Chapter 1

Seven years I spent chasing Charles, and at last he cut ties with all his flings and threw me a huge wedding.

Everyone said I'd finally caught a break, and they were jealous I'd landed Jelasburg's biggest playboy.

But on our tenth anniversary, I accidentally stumbled upon Charles's diary. It was filled with notes about all his past flames.

Under my photo, he wrote, [Perfect for having kids and keeping the house in order.]

But under the photo of the girl he once helped out when she was struggling with schooling, it said, [I only want to grow old with you.]

Every page after that was plastered with pictures of her and Charles together.

Suddenly, it hit me that he'd always loved someone else.

When Charles finally came home in the middle of the night with a cake, I hit him with a divorce out of the blue.

He raised an eyebrow and let out a mocking laugh.

He said, "Trying to get a rise out of me with this stunt? It just makes you look cheap."

I stayed silent. What he didn't know was that I had already booked tickets for my daughter and me to Paliston.

"Divorce?" Charles repeated, his deep eyes flashing with mockery.

He said, "I made time for you today, just for our anniversary. Don't make me angry."

Then he pulled a necklace out of the gift box and made a show of putting it around my neck. He said, "An anniversary present."

The jewels on the necklace caught the light, sparkling brilliantly.

But I recognized it instantly. It was a keepsake Charles had bought while out exploring with the girl he once sponsored.

In the past, I cherished everything Charles gave me, even if it was just a wildflower he picked by the roadside, treating each one like a precious treasure.

Now, though, I avoided his hand. I said, "No need to put it on me. Just leave it there."

Charles frowned, holding back his irritation as he tried to explain.

He said, "Are you giving me the cold shoulder because I got home late? Emily's water pipe broke. She's just a kid, and she didn't know what to do. I stopped by to help her fix it, that's why I missed our anniversary."

Emily was the girl Charles once helped out when she was struggling.

She was the one from his diary, the girl he wanted to grow old with.

I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Our water pipe broke once, too."

It was leaking so badly that the whole place nearly got flooded.

I didn't have a clue how to fix it, and couldn't get hold of a plumber.

Instinctively, I called Charles for help, but he shot back at me, "If the pipe's leaking, call a plumber. Can't find one? Look it up online. What do you want me to do? I'm in a meeting. Stop bothering me."

I bit my lip, ended up drenched and with a scraped arm, but I fixed it myself in the end.

Now, faced with the same situation, he'd rather miss our anniversary to help Emily fix her broken pipe.

Charles narrowed his eyes and said, "Now you're digging up the past? Is this about me not taking care of you, or not giving you enough money?

"You're the one who married me, the one who had my kid. Status and money, you got it all. So what does Emily have? What right do you have to give me attitude?"

His words landed in my ears before I could even process them, and my heart clenched painfully.

I just stared at him, stunned.