Chapter 1

Celine Moore knelt in the puddle, her blood trickling through her skirt and pooling into the cracks of the pavement. An iron rod pressed menacingly against her temple.

"Call your husband."

The phone rang seven times before it was finally answered. Guillermo Cruz's voice was as chilly as winter frost. "We're at my mother's Thanksgiving celebration. Where are you?"

"I’ve been kidnapped. They want half a million dollars—"

"Celine," he dismissed her, "first you pretended to attempt suicide, and now you're staging a kidnapping? Zoey and I are carving the turkey with my mom. Everyone's waiting for you, and you choose today to pull this stunt?"

The kidnapper grabbed the phone. "Mr. Cruz, your wife—"

"Tell her to get back here." The call ended abruptly.

Celine smiled bitterly, as tears mingled with the blood running down her face.

—

Later, at the hospital, Celine tossed away her wedding ring.

Madilyn Cox used tweezers to extract the final shard of glass.

"Zoey fainted last night at your mother-in-law's party, and your husband carried her to the ER in front of everyone. And here you are, hurt like this, and he doesn’t stay with you?"

Celine replied, "I’m used to it. He's always busy."

Madilyn snapped off her mask. "Celine, how many times has this happened? His sister faints and he rushes her to the hospital, but when it comes to you? Who's really his wife? It's like they're in some twisted soap opera."

The examination room fell into an awkward silence.

Madilyn sighed eventually. "You two have been together since you were kids, 15 years, only to end up married."

Celine smiled faintly.

Yes... childhood sweethearts for 15 years, from middle school to college, leading to marriage.

But what does it matter? To Guillermo, as long as Zoey is in the picture, she’ll always be an afterthought.

Celine returned home.

She showered and drenched her discarded clothes in gasoline, setting them alight. The blood-stained chiffon dress crisped into ashes as she opened the satellite map of an unnamed island for the 137th time.

"Thirty million has been paid."

"Received. From now on, you own Island 1025."

Celine cradled the stray cat, Whiskers, gazing out at the lush green field outside her window. She planned to name it Harmony Island and have a fairytale-like cottage built, with apple trees covering the hills.

Soon, just one more month, and she would leave with her grandmother forever... never looking back.

—

The door opened at that moment.

Guillermo's sharp gaze glinted with metallic coldness. He pulled her into his arms, gripping her chin firmly. "Throwing a tantrum on a day this important again. Tell me, when will you grow up?"

Celine replied, "I’ll never grow up. Divorce me."

"Divorce you?" He laughed incredulously. "How is your little head always full of drama?"

Celine smirked, "Compared to the melodrama Zoey puts on, I'm not even close."

Guillermo's eyes narrowed. "Celine, enough’s enough. Stop dragging Zoey into this."

Celine immediately stiffened, pushing his hand away. "Why shouldn’t I? Not only do I bring her up, I want to tear her apart!"

Guillermo pressed his lips together.

After a few moments of restraint, he suddenly touched the redness on her neck. "You're usually dramatic, but even on Mom’s birthday, you're like this. Did you cut your neck yourself? Does it hurt? Let me see—"

"Don’t touch me!" Celine quickly backed away, her sneer unwavering. "Yes! I love self-harming. I did it myself, thirty cuts. Felt fantastic, not painful at all. Are you satisfied?"

Guillermo’s pupils narrowed, his fingertips brushing the red marks beneath her collarbone. He glanced at her.

Just as he was about to take a closer look, the phone buzzed, flashing the name: Sister.

Guillermo stood immediately, straightening his clothes. "Since you’re okay, I’ll go check on her."

"Behave yourself. Whatever you want, just buy it."

He was always like this, and Celine was drained.

She handed him a stack of papers. "I want a building. Sign it."

Guillermo chuckled, grabbing a pen. Without reading the details, he scribbled his signature in quick strokes.

"My little cat is growing up, thinking about investments. That’s good."

Celine remained unaffected. "You didn’t even look before signing?"

Guillermo was already slipping into his shoes. He smiled. "No need. I trust my wife."

After he left, Celine opened the documents. Hidden within the property purchase agreement was a divorce agreement.