouth, offering a polite, business-like smile. When we got home, the hospital had probably already told my dad what happened during the day. At the dinner table, he rarely scolded my mom, telling her to be more thoughtful in the future. After saying that, he tried to smooth things over. “This was Mom and Dad’s fault. Don’t be mad, Chloe. Mom and Dad will definitely change.” His voice revealed a hint of guilt. From beginning to end, no one asked why I got sick. They just wanted to gloss over it. In the past, I might have felt wronged, but now I just wanted more time to study. There was no need to argue with irrelevant people. “I won’t.” My calm voice came out. Irrelevant people and things obviously weren’t worth my anger. Under their scrutinizing gaze, I ate slowly. I didn’t prepare after-dinner fruit for them anymore, nor did I offer a massage. I turned around and went upstairs to do practice problems. Around 9 PM, there was a knock on the door. “Chloe, are you free right now? Can Mom and Dad talk to you for a bit?” My dad’s cautious voice came from the door. This was a treatment I had never received since moving in. I frowned, looking at the physics problem under my pen, and couldn’t help but click my tongue. “No need.” Finally, I politely declined them. I rejected them, but they became persistent, insisting on talking to me. I knew they thought I was throwing a tantrum because I felt neglected, thinking they just needed to coax me. But gradually, they started to panic. Because they realized I truly, completely didn’t care about them anymore. 06 I no longer woke up early to prepare their favorite breakfast and tea, just so I could be the first to say “good morning” to them. In the past, they used to say I was too rigid and didn’t know how to act cute and sweet with my parents like Harper did. But they accepted my kindness without hesitation. Just like now, when they saw me in the morning, they still instinctively reached for their teacups, even though there was no longer the hand-ground coffee or herbal tea I used to painstakingly prepare for them. They attributed my behavior to anger and tried to talk to me several times, but I refused. After repeated rejections, they finally felt guilty. My dad, who usually only drove Harper to school, surprisingly asked if I needed a ride. I didn’t refuse. The pace of senior year was already tight, and I didn’t want to waste more time squeezing onto public buses. However, seeing me get in the car, Harper threw a tantrum and refused to go to school. With no other choice, my parents ended up driving us separately. My mom’s workplace wasn’t on the way to our school. After dropping Harper off a few times, she started complaining openly and subtly in front of me. I didn’t act “sensible” and yield like I used to. I just pretended not to hear. Over time, her look of dissatisfaction grew. But I had long stopped caring about her opinion of me. After I stopped trying to please them, my life ushered in unprecedented peace and relaxation. One day, Harper refused my mom’s car and caused a scene, demanding my dad drive her. She thought that since my mom was already dissatisfied with me, once my dad stopped driving me, my mom would definitely refuse too, and I would have to walk to school. But my mom uncharacteristically said nothing, just drove me with a dark expression. In that moment, the secret joy in Harper’s eyes turned into panic. I was equally surprised. On the way to school that day, I don’t know what my mom was thinking, but she was so distracted that she accidentally rear-ended the car in front of us. When the muscular, fierce-looking owner stepped out of his car, she visibly panicked. She rarely drove unless it was to pick us up, and getting into an accident left her flustered. Just as she was helplessly about to call my dad, I, not wanting to be delayed any longer, stepped out of the car. I calmly took her phone, called the insurance company, and then stepped forward to negotiate with the driver. She watched the whole process from the side, hesitating to speak several times. Fortunately, having grown up in the village and dealt with rascals alongside my grandmother, I found the driver to be quite reasonable. In the end, the incident was resolved without much trouble. And my mom, who witnessed the whole thing, started looking at me with admiration instead of dissatisfaction from that moment on. That evening at the dinner table, she proactively told my dad about what happened. Hearing it, he also praised my composure. They generously praised me, put food on my plate, and casually asked about my life at school. But I had no interest in answering. I picked out the dishes they gave me—the ones Harper loved—put them aside, and ate my meal in silence. Then, under the ugly expressions of the family of three, I calmly put down my bowl and chopsticks, turned around, and went upstairs to study. But this distance didn’t deter them. They actually became even more interested in me. After discovering this one strength of mine, it was like they had opened Pandora’s box, unable to hide their curiosity and exploration of me. They used to think I was dull and boring, unwilling to spend time with me. But now, the more they paid attention to me, the more they discovered my strengths. I had excellent grades, was self-motivated, enjoyed helping classmates, and had a good reputation among my peers. I was clean, kept my room bright and tidy, was a great cook, and even knew how to knit and garden. These skills, which I had learned in the countryside to ensure a better life for my grandmother and me, made them feel novel and surprised. So in their eyes, my dullness became maturity, my boringness became sensibility. They observed me constantly. Just like now, my mom looked at the heavy old photo album in my hand and let out a sound of pleasant surprise. In this album, every moment of them as journalists captured by the print media had been carefully cut out and treasured beneath yellowing plastic protectors. With the decline of print media over the years, even they might not be able to find some of these pictures again. But now, they were all perfectly preserved in this album. “Chloe… did you collect all these specifically for Mom and Dad?” My mom’s voice choked up. She looked very moved, reaching out to hug me, but I stepped aside to avoid her. Seemingly not expecting this reaction, she stood there awkwardly, wiped her tears, and then her eyes lit up again. She seemed certain that everything I was doing now was just a tactic used by a love-starved child to get her parents’ attention. She turned and excitedly went to share the “heartfelt gift” she had accidentally discovered with my dad. But she didn’t know, I was about to throw this album away. Three days later, she and my dad saw that album in the recycling center at the neighborhood gate. When she came to me angrily holding the album, I just said calmly: “I was going to throw it straight into the trash, but someone picked it up. Next time I’ll throw it further away.” That one sentence completely ignited the anger she had been suppressing for days. For the first time in a year, she raised her hand to hit me again. But my dad stopped her in time. “Let’s go outside to talk.” My dad tried his best to soothe my mom’s emotions. As he led her away, he glanced at me. I ignored him and just went back to my room to continue memorizing SAT vocabulary. 07 I don’t know how they discussed it. From that day on, they paid even more attention to me. This made Harper dissatisfied. She threw a tantrum many times, hoping to bring our parents’ attention back to her. But the effect wasn’t great. Instead, it was her own grades that gradually began to drag. She was actually very smart, but in the past, she only cooperated with her studies when our parents took turns coaxing her. Now that her focus was off, her grades plummeted. Finally, three months before graduation, my parents noticed her regression. That day, Harper was brought home from school crying. Her homeroom teacher had called my mom in for a talk, its words full of warnings and reprimands regarding Harper’s current state. In the past, as Harper’s parent, my mom only received honors and praise at school. This was the first time she was lectured like this. Feeling humiliated, she couldn’t help but scold Harper a few times. And starting from the moment my mom unconsciously blurted out, “Why can’t you be as sensible as Chloe and save us some trouble,” Harper couldn’t stop crying. My mom panicked and had to take her home first. As soon as she got home, Harper rushed into my room and threw my things all over the floor like a madwoman. When I returned home, I saw this chaotic scene. Seeing me, Harper’s just-calmed emotions erupted again. “Get out! Get out! You’re the outsider! When Mom and Dad were struggling to survive under a hail of bullets, you were nowhere to be found!” “Why do you get to enjoy the good life forever!” She roared at me with red eyes, like a lion defending its territory, desperately trying to drive away the intruder. “Harper…” My parents looked at her, not knowing what to say. In the end, they actually cast pleading glances at me. What were they pleading for? Hoping I would say something soft to coax Harper, or hoping I would humbly admit that I was the outsider in this family. I looked at the parents who still wanted to pass the buck at this moment, and couldn’t help but sneer from the bottom of my heart. Right. Only people like this would only care about pursuing their dreams, leaving their elderly mother and young daughter in the countryside without a care. Only people like this would, to move themselves, infinitely indulge the adopted daughter of a colleague, letting her become lawless at the age when she most needed discipline. They had always been people like this—naive and cowardly, with selfish and cold blood flowing deep within them. They might be good journalists, but they are absolutely not people I should admire. Grandma, it turns out you were right. They are not worth my love; I should save that love for myself. I didn’t say anything more. I stepped over the mess on the floor, bent down to grab a few essential items of clothing, and after packing slightly, I turned and walked toward the door. “Chloe, where are you going?” My mom called out from behind. “I’m going to board at school.” This time, I didn’t look back. I said: “Harper is right. This has never been my home, and you are not my parents. There’s no need for me to stay here.” “What do you mean by that?” My dad, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly raised his voice. I ignored him and quickly walked out the door. “Chloe!” My mom chased after me. For the first time, when she spoke to me, even her voice was trembling. It seemed she also felt that after this departure, I would have nothing more to do with them. As if afraid to hear my answer, she raised her pitch before I could speak: “I know you’re resentful, thinking Mom and Dad neglected you before. But Mom and Dad know we were wrong, and we’re changing. Whether it’s Harper or you, you are both our daughters. Why can’t we just live together peacefully…” “We can’t.” I stated decisively. “It was you who indulged Harper’s greed, and it’s you who can’t handle the balance between your two daughters. With parents like you, we will never live peacefully.” The color drained from her face the moment she heard this. This was the first time she had heard such blunt, sharp words from me. She moved her lips, seemingly wanting to say more, but I cut her off directly. I said: “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to be your daughter anymore. You should go back to how it was before, just having Harper as your only daughter.” After saying that, without waiting for her reaction, I turned and left. This time, I walked very briskly. That yearning for love during my lonely, repressed childhood, which had once become a shackle binding me, was finally broken today. In the days to come, you must love yourself. I told myself in my heart. I must live even more wonderfully, carrying Grandma’s expectations for me.

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Before I met him, Carter Hayes had never dated a C-cup before. He thought my body wasn’t good enough, thought I was plain and boring. Relying on the fact that I wouldn’t dare break off our engagement, he openly paraded his flings around town. For the sake of fairness, I cheated too. The day after I slept with a handsome stranger, something huge happened at my fiancé’s estate. The antique statue his family had worshipped in their private chapel for generations disappeared. Over the phone, my fiancé told me: The guardian spirit’s name was Silas Thorne. Wait a minute. I looked at the handsome guy in front of me, his chest covered in hickeys. “What did you say your name was again?” “Silas Thorne. Didn’t he just tell you on the phone?” The handsome guy smiled at me. 1 The night before his birthday, Carter invited a bunch of friends over to his estate. We were playing a drinking game. The “King” dared a guy and a girl to kiss with a napkin pressed between their lips. Since Carter was the birthday boy, the King cut him some slack. He told Carter he could pick any girl in the room. Everyone started cheering and immediately looked at me. I was Carter’s fiancée. Everyone knew that. Carter wore an ambiguous smile as he scanned the room. Finally, his gaze landed right next to me. “Chloe Davis. I choose you.” My name isn’t Chloe Davis. Chloe was my college roommate. 2 Being singled out, Chloe looked thrilled. But she quickly forced the corners of her mouth down, playing coy. “Me? I don’t know…” Carter smirked. “I’m the birthday boy. What I say goes.” Chloe happily stood up, standing bashfully in front of Carter. It wasn’t until their bodies were practically pressed together that she turned her head to ask me: “Hazel, this is just a game. You don’t mind, right?” Before I could answer, Carter beat me to it: “She wouldn’t dare.” His cold, dismissive gaze swept over my face for a split second. It felt like a slap. I stood up calmly. “You guys have fun. I’m going to the bathroom.” After leaving the living room, I heard wave after wave of cheering and catcalls. They were definitely kissing. And for quite a while, too. I felt a little sick, staring at myself in the bathroom mirror. Carter was right about one thing. I didn’t dare. My engagement to Carter was arranged by my family. Our family business had been tanking for years. We weren’t just bankrupt; we were drowning in debt. My parents were desperate, and they finally managed to hook the wealthy Hayes family. As long as I married Carter, they would inject capital and bail us out. At the time, my dad actually fell to his knees, crying. “The whole family’s survival rests on your shoulders.” I said fine, but only if you leave your assets to me in the future, instead of giving everything to my younger brother. My dad, who had favored his son his entire life, shockingly nodded. It was only after the engagement that I found out the truth. Carter hated me. Before me, he had dated countless girls. Every single one was a bombshell, curvy and gorgeous with long legs. Just like Chloe. In contrast, I had plain features and a slender, unassuming figure. I wasn’t his type at all. After washing my face, I was just about to head back to the living room. Then I heard Carter’s voice from the hallway. “Hazel? She’s boring as hell. Even if every other woman on earth died, I still wouldn’t like her.” Someone asked, “Then why agree to the engagement? Even if your parents pushed for it, if you said no, they couldn’t force you.” “Because she’s obedient.” Carter let out a scornful scoff. “Once I marry her and stick her in the house, she won’t dare keep tabs on me. I can play around outside all I want.” I stopped in my tracks, listening in silence. The mocking laughter continued. I raised my eyes and suddenly looked down the end of the grand hallway. A heavy mahogany shrine stood elevated in a private alcove. 3 The Hayes family was incredibly superstitious. They had worshipped a guardian spirit for generations, showing absolute devotion. Rumor had it that this spirit blessed them with endless prosperity. And it seemed to be true. Generation after generation, the Hayes family had been wildly successful. Back when they agreed to the marriage, aside from eyeing my dad’s remaining assets, they had also consulted a psychic about my astrological chart. They said it was a perfect match. I walked quietly toward the shrine. The smooth, antique wood glowed with a timeless aura in the dim light. A statue sat squarely in the center. Backlit by a stained-glass window, its face was obscured. Carter had mentioned that this wasn’t some mainstream deity. It was a colonial-era general, an ancestor who had sworn to protect their bloodline. I quietly put my hands together. Founder of the Hayes family. I hope one day, I can make Carter feel the exact same pain he’s causing me. After making the wish, I let out a self-deprecating laugh. Wishful thinking, wasn’t it? This was the Hayes family’s personal patron spirit. Why on earth would it listen to me? But… did the shrine just flicker? It must have been my imagination. 4 By the time the party ended, it was late. Carter said he was going to drive Chloe back to campus. I didn’t go back. Since tomorrow I was expected to act as the dutiful fiancée and join his family in offering prayers at the shrine, I was staying the night at the estate. He said he was just dropping her off, but by 11 PM, Carter still wasn’t back. Instead, I got a text. Carter: [Buy a box of condoms and send it to Room 901 at the Grand Plaza Hotel.] Wasn’t he just dropping her off? Why were they at a hotel downtown? I opened Instagram. Sure enough, Chloe had just posted a selfie. [Had such a great time today. I feel like such a spoiled princess! ~] In the corner of the selfie, I could clearly see the hotel’s white bedsheets and Carter lying on the bed. Carter: [Hurry up. Just leave it at the front desk, the robot will bring it up.] It had started raining outside. I held an umbrella and walked to a nearby convenience store. It was my first time buying something like this, and I felt a little awkward. Cashier: “Just the one box?” “No.” Driven by some inexplicable impulse, I grabbed another. “Two.” I dropped one box off at the front desk. I kept the other box in my pocket. I didn’t even know why I bought it. What was I going to do, blow balloons with them? While my mind was wandering, something strange on the sidewalk caught my eye. A bizarre man was standing in the pouring rain. He was dressed in full historical colonial garb, his long, ink-black hair cascading down his back, holding an antique paper umbrella. People walking by were staring, casting all sorts of weird looks his way. But he acted as if he couldn’t see them, standing tall and straight like a lone pine tree. The moment I saw his face, I couldn’t look away. He was strikingly handsome, but there was a sharp, lethal aura about his brow that gave him a fierce, commanding presence. I walked up and struck up a conversation. “Cosplay?” He looked down at me, his eyes like cold silver moonlight. “That outfit looks expensive. Must have cost a lot to make. Is there a convention today?” He didn’t answer. I squeezed the little box in my pocket. I didn’t know where the courage came from, but I invited him. “Want to come upstairs and hang out for a bit?” 5 I got a room with the guy. Room 902. Right next door to Carter. Once the door closed, I realized his long hair was real. The texture was incredible. Like spilled ink. “Hazel.” He suddenly called my name. I jumped. “How do you know my name?” He didn’t answer. I figured he must have seen it when I was checking in at the front desk. “What exactly do you want me to do, Hazel?” His voice was deep. When he said my name, it sounded absurdly good, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my brain. “Do something adults do.” “Are you sure?” “Do you have a girlfriend?” “No.” “Then it’s fine. Wait here, I’m going to take a shower…” “Let’s shower together.” His words caught me completely off guard. Ten minutes later, we were standing together under the showerhead. I was incredibly awkward. I didn’t dare look at him, let alone face him head-on. I just prayed the steam would fill the room and blur everything… Suddenly, he hugged me from behind. My whole body stiffened, a tingling, desperate craving washing over me. “Are you afraid?” “Yeah…” “Don’t be. I’m very clean.” It all started with a kiss. A gentle, damp kiss. The bathroom tiles were freezing against my burning back. “My name is Silas. Remember that. My name is Silas Thorne.” He whispered into my ear. My rationality had already mostly fled the building. Because of that, I didn’t stop to think—where had I heard that name before? Just as things were getting intense, Silas tore open the packaging. I sobered up a little, suddenly unable to cross that final mental hurdle. I gritted my teeth and said, “Maybe we shouldn’t. Actually, let’s just forget it…” I didn’t even finish my sentence. A noise suddenly came through the wall. It was definitely coming from 901. It was an unmistakable rhythm, and it was getting louder by the second. “Do you still want to forget it?” Silas asked me. I stared blankly for a second. “No. Keep going.” 6 The next morning, I was woken up by Carter’s phone call. “Where are you?” He sounded frantic. From the looks of it, he must have gone back to the estate and realized I wasn’t there. Today was his birthday, and there was serious family business to attend to. My brain slowly booted up. “I’m outside—” “Don’t you want to sleep a little longer?” Silas suddenly spoke up. Carter heard it and instantly got suspicious. “Hazel, is there someone next to you?” “Ah, no one.” I frantically signaled Silas to be quiet. But he acted like he didn’t understand my frantic waving. He pulled me close, leaning right up to the phone. “Were you satisfied last night?” I highly suspected Silas did that on purpose. Even through the phone, I could feel Carter freeze completely. “I heard a man’s voice. Who is talking?!” “No one, I’m just out for a walk. You heard wrong.” I slapped my hand over Silas’s mouth. His eyes curved into a sly smile, his thin lips brushing against my palm as if tracing the lines of my hand. Carter couldn’t even focus on that anymore. He panicked, “A walk? Something massive just happened, and you’re in the mood for a walk?!” “What happened?” “The statue in the shrine is gone!!!” 7 I threw my clothes on, rushing to head back to the Hayes estate. Behind me, Silas spoke with complete nonchalance. “It’s just a missing statue.” “That’s an incredibly important artifact. How can you say ‘just’?” “Important?” Silas grew serious. “You don’t believe in it, and it has never protected you. Yet you think it’s important?” “Of course.” Silas didn’t say anything else, just watched quietly as I left. When I rushed back to the estate, the atmosphere was thick with tension. The entire family was kneeling in front of the shrine, no one daring to breathe. Carter was supposed to be the center of attention today. For the statue to vanish on his birthday was an unimaginably bad omen. I tiptoed over and knelt beside Carter, whispering, “What’s going on?” “The statue came back.” “What?” “I don’t even know what happened. It was gone this morning, everyone was losing their minds, but just now…” He sighed heavily. “Just now, it suddenly reappeared in the shrine.” No wonder he looked so pale. The whole thing was supernatural and terrifying. I looked up at the shrine. It wasn’t backlit right now, and I could finally see the details. Carved into the pedestal were the words: Silas Thorne. I stared in shock. “Your family’s guardian spirit… his name is Silas?” “Yeah. General Silas Thorne.” That’s way too much of a coincidence. As I marveled at it, I tilted my head up to look at the statue’s face. I froze instantly. Isn’t this… the gorgeous guy from last night?! 8 The statue looked down with lowered eyes, gazing at the crowd with a tragic sort of mercy. For a split second. I felt like it was making eye contact with me. The shiver that ran down my spine was the exact same feeling from when I first saw Silas yesterday in the rain. The same name. The same face. The coincidence gave me goosebumps all over. As soon as the prayers were over, I wanted nothing more than to sprint back to the hotel. If Silas hadn’t checked out yet, I needed to ask him what the hell was going on. But Carter stopped me. “Maria said you didn’t sleep here last night.” Maria was their housekeeper. “Oh, right. I stayed at a hotel last night.” Carter was shocked by my bluntness. “Why were you at a hotel?” “You get to book a room, but I can’t?” I had never spoken to him like this before. “That hotel is actually really nice. The showers are huge, the bed is soft. Right?” I was personally ripping off my own mask of the obedient fiancée. Carter stared at me blankly, looking at me like he was seeing me for the first time. It took him a long moment to process. “Hazel, you misunderstood. Nothing happened between me and Chloe.” I looked at him like he was an alien. “You literally had me drop off condoms. What is there to explain?” “Those weren’t for me!” Carter desperately tried to explain. “Yesterday Chloe said her roommates weren’t going back, she was scared to be alone, so she asked me to book her a room. “I wasn’t planning to stay, but I drank too much, saw the bed, and just passed out. Chloe took my phone and texted you. You know that when a guy is blackout drunk, he can’t possibly do that. “I didn’t even see the text until this morning. I yelled at Chloe, and she said she was just messing around to see if you’d get jealous.” I cut him off. “Well, that’s a shame.” “A shame?” A shame that the noises I heard last night didn’t come from Room 901 after all. A shame that Chloe’s little scheme completely backfired. But I definitely got mine. The corners of my mouth curled up. I didn’t hide my absolute delight. Carter stared at my smile, freezing again. “Hazel, did you get a room with a guy last night?” he demanded. I blinked twice, my smile growing wider. “Take a wild guess.” 9 Because Carter delayed me, Silas was already gone by the time I got back to the hotel. I hadn’t gotten his number. When I left this morning, I figured I’d never see him again. But now that I actually couldn’t find him, I felt an empty ache in my chest. It was May, graduation season. The design department was hosting our senior portfolio showcase. Major brands and top-tier firms would send scouts to pick the best graduating talent. This was a massive deal, and everyone was taking it seriously. The night before the showcase. Chloe suddenly asked me, “Carter is coming to see my design tomorrow. Hazel, you don’t mind, do you?” “Whatever.” “Don’t be mad. Carter just sees me as a good friend. You absolutely cannot misunderstand us.” I scoffed, too lazy to even entertain her. The other roommates chimed in curiously. “Chloe, how do you even know the Hayes family heir?” “Oh, you know, we met through mutual friends.” Liar. She had obviously stolen Carter’s number from my phone behind my back. Chloe really thought I didn’t know about that. I just didn’t care enough to expose her. “Omg, I can’t believe you invited him…” “I didn’t invite him! He insisted on coming to support me,” Chloe said bashfully. “I told him it wasn’t a huge deal and he didn’t have to come, but he insisted. I couldn’t say no.” “Does he have a crush on you?” The roommate who asked that immediately got glared at by the others. They glanced at me guiltily. Seeing me with my AirPods in, they sighed in relief. Honestly, they didn’t need to be so tense. I truly, genuinely did not give a damn about that trashy man. The next day, the showcase began. Carter made a grand entrance. Chloe rushed up to greet him immediately. She was wearing a cocktail dress today, treating an academic showcase like her own personal red carpet. No one found it strange. Word on the street was that Chloe’s family had pulled some strings and already locked down the job offer from the top firm today. The internship slot was practically hers. “Carter, you really came! And you brought flowers?” Chloe asked happily. “Did you buy these because you know I’m signing with the agency today?” But Carter didn’t answer her. His eyes landed squarely on me first. “Hazel, what’s your problem? Why haven’t you been answering my texts?” For the past few days, Carter had actually been initiating conversations. Texting me random nonsense, even asking me out to dinner. But I barely replied. I gave a brush-off answer: “I was busy. Didn’t see them.” “Next time you’re busy, you still need to reply to me.” “And if I don’t? Are you going to just sit there hugging your phone waiting?” “Of course not! Who cares if you reply!” Carter snapped, humiliated. “Hazel, don’t test my limits. I can cancel this engagement at any second and make you regret it.” He turned and shoved the bouquet into Chloe’s arms. “Chloe, you guessed right. These are for you. Why would I buy flowers for anyone else?” It was pathetic. What was he even trying to prove? I rolled my eyes and looked away, completely bored. And in the next second, I saw a familiar silhouette. Silas! He was standing by the entrance, smiling at me from afar. I instantly pushed through the crowd and chased after him. 10 I followed Silas to a quiet corner where no one was around. He had actually adapted to modern times today. He was wearing normal casual clothes, his hair was cut short, and he had a baseball cap on. He looked exactly like a modern-day heartthrob. “Silas, who exactly are you?” I asked frantically. “You already know, don’t you?” He looked at me, a smile playing on his lips. “Are you seriously… the spirit from the shrine???” “Yes.” No wonder when I first met him, I felt that aura of blood and violence on him. General Silas Thorne had been a brutal warlord before he died. “Then why did you come to find me?” “I am a spirit. Naturally, I heard your prayer.” He patted my head, his gaze incredibly tender. “For hundreds of years, I’ve listened to the Hayes family’s selfish, greedy wishes every single day. When someone completely different suddenly showed up, it was hard not to notice.” He paused, then added. “But it was my first time taking human form. I wasn’t used to it, and I didn’t dress quite right. This is better, isn’t it?” I latched onto the other key piece of information. “First time taking human form?” “Right.” “So for hundreds of years… you just sat inside that wooden box?” “Yes. Sitting there, listening to their boring, greedy demands. My ears were practically bleeding.” I fell silent. Silas noticed. “Scared? It’s normal to be afraid—” “I’m not scared,” I looked up, meeting his eyes seriously. “I’m just wondering… were you lonely? Were you happy?” Silas froze, then let out a soft laugh. “That’s a very strange question. No one cares if a spirit is lonely or happy.” “I care.” Silas’s smile vanished. He stared at me for a long time, as if trying to permanently carve my expression into his memory. “No one has ever asked me that. Not even when I was alive, when I was just a soldier…” “Whether you’re a soldier or a guardian spirit, you still have moments of vulnerability.” I got up on my tiptoes, mimicking his earlier gesture, and ruffled his short, choppy hair. “Silas, whoever you are, I just want you to be happy.” And then, something bizarre happened. All around us, the decorative flowers that hadn’t bloomed yet burst open in a single instant, like magic. I understood immediately. It was Silas’s subconscious divine power leaking out. His heart was currently beating out of his chest for me. As Silas leaned down to kiss me, I thought to myself: This pure, ancient spirit is actually pretty easy to charm.

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In the third year after our daughter was abducted, Arthur gave up the search. He said it was fate, that we couldn’t be too selfish, and that moving on and living in the present was the most important thing. But later, his “first love” went missing too. Arthur’s hair turned white overnight. He spent the next fifty years searching for her. Reborn into a new life, I took the initiative to protect my daughter first and immediately demanded a divorce. I didn’t expect that Arthur had been reborn, too. On his first night back, he booked a flight to take his first love on a romantic getaway. It wasn’t until half a year later that he finally remembered his daughter. Clutching a cheap doll he bought from the airport gift shop, Arthur tried to pick her up from school. But my daughter pushed him away without hesitation, turned around, and threw herself into another man’s arms. “I’m sorry, I already have a new daddy!” 1 When the news of Chloe’s disappearance broke, Arthur and I had just had a massive fight. He gripped my shoulders, practically roaring. “Lily has been missing for three years! We’ve tried every possible way, but we just can’t find her. Life has to go on. Can’t you just look forward?” I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. My heart turned to ice. “But we are Lily’s parents! If even we stop looking for her, she’ll truly never come home!” Lily was our daughter. When she was five, her nanny took her out to play in our gated community’s park. The nanny turned her back for just a moment, and the child was gone. Terrified, the nanny didn’t call 911 immediately, missing the golden window to save Lily. Arthur and I tried everything, but there was no trace of her. It was as if she had evaporated from the face of the earth. This year marked the third year of her disappearance. Yet, Arthur suddenly told me he didn’t want to keep searching. He wanted me to give up, to look forward, to focus on our present life—saying we could always have another child. His cold, resolute attitude made me feel like I was looking at a stranger. Lily was a piece of my own flesh and blood. To have a piece of my heart violently carved out was an agonizing pain I could never just “give up” on. Because of this, we had the most explosive argument of our marriage. In the past, I loved him more, so I was always willing to yield. Arthur relied on my love to force my compromises. But when it came to Lily, I would absolutely never back down! Everything in the house that could be thrown was shattered. Screaming hysterically had drained every ounce of my energy. Yet he just stood there, watching me coldly as if I were a clown. “Evelyn, you are too selfish! Are you going to tear this family apart for a child we can’t find?” His initial guilt had gradually warped into impatience. Leaving those words behind, he turned, walked into his room, and locked the door. The chaotic living room plunged into a sudden, suffocating silence. I sat on the sofa, staring at photos of my daughter on my phone, tears streaming down my face. But the next second, a notification popped up in our old high school alumni group chat. It said Chloe Adams had gone missing. She was the smart, beautiful girl who transferred into our class in high school and captured the attention of countless boys—Arthur included. I had barely processed the message when the tightly locked bedroom door was suddenly thrown open. Arthur looked frantic, desperately dialing his phone over and over, but the calls wouldn’t go through. He muttered to himself, “Chloe, please don’t let anything happen to you…” Arthur was famous for his composure. Even when Lily went missing, he maintained his usual calm. I had never seen him panic like this, his hands physically shaking. To Arthur, Chloe was the untouchable “white moonlight” of his heart. In the past, I hadn’t thought much of it. Arthur was the boy I had loved since childhood. Our families ran in the same elite circles; we were practically childhood sweethearts. I loved him, always had. But he was naturally aloof, so his special treatment of Chloe in high school had once crushed me. But later, Chloe chose to study in Paris, voluntarily giving him up. Their budding romance died before it could bloom. Arthur was depressed for a long time before he gradually stepped out of the shadows, never mentioning Chloe’s name again. I stayed by his side, just like always, year after year. Fortunately, I finally waited long enough for him to confess his feelings to me. We started dating, got married, and had our beautiful Lily. I truly cherished our relationship. But looking at it now, I was nothing but a colossal joke. I used to think Arthur only lost his composure over Chloe because of that lingering high school crush. But I never imagined that when Chloe actually did go missing, he would be so overwhelmed with grief that his hair turned white overnight. Yet, when Lily was taken, he remained perfectly calm. Not a single slip of composure. It turned out— A child born to a woman you don’t truly love will never be loved, either. In the end, Arthur decided he had to help the Adams family search for the missing Chloe. I asked him, “What about our daughter?” What about the daughter who had been stolen by traffickers for three whole years? Arthur’s eyes darted away evasively. “We searched for Lily for three years. That’s long enough. But Chloe is different. She just went missing. Maybe if we try hard enough, we can find her?” That “hard enough” lasted a lifetime. I spent my entire life searching for Lily, and he spent his entire life searching for Chloe. We fought countless times over this. I begged him to give up—Chloe had her own family and friends looking for her, but Lily only had us. She needed us more. But Arthur furiously rebuked me. “Evelyn, you are too selfish! Chloe is a living, breathing human being. How can we just give up on her?” Disappointment, heartbreak, and pure hatred finally killed whatever love I had left for this man. By the time we reached our twilight years, we still hadn’t found Lily or Chloe. We both lay in our respective hospital beds. I stared at a faded photo of my daughter. He stared at a photo of Chloe, his eyes filled with endless sorrow. It was the ultimate irony. “If I could do it all over again, I truly wish Lily never had you for a father.” Because he simply didn’t deserve it! 2 But I never expected that I would actually be reborn! And I was reborn right back to the very day my daughter was taken. I tore out of the house, sprinting down the street, desperate to save my Lily before those monsters could get to her. Thank God. Before the trafficker could reach her. I lunged forward, snatching my child into my arms, screaming at the top of my lungs for the negligent nanny to call 911 immediately. A kidnapper sneaking into a luxury gated community was a massive scandal. Many residents, terrified that the trafficker might have accomplices targeting their own kids, crowded around, waiting for the police to arrive so the monster could face justice. I didn’t leave either. But in the midst of waiting, I saw Arthur rushing out of the house from a distance. At this exact time in the timeline, he should have just returned from a business trip, exhausted, sleeping off his jet lag in the bedroom until evening. It wasn’t until the nanny couldn’t find Lily that I was forced to wake him and tell him she was missing. That was when he had suddenly jolted awake. But why were things different now? Could it be that Arthur had been reborn too? But if he had been reborn, he should know that the most urgent thing right now was to save our poor Lily, not to run out in a panic. I didn’t have time to dwell on it. The police arrived, and I had to take Lily to the station to give a statement. By the time we finished the paperwork and returned home, the sky had already darkened. “Where’s Daddy?” Holding my hand, the moment Lily walked through the door, she peeked into the master bedroom. She loved Arthur so much. She loved hugging his legs and calling for him in her sweet, babyish voice. But the bedroom was empty. Arthur still hadn’t returned home. Lily looked a bit disappointed, but she was always a good girl. She forced a smile, assuming her dad just had too much work, like always. “I haven’t finished my book yet anyway. Daddy would be mad if he knew I wasn’t reading!” She giggled, ran to the living room, found a spot to sit, and seriously began reading her storybook. The regrets of my past life made me unwilling to leave Lily’s side for even a single step. I held her as we sat in the living room. She turned to smile at me, kissed my cheek, and said, “Don’t be sad, Mommy. Daddy will be home after work. We’ll wait for him together.” Perhaps it was because of the memories of my past life. This man, whom I had once loved so deeply and then hated for half a lifetime—now that I had a second chance, even if everything was back on track, I absolutely refused to wrong myself or my daughter ever again. Divorce was inevitable. But Arthur’s phone was completely unreachable. It was turned off every time I called. He had vanished into thin air. For a full day and night, I couldn’t get in touch with him. “Did the bad guys take Daddy away?” Even though Lily was young, she was more mature than kids her age and incredibly perceptive of my emotions. She tugged at my dress with her little hands, her eyes filled with sadness. I quickly bent down and scooped her into my arms, soothing her gently. “No, baby. Daddy is probably just caught up with something very important. But your birthday is the day after tomorrow. Daddy will definitely be back by then.” “Really?” Her big, round eyes were wide open, full of pure hope. 3 But the truth was, he went to find Chloe. That night, as I held Lily and read her a bedtime story until she fell asleep, I picked up my phone, opened Instagram, and immediately saw Chloe’s latest post. One picture. One sentence. The picture: A pair of hands wrapped intimately around her waist. The sentence: After all the twists and turns, I finally waited long enough for your confession. On the index finger of that right hand, there was a distinct scar. Hilariously enough, Arthur had the exact same one. In the comments section, everyone was congratulating Chloe and this unseen man, wishing them a lifetime of happiness. I glanced at the location tag on the post. It was Santorini, Greece. That island was famous for being a top destination for couples. When Arthur and I first started dating, he promised to take me there for a romantic vacation so we could show off our love to the world. But he was always “too busy with work” and said we had to wait. That wait stretched until we got married, and then until we had a child. I waited year after year, but it was all an empty promise. Yet now, Arthur had dropped everything to make up for the lost love of his youth. He took his “white moonlight” on a romantic getaway overseas, living his best life. I looked down at the photo, my heart completely devoid of any emotion. Perhaps the disappointment from my past life was just too heavy. I had hurt, I had cried, I had screamed. After the hysterical breakdowns, whenever I looked into his eyes, all that remained was disappointment and hatred. I tapped on the image, zoomed in, and saved it to my camera roll. Since I had already decided on a divorce, I absolutely had to fight for full custody of Lily. And all the evidence proving his infidelity— I needed to back it all up. That way, during the divorce, I could secure the maximum advantage for myself. 4 I had a lawyer draft the divorce papers. But since Arthur was currently overseas and had deliberately cut off all contact, I couldn’t hand the papers to him immediately. I could only wait, and in the meantime, I told my parents. But just as I expected, the moment I mentioned divorcing Arthur, my parents expressed intense opposition. I didn’t hide anything. I told them bluntly about Arthur’s infidelity. My mother looked at the photos, silent for a long time. Finally, she looked up at me, a complex expression in her eyes. “Evelyn, sometimes in life, you just have to turn a blind eye, and the days will pass. Besides, you two have a daughter now. For the sake of the child, can you please not be so selfish?” My own mother was telling me to tolerate my husband’s infidelity—for the sake of the child. Even though I had known early on that my parents were emotionally detached, always putting business and family interests first, I never expected it to go this far. Even now, my happiness couldn’t outweigh the corporate benefits our arranged marriage brought them. “No, Mom. If I choose to just ‘get by,’ that would be truly selfish and irresponsible. My life isn’t Lily’s life. I can take perfectly good care of her on my own.” At least, with or without Arthur, there wouldn’t be much difference from the past few years anyway. As for my Lily, I truly felt guilty that I couldn’t give her a complete family. But I wasn’t the one who destroyed it. So why should I be the one to swallow the bitter fruit Arthur planted? My father snapped. He slapped me across the face and swore that if I went through with the divorce, he would never let me step foot in their house again. Divorce meant I would become an Evelyn without a family. Unable to hold it back, I let a few tears fall. “Fine. Let’s just consider our bond as father and daughter officially severed.” Regardless, the divorce was happening. I took Lily and left. I didn’t go straight home. Halfway through the drive, unable to keep my emotions in check, I found a quiet spot to pull over. In front of my daughter, I broke down and cried like a failure. Lily was so good. She unbuckled herself from her car seat, climbed into the passenger seat, and didn’t say a word. She just gently patted my back and, when I looked up, pulled a few tissues to wipe my tears. “Mommy, don’t be sad. Lily is here. Lily will always be here.” Her voice was still soft and childish. I looked at her and asked, “If Mommy and Daddy have to separate, and you stay with Mommy, would you be okay with that?” Lily didn’t answer immediately. She tilted her head, as if thinking. After a long while, she asked me, “If we leave Daddy, will Mommy be happy? Will you not have to cry anymore?” I didn’t know how to answer her. Choking back a sob, I just hummed in agreement. Lily immediately smiled. She reached out her short little arms and hugged me, mimicking the way I always held her. “Lily wants Mommy to be happy. I don’t want Mommy to cry. Daddy is mean, and I don’t want him anymore either.” Completely breaking down, I hugged Lily tight and sobbed. The little girl, who was smiling at first, suddenly pouted. As if she had suffered a massive grievance herself, she buried her face in my chest and cried with me. But she cried so hard and got so worked up that my chest suddenly flared with an agonizing pain. Lily knew I had a heart condition. She instantly wiped her tears and started scrambling around the car, searching for my medication. But the pain in my chest was so severe that my vision began to blur, pulling me toward unconsciousness. Right before I completely blacked out, I vaguely saw a panicked Lily grab my phone and, mimicking what I always did, dial Arthur’s number. But the call never went through. 5 When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. I was only dazed for two seconds. Then I scrambled up from the bed, looking around frantically. “Where’s Lily?!” Passing out so suddenly. I was terrified something had happened to Lily. I couldn’t bear the agony of losing her a second time. Perhaps hearing my voice, Lily, who had been sitting on the sofa reading a picture book, dropped it and trotted over to the bed. I pulled her into a tight hug. She sat by my side, her eyes still shimmering with tears. “Mommy, you’re finally awake.” Her voice still carried a hint of a sob, but she forced a bright smile, leaning against me obediently. She didn’t say anything else; she just looked at me quietly. I asked her, “Lily, who brought Mommy to the hospital?” Lily counted on her fingers, trying to remember. “It was a really handsome uncle.” Just as she finished speaking, someone pushed the hospital room door open. The person said, “You’re awake?” I looked toward the door. The moment I saw who it was, my eyes went wide in shock. “Nolan Vance?!” Nolan Vance was my high school classmate. But he and Arthur were complete opposites. Arthur was aloof, like a flower on a high peak—sacred and unapproachable. Nolan was pure sunshine. He was passionate about everything and everyone, always wearing a smile that warmed everyone around him. Not only that, we were childhood friends. Grandpa Vance had adored me since I was little. Back then, our families used to joke about an arranged marriage. But then I met Arthur, and I devoted all my attention to following him around. Later, Arthur and I officially started dating. Around the same time, Nolan received an acceptance letter from a prestigious university overseas and left the country. In my past life, Nolan never moved back. Or if he did, I was so consumed with my missing daughter that I never noticed. Seeing him so suddenly now felt like a lifetime had passed. “You have a heart condition. Doctors warned you since you were a kid to avoid extreme emotional swings. Good thing I happened to be driving by.” Nolan peeled an apple for me, meticulously cutting it into small cubes and placing them on a plate. He stuck toothpicks in them, handed one piece to me, and gave another to Lily. Lily thanked him, flashing an innocent smile. “Uncle Nolan, how did you know Mommy likes her apples cut into tiny pieces?” Nolan gently tapped her nose. He looked at me, his eyes full of the same warm smile as always, just with a hint of teasing now. “Since she was little, she’s been the most spoiled. If it wasn’t cut perfectly, she wouldn’t eat it.” Lily shook her head. “But at home, Daddy never cuts fruit for Mommy. Mommy always prepares it and brings it to Daddy.” Hearing this, Nolan’s smile vanished. He stared at me quietly without saying a word, holding my gaze for a long time. “What is it, Nolan? Why are you staring at me like that?” It was making me feel a bit uneasy. I pretended to look down and eat the fruit, but Nolan suddenly reached out and flicked my forehead. It actually hurt a little. “Nolan, that hurts! I’m a patient!” I couldn’t help but yelp. We were childhood friends, so we were familiar with each other’s boundaries. Aside from the initial awkwardness of meeting again, we easily slipped back into our old, comfortable dynamic. Around Nolan, I was always unreasonable and liked to tease him. And he would always let me. Just like now, even after I yelled at him, he completely ignored it and handed me another piece of apple. “Calm down, eat some more fruit.” I took the plate, shoved two pieces into my mouth, and muttered, “We haven’t seen each other in years, and the first thing you do is hit me without even explaining why?” Nolan smiled and shrugged. “Can’t help it. I’ve liked bullying you since we were kids.” With that, he turned and walked out, saying he was going to find my attending physician. I was looking down, eating the fruit, so I didn’t hear the words he muttered just before he walked out the door: “I just can’t stand seeing you wrong yourself. If I could smack that love-struck brain out of you, I would.” 6 There wasn’t anything seriously wrong with me physically. After I woke up, the attending physician gave me another checkup and cleared me to go home and rest. Since I had made up my mind to get a divorce, I had no intention of staying in the marital home, which was under Arthur’s name. I planned to move out with Lily. I owned several properties under my own name. I let Lily pick her favorite one, and we prepared to move in immediately. When Nolan found out I was getting a divorce and moving, he came over to help without a second thought. In less than a day, he moved all of Lily’s and my belongings over. The new house was just one street away from where Nolan currently lived. Lily was thrilled when she found out. “Do you really like Uncle Nolan?” That night, as I held Lily in bed, she snuggled into my arms, chattering endlessly about him. Over the past few days, Nolan acted like he didn’t have a job, coming over to mooch meals every single day. The moment Lily got out of school, she stuck to him like glue. The two of them hit it off instantly and played together brilliantly. They even made plans to go out on the weekend, completely leaving me out of it. Honestly, I felt a little like a third wheel. Lily sensed I was feeling a bit down and quickly hugged my neck, kissing my cheek. “Uncle Nolan is so nice. He’s willing to play with me and he’s so patient. Not like Daddy. Daddy always says he’s busy, he’s forever busy. He didn’t even come to my birthday yesterday. Uncle Nolan stayed with me, and he even gave me the present I wanted the most. If… if Uncle Nolan was my daddy, that would be great.” As Lily finished her sentence, a flicker of sadness crossed her eyes. A child’s world is simple. She might not be old enough to fully understand everything, but she was sharp enough to feel Arthur’s emotional distance. In contrast, Nolan gave her the fatherly love she had never experienced. My heart ached for my daughter. I pulled her into a tight embrace. Arthur really didn’t deserve to be a father. 7 In the afternoon, Lily came home from school. She didn’t look very happy. I asked her what was wrong, but she barely answered me. It wasn’t until dinner time that she finally spoke, her voice pitiful. “Kindergarten is having a parent-child event. A lot of the activities require the dads to participate. But… Daddy…” I sighed and said, “It’s okay, Mommy can do it too.” Lily shook her head, still looking miserable. She stared down at the rice in her bowl, lost in thought, when the doorbell suddenly rang. I didn’t need to guess to know who was here to mooch a meal. My previously depressed daughter shot her head up instantly. “Uncle Nolan is here!” With that, she scrambled out of her chair and ran to open the door for him. “Lily looks even cuter today.” Nolan carried Lily to the dining table, the two of them looking as natural as a real father and daughter. I felt a twinge of jealousy and glared at him playfully. “I almost died giving birth to this precious girl, and she’s closer to you than she is to me. It’s like you’re the one who gave birth to her.” Nolan’s smile grew even brighter. He leaned right into my words. “If that’s the case, then just pretend I did. I promise I’ll raise this precious girl right.” I quickly snatched my child back from his arms. “In your dreams! This is my precious girl!” Lily squeezed my hand, looking like a wise little peacemaker. “Stop fighting, you guys! One is Daddy, one is Mommy. Lily loves both of you!” Right. Just a few days ago, they had done a mock “adoption” ceremony. The two of them played along perfectly, calling each other “God-dad” and “Precious God-daughter.” Lily looked at Nolan, blinked her big eyes, and suddenly asked, “Mommy, since he’s already a daddy anyway, can Uncle Nolan be my daddy and go to the parent-child event with me?” I looked at Nolan, and he was looking at me, as if waiting for my approval. I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head. “That’s probably not a good idea…” “But all the other kids’ dads are going to be there. Only my dad… He hasn’t called me in so long. Why can’t Uncle Nolan be my dad? Mommy, I don’t want the other kids to make fun of me and say I’m a kid whose dad doesn’t love her.” The more my daughter spoke, the more heartbroken she sounded. She even started shedding tears, which shattered my heart. Nolan quickly chimed in. “Lily is my god-daughter now. That piece of trash Arthur is living it up overseas. I should definitely go! Do you really want Lily to be mocked by the other kids?” Naturally, I didn’t want that. So, on Monday, Nolan took on the role of “Dad” and went to the kindergarten event with me. The games were simple. Some tested the coordination between father and daughter, and others tested how well the parents knew each other. For example: “What is Mommy’s favorite color?” Nolan: “Purple.” “What is Mommy’s favorite fruit?” Nolan: “Apples.” “What does Mommy hate the most?” Nolan: “She hates being lied to.” Nolan answered every single question perfectly in record time. I couldn’t help but give him a thumbs-up. The host was one of the kindergarten teachers. Holding her script, she smiled at the kids, hyped up the atmosphere, and then asked the moms one last question. “So, who is Daddy’s favorite person?” Many parents wrote down their child’s name. I wrote Lily’s name too, because for questions like this, you’re supposed to write the kid’s name. But Nolan’s answer was—You. “Me?” I didn’t process it at first and instinctively pointed at myself. The host smiled and said, “It looks like Lily’s parents are very much in love! Out of all the dads here, he’s the only one with a different answer.” For some reason, my heart suddenly started beating a little faster. It didn’t return to normal even after the segment ended. Nolan held Lily’s hand and walked up to me. “What’s wrong? Is your heart bothering you again?” His voice was gentle as always, his eyes filled with genuine concern and inquiry. I shook my head. “Nolan, why didn’t you write Lily’s name?” Nolan’s smile paused for a moment before he replied, “Since I’m acting as Lily’s dad, naturally, my favorite person is Lily’s mom. So… saying I like you, I don’t see any problem with that answer.” There was a problem. A huge problem! My heart beat even faster.

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My connection to Silas was forbidden—a twisted, “Flowers in the Attic” kind of situation. At least, that’s what I thought. I had no idea that “brother” was just a title, not a blood bond. Until the real daughter showed up at our door with DNA results in hand. I packed my bags to leave. Before I walked out, I made one last call to Silas. “Your real sister is back. Can I finally stop pretending to be your girlfriend and actually be her?” “Maya, give it a rest.” Ten years of constant rejection. It finally broke me. Every ounce of self-respect was gone. Brokenhearted, I did something wild. I hit the clubs and ordered up the hottest guys the VIP section had to offer. Plying myself with expensive drinks, I made a fool of myself, loudmouth and reckless. Then, a shadowy figure showed up in the club, dragging me out and throwing me into a private jet that very night. That evening, he pinned me rough against the harsh sheets of the hotel bed. “Feel that, Maya? Tell me, do you still think those club boys compare to me?” 01 I knew my time as the heiress to the sterling fortune was up the moment I walked downstairs and saw my parents, weeping and holding a strange girl in their arms. Deep down, I always knew. Growing up, everyone whispered that I looked nothing like them. It wasn’t just physical; our personalities were night and day. The Sterlings were old money, distinguished, reserved, and fiercely adherent to high-society rules. Then there was me: loud, wild, and rebellious. Bungee jumping, skydiving, urban exploring, drag racing—if it gave an adrenaline rush, I was there. Initially, those whispers made me angry. But as they grew louder, doubt crept in. One day, I snuck into my father’s study, swiped some hair from his brush, and took it to a private clinic for a DNA test. Just to be sure, I, in a stroke of utter disrespect, did the same with my mother. The results were life-altering, yet entirely expected. I wasn’t theirs. My first instinct wasn’t to hide it. But the crushing guilt of living a lie, of occupying a spot that didn’t belong to me, made it impossible to stay silent. I dropped hints. Subtle ones at first, then more obvious. I begged them to do a family DNA test, framing it as a fun ancestry thing. They always laughed it off, brushing my hair out of my face with parental affection. “Sweetheart, no matter what gossips say, you will always be a Sterling.” But how could I be a Sterling when I was in love with my brother? 02 I stood at the top of the stairs, gripping the handle of my packed suitcase. The trio downstairs finally snapped out of their emotional huddle. “Maya? I thought you were at that charity event?” my mother asked, her voice cracking as she quickly stood up, looking flustered. “Cancelled,” I said curtly. My gaze involuntarily shifted to the stranger. She wore a plain sleeveless tank and olive cargo pants. She was tall, slim, with a clean-cut bob and healthy, sun-kissed skin. She was the polar opposite of the polished, pampered debutantes of our circle. She stood next to a tattered black duffel bag, looking weathered and exhausted, like an old oak tree that had survived too many storms. She was a warrior. I studied her features in silence, awestruck. So this is the power of bloodlines, I thought. Well, damn. No wonder they always said I didn’t belong. Perhaps my stare was too intense. My mother shifted, instinctively stepping in front of the girl, her eyes flashing with possessiveness. A cold chuckle bubbled in my chest. Did she really think I was going to hurt her precious, newfound daughter? “Maya, this is Chloe. She’s…” My father frowned, struggling to find the right words to explain the situation to the girl I used to call my sister. Her name was Chloe Sterling now. She got the last name on day one. And me? Twenty-odd years later, I still carried a different name: Maya Thorne. My “mother,” Eleanor Sterling, was originally a Thorne. So, I wasn’t even using her maiden name. Even in the extended family, there wasn’t a single relative named Thorne. Memories rushed back, sharp and painful. “I told you she was some stray the Sterlings picked up! I knew it!” “She’s just a pawn for an alliance marriage. She thinks she’s a real heiress? Just wait till the real one comes back; she’ll be kicked to the curb.” The voices of the high-society hens echoed in my mind, sharp and vicious. My head began to throb. My parents—the ones who raised me—were good people. I knew that even with Chloe back, they wouldn’t kick me out. But I couldn’t bear to make things difficult for them. As my father was about to say the word “sister,” my ears began to ring. Before he could utter it, I dropped to my knees. I bowed my head in a final gesture of respect, then stood up, grabbed my suitcase, and walked out the door without looking back. The winter wind howling outside drowned out my mother’s cries for me to stay. I pulled my wool coat tighter, quickening my pace. 03 I slid into the back of a taxi, the blast of the heater instantly enveloping me. I rubbed my frozen hands together and pulled out my phone. I counted to ten in my head before the call connected. “Silas,” I said. “Call me ‘brother’.” Even though he must have received the news about Chloe, Silas was still as stubborn as ever, correcting me. I let out a dry laugh, then blurted out, “I’m not your sister. I want to be your girlfriend.” “Maya, stop messing around.” Silas sighed after a long pause, sounding weary. I had heard this rejection a hundred times. From the moment I realized I wasn’t biologically a Sterling, I also realized I had developed a sickening, borderline obsessive possessiveness over Silas. I stopped calling him “brother” and started using his first name. I acted like a jealous girlfriend, pushing my way into his social circle, monitoring his texts, restricting who he could see. I even crawled into his bed in the middle of the night on multiple occasions, using a fear of thunder as an excuse, then quietly slipping out of my nightgown. When our naked skin touched, Silas bolted upright, looking at me in sheer disbelief under the covers. “Maya Thorne, are you insane!” he had said. “I love you, Silas.” “I’m your damn brother!” “Brother, I love you!” I smirked, changing my address seamlessly. He had choked on his words, unsure of how to respond. After a long silence, he took a deep breath, wrapped me tightly in the comforter like a cocoon, and silently carried me back to my own room. After that, Silas started avoiding me. He became a workaholic, practically living at the office. He was traveling five out of seven days a week. Even our mother started complaining about his grueling schedule. “We have enough money. Stop killing yourself.” Silas shot me a quick glance and coughed. “I’m not tired.” Then he’d head back to the airport before sunrise. My focus returned to the present. Outside the taxi window, the wind was still howling. I had heard the word “no” too many times. I thought I had built a shield against it. I took a sharp breath, forcing a casual tone. “Silas, this is the last time I’m ever going to tell you I love you. Are you sure you want to say no?” “Maya…” His voice was hesitant, as if he was struggling with something. My heart stopped. The thudding in my ears was so loud it was deafening. But the faint spark of hope was extinguished instantly. “I have someone I like.” What? My mind went completely blank. I sat frozen, clutching the phone, unable to process his words. He wasn’t done with the execution. “I’ve loved her for years and years.” It felt like someone had physically grabbed my heart and squeezed. Tears blurred my vision. My mind began to sift through every woman in Silas’s life. Who is it? His secretary? A business partner? Some model? Suddenly, a memory flashed in my mind. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the phone. I heard my own voice, raw and raspy, barely managing to speak. “Is it… the other owner of that ring?” “Yes.” Silas’s voice actually carried a trace of a smile, as if he was remembering something beautiful. Silas wore a simple platinum band on his left pinky finger. He had worn it for years. Whenever I asked about it, he always casually dismissed it as just a trinket. Until one time, while he was showering, I sneaked in and stole it to play with. By some stroke of awful luck, the ring fell off the balcony and plunged into the swimming pool two floors below. That was the first time I had ever seen a look of utter terror on Silas’s face. His brows were tightly knit, his expression dark and ominous. His eyes, usually cool, were cold and menacing. For a moment, I honestly thought he might kill me right then and there. I stood frozen, waiting for the screaming. But he said nothing. He just silently stripped off his clothes and dove into the icy pool, over and over, until he found it. That was when I knew that “trinket” meant everything to him. I wanted to ask who she was, if she was beautiful. If she loved him as much as I did. A thousand accusatory questions burned on the tip of my tongue, but in the end, I only managed, “Brother, I hope you’re happy.” The snow and wind continued to batter the taxi. This winter felt colder than any other. 04 By the time Savannah called, I had been in a hotel room for three days, sleeping the days away. “You got dumped? Perfect! I have just the cure!” When I walked into the VIP section of the club, I stared at the lineup of men, all easily over six feet tall. I pinched Savannah’s arm. “You call this the cure?” Savannah smirked, looking pleased. “Impressive, right? For your broken heart, I went all out.” She waved her hand, and instantly two guys slid into the booth on either side of me. I could see their abs defined under their tight t shirts. I couldn’t help but look. They were hot. But compared to Silas… they were still lacking. Ugh, why am I thinking about him again? I felt a surge of pure annoyance, picked up the glass in front of me, and downed it. Then I quickly let them refill it. Drink after drink. The bass in the club was deafening. I was completely plastered. I glanced up; Savannah had abandoned me for the dance floor. The guy next to me kept pouring. I grabbed his hand, slurring my words. “Do you like me?” He looked startled, then flushed and nodded. “Then why doesn’t he! “I’m a model, I’m smart, I’m hot! Why doesn’t he like me!” I downed the rest of my drink, pulling out my phone. “I’m going to show him. I don’t need him.” I hit the video call button. It was picked up almost instantly, and a familiar face appeared on the screen before I was even ready. “Maya Thorne! Where are you?” He was roaring through the phone. I flinched, instantly sobering up a little. Am I seriously still scared of him? The realization fueled my drunken frustration. I yelled at the phone, “Why the hell is it your business where I am? You don’t control me!” To prove my point, I recklessly pulled the two guys next to me into the frame, planting a messy kiss on one of their cheeks, leaving a vivid red lipstick mark. “See? See! I don’t need you! He’s hotter and way more fun!” After that, I don’t remember what Silas said. I only hazily recall hearing something that sounded like, “Don’t move.” If I remember correctly, he’s currently out of the country, right? Wait? Yeah, right. By the time he gets here, I’ll be long gone. 05 I was leaning heavily on Savannah as we stumbled out of the club, when someone suddenly grabbed my arm, yanking me out of her grasp. I stumbled, shaking my head violently to clear my vision. I must be hallucinating. I was seeing Silas. He gripped my arm, his face terrifyingly calm as he instructed Savannah’s driver, “Take Miss Reynolds home.” I tried to follow her, but Silas swept me up in a fireman’s carry. I thrashed against him. “Let me go!” “So you can go find more boys?” Silas sneered. “It’s my business! They’re hot and they actually want me. Unlike you!” I slammed my fists into his shoulder, screaming at him. Silas’s face was dark as he quickened his pace. Presidential Suite. He tossed me onto the bed with brutal force. My head was spinning. I suppressed the urge to vomit and slowly opened my eyes, only to see him towering over me. “What are you doing?” I gasped. Silas stared down at me with cold, detached eyes. He spat out two words: “You.” He crushed his lips against mine. The alcohol was hitting me hard, and I was dizzy. I subconsciously began to respond. The kiss was brutal, punishing, an absolute claim of ownership. Silas was too good at this. It felt like something he had done a thousand times. I managed to find a burst of strength and shoved him back. “Silas, this is my first kiss.” I gasped for air, my eyes red as I stared at him. I desperately wanted him to say it was his too. But he didn’t. Silas froze for a split second, then lowered his gaze, refusing to meet my eyes as he silently buried his face in my neck. Tears burned and flowed down my face. I clutched his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin. “It hurts,” I whispered. He gentled his movements, but I pulled him closer. “Don’t let me go.” 06 The sound of running water drifted from the bathroom. I could see the outline of his body through the frosted glass. I looked away, and my gaze fell on the simple band on the nightstand. He had worn it for so long, and I realized there was minor wear on the outside. But what about the inside? Driven by a crazy impulse, I reached out. Under the dim lamp light, I finally saw the inscription. 60 forever. I didn’t understand. Perhaps it was a secret code between him and that girl. I offered a self-deprecating smile. The water in the bathroom stopped. I scrambled to put the ring back, then picked up the remote and turned on the TV to cover my tracks. It was the morning news. The anchor’s voice, tinged with emotion, filled the room. “There has been a new development in the case of Ambassador Richard Thorne and his wife, the renowned academic Dr. Amelia Thorne, who were victims of a terrorist attack seven years ago in New York. We hope to finally bring our heroes home…” Before I could finish watching, the screen went black. Silas dropped the remote. “Not tired? Still have energy for the news?” I looked up at him and said nothing. His towering figure leaned down, and a gentle kiss covered my lips. Unlike the punishing, desperate mess from earlier, this time he was gentle, almost as if he was trying to soothe me. “Do you do this with the girl you like, too?” I asked suddenly. Silas paused. He was standing with the light behind him, his face hidden in shadow. I couldn’t read his expression. But I got the distinct feeling he was staring at me. The room was silent. It felt like an eternity passed, or maybe just a few seconds. “She’s gone,” Silas said, not answering the question directly. The answer threw me. Gone? Like, dead? I didn’t understand, but I didn’t press further. At 8:00 AM, Silas was dressed impeccably in his suit. His assistant, Sarah, had delivered a fresh outfit for me. “The Angel’s Cove condo,” Silas said. “If you don’t want to go home, stay there.” The front door clicked shut. I sat frozen on the bed, only realizing what he meant after a long moment. Was he offering to keep me as his mistress? 07 “Maya, are you sure you won’t stay with me?” Savannah pleaded over the phone. “I found a place. I’ll see you for your birthday next month, okay?” After turning down Savannah’s invitation, I took my suitcase and headed to Silas’s private condo in Angel’s Cove. The security guard at the gate smiled as he buzzed me in. “Miss Thorne, are you here to see your brother?” It wasn’t my first time here, but it was my first time as… well, whatever I was now. When I entered the condo, everything was exactly as I remembered. A strange, melancholy feeling washed over me. I don’t know if it was because we had crossed that line in the hotel room, but Silas seemed to have stopped pretending. He transformed from a workaholic to a homebody. He stopped going to the main Sterling estate and lived entirely at the Angel’s Cove condo with me. When I crawled into his bed at night, he didn’t push me away. He pulled me into his arms. His body heat was intense. I leaned into his ear. “Let me help you.” Silas looked down at me for a long moment, then brushed his fingers against my lips. “Stop.” I turned my head. He let out a low chuckle, planting a soothing kiss on the corner of my mouth. “Just sleep.” The whole thing felt like a dream. We were like a normal couple, going on dates, watching movies. When Silas held my hand as we walked along the waterfront, I always felt like he was reliving a path he had walked with someone else. “Silas,” I called his name. He stopped, lowering his gaze to look at me. His expression was glazed, as if he was lost in a memory. My heart constricted. I asked the bitter question: “Who are you seeing when you look at me?” Silas smiled. “You.” He was lying. I bit my lip, but I didn’t expose him. Like a fragile dream, someone had to pretend to be asleep for it to continue. 08 The day of Savannah’s mother’s birthday party arrived. I took my gift and headed to the Reynolds estate. “There are so many people here! My face is starting to cramp from smiling,” Savannah said, slumping onto the sofa in the corner. Looking at her, I laughed. For families like the Sterlings and the Reynolds, these parties were just a spectacle to introduce the new generation and build business connections. “That’s just how it is. Before, I also…” The comforting words caught in my throat. I suddenly realized that in a little over a month, it would be Eleanor Sterling’s birthday. This year, the person standing by her side would be her real daughter. Actually, after finding out I wasn’t a Sterling, I had privately looked into Chloe Thorne’s background. But every time I got close to finding something, the trail would go dead, as if someone was deliberately blocking me. My thoughts were leading nowhere. I shook my head, clearing the strange suspicion. I was probably just overthinking things. “Look at that! She got kicked out of the family and she still has the nerve to show up at a party like this!” A woman in a dramatic black gown sauntered over. It was the same face that had called me a “stray” years ago—Bianca. “Bianca, Maya is our friend. Show some respect,” Savannah snapped, standing up defensively. “Being friends with her? Aren’t you afraid she’s going to steal your parents from you too?” “You—!” Savannah was shaking with anger. I grabbed her arm. I shook my head at her. Today was Savannah’s mother’s big night. As the host, it would be bad form for Savannah to get into a fight with a guest. Bianca was targeting me. I couldn’t hide behind Savannah. I squeezed Savannah’s hand, pulled her behind me, and was about to speak when a gentle voice interrupted. “Bianca, what’s going on?” “Amelia!” Bianca beamed and looped her arm intimately through the newcomer’s. “I need to introduce you to my ‘friends’.” Amelia Sterling swept a cool glance over Savannah, then focused on me. Her gaze lingered for a moment. “The real heiress, Amelia Vance. She just got back from studying abroad.” Bianca announced arrogantly, emphasizing the last few words. She looked like a proud hen showing off a prize. I ignored Bianca’s ridiculous posturing. My gaze was locked on the girl she introduced as Amelia Sterling. A simple white dress, loose waves, and a perfect, practiced smile. She was the definition of old money. But what caught my attention was the simple band on her left pinky. It looked exactly like Silas’s. Recognizing my stare, Bianca smirked and proudly lifted Amelia’s hand. “Isn’t this the engagement ring the Sterling family gave you?” “Engagement?” I frowned. “You don’t know? He was practically betrothed to Amelia years ago. They had an agreement. “She’s basically your sister-in-law. “Well, actually, since you aren’t a Sterling anymore, you don’t even have the right to call her that.” “Bianca! Stop it!” Amelia frowned, but her tone carried no actual weight. Then she turned to me, her smile still perfect. “My welcome-back party is tomorrow night, Maya. You should come. It’s always good to meet new friends.” Her tone was gentle, but I felt a distinct current of hostility. I looked at her, then calmly declined. “Sorry, I don’t usually make friends that easily.” She seemed genuinely surprised that I had turned her down so flatly. “That’s fine.” Bianca wasn’t going to let it go. She opened her mouth to start screaming at me. I moved instantly, grabbing her by the jaw. My expression was icy. “You… what do you think you’re doing!” We were too close. Her voice was trembling. Just as the crowd thought I was going to slap her, I suddenly let go and took a step back with a look of pure disgust. “You have spinach in your teeth.” My voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it was just loud enough for everyone close to us to hear. Bianca’s face turned scarlet. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth. The corner of my mouth quirked up. I grabbed the stunned Savannah and walked out. We were ten steps away when Bianca’s furious scream echoed behind us: “I DIDN’T EAT SPINACH TODAY!” “Haha, did you see the look on Bianca’s face? That was brilliant!” Savannah was doubled over laughing before she finally composed herself and apologized. “I’m sorry. I didn’t arrange things well. I knew you two hated each other and I still invited her. I’ll make it up to you, I promise!” I knew the invites were handled by her parents for business networking, so it wasn’t Savannah’s fault. But I still agreed to her offer, knowing that otherwise she would be consumed by guilt all night.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “418545”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Caleb, a man known for his unshakable self-control, played the role of a knight in shining armor. He settled a young woman into a suburban villa, paid off her debts, and opened a bakery for her, yet he never laid a finger on her. He just went over every day to eat a single meal. His friends couldn’t understand why he would do such a thing. He said, “I’m just greedy for a half-day of peace. When I go back, I am still Sloane’s perfect husband!” 01 That day, our daughter fell ill. As Caleb was heading downstairs, he asked casually, “Why hasn’t Autumn left for school yet?” Our daughter, eating her breakfast, looked up. “Daddy, I’m sick!” Caleb froze, looking up at me. “What’s wrong?” I said, “The flu. I’m taking her to the doctor in a bit.” “Is it serious?” “It’s fine. Her fever has already broken.” Caleb nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. “Drive safe, then. Call me if you need anything.” He kissed Autumn, said goodbye, and walked out the door. The nanny looked at me, hesitating to speak. I smiled and said nothing, just reminding Autumn to eat faster. I knew what she wanted to say. It was nothing more than: The child is sick, so why does her father seem completely unconcerned? He didn’t even know until she was almost fully recovered? To any normal American family, this would seem completely dysfunctional. But I was already used to it. Used to it to the point of apathy. After packing our things, I drove Autumn to the clinic. We ran into a car accident halfway there. The engine of the car ahead suddenly blew out, causing a three-car pileup behind it. I was the fourth car. I braked in time and narrowly escaped the crash. I originally wanted to just turn the car around and leave. But I unexpectedly spotted Caleb’s SUV—the one he claimed he lent to a friend. I had asked him before which friend it was. He said, “You don’t know him.” That answer was very clever. A friend I didn’t know meant they weren’t that close. If they weren’t that close, why would he be generous enough to lend out his car long-term? But I didn’t press the issue. I just played the part of the gullible, naive wife. Now, it seemed he had indeed lied. I clearly recognized the person getting out of that car. Even though we had only met once, I remembered her name perfectly—Piper! Piper anxiously checked the damage to the car, then pulled out her phone to make a call. Inexplicably, I felt that call was to Caleb. “Autumn, watch some cartoons on your iPad for a bit. We’ll go to the clinic in a minute, okay?” My daughter nodded obediently. “Okay, Mommy!” I pulled over and waited. Less than half an hour later, a black Range Rover sped over. A man holding a jacket hurried out of the vehicle. Piper looked at him as if he were her savior, stumbling into his arms. The man caught her, draped his jacket over her shoulders, and ushered her into his own car. I had no interest in watching the rest. “Autumn, buckle up. We’re going to the doctor now!” 02 I had only seen Piper once. But even before meeting her, I had heard her name. Her name was linked with Caleb’s, dragging out a rather colorful piece of gossip in our elite Manhattan social circle. To be honest, it had been years since anyone dared to throw a woman at Caleb. First, Caleb had a flawless reputation for keeping his hands clean. Second, he and his wife were known to be deeply in love. Once, some smart-ass tried to test his limits. Caleb not only severed all business ties with him but also beat him to a pulp. “If my wife misunderstands, I’ll beat you to death!” Because of that, things were quiet for many years. But recently, someone tried their luck again. “They probably figured you guys have been married for so long, and your kid is getting older. They thought Mr. Carter was getting lonely and needed a distraction. They bet on the wrong horse.” The person telling me this was Mrs. Vance. She said that night was incredibly dramatic. A young bottle girl from the club was wrapped in a blanket and delivered to his hotel room, like some ancient emperor being presented with a concubine. They thought any normal man wouldn’t be able to resist that kind of temptation. But Caleb walked out of the room in less than five minutes. His face was dark, radiating an icy, oppressive aura. “He called his own assistant first, had him buy the girl some clothes, and sent her home. Then he started settling the score.” Rumor had it, he barged into that manager’s room and beat him up. Then he called the cops, reporting prostitution, and had the guy arrested right there. Following that, he terminated all contracts with that company. Mrs. Vance spoke with a mix of envy and a sigh: “Caleb is truly devoted to you!” I smiled and exchanged pleasantries with her. But my heart sank a little. Devoted? Not necessarily! Caleb’s outward attitude toward this kind of thing seemed the same as before. But he hid things from me. That point alone was abnormal. And then there was Caleb’s attitude toward that girl. If it were the past, he wouldn’t have stayed for five minutes, nor would he have had his personal assistant handle the “aftermath.” So, I did a little digging into that girl. I discovered she had gone from a bottle girl at a club to suddenly becoming Caleb’s new secretary. 03 When Caleb got home, I was still working in my home office. Having spent the whole day with Autumn, I was behind on a lot of things. “Still busy?” “Yeah!” “I’m heading to bed then!” “Wait for me in the living room after you shower!” I looked back at him. “We need to talk.” Caleb instinctively frowned. The atmosphere instantly stagnated. He didn’t say anything, just gave me a cold glance, closed the office door, and left. I didn’t know if he would actually wait for me. He hated it when I used that tone with him. Just like he complained to his friends. Whenever I started a conversation like that, it was never a good thing. Today was obviously no exception. But I didn’t want to fight with him, nor did I want to make a scene. So, when I finished working and came out, seeing him sitting in the living room, I asked, “Want a drink? We can chat.” Caleb raised an eyebrow. “An interrogation?” I smiled. “Nothing that serious. Just a casual chat.” His tense body relaxed. He stood up and took a small piece of cake out of the fridge. “I bought this for Autumn, but it looks like she missed out.” He said, “You have a bad stomach. Eat something first, don’t drink on an empty stomach.” Actually, the vibe was pretty good at that moment. If we had just gone with the flow, we might have had a productive conversation. But that cake had to ruin it. Sure enough, I overestimated myself. “Where did you buy it?” I asked him. Caleb said, “A bakery I passed by on the way.” “Isn’t that Piper’s place?” When Piper stepped out of that car, I knew Caleb hadn’t kept his promise to me. After finding out Piper had become Caleb’s secretary, I went to his office once. It was bad timing; Caleb wasn’t there. I asked his assistant, “Where’s Piper?” He stuttered, looking incredibly nervous. Later, I found her in Caleb’s private lounge. She was curled up on the single bed, covered in the cashmere blanket I bought for Caleb, her face pale, looking sick. When she saw me, she panicked and scrambled up. I asked her, “Where’s Caleb?” She bit her lip and said shyly, “It’s my time of the month, and my stomach hurts. Mr. Carter went to buy me painkillers and a hot drink.” I nodded. “Let’s wait together, then!” Taking care of a woman on her period was something Caleb was very experienced at. Because since my very first period, he was the one making me ginger tea. He would even turn bright red going to the pharmacy to buy me pads. He knew exactly which painkillers worked best without upsetting the stomach. He also knew that women on their periods had bad appetites but loved sweets. So, he bought Piper the over-the-counter meds I usually took, along with a ginger tea and a slice of red velvet cake. I handed the items to Piper. “This medicine works okay. It’s not as fast as prescription painkillers, but the side effects are minimal. If you really can’t handle it, just take a sick day. The company offers that basic benefit, at least!” Piper nodded timidly. She glanced at Caleb, and seeing him silent, she left the room looking disheartened, taking the stuff with her. When the office door closed, Caleb called my name: “Sloane!” But I walked straight into the lounge, grabbed the cashmere blanket, and threw it into the trash can right in front of him. Caleb frowned. “You don’t need to do that. I just felt sorry for her. There’s nothing going on between us.” “Who is she?” “The new secretary.” “I’m asking you, who is she!” This time, Caleb went silent. After a long while, he told me the whole story about him and Piper. He said she was a pitiful girl who only agreed to that “delivery” setup because she needed to pay off her father’s gambling debts. She dropped out of school young and couldn’t find a decent job, so she sold liquor at a club and was constantly harassed. “I ran into her at the club that day. She was being forced to drink. She’s so young, she should have a better life. Sloane, I only helped her out of pity!” Was that the truth? The suspicious part was that Caleb almost never went to clubs. Yet, after Piper was delivered to his room, he just happened to “bump into” her at a club? Was it really a coincidence, or did Caleb specifically go looking for her? It was quite intriguing to think about. But I didn’t dig deeper. I just nodded. I told him, “Fire her. Find her a different job.” Caleb didn’t even hesitate. He agreed immediately. He said he wouldn’t contact Piper anymore. He said he wouldn’t betray me. I believed him. I never expected that he would not only house Piper in a suburban villa but also open a bakery for her. 04 My single sentence completely froze the room. Caleb’s demeanor slowly changed. From scrutinizing to cold. “You investigated me?” He said, “Sloane, that poor girl has suffered enough. You doing this is completely out of line!” I sighed. “Caleb, you’re panicking.” Panic clouds judgment. “Otherwise, you’d know that if I hadn’t found something, I wouldn’t have done anything extra.” I tapped my phone and pushed the dashcam footage from the car accident toward him. “It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. If she can drive your car, she definitely lives in your house. So where is she working now?” Caleb didn’t click on the video. He just kept his eyes lowered. After a long time, he let out a heavy breath. “Whether you believe it or not, I haven’t cheated, and I haven’t betrayed you. I just pity her. Her place was constantly harassed by debt collectors. She had nowhere to go. She deserves a better job, not relying on selling herself for money. Sloane, these things mean nothing to us, but they can change a young girl’s entire life.” I had no patience for this. So I interrupted him: “Do you love her?” Caleb looked at me, his eyes filling with disappointment. “Is romance and sex all you see between men and women? Sloane, she and I are completely innocent. You shouldn’t start rumors about a girl based on your own paranoid delusions.” Caleb’s words truly stunned me. I never thought he could utter something so… shamelessly self-righteous. I had always thought he was a smart man. The biggest advantage of a smart person is that you can communicate with them. We know what the other is trying to say, we understand each other perfectly, and things click. But since when had Caleb become someone I no longer recognized? His reaction completely missed my expectations. This would make the next steps very difficult. But the arrow was already nocked; I had to shoot. I couldn’t let myself and my child fall into an even more humiliating situation. So I spoke decisively: “Caleb, let’s get a divorce! Take your time to think about it. Once you’ve made up your mind, we can discuss the details.” 05 I had realized very early on that getting a divorce is a huge hassle. Unless both parties reach a consensus, it’s a protracted war of attrition. All along, I had never sensed any desire for divorce from Caleb. Until Piper appeared. He put so much thought and effort into a girl other than me for the first time. Knowing him, it was either he already caught feelings, or he was about to. So, I demanded he fire Piper. I thought he would refuse. But he agreed. Had I guessed wrong? Half a month ago, some friends came over, and they were talking in his study. One of them teased Caleb: “They say marriage is the graveyard of love. As the ultimate authority on this, how does it feel now?” Caleb chuckled. “I couldn’t agree more!” “Oh?” his friend exclaimed. “What? Got the seven-year itch?” Caleb sighed. “Not exactly! It’s just… if I had known married life was this boring, I would have played around for a few more years!” “Then why did you turn down that girl who stripped naked and sent herself to your room?” “That’s a different matter entirely!” His friend disagreed. “What do you mean ‘different matter’? As long as you hide it well, finding a little fun is no big deal!” This time, Caleb fell silent. After a long while, he said in a flat tone, “We’ll see.” Hearing those words, I turned away from the cracked door and left. Caleb was looking for some “fun.” Whether it was because of that naked girl or the sheer boredom of married life, he wanted to step out. And I couldn’t possibly wait until he actually cheated to get a divorce. So, before he crossed that line, I had to terminate this marriage. My demand for a divorce left Caleb silent for a long time. He just stared at me, like he was looking at an unreasonable child. It wasn’t just him; I also thought of the past. That period when I frequently brought up divorce. Back then, I was anxious, miserable, and completely at a loss. I relieved my emotions through screaming matches, and I exploded by threatening divorce. But I didn’t actually want a divorce. I just didn’t know what else to do. My relationship with Caleb had hit a dead end, and I was just repeatedly smashing my head against a brick wall. Until my head was bloody and the wall finally broke. Caleb sighed. “Sloane, there is really nothing between me and Piper. If it bothers you, I’ll try my best not to contact her. Just drop the divorce talk, I don’t want to hear it.” I sighed too. “Caleb, don’t give me an answer right away. Think about it carefully. Do you really not want a divorce? Because right now, for you, the pros of divorce heavily outweigh the cons!” 06 That night, Caleb and I parted on bad terms. For the next consecutive week, he slept in the guest room, leaving early and coming home late, not saying a single word to me. Autumn smoothed out a crease in her storybook. “Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?” “What’s wrong?” “I want to read this storybook with Daddy.” “Can’t Mommy read it with you?” The little girl looked at me. “But I want to read this one with Daddy!” My heart ached. It seemed I couldn’t just passively wait anymore. Piper’s villa wasn’t far from ours. It was a property given to Caleb as collateral for a debt years ago. I went to the security office. Using the excuse of losing a valuable item, I requested to view the surveillance footage accompanied by a guard. Over the past week, without missing a single day, Caleb drove in every afternoon and left an hour or two later. Today, it hadn’t even been an hour since he arrived. The front door had an electronic lock. I had long forgotten the passcode. I had to knock. The door opened quickly, and a bright, pretty little face peeked out. “Why are you so early today…” Seeing me, the smile froze on her face, and she stood rooted to the spot. Seeing her wearing an apron, I asked, “Cooking?” Piper tightly gripped the hem of her apron. “Mrs. Carter!” I nodded and stepped past her into the house. Piper followed me inside. She asked, “Mrs. Carter, can I help you with something?” “I’m sorry,” I said. “I need to revoke the usage rights to this house. Will an hour be enough for you to pack your things? Do you need me to call a moving company for you? Oh, right, and that bakery—you can either return the startup capital to me, or I’ll take the storefront back!” Piper’s eyes widened. Her initial timidity transformed into anger. “What gives you the right?” I smiled. “Because these are marital assets.” Piper’s face darkened. She stepped back and shook her head. “Mrs. Carter, this is between Caleb and me. You have no right to interfere!” “Alright, then let’s wait for him!” I found a spot and sat down, while Piper remained standing. After I don’t know how long, she broke the silence. “Mrs. Carter, do you know how much Caleb hates going back to that house?” “Oh? How much?” She curled her lips into a mocking smile. She said, “He’d rather work overtime at the office or drink at a club. Do you know that every day when he gets home, he sits in his car and smokes for half an hour before going inside?” “Mrs. Carter, things between Caleb and me aren’t as filthy as you think. He just wants to steal a half-day of peace here. The pressure on him is too much, and this place lets him relax. Are you going to strip him of his very last bit of personal space?” “Mrs. Carter, you make your husband dread going home. What a failure of a wife you must be!” “Did you hear that?” I suddenly spoke up. “What?” Piper looked confused. I held up my phone and spoke to the person on the other end of the line: “Caleb, did you hear what your little girl just said?” There was silence on the other end. I continued, “I can’t imagine how devastated I would be hearing that if I were still deeply in love with you. But thankfully, I don’t love you anymore. Caleb, I don’t love you anymore. Let’s finalize this divorce as soon as possible! I’ll give you two days to think. If I don’t get the answer I want, I’m filing a lawsuit!” 07 That day, Caleb ultimately didn’t stay for dinner at Piper’s. When he got back, not only Autumn but even the nanny was shocked and quickly cooked two extra dishes. At the dinner table, Autumn was very excited, chattering endlessly about her day at preschool. For once, Caleb didn’t tell her “No talking at the dinner table.” After dinner, we played games with Autumn together. She dragged Caleb to read that storybook she had been saving, and finally drifted off to sleep, completely satisfied. Coming out of Autumn’s room, we instinctively went to the living room. This time, Caleb spoke first. “Sloane, there are some things I didn’t know how to tell you, so letting it out to a passing acquaintance like Piper was easier. Sloane, there is really nothing between Piper and me. You can look at our relationship as an equal exchange. I give her help, and she acts as my emotional trash can, that’s it. Sloane, I didn’t want to bring my negative emotions home to you. I always thought, as long as I could steal a half-day of peace there, I’d still be Sloane’s perfect husband when I got home.” Men and women are seemingly never on the same frequency. Once, I desperately wanted to hear Caleb’s true thoughts, but he was always so stingy with his words, even treating me like I was neurotic. But now, when he finally started bearing his soul, I only felt disgusted. “Caleb, can we skip the bullshit? What are your thoughts on the divorce?” My stubbornness made Caleb irritable. “Why does it have to be a divorce? Tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll fix it!” I couldn’t understand him either. “Why won’t you agree to a divorce? You heard Piper today. She definitely has those intentions. All it takes is piercing that thin veil, and the rest is inevitable. Doesn’t your current life feel incredibly boring? Isn’t divorce the best option?” My words were too blunt. A rare look of panic flashed across Caleb’s face. He clenched his fists, looked away, and growled, “I never wanted a divorce!” I leaned back on the couch. “Then you really need to think hard about it! Caleb, our ties are deep. The relationship between our families, the business overlaps, various joint investments, and most importantly, me and Autumn. If we can split amicably, there’s no need to tear each other apart. Otherwise, it will get very ugly. I’m suggesting this sincerely: if you want to step out, divorce me first.” “I told you, I never wanted a divorce, and I won’t cheat. Why don’t you believe me?” My patience was running thin. “Tell me, what will it take for you to agree to a divorce?” Caleb gritted his teeth. “I’m not getting a divorce!” “Why?” “Because I love you!” Caleb’s sudden outburst made me close my eyes in agony. I clenched my jaw. “Don’t love me. I’m begging you, stop loving me!” Caleb and I were childhood sweethearts. From high school to walking down the aisle, we were each other’s first loves and only loves. Along this journey, Caleb told me countless times that he loved me. The first time, it made my heart flutter. Subsequent times, it felt deeply romantic and tender. That feeling of holding the entire world in my hands had kept me intoxicated for a very long time. Until Caleb broke it all. Once, after getting drunk, he told me he still loved me, but he didn’t love Autumn. “If it weren’t for you, Autumn would mean absolutely nothing to me!” Was that supposed to be romantic? No, it made my blood run cold. If a person can’t even love their own child, then they must only truly love themselves. “Caleb, actually, your current life—aside from being a bit boring—must be pretty comfortable for you. After all, I don’t demand that you come home early, I don’t demand your company, I don’t track your whereabouts, and I don’t interfere with your actions. You easily get to be the father of a five-year-old. You have a home, a wife, and a child, yet you don’t have to sacrifice anything. So, after doing all those terrible things, you can still self-righteously say no to a divorce because you are the beneficiary of this arrangement, aren’t you?” “Here we go again! Here we go again!” Caleb flared up. “Can we stick to the issue at hand? Do you have to dig up the past? Sloane, this is getting really tiring!” Stick to the issue? Fine! “Your desire to cheat is an established fact. If not Piper, it would be someone else. Your relationship with Piper has already crossed the line of normal boundaries. I have reasonable suspicion that you have already cheated!” “I haven’t!” Caleb growled. I sneered. “I don’t believe you!” “Then what do I have to do to make you believe me?!” “I won’t believe anything you do!” Caleb glared at me furiously. “Sloane, you’re being completely unreasonable!” I nodded. “So what? Caleb, since I’ve brought up divorce, I will get it done at any cost. You can take my words as a threat!” Caleb was expressionless. I continued, “Or let me be clearer. Your company is in a critical pre-IPO phase. You can consider which causes less damage: a massive scandal, or an amicable divorce!” At that moment, Caleb fell silent. I had said everything that needed to be said. The rest was up to Caleb. He seemed to stay up all night. When I went down to get water in the middle of the night, I could still see the light shining from under the study door. The next day, we took Autumn to preschool together. After Autumn walked inside, Caleb said to me, “I agree.” “If this is what you want, I’ll give it to you!”

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In the third year of our marriage, my husband’s mistress was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Logan, a man who had never stepped foot in a church or believed in anything higher than a stock ticker, personally went to the National Cathedral. He knelt at every altar, lighting candles and praying for a miracle. The story broke the internet. Everyone was talking about the “devoted” man and his “tragic” love. He called me to explain: “It’s her final wish, Jade. I couldn’t say no to a dying girl.” I smiled to myself and hung up. Then, I turned back to the sheets, tangling again with Silas Thorne—the rebellious, billionaire heir of the Thorne empire. 01 I was curled up on the sofa reading a script when Logan returned from his business trip. He looked rattled. His expression was loose, his eyes darting around the room. The atmosphere between us felt like ice. I kicked off my slippers and asked, “Why so late?” Logan walked past me without a word. As we brushed shoulders, I caught the faint, clinical scent of antiseptic. “Did you go to the hospital?” “Just visiting a friend,” he said, his voice flat. I frowned, but I didn’t push him. I figured he was just exhausted from the flight. Later that night, I showered and changed into a silk slip, spritzing a bit of perfume on my neck. We had been in a cold war since before his trip because of his sudden pressure to get pregnant. I wanted to end the silence. I walked into the bedroom and sat on his lap. For a second, his body went rigid. But we had been together for years; I knew exactly how to move. Within moments, we were breathless. Logan’s face was flushed, his breathing ragged against my ear. I thought this was our “makeup” night. But then, his phone on the nightstand chimed repeatedly. Before I could glance at the screen, Logan grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss that felt forced, designed to keep me from turning around. Suddenly, he pulled away entirely, his brow furrowed. “Something came up at the office. I have to handle it now. Go to sleep.” I looked at him, confused and annoyed. “It’s midnight, Logan. What could be so urgent?” He didn’t give me a chance to get angry. He grabbed his phone and locked himself in the study, leaving me cold and bewildered in the middle of the bed. Logan had never been like this. Eight years of dating, three years of marriage. He used to leave his phone on silent the moment he walked through the front door. He never prioritized work over me. Maybe it really is an emergency, I tried to tell myself. I tried to shake the feeling, pulling my robe back over my shoulders. As I stood up, I noticed Logan’s iPad was still active on the nightstand. Driven by a gut feeling, I leaned over. The screen was open to an Instagram “alt” account. I scrolled through the posts. It was a digital diary of our relationship, starting from our college days. Seeing the old photos made me smile. Until I reached the very top. The latest post. “I finally realized that the only person in the world who truly, selflessly loves me is Lily.” I froze. I tapped on the comments. A user named @Lily_Vance had left a single heart-eyes emoji. “Logan, you never change.” Logan had replied thirty minutes ago: “Rest up. I’m coming.” Lily replied: “I’m so happy. I missed you so much. I feel like I can’t live without you anymore. What am I going to do?” Lily Vance. The girl who had been stalking and chasing Logan for ten years. 02 Lily appeared in Logan’s life a year after I did. She was a freshman when we were seniors. She claimed she fell in love with Logan at first sight during orientation and asked for his number in front of everyone. Logan had politely turned her down. “Sorry, I have a girlfriend.” That night, I had teased him about it. He leaned down, cupping my face with his hands, his eyes soft. “I don’t have eyes for anyone but you, Jade.” But then, Lily started showing up everywhere. She was at every basketball game, cheering for him until her voice went hoarse. She would do full “clean girl” makeup looks that looked ridiculous under the stadium lights—thick white foundation that didn’t match her neck, and bright pink blush that made her look like a doll. She ignored the whispers of the crowd, shouting, “Go Logan! You’re the best!” My roommate nudged me, smirking. “Your boyfriend sure attracts the crazies.” “At least the competition isn’t very threatening,” I joked. After the game, Lily would be the first to run toward him with a Gatorade. It made me uncomfortable, but Logan always walked straight past her to me. He’d wipe the sweat from his hands before putting an arm around my shoulder. “Hey, Jade. Dinner with the team?” He never even looked at her. I’d look back at the girl. She’d be standing there, clutching her skirt, looking down at her feet. This happened for four years. Lily’s obsession made her a local legend—a joke, really. She was the “stalker girl” everyone used to mock over drinks. Logan blocked her number a hundred times. He never gave her an inch. One day, she sat directly across from us in the dining hall and smiled, asking if she could join the table. Logan’s face went dark. He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone was lethal. “I’ve been polite because you’re a girl, but let me be clear: my girlfriend is sitting right here. You’re making a fool of yourself. Don’t you have any dignity?” “Even if Jade and I broke up tomorrow, I would never look at you.” “You are exactly the type of person I despise.” Lily’s eyes filled with tears instantly. “I’m just following my heart. What’s wrong with that?” The tears washed tracks through her foundation. It was pathetic. I told her, “Take the hint, Lily. Go back to your dorm, have a cry, and focus on your GPA. Or find a guy who’s actually single. This is embarrassing.” When she finally stumbled away, Logan exhaled a long breath. “God, she’s exhausting. I should have been meaner sooner.” I kissed him, thinking that was the end of the drama. I was wrong. Six months later, Lily managed to transfer into the same graduate research program as Logan. Logan still ignored her, but because they shared a mentor, he was forced to have her on his contact list. He would show me his phone every night to prove he never replied to her. Eventually, we graduated, got married, and stayed happy. Logan worked at a high-end research institute. Lily seemed to vanish. I thought she had finally given up. Until Logan’s colleague ran into her in the oncology ward. 03 In our three years of marriage, Logan had been the perfect husband. So when did it change? Lily had undergone surgery. Their mentor organized a small group to visit her. She had breast cancer. It was aggressive. Because of her depression and physical weakness, she had been refusing treatment. When Logan came home from the hospital visit, we had some colleagues over for dinner. A junior researcher laughed and said to me, “Jade, you should have seen it. Lily is literally on her deathbed and she’s still obsessed. The way she looked at Logan… it was like she saw a god.” “The girl is mentally ill,” another added. “Stalking a man for a decade? Crazy.” “She’s nothing compared to Jade,” a younger girl said, hugging my arm. “You and Logan are the blueprint.” They laughed and gossiped about Lily’s past antics. I just gave a tight smile. “Alright, let’s leave it. She’s sick.” I didn’t notice Logan’s face darkening. But when someone mentioned how Logan used to throw the lunches she made him into the trash, Logan slammed his fork down. “That’s enough!” The table went silent. Four or five people stared at him in shock. I stepped in. “Logan just thinks we should focus on the food. Try the roast, guys.” The mood recovered, but no one mentioned Lily again. At midnight, after the guests left, I went into the bedroom to finally talk to him. Logan was leaning against the headboard, staring at his phone. The light from the screen cast a soft, almost tender glow on his face. When he heard me enter, he snapped the phone shut. His face turned to stone. “I have more work. I’m sleeping in the study tonight.” Usually, after I’d been away on a trip, we were inseparable. Now, he was freezing me out for the third night in a row. “What is going on with you?” I demanded. He avoided my eyes. “Work is just heavy.” “Work wasn’t heavy for the others at dinner. Just you?” I reached for his phone. “Let me see.” Logan flinched, hiding the phone behind his back. “Stop being dramatic, Jade. I’m busy.” I didn’t listen. I lunged for it. In the struggle, the phone hit the floor and the screen lit up with a notification. “Are you not coming to stay with me tonight? I’m used to sleeping alone, but I’m scared.” “The doctor says if I stay stable, I can go home in a few days. But without you, I don’t think I can make it through the next surgery.” “Logan… if I get better, can I give you the son you’ve always wanted?” Logan shoved me back and snatched the phone. I stood there, my breath hitching. I didn’t think. I just slapped him. “How long has this been going on?” My voice was hoarse. “She has cancer, Logan. Do you have any common sense left? Or have you lost your mind?” Logan gritted his teeth. “We haven’t done anything!” “Nothing? She’s offering to have your children!” I suddenly realized why he had been pushing for a baby. We had agreed to be child-free when we got married. But lately, his mother had been pestering him for a grandson. Logan had started wavering, trying to convince me to quit my job and “prepare.” He knew my history. He knew I watched my own mother die in a hospital bed from a traumatic birth. Marriage and childbirth were my biggest fears. I only married Logan because he promised me a life without that pressure. He even promised to get a vasectomy. And now, I was up for a major promotion at the law firm. I couldn’t go back to being a housewife. We had fought about this for weeks. Was it really that simple? Because Lily was willing to die to give him a child? Logan turned his face away. “Enough, Jade. I don’t want to fight.” “She’s a terminal patient. She has nothing. I’m just looking after her. Why do you have to be so petty?” “I have work. I’m leaving.” I sat alone on the sofa. I found that alt account on Instagram again. He had updated. A photo of a girl’s head resting on his lap. “Get well soon.” Lily had commented with a laughing-crying emoji: “Why are you so eager? Are you ready to take my ‘first time’ finally?” 04 Logan didn’t come home for days. I slept alone. I dreamed of our wedding—Logan smiling, promising to always choose me. Then the dream would shift to him looking at me with pure irritation before walking away. I was tired of the cold war. I wanted a confrontation. But every time I called, his voice was like ice. “The lab is busy. We’ll talk when I’m back.” I couldn’t wait. I took a half-day off and went to the institute. His junior colleague looked at me with pity. “Logan? He took a week off. Said there was a family emergency.” My heart hammered against my ribs. I opened an app on my phone. When we first got married, Logan had installed a tracking app on both our phones. He said it was for my safety because we both worked late. I tracked his location. I got an address from a colleague. It was an apartment in a neighborhood slated for demolition. The walls were peeling, showing red brick and mold. Logan made a six-figure salary. Why was he here? I knocked. A raspy but cheerful voice answered. “Is that the food? Hurry up, I’m starving!” “I’ve got it, you little glutton.” The door opened. Logan and I locked eyes. He was wearing a bathrobe, his hair damp. I felt a sharp, stinging pain in my chest, but I forced a smile. “Sorry to interrupt the party.” I pushed past him into the room. Lily was lounging on the sofa in a slip dress. No bra. She was so thin her ribs were visible, but her neck was covered in faint pink hickeys. I looked at the bedroom. The bed was a disaster. And on the pale pink sheets, I saw a dark red stain. I felt like I was going to throw up. Lily looked surprised. “Jade? What are you doing here?” I didn’t answer her. I threw my designer bag straight at Logan’s face. “If you want a divorce, just say the word. I’ll give it to you.” “But this? This is fucking disgusting.” Logan stayed silent. The hardware on my bag had cut his cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. Lily stumbled over, shielding him. She glared at me, her face full of defiance. I looked at her closely. She wasn’t pretty. The anemia made her skin look greyish-yellow. Her freckles were dark against her pale face. She looked like a corpse. I couldn’t understand how Logan could touch her. Lily started crying. “Jade, you’ve had him for ten years! Can’t you just give me a few days?” “I’m giving him my entire life. I just want him by my side as I die. Is that too much to ask?” “I love him. I…” She didn’t finish. She coughed up a spray of blood onto the floor. I looked at the blood on my coat. I felt nothing but a cold, heavy exhaustion. Logan pushed me aside and scooped Lily up. He roared at me, “She just had surgery! She can’t get worked up! What is wrong with you?!” He grabbed his keys to take her to the ER. Lily nestled into his chest like a frightened rabbit. “Logan,” I said, my voice hollow. “Are you really choosing to walk out on your wife right now?” Logan paused, his jaw tight. “Lily has no one. Her parents are gone. She’s dying. You… you have your career, your family. You’ll be fine without me.” I let out a short, sharp laugh. “So it’s my fault for being healthy? My fault for being independent?” Logan didn’t answer. I raised my hand to stop him from speaking. “Fine. Divorce.” 05 I took a deep breath and laid it all out. “Our salaries have always been separate, so we don’t need to split that. You rarely use the car, so I’m taking it. We bought the house together, but it goes to me. You’re the one who cheated; I’m entitled to damages.” Logan blinked. “I’m just taking care of her for a while, Jade. We don’t have to do this.” “What? You want to wait until she gets better or dies, then come crawling back to me? You want to force me to ‘forgive’ you for the sake of our history while I rot away as a bitter, suspicious wife? No.” I walked forward and yanked his robe open. His chest was covered in marks. The thought of them together made my stomach turn. “I already have the evidence of your affair and your cohabitation. You know I’m a lawyer. I’m good at this. Don’t waste my time.” “You’re so cold-blooded,” Lily piped up from his arms. She looked at me with pure malice. “You treat Logan like a defendant in a courtroom. Do you even have feelings for him?” “No wonder he chose me. You never gave him real love.” I didn’t bother replying to her. I just tilted my chin up. “Expect the papers by morning.” I grabbed my bag to leave. Logan called out behind me. “Jade! Every time we fight, you have to win. You never back down.” “Do you know what it’s like at the lab? Other wives bring their husbands lunch and clothes. I have nothing. I come home to an empty house. I asked you to quit, I told you I could support you, but you always chose your job over me.” “In college, having a high-achieving, beautiful girlfriend was a flex. I was proud of you.” “But now that we’re married, I just wanted a wife who cooks and takes care of the family. Is that a crime?” “Lily is different. She’s willing to do those things for me.” He slid his wedding ring off and threw it at my feet. “Fine. Have it your way. Good luck with your ‘limitless’ career.” The ring clattered on the concrete. My heart died right then and there. “If you wanted to use a PUA tactic on me, Logan, you should have tried harder. I’m not looking back.” The next day, I drafted the papers and faxed them to his office. Ten minutes later, a former colleague called me. “Jade? Did you and Logan break up?” “He didn’t tell you?” I was reviewing a brief. “He’s with his ‘gentle and sweet’ Lily now.” I heard a gasp, then a disgusted “Tsk.” “What an idiot. Leaving a wife like you for… her? Men are trash.” “Actually, Jade, I heard a secret at the lab today.” The girl lowered her voice. “Lily is actually our mentor’s niece. That’s why Dr. Harrison always gave her a pass. Her grad school admission was basically rigged.” I went silent. Logan’s career hadn’t been going well lately. He was the most senior researcher but his results were thin, and he was being passed over for promotions. He was ambitious and proud. He had been depressed for months. Was that when he started wavering? I realized that the man I had slept next to for years was even more disgusting than I thought. I went home to pack the rest of my things. I opened a drawer and saw a box of condoms. I felt a chill. I picked one up and looked closer. Every single wrapper had been pricked with a tiny needle. I dropped the box, grabbed my keys, and drove straight to a clinic for a blood test. When the results came back negative for pregnancy, I finally breathed. As I was leaving the hospital, I heard a familiar voice. Lily was standing outside the OB-GYN clinic. “Doctor, if my condition stabilizes, can I start trying to get pregnant?” 06 Lily turned around and we locked eyes. She gave me a slow, poisonous smile. Even with her gaunt face and sunken eyes, she had applied a bold red lipstick. She looked like a caricature. “Logan said he’ll marry me as soon as the divorce is final.” I ignored her. I had no interest in a public scene. But she followed me, grabbing my arm like a lunatic. “I told you, Jade. What’s wrong with following your heart? If you love someone long enough, they come around.” “You were just the college sweetheart. I’m the one he chose in the end.” “I’m willing to do anything for him. I love him more than you ever did. I even wrote a will leaving everything to him. When he saw it, his eyes went red. He held me so tight it hurt.” I stopped and looked at her coldly. “I think you have brain cancer, not breast cancer.” Lily acted like she didn’t hear me. She began shouting to the crowd of onlookers about how she “won” Logan’s heart. “He stayed with me for seven days while you were away on business!” “The nurses all thought he was my husband! He’s so devoted! When you called him, he lied just to keep me from getting upset!” “You’re the one who’s alone now, Jade. No parents, no husband. You’re pathetic!” Whatever grief I had left for the marriage evaporated. If it weren’t for my professional ethics and my upbringing, I would have slapped her right there. I walked out to the parking lot and saw Logan waiting by the curb. When he saw me, guilt flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by tenderness when he looked at Lily. I watched expressionlessly as Lily threw herself into his arms. They kissed in the middle of the sidewalk—a tall, handsome man and a shriveled, sickly girl who looked like a skeleton. A few bypassers even took photos, thinking it was a touching “sick-girl-reunited-with-hero-boyfriend” moment. I got into a cab and didn’t look back. The cold wind blew through the window, but I didn’t feel it until my phone started buzzing. My college group chat was blowing up. Someone had posted a screenshot of Lily’s Instagram. She had posted a photo of her clinging to Logan, her legs wrapped around his waist. The caption: “True love knows no timeline.” I let out a cold laugh and called my old roommate. I told her everything. “What is Logan thinking?” she asked. “Does he really want her ‘inheritance’?” “I heard Lily is drowning in debt. Debt collectors were calling her classmates last month. She doesn’t have an inheritance.” I paused. “Wait. Don’t researchers at that level make good money?” “I don’t know about that. All I know is that in college, Lily was always on financial aid. And in this city? She’s only been working a few years. How much could she possibly have saved?” I exhaled. “Whatever. I got the house. I’m done.” But after I hung up, I hired a private investigator to look into Lily’s “background.” It turned out she came from a family in the rural Midwest that treated women like property. She had promised to send them $20,000 a year just so they’d let her go to grad school. Her relatives had been showing up at her apartment demanding extra cash for years. No wonder she lived in a dump despite her salary. Between her family of leeches and her medical bills, she was likely broke. I laughed silently. Logan had some savings. I wondered if it would be enough to feed those parasites. 07 A few days later, the signed divorce papers arrived at my office. Included in the envelope was a wedding invitation. Red and gold. I glanced at the names, tossed it in the trash, and headed to the courthouse. Outside the building, I saw them again. They looked like Siamese twins. Lily was draped over Logan, ignoring everyone’s stares. Logan is 6’2”. Lily is barely 5’2”. She looked like she was trying to drag him down to the earth. We didn’t speak. We went in and got the decree. When I held the paper in my hand, Logan looked at me. He mouthed the words: “I’m sorry.” I just wanted to laugh. “Sorry” is such a cheap word. Right then, Lily leaned over the counter and asked the clerk, “My husband just got his divorce. Can we apply for a marriage license right now?” Her voice was loud, completely ignoring the people around her. I could feel the judgmental stares from the other couples in the lobby. The clerk looked between the three of us, her expression strained. “You can apply today, yes.” Lily couldn’t wait. She dragged Logan toward the next window. Logan looked humiliated. “Can’t we do this another day?” “The clerk said we can do it today! What’s the problem?” she snapped. “You promised! You said you’d marry me as soon as I got better. I’m better now!” “Don’t make me upset. The doctor said stress is bad for my recovery!” Logan opened his mouth to argue, then saw her face and shut it. I grabbed my bag and walked out. Lily shouted after me, “Jade! You got the invite, right? We’re getting married next month! I’m inviting all our old classmates! Make sure you show up!”

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When I was seven months pregnant, I discovered that Caleb Sterling had a “soulmate.” They were perfectly in sync, sharing thoughts and secrets I was no longer privy to. Every day, Caleb would buy two bouquets of lilies—one for me, and one for her. He swore they never crossed the line. Until that woman sent him a text: [If you had met me first, would you have married me?] Caleb didn’t reply. Instead, he stood on the balcony and smoked until the sun came up. 01 Caleb was distracted all day today. Several times he looked like he wanted to say something, but the words seemed to die in his throat. Finally, I was the one who broke the silence. “Is something wrong?” Caleb let out a heavy sigh. “I have to go to Philly for a business trip. I’ll be back tomorrow. But you’re so close to your due date… Forget it, I’ll send someone else.” I watched him as he spoke. He sounded sincere, his eyes meeting mine without flinching. I shook my head. “It’s fine. You should go.” “But you’ll be alone.” “I’ll have my mom come over.” Since I got pregnant, Caleb had been the picture of the perfect husband. He was meticulous, overprotective, and had canceled almost all his social engagements just to stay by my side. “If anything happened and I wasn’t here, I’d never forgive myself,” he used to say. Even if he absolutely had to leave, he would wait until my mother arrived, giving her a thousand instructions on how to care for me until she laughed at his mothering. But today, he only hesitated for two seconds before nodding. “Okay. Take care of yourself. Call me if anything happens.” He was in a hurry. He packed a single change of clothes and rushed out. I sat on the sofa, unmoving. I even managed a smile and a wave as he looked back one last time. But the moment the door clicked shut, my posture collapsed. Caleb was acting strange. From start to finish, everything was off. But I didn’t ask a single extra question. Because I knew exactly where he was going. And who he was going to see. 02 At first, I didn’t even know her name. I only knew her as “The Cafe Owner.” Caleb called her Piper. I first saw her a year ago, before I was pregnant. I was waiting for Caleb at a new boutique coffee shop right below his office building. I hadn’t told him I was coming, planning to surprise him for lunch. Then he walked in. The woman behind the counter, who had been leaning lazily against the espresso machine, straightened up immediately. Caleb gave her a small nod. She smiled and flashed him an ‘OK’ sign. It was a silent, terrifying kind of chemistry. The kind that makes two people feel like they were written in the stars. But at the time, the feeling only flickered in my mind for a second before I dismissed it. Caleb saw me and was genuinely surprised. “Waiting for our lunch date,” I told him. “Why didn’t you call?” “I didn’t want to interrupt your flow,” I said, then tilted my head. “Why are you down here?” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Work is a mess. I needed a walk and some caffeine. Their artisanal cookies are incredible—you have to try one.” He raised a hand. “Piper, one more order of the sea-salt chocolate chip!” Meeting her curious gaze, Caleb smiled. “This is my wife, Sloane.” That day, they were both so transparent. Caleb was open with the introduction. Piper was gracious, even waiving our bill. Caleb said the coffee was authentic and that he’d set up the company’s standing catering order with her. One visit became many. They became “familiar.” Back then, I thought they were just a shopkeeper and a regular. I didn’t know that those specific cookies weren’t actually for sale to the public. And I didn’t know that Piper would eventually text my husband: [If you had met me first, would you have married me?] 03 Caleb texted me at 10 PM. He said he’d just finished work and was checking into his hotel. He said he was too exhausted for a FaceTime call. He told me to take care of myself and to call if I needed anything. I replied normally, telling him not to worry. Then I called the cafe. A young barista answered. I used a familiar tone and asked for Piper. “Oh, she’s out!” the girl chirped. “She left early this afternoon. It’s her birthday today. I think she’s on a date—someone sent her a massive bouquet of red roses. So romantic!” I nodded to the empty room, hung up, and set my phone down. New York is a massive city, but finding two people isn’t that hard if you have the right tools. Before Caleb left, I had slipped a small GPS tracker into his laptop bag. It was actually part of a high-end health-monitoring watch he had bought for me in my fourth month. I had suffered from severe morning sickness and anemia; I’d even fainted in a mall once. Caleb had been terrified. He’d bought the most expensive tech to monitor my vitals and track my location for emergencies. The tracking was precise. And right now, it showed he had been on the 12th floor of a luxury hotel for exactly three hours. I didn’t rush over in the middle of the night. I was twenty-three days away from my due date. I had to choose myself. I poured out the cold coffee, drank a glass of warm milk, and lay down on the bed, listening to white noise. But I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about the night a month ago when I first looked at his phone. He had been so agitated lately. He’d cut his finger peeling an apple for me. He’d smashed a glass while pouring water. He’d even kicked a chair across the room in a dark mood. He apologized, claiming it was just the stress of a new merger. But when I woke up in the middle of the night, his side of the bed was cold. I found him on the balcony, chain-smoking in the dark. I unlocked his phone with a heavy heart. He hadn’t closed the messaging app. The contact was saved only as ‘P.’ The message had arrived that afternoon. [If you had met me first, would you have married me?] Caleb hadn’t replied. Not a single word. But that night, my heart died inside his phone. 04 I arrived at the hotel at 6 AM with my ID and our marriage certificate. I placed them on the front desk. “Caleb Sterling is my husband. I need to know which room he’s in. If you can’t tell me, I’ll call the police and report a missing person.” I didn’t have the energy for a long debate. I was exhausted—physically, mentally, soul-deep. The receptionist stared at me for a long time. Her gaze shifted from shock to hesitation, and finally, to pity. “One moment, Mrs. Sterling. I’ll check that for you.” She gave me the room number and asked if I needed an escort. I smiled and shook my head. I stroked my swollen belly and took the elevator up. Caleb didn’t make me wait long. I had only been standing outside the door for forty minutes when it clicked open. Caleb stood there, hand on the knob. And behind him, a pair of slender arms wrapped around his waist. “Caleb, thank you for last night. I’ll remember it for the rest of my…” The rest of her what? She didn’t finish. Caleb shoved her away in a panic the moment he saw me. He stepped toward me. I looked past him. Piper was sitting on the floor, her silk slip barely covering her. She was staring at Caleb’s back with a look of pure heartbreak and grievance. “Sloane!” Caleb’s voice was trembling. So was mine. My hands, hidden behind my back, wouldn’t stop shaking. I thought I was prepared for this. I thought I could be calm. But standing there, I realized I could barely keep my balance. “Where’s the car?” I asked. “In the garage.” “Let’s go.” I leaned against the wall for support and turned toward the elevators. Caleb tried to reach for me. “Don’t touch me!” I hissed. His hand froze. He followed me like a ghost. Piper ran out into the hallway after us. “Mrs. Sterling, you don’t have to act like this! There’s nothing dirty between Caleb and me!” She sounded so righteous, so defiant. The moment the words left her mouth, I turned and slapped him. Hard. Crack. “Ah!” Piper screamed. “How could you hit him?” She reached out, wanting to touch the red mark on Caleb’s face. Caleb flinched away. He looked at me with pleading eyes. “Sloane, let’s just go home.” Piper clenched her fists, glaring at me. “If you have a problem, take it out on me! Why are you hitting Caleb?” “Shut up,” Caleb snapped. He didn’t even look at Piper. His eyes were fixed on me. “Sloane, please. Let’s go home.” 05 “Sloane, I can explain. “Yesterday was Piper’s birthday. She doesn’t have anyone in the city, and she begged me to stay. “I just stayed for her birthday. Nothing happened. “I lied to you, and I’m sorry. I was just afraid you’d be upset. “I was wrong. If it bothers you, I’ll never see her again. “She’s just a friend.” From the moment we got home, Caleb hadn’t stopped talking. Explaining. Apologizing. Self-flagellating. I wanted to speak. But my throat felt like it was stuffed with dry cotton. I couldn’t get a single word out. I didn’t know where to start. Finally, I managed one sentence. “Caleb, I want a divorce.” Caleb flinched as if I’d struck him again. He balled his hands into fists and closed his eyes tight. “Nothing happened between us, Sloane. We just drank and talked. Please, don’t do this. I know you’re angry, and I’ll take any punishment you want. But you have to believe me. I haven’t betrayed you.” “What does ‘betrayal’ mean to you?” I asked quietly. “You probably hugged. You probably kissed. You smell like her perfume. And right here…” I pointed to his lip. “A bite mark.” Caleb froze. His lips thinned into a hard line. I looked at him with pure despair. “What’s the next step? Getting caught in the act? You spent the entire night in a hotel room together. How am I supposed to trust you? Caleb, how?” Caleb’s head dropped. He sank to one knee in front of me, wanting to touch me but not daring to. “I was stupid. I had a moment of madness. But I swear, it went no further. Please, for the sake of all our years together… for the sake of the baby… give me one more chance.” It was pathetic. He knew exactly how long we had been together. He knew our child was about to be born. And yet he did it anyway. And now he wanted to use those very things as leverage for a pardon. The layers of grief, the memories of a decade, the crushing weight of the present—it all came crashing down. I looked around the room, then at my stomach. I started to sob. It wasn’t a pretty cry; it was the sound of a wounded animal. Caleb panicked, trying to shield me. “Sloane, Sloane, what is it? What are you looking for? Tell me? I’ll find it!” His voice was the match that lit the fuse. “I want a divorce!” I screamed. “I’m leaving you!” 06 This was the fourth year of our marriage. We had been so happy when we found out I was pregnant. But it had been a nightmare from the start. The morning sickness was so violent I couldn’t keep anything down. My body was failing. I cried every single day. It was so hard that there were moments I thought I’d rather die. We had even considered not keeping the baby. But when the first signs of a threatened miscarriage appeared, we both panicked. I spent a month in the hospital. Those early months were a blur of malnutrition, anemia, and that terrifying fainting spell. “Chaotic” didn’t even cover it. This little life seemed so fragile. And yet so stubborn. I was terrified that the stress of this would trigger a premature birth. I was already prepared to call 911 at any second. I didn’t dare throw things. I didn’t dare scream. I even tried to hold back my tears. Until I couldn’t anymore. The reaction was violent—I started vomiting. I knelt on the bathroom floor, clutching the toilet, feeling like my internal organs were being rearranged. Caleb pounded on the door. He begged me to open up. He roared at me, telling me not to gamble with my life or the baby’s. I held my stomach, looking pathetic. I had wanted to end this with dignity. But the moment Caleb started drifting, my dignity was already being trampled in the dirt. Caleb called my parents. I only opened the door when I heard my mother’s voice. My father, usually the most mild-mannered man, looked at Caleb with a face of ice. “Is this how you treat my daughter?” They took me away. Caleb couldn’t stop them. My father asked me, “What do you want to do?” “I want a divorce,” I whispered. He was silent for a long time. “Then get one.” That night, my mother slept beside me. She held me, patting my back gently, but she didn’t ask a single question. The silent support of my parents allowed me to finally go numb. The next morning, Caleb was at the door. He brought breakfast, forcing a smile for my parents. They just nodded and left the house. They gave us space. Caleb held out a bowl of the soup I liked, looking at me like a kicked puppy. “Sloane, please eat something.” I kept my face blank. “Caleb, we need to talk.” 07 Where to even begin? “I gave you chances,” I said. “I even tried to pretend it didn’t happen.” Caleb looked at me, confused. I let out a hollow laugh. “That day Piper asked you if you’d marry her if you’d met her first… you were so anxious, so angry. You couldn’t sleep. You spent the whole night smoking on the balcony. That’s when I looked at your phone.” I’ve always believed that checking a partner’s phone is the beginning of the end. Once you do it, the trust is gone. And if there’s no trust, why be together? But here I was. Caleb stiffened. He instinctively leaned back. The posture of someone wanting to run. He balled his fists and took a deep breath. “But I didn’t reply to her.” I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. “I know. And that hurts more than if you had.” The suffocating silence returned. Caleb tried to speak several times. Finally, he said, “If you saw the messages, you know we never crossed the line before. I only ever saw her as a friend. The other night… we drank too much. We were reckless. But that was it. I never betrayed you, Sloane.” I didn’t look at him. I just stared at the wall. “April 3rd. The day of the anatomy scan. The first time we could really see what the baby looked like. I was so excited. You said you couldn’t make it because of a high-stakes board meeting. But you were hiking in the Catskills with Piper. “Every morning, you buy two bouquets of baby’s breath. One for her, one for me. Except for Valentine’s Day. That day, you bought her nineteen red roses. “The private elevator in your office requires a keycard. Piper complained about waiting for the public one, so you gave her your spare. “You told me your shoulder was aching from the gym, and she went to a specialist to get you custom medicated patches. I asked you about the smell of menthol, and you told me you bought them at a pharmacy. “On your birthday, after I fell asleep at midnight, you went downstairs. Piper gave you a pair of cufflinks. She asked if she was the first person to wish you a happy birthday. You said yes. “Your shorthand with her: She says [Go?], you say [Go!]. She says [Penthouse], you reply [1]. She says [Tired], you say [Coming now]. “The day you got the new car, you took her for the test drive. She told you people thought you were a couple, and you sent a ‘blushing’ emoji followed by a screen full of ‘Hahaha.’ “You spend twenty-seven minutes on the phone with her every day on your commute home. Except for when we were first dating, we’ve never talked that much. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?” The Caleb who talked to Piper was a stranger to me. No, that’s not right. He was the Caleb I remembered from college. Bright, talkative, even a little childish. But that version of him no longer belonged to me. The realization felt like a thousand ants crawling under my skin. Caleb’s head hung lower. “I just saw her as a friend,” he whispered, his voice devoid of conviction. “Sometimes I was just tired and needed someone to talk to. It was just talking. Sloane, what do I have to do to make you believe me?” “Caleb, do you know how much I wished you had just had a physical affair? Your ‘connection,’ your ‘understanding’… it’s a guillotine hanging over my head. I’ve been waiting for it to fall, living in terror. I tried to close my eyes. I debated if I could just live with it. “But I can’t. The moment you leave my sight, I wonder if you’re with her. I wonder what you’re saying. The suspicion is eating me alive. I’m going crazy, Caleb! You’re driving me insane!” I sobbed, my voice cracking. That last month and a half had been a living hell. I felt like I was losing my mind. Until he agreed to spend that night with her. She said: [Maybe this will help me move on. Caleb, please. Just one night.] Caleb replied: [Okay.] In that moment, the blade finally fell. “I want a divorce.” 08 Caleb wouldn’t agree. He said he’d do anything, make any sacrifice, except that. He started coming to my parents’ house every day. When they wouldn’t let him in, he sat in his car. He’d stay there all day. We were both bleeding out. It was only then that I realized how hard it is to get a divorce in this country. Without a mutual agreement, it’s a legal war. Mediation, filings, court dates. If it isn’t “at-fault,” it could take a year or more. But I was about to give birth. I couldn’t wait a month, let alone a year. I had to endure. It made me anxious, insomniac, and prone to fits of rage. One morning, when Caleb tried to hand me a bag of groceries at the door, I lost it. I grabbed the warm oatmeal he’d brought and threw it at him. It soaked his expensive suit. Caleb shook with anger. “What the hell do you want from me? I’ve admitted I was wrong. I’ve apologized. I’ve sworn it’ll never happen again. Why can’t you let it go? Am I really that unforgivable? After everything we’ve been through, you won’t give me a single chance? Sloane, stop being so dramatic!” My ears started ringing. My hand on the doorframe lost its strength, and I began to slide down. “Caleb, please… just stop disgusting me.” That was the last thing I said to him before I blacked out. My mother told me later I had a massive hemorrhage. Emergency C-section. It was a close call. But we both survived. Caleb’s mother flew in from London. She held my hand, her face full of pity. “You’ve been through so much. Why didn’t you call me? Caleb… well, he’s learned his lesson. He’s been crying in the stairwell for days.” I was too tired to speak. My mother was the one who pulled my hand away from hers. “Mrs. Sterling, if you really care about Sloane, tell your son to sign the papers. Stop the torture.” Caleb’s mother stiffened. “Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Couples have friction. Caleb was wrong, and I’ll make him apologize. But marriage is a marathon. There are bumps in the road. And now that the baby is here, for her sake…” They went on and on. I stopped listening. I drifted into a heavy, dreamless sleep. I had always respected Caleb’s mother. She had been good to me. But when the storm hits, a mother always protects her own. In her eyes—and in Caleb’s—I was the one blowing things out of proportion. Caleb wasn’t allowed in the room, so he stood in the hallway. My father wouldn’t let him in. He didn’t cause a scene. He just waited. Occasionally, he’d beg to see the baby. My mother caved a few times, taking the baby out while I was asleep. I knew. I just pretended I didn’t. I couldn’t erase the blood tie between them. Life is long. Could I really stop them from ever seeing each other? Caleb’s persistence was working. My parents were wavering. Looking at the baby, they’d sigh. “Maybe…” my mom whispered, “maybe you should reconsider?” 09 The isolation of being the only one who remembered the pain was agonizing. How could I explain it? If it were anyone else, maybe. But not Caleb. I had loved him so much. I had been so pure in my expectation of our family. And he stabbed me right when I was most vulnerable. The betrayal of a soulmate is a wound that never heals. I can’t spend the rest of my life with him. Why wait until the marriage is a rotted corpse to walk away?

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In the third year of our marriage, my husband’s college-student mistress was diagnosed with “cancer.” The man who had never believed in a higher power actually went to a historic cathedral, kneeling at every step to pray and light a candle for her. The incident went completely viral, making national headlines. He called me to explain: “It was her dying wish. I couldn’t refuse the kid.” I looked down, smiled, and hung up the phone. Then, I went back to tangling the sheets with the rebellious, untamable heir of the Vance empire. 1 That night, I was curled up on the sofa reading a script when my agent, Valerie, FaceTimed me. She looked furious. “Stella, your husband and his little pet canary are trending on X.” My finger paused on the script. I frowned in displeasure. Oliver cheating wasn’t exactly breaking news, but this was the first time it had trended so publicly. Valerie forwarded me a video, her face dark. “The girl he’s keeping on the side, Bella, apparently got diagnosed with cancer and only has a few months to live. Oliver somehow heard that St. Patrick’s Cathedral is miraculous, so he went there personally to pray for her. Now every media outlet is reporting on it. The PR team is having a hard time suppressing the trending tags.” I tapped on the video Valerie sent. It was filmed from a bystander’s perspective. In the video, the usually immaculate, suit-clad man was kneeling reverently, praying with absolute devotion before carefully placing a blessed silver pendant around the neck of the petite girl beside him. Watching this, I remembered the time I asked Oliver to come with me to church for a holiday service. He had exuded nothing but impatience. He didn’t even bother looking up from his stack of documents, his tone ice-cold: “I don’t believe in any of that nonsense. Find someone else to go with you.” I tossed the script aside and leaned back into the sofa. I thought about how Oliver and I had gotten to this point. We grew up together as childhood sweethearts. When I first entered the entertainment industry, a sleazy director got me drunk and tried to grope me. Oliver, who was negotiating a business deal in the VIP room next door, got a frantic call from Valerie and kicked the door down. I heard later that the director had to be carried out on a stretcher. When that story hit the internet, the romance between Oliver and me skyrocketed to the top of the trending charts. #StellaSterlingHarassed,OliverGrantFliesIntoARage #StellaAndOliverPowerCouple #ChildhoodSweetheartsToSoulmates Back then, I never imagined Oliver would ever change. And I certainly never imagined he would bring another woman right in front of my face. That day, all my dignity and pride were shattered. I screamed hysterically, “Who is she?!” Bella was petite, looking soft and fragile. Hearing my voice, she hid behind Oliver in terror. The man gently patted her head, signaling her not to be afraid. “Stella, maybe we should both try seeing younger people.” I understood exactly what he meant. My heart plummeted to the absolute bottom. “So, you cheated? And you’re trying to make it sound noble?!” Oliver frowned, disliking my phrasing. “It’s an open marriage. We can both play the field. You’ll enjoy it.” Crying, I launched myself at him, hitting him with my fists. Oliver didn’t dodge or flinch. He just stared at me for a few seconds, frowning. “Take some time to calm down.” He grabbed Bella’s hand and walked toward the door. I grabbed the crystal vase next to me and hurled it at them. Oliver only glanced back at me once before leaving without a second of hesitation. From the beginning, when he first started seeing women on the side, he would at least remember to change his clothes before coming home. Later on, he didn’t even care if there were lipstick stains on his shirt collar. 2 “Sister, I’m done showering. Have you finished reading your script?” A gentle, incredibly attractive male voice drifted from the bedroom. I snapped back to reality, instinctively looking at my phone screen. Valerie had clearly heard it. I met her probing, shocked gaze. I took a deep breath and spoke slowly, “Oliver isn’t the only one who stepped out. I cheated too.” Valerie’s expression looked as if she had just been struck by lightning. She was petrified. A few seconds later, a barrage of questions hit me: “When did this happen?!” “Who is he?!” “Are you two seriously dating, or is it just a fling?!” I was struggling with how to explain it to her when Wesley Vance walked out of the bedroom, shirtless. Droplets of water clung to his sculpted torso, trailing slowly down his abs to his waistline. Valerie’s jaw dropped to the floor. “M-Mr. Vance?!” I quickly threw out a, “I’ll explain another day!” and hung up. 3 Wesley pinned me against the sofa, his burning skin pressing against mine. “Sister, when are you getting a divorce? That trashy couple is trending online, which proves he doesn’t care about you at all. Everything Oliver can give you, I can give you too. Divorce him, please?” “Be good. Let’s not talk about that right now. Kiss me.” Wesley flushed red from his ears to his neck. His lips crushed against mine, deepening the kiss relentlessly. Outside the window, a heavy rain suddenly began to pour, the raindrops drumming against the glass. Inside, shadows intertwined. A sudden, urgent ringtone interrupted us. Glancing at the caller ID, my tone was flat. “What do you want?” As soon as I spoke, I realized how husky my voice was. On the other end, Oliver paused. “Is it a convenient time to talk?” Wesley, hearing that it was him, lightly bit my earlobe, eliciting an ambiguous sound from my throat. Noticing his petty little move, I smiled. “Pour me a glass of water.” Wesley glared at my phone, huffed twice in annoyance, and deliberately made a loud clatter as he walked to the kitchen. I shook my head. His temper was getting bigger by the day. Hearing the noise on my end fade, Oliver stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking. “I won’t be coming home for a while. I’m staying at the hospital to keep Bella company.” I was annoyed. Was it really worth a phone call just to tell me this garbage? Too lazy to argue, I impatiently gave an “Mhm.” “Bella’s final wish is for me to get her a blessed pendant. You know I couldn’t refuse. She’s just a young girl looking for romance. She posted it online, and I know it caused some negative PR for you, but please don’t hold it against her. Two of the top luxury brands—Eastwood and Carberry—have agreed to make you their exclusive global ambassador for the next five years.” I felt like I was listening to a joke. “You’re trying to buy my silence with sponsorships?” “Aren’t you thinking a little too highly of yourself? Grant Corp has skyrocketed over the past two years. Do you honestly not know how much of that was due to my industry connections?” “Have you spent so much time with that naive little girl that you’ve become ‘naive’ too?” I heavily emphasized the word ‘naive’. Normally, the conversation would end right here. Oliver would get angry out of humiliation and hang up. But today, he clearly had more to say. “That guy just now… is he your new boyfriend? His voice sounded familiar. Do I know him?” “Oliver.” I cut him off. “You’re crossing a line. You set the rules—we don’t ask about each other’s private lives.” I hung up the phone. Wesley walked back in right on cue. With that ridiculously handsome face, he didn’t say a word, just quietly waited for me to finish the water before picking up right where we left off. 4 The next morning, I threw off the covers and stepped out of bed. The moment my feet hit the floor, my legs gave out, and I nearly fell to my knees. Thinking about Wesley calling me “Sister” over and over last night, my face flushed hot. After washing up, I saw a bowl of pork and century egg congee and a veggie-cheese omelet on the dining table. I took a spoonful. It tasted amazing. I picked up my phone and called Oliver first to confirm he was at the office. Then, I dialed my lawyer. “Attorney Hayes, remember that divorce case I asked you to look into? Prepare the paperwork. We’re heading to Grant Corp shortly.” “Understood, Miss Sterling.” He paused. “You mentioned before that this case wasn’t urgent. Did something change?” “You saw the trending news yesterday, right? When an opportunity delivers itself to your doorstep, you take it.” Grant Corp, 38th floor. “Stella, post a tweet saying you went to the cathedral with us yesterday, but you rested in the car. Say you and Bella are close friends and that the internet rumors are false.” “Do you speak without using your brain now?” I took a sip of the coffee in front of me. Anyone could hear the mockery dripping from my voice. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Stop being unreasonable. If Grant Corp’s stock drops, we both lose.” “Watch your phrasing. We don’t lose. I am the victim.” Oliver stretched his legs out. “I know you felt wronged by this. We agreed to an open marriage, but I went too far this time and didn’t consider your public image. You didn’t accept my compensation offer, so I’ll be more careful next time.” “Let’s get a divorce.” Oliver frowned, confusion in his eyes. “Divorce? Just because I got Bella a pendant?” He suddenly laughed, pulled an identical silver pendant from his pocket, and placed it in front of me. “I promise the trending drama won’t happen again. As for Bella, don’t hold a grudge against her. She’s just a kid, and you’re a grown woman.” I sneered and introduced the man beside me. “This is my attorney. My terms for the divorce are 20% of Grant Corp’s shares, plus a 70/30 split of all our joint assets. 70 for me, 30 for you.” The usually arrogant, composed Oliver completely dropped his smile after hearing my demands. “Bella only has two months left to live, and you’re forcing me to abandon her at a time like this?” “Don’t flatter yourself. If you don’t understand English, I can have Grant Corp’s legal team and translation department come in to explain it to you.” He didn’t speak. A minute passed. “Stella, are you serious?” “Out of all the women, why are you relentlessly targeting Bella?” “Don’t even think about the divorce. It’s impossible!” His refusal was exactly what I expected. I replied, “Right now, the entire internet is waiting for me to respond to your scandal with Bella. If you refuse the divorce and my terms, just sit back and watch Grant Corp’s stock hit rock bottom.” Oliver flew into a rage, but within seconds, he forced himself to calm down. “Mutual destruction does you no good. Don’t forget, you have a man on the side too.” “True. Unfortunately, you don’t have proof. But I do have high-def photos of you and Bella passionately kissing in underground parking lots, plus the receipts for every piece of real estate, jewelry, and luxury item you’ve bought her. Once those go public, your flawless CEO persona will crumble, and the stock will tank. Sure, it’ll impact me a bit, but I couldn’t care less.” I glanced at Attorney Hayes, who immediately produced a thick stack of photos. Every angle of Oliver and Bella you could imagine. The veins on Oliver’s forehead bulged. “Stella! You really are something. You’ve been preparing this for a long time.” I leaned lazily back in my chair, offering a faint smile. “So? Are we divorcing, or not?” “We’re divorcing!” 5 On the day of the divorce, the usually gloomy, rainy city suddenly cleared up. The paperwork was processed quickly. I slipped the official divorce decree into my designer bag. Walking out of the courthouse lobby, Oliver stared at me with ice-cold eyes. I knew he wasn’t going to swallow this loss easily. “Stella, how are you going to explain this divorce to your father?” I frowned. “A good ex-husband should act like he’s dead. Don’t worry about my business.” He laughed bitterly. “Fine. I just hope Richard doesn’t call me complaining.” He heavily emphasized my father’s name. “If you block him, you won’t get his calls.” “Sister, why are you talking like that? I grew up without a father. You have no idea how much I envy your family. Why don’t you cherish it?” Bella, who had been lingering near Oliver, eagerly ran over when she saw us walk out. I sneered. “You don’t need to envy me anymore. My family is yours now.” Bella bit her lower lip, unsure if it was out of embarrassment or anger. Oliver shielded her behind him. “She’s sick. Is it really necessary to talk to her like that? Forget it, let’s not argue. You need to post a public statement immediately saying we had an amicable split and that Bella was not the other woman.” “I can do that.” That was one of Oliver’s conditions for the divorce. In exchange, I had bumped the 20% of shares up to 23%. A very fair trade. After posting the tweet, Oliver turned to leave. Just before walking away, he offered some cynical advice: “Stella, don’t let some random guy on the outside sweet-talk you into losing your mind. Do they actually love you, or do they just want your money?” As soon as the words left his mouth, an imposing black Maybach pulled up aggressively right in front of us. I watched Wesley step out of the car. The black dress shirt made him look even more untamed and arrogant. He walked toward me carrying a massive bouquet of red roses. “Sister, did you really divorce him for me?” My eyebrow twitched. How did this become about him? But I didn’t deny it. He pulled me into a deep, passionate kiss, completely ignoring the people around us. Oliver recognized the familiar voice from the phone call the other night. “Stella! Since when have you been hooking up with Wesley Vance?!” Hearing his outburst, Wesley finally let me go. “Oliver, I really have to thank you. So, I brought a gift for you today too.” Oliver tried to refuse. Wesley didn’t give him the chance. He unlocked his phone. “The guy who filmed the video of you two at the cathedral? That was me.” Oliver’s face darkened, his jaw tight, his eyes like ice. “You two set me up?” I was shocked. I honestly had no idea Wesley filmed that video. “If I didn’t set you up, how could I get to be with Stella?” Oliver narrowed his eyes. “Very well! Stella, you better watch your back!” “What is wrong with you? Just because you tell me to watch my back, I have to? What, you think your face is more intimidating than anyone else’s?” I got into Wesley’s car. Under Oliver’s furious and Bella’s utterly confused gazes, we sped away. 6 On the drive back, my dad called and demanded I get my ass home immediately. As soon as I hung up, Valerie called. I answered, and before I could speak, she fired off like a machine gun: “You divorced Mr. Grant?! What do you mean ‘amicable split’?! What kind of deal did you make with him?! And what the hell is going on between you and Mr. Vance?! Explain everything right now! You disappear for days, you refuse to post on social media, and when you finally do, it’s a bombshell divorce statement! Do you know how many sponsors are blowing up my phone right now?! If we don’t handle this PR nightmare, you won’t get a single endorsement for the next six months!” “We’re divorced. It’s amicable enough. I got what I wanted, and Oliver paid a heavy price.” I deliberately skipped the question about Wesley. Valerie had been in the entertainment industry for years. She was sharper than anyone. “Then what is going on with you and Mr. Vance?” Seeing I couldn’t avoid it, I sighed. “It’s a long story. It’s complicated. Just don’t ask.” I hung up. The car had mysteriously parked outside my family’s house. Wesley stared at me with pure grievance in his eyes. “Sister, you’re divorced now. Do I still not deserve to be your official boyfriend?” I reached out and ruffled his perfectly styled hair. “Be good. Go home for now.” I got out of the car. As soon as I walked into the living room, a porcelain teacup was hurled directly at me. The atmosphere in the house was incredibly tense. The maids kept their heads down, pretending to work, but secretly glancing my way. “You ungrateful brat! Who gave you permission to get a divorce?!” I looked at my biological father, Richard Thorne, who had thrown the cup. He pointed a trembling finger at me, unleashing a barrage of scolding. Thinking about the massive portfolio of assets I now held, I offered a faint smile. “It’s my own marriage. Why the hell do I need your permission to end it?” Richard pointed at me in utter disbelief. “Y-You… what did you say?! Say that to my face again!” “I said, whether I divorce or not has absolutely nothing to do with you.” My voice dropped lower, turning icy. The living room fell into a heavy silence. The first to break it was Martha. Years ago, Richard and Martha had an affair while he was still married to my mom. After putting my mom in the hospital with rage, he even went to her hospital bed to demand a divorce. Just two weeks after my mother passed away, Richard moved Martha into our house, bringing along a younger sister, Mia, who was only two months younger than me. “Stella, what kind of way is that to speak? Your father is just looking out for you. Apologize to him immediately. Tearing the family apart like this is embarrassing.” I ignored her. Martha offered an awkward, strained smile. She paused, then cut to the chase. “Stella, you divorced Oliver. What kind of settlement did he give you?” “Ah. So that’s the real reason you demanded I come home so urgently, isn’t it?” Richard’s face was cold. “All you do is play around in Hollywood. Do you even know what’s happening to the family? The company is facing a severe cash flow crisis. Transfer the settlement money to the company immediately to tide us over. I’ll pay you back later.” Martha chimed in, playing the perfect supporting role. “Exactly. You’ve been so busy filming, we didn’t want to burden you with these annoying family issues. Your father has been working himself to the bone these past few years. It breaks my heart to see.” Watching her fake crocodile tears made me sick. “Since you feel so bad for him, why don’t you hand total control of the company over to me? I’ll give you a generous monthly stipend so you can comfortably enjoy your retirement.” Martha’s face changed. She replied stiffly, “Stella loves to joke. You’re doing so well in the entertainment industry, how could you just quit?” “I’m not joking. This time, I am officially retiring from the entertainment industry to take over my grandfather’s company.” My grandfather’s company. Those words clearly triggered Richard. Back in the day, he was a poor man who married into my mother’s wealthy family. He endured countless eye-rolls and insults. Over the years, he gradually seized complete control of the company and rebranded it as Thorne Group. He had probably convinced himself he built it from scratch. “You insolent brat! Get out of my house!” Richard pointed at the door, panting heavily in sheer rage. “Don’t get so worked up. You wouldn’t want to have a stroke and never wake up.” He tried to say something else, but Martha grabbed his arm. “The doctor said you can’t get angry! I’ll talk to Stella. I’ll handle her.” The two of them completely ignored my presence, exchanging meaningful looks. Martha turned to me, looking incredibly distressed. “Stella, you know how your father is. Bark is worse than his bite. He cares about you deeply. The company is truly facing a massive hurdle this time. You have spare cash. As his daughter, you should help him out. We heard Oliver also gave you shares in Grant Corp. You clearly don’t care about managing a business. Why don’t you transfer those shares to your father? After we pass away, all this money will go to you and your sister anyway.” I felt like I was listening to the funniest joke in the world. “My mother only had one daughter. Where the hell did I get a sister?” “Every cent the Thorne family currently holds was left to me by my grandfather and my mother. What does it have to do with you?” “You’ve lived in this house for so long, you’ve actually forgotten your place as a homewrecker, haven’t you?” The anger Richard had just suppressed flared up again. I cut him off before he could speak. “I’ll give you three days to move out of my house. Otherwise, I’m calling the police and reporting you for trespassing.” I checked the time on my watch, turned, and walked away. I completely ignored the furious curses and the sound of breaking porcelain crashing against the floor behind me.

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