My best friend and I both married into the incredibly influential Montgomery family in this city. I married Liam Montgomery, the heir to the family enterprise. She married Noah Montgomery, the wildly popular A-list actor. She stared at the paparazzi photos of Noah having dinner with his old flame. She asked me, her voice laced with pain, “Are you ready for a divorce? “Once we’re divorced, we can each take two male companions and travel the world.” I stared at the press release announcing his old flame was the new endorser for Montgomery Enterprises. I hardened my heart. “Absolutely! A divorce it is! “And the male companions? They have to be exceptional… better than Liam Montgomery in *every* way!” No sooner had I finished speaking than a shadow fell over me. Liam Montgomery’s gaze was chilling. “Darling, are you sure you’ll find anyone?” Maya and I sat side-by-side on the spacious sofa, glued to our phones. Suddenly, her finger froze on the screen. I leaned closer to look, and my jaw dropped. A famous gossip site had snagged candid shots of her husband, Noah Montgomery, having dinner with Charlotte Hayes, a rising star who had just returned to the country. Their arms were linked, their gestures undeniably intimate. Charlotte and the Montgomery brothers had grown up together; their families had been long-standing friends. Since we married into the family, Charlotte had only ever existed in our sweet, slightly naive mother-in-law, Evelyn’s, constant chatter. “Charlotte hasn’t even called me, I miss her so much. “Which one of you will ask Charlotte when she’s coming back home?” It was “Charlotte, Charlotte” all day, every day, and it left us feeling seriously uneasy. Maya’s expression flickered with a hint of bewilderment. But she quickly composed herself, asking me with a painful edge to her voice: “I’m getting a divorce. “Are you in?” My heart rate jumped to 10%. After all, I’d been Maya’s shadow since childhood. If she chose STEM, I chose STEM. If she went to Eastbrook University, I followed. If she married into the Montgomery family, I followed. But my husband wasn’t dining with Charlotte Hayes, so was divorce really going too far? As I hesitated, she sweetened the deal. “Noah gave me his debit card; I can totally support us. “Once we’re divorced, we can each find two male companions and travel the world.” My heart rate jumped to 40%. Male models sounded pretty good, but just two? Liam’s… *performance* is hard to beat. Two might not even warm me up. “Ten! Ten male models!” My heart rate soared to 80%. My eyes widened, the word “Okay” poised on my lips, ready to burst out. But a sliver of rationality still held me back. *Ding dong!* My phone chimed, and a glaring headline abruptly seized my attention. *Rising Star Charlotte Hayes Named the New Face of Montgomery Enterprises! Her Contract is Rumored to be Worth a Staggering Fifty Million!* The accompanying photo showed her and Liam Montgomery cutting a ribbon together. She wore a radiant smile, brimming with vibrant energy. And behind her, my usually stoic husband, was gazing at her with an intensity I’d never seen directed at me. He’d never looked at *me* like that. Whenever I’d crack a joke with him, or do something silly, he’d just look at me like I’d lost my mind and say: “Are you alright?” Thinking of that, I immediately hardened my resolve and said, “Divorce!” Maya beamed, instantly calling her lawyer. She discussed the division of assets with impressive clarity. Hearing her talk about taking half of the Montgomery family fortune, I was utterly dumbfounded. How much money was that?! She even haggled with the lawyer on the phone, asking for a 20% discount since it was two divorce cases. No wonder Maya’s always been the assertive one, and I’m her sidekick. Her brain was just quicker than mine. I stared at my phone wallpaper—our wedding photo, Liam’s and mine. I still felt a little reluctant. After all, besides the money he gave me, And in *other departments*, he certainly didn’t disappoint… I spoke up softly from the side: “Um… make sure the male companions are *talented*.” Maya turned to me, her expression instantly stiffening. Still lost in my delightful fantasy, I continued: “They *have* to be better in bed than Liam!” Maya clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a gasp, and her trembling finger pointed behind me. Before I could even turn around, a familiar hand reached out. He grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me to his side like a kitten. His voice was chilling: “Since I’m apparently ‘flawless’ to you, why are you getting a divorce?”
I mechanically turned my head, meeting Liam Montgomery’s ice-cold expression. He narrowed his eyes at Maya, as if she were the one inciting my divorce. “Sister-in-law,” he said, drawing out the words heavily, “Noah’s on his way. You’d better figure out how to explain this to him.” Maya froze, slumping onto the sofa and frantically racking her brain. She was too preoccupied to notice me; she didn’t catch a single one of my desperate pleas for help. Where was our crucial bestie telepathy when I needed it? Huh? I could only uneasily stare at Liam Montgomery’s sharply defined profile. He finally turned to meet my gaze, his expression shifting. A slight curve played on his lips, but his voice remained cold: “One divorce in this family is enough. They can divorce, but we won’t.” I always felt Liam Montgomery’s voice had this strange power over me. It was as if his voice had a strange power over me, compelling me to nod. I nodded involuntarily, all thoughts of divorce and male models vanishing from my mind. Outside, the roar of a sports car ripped through the air. I knew instantly it was Noah, his car enthusiast brother, coming home. With a sharp screech of brakes, he pushed through the door barely a minute later. He must have just rushed back from the set; he hadn’t even changed out of his costume, and his face looked exhausted. He glanced at us, muttering, “Brother, Aurora.” Liam Montgomery put an arm around me, giving a faint “Hmm” before saying, “Your wife’s been encouraging mine to divorce me, you deal with it.” Noah marched straight to Maya. He rubbed his temples, his tone laced with impatience: “Maya, what drama are you stirring up now? “Last time you wanted a divorce because I had a kissing scene—I haven’t taken one since. The time before that, my assistant baked me a homemade cake, and I fired her immediately. What’s your problem this time?” Maya scoffed, throwing her phone at him. “See for yourself.” I was just getting really into the drama when Liam Montgomery pulled me away. “Other people’s family matters, let’s not get involved.” So, we weren’t part of the Montgomery family, then? I grumbled internally, but dutifully followed him out. Sitting in the passenger seat, I quietly asked him: “Why is Charlotte the endorser?” She had just returned to the country, hadn’t been in the industry long, and had very few representative works. His brother was an A-list actor—to avoid suspicion, not using him was understandable. But there were countless popular rising stars in the entertainment industry; logically, it should never have been her turn. “Aurora, don’t get swept up in Maya’s nonsense. “Charlotte is just a sister I grew up with; I have no other feelings for her.” No other feelings? Then what about the photo of the two of them I’d found hidden in his drawer right after we got married? I remembered trembling, showing the photo to Maya. She didn’t say anything, just went to her room and brought out another photo. It turned out the photo was originally of all three of them. Charlotte stood in the middle, smiling innocently and sweetly. Liam had cropped out his brother’s part on the right. Noah had cropped out his brother’s part on the left. Such perfect synchronization—they truly were brothers. I stopped talking, turned up the car stereo, and stared out the window.
Liam Montgomery seemed terrified I’d contact Maya. He took me to the office, keeping me under his watchful eye every second. Even during meetings, he’d hand me paper and a pen, letting me doodle behind him. I had to admit, he looked incredibly handsome when he was working. His eyes, behind his gold-rimmed glasses, were intently focused on the screen. He would interject at crucial moments, sharp and incisive. He showed little emotion, occasionally glancing back at me as if to say: *Isn’t this boring? It’ll be over soon.* But that meeting dragged on for ages, so long I was about to fall asleep. I was used to it; he was the kind of man who would rush back to the office on our wedding anniversary because of a subordinate’s blunder. Leaving me alone on the top floor of a hotel, staring at flowers and cake. I had to call Maya to come over; otherwise, such a big bed would go to waste. It wasn’t until his secretary knocked, announcing, “Ms. Hayes is here,” “We’ll pick up the details tomorrow. This is enough for today.” Only Charlotte could pull him away from his work. I followed behind him, seeing Charlotte for the first time. I had searched for her online: 25 years old, a remarkably clean record, no negative rumors. Not even a peep from the media about her being the daughter of the Hayes family, suggesting her family protected her very well. She wore a white dress, identical to the one in her 18-year-old photo. I suddenly understood why both brothers were so hung up on her. That clean, pure aura she exuded—no man could resist it. She sweetly called out, “Liam, I hope I’m not interrupting you?” She completely ignored me, probably assuming I was just an insignificant secretary. Liam said, “No, you’ve come at just the right time.” He turned and instructed his secretary to take me to the lounge. He even reminded her to order my favorite desserts and fruit tea. He looked like the picture of a caring man. But that caring man didn’t spare me a single glance the entire time. The air conditioning in the lounge was blasting, and the cold seeped right into my heart. I looked at the dozen missed calls from Maya on my phone and called her back. This time, I was the one who asked: “Maya, are you still getting a divorce?” A few seconds of silence on the other end, then her resolute voice came through. “Yes.”
Maya and I met at a bar and drank until we were plastered. “Aurora, do you know what that jerk Noah said? “He said Charlotte just returned to the country and wanted him to introduce her to some opportunities, that’s why he met her. “But what about me? I used to be a rising star in the entertainment industry, my talent wasn’t any less than Charlotte Hayes’. “But what did I get from marrying him? Restrictions that kept me out of the public eye, and a man whose heart wasn’t truly mine.” I mumbled, “But you got the money…” Maya lived a lavish lifestyle, thankfully marrying into the Montgomery family, whose vast wealth could sustain her spending. At that, her hazy eyes lit up. She grabbed my hand, her voice as firm as if she were taking an oath: “Exactly! I have money! The Montgomeries only have two sons. If we take half of their fortune, what kind of man couldn’t we find?” Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and asked me: “You and Liam didn’t sign any prenuptial agreement, did you?” Actually, we did. Before the wedding, with a lawyer present, Liam pulled out an agreement and asked me to sign it. At the time, I was so utterly smitten by his face and body that I signed it without even a glance. Maya gasped, exclaiming, “That’s it, we’re done for! Then we can only get a quarter!” I asked her, “How much is a quarter?” She counted on her fingers: “Enough for us to hire ten premium male escorts every day, never the same ones, until we drop dead.” I cheered, “Yay!” We happily decided to officially divorce as soon as the lawyer drafted the divorce papers. While waiting for the agreement, it happened to be our ex-mother-in-law’s birthday. Necessary appearances had to be maintained, so we arrived hand-in-hand, dressed to the nines, leaving our two husbands standing bewildered. In previous years, we would each have been linked arm-in-arm with our respective husbands, accompanying them through the obligatory social pleasantries. That night, they were left on their own. At first, Maya and I thought Evelyn was deliberately trying to teach us, her not-so-satisfactory daughters-in-law, a lesson. But it turned out she wasn’t; she genuinely adored Charlotte Hayes. We’d heard Evelyn had always wanted a daughter, but ended up with two boys. And the Hayes family next door was always busy, so the princess-like Charlotte was practically raised by Evelyn herself. Maya couldn’t stand it and pulled me, ready to leave. But Charlotte glanced over, seemingly casually, and asked, “I haven’t really met my two sisters-in-law. Auntie Evelyn, won’t you introduce me?” Well, that was that. No leaving now. She greeted us sweetly, complimenting Maya on her beauty. That was truly unnecessary; Maya was stunning already. If she were still in the entertainment industry, where would Charlotte even stand? When it came to me, Charlotte looked me up and down and said I seemed to have a good appetite. …Had I not just gained seven or eight pounds, making me look a bit plump next to Maya? Did she really have to be so catty? I swallowed my retort, but Maya wasn’t about to let it slide. “It’s my first time meeting you, little sister, and your气质 is indeed unique, like a lotus blossoming from mud. “Paired with that white dress, it just makes you look even more like a white lotus flower, doesn’t it?” Evelyn didn’t understand, nodding approvingly the whole time. Charlotte’s face cycled through red and green, like a painter’s palette. She didn’t engage, though, just walked straight to stand between the two brothers and started chatting. What a picture of harmony. Maya and I exchanged a look, our resolve to divorce even firmer. Many of Noah’s investors were at the banquet. Charlotte wasn’t about to miss this opportunity, coyly trailing behind him, networking. Maya’s eyes scanned the room, and she whispered to me: “That Director Brooks, he wanted me to star in his movie, but I turned him down. “And Mr. Davies, he offered to open an agency for me. Even after I left the industry, he’d still send me emails, begging me to make a comeback. “It’s infuriating, she’s snatching up all the benefits. I should have stayed in the entertainment industry.” She looked like she was about to explode. The final fuse was Charlotte nonchalantly brushing a stray eyelash from Noah’s face, completely ignoring everyone else. The pent-up anger from the entire evening finally erupted. Maya found an opportunity, her stiletto heel stomping hard on the hem of Charlotte’s dress. Charlotte yelped, and looking down, a huge tear had ripped through her gown. While she wasn’t exposed, having a torn dress at such an event was truly embarrassing. Noah rushed over, pulling Maya away, his voice raised several decibels: “Maya! What are you doing? Why are you bothering her?” Liam Montgomery also walked over to me and said: “Can you lend her a dress?” This was the first time either of them had spoken to us all evening. I smiled. “Sure, they’re all your purchases anyway, you decide.” He looked at me with an unreadable expression, then waved his hand, telling the housekeeper to take Charlotte upstairs to change. Maya grabbed me, and we fled the Montgomery mansion. We jumped into Noah’s red sports car, speeding down the road at seventy-five miles per hour.
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