Chapter 1

In the third year of our marriage, my husband, Silas Voss, 's first love returned from overseas.

That night, I saw them on the hashtag.

[Silas Picks Up Someone in the Midnight, Suspected of Rekindling His First Love.]

In the photo, the man who didn't even bother to hold my hand was carefully helping a woman in a white dress open the car door.

It was raining heavily, and he was holding an umbrella for her, with half of his shirt wet. His profile looked gentle.

That day was our wedding anniversary.

And I, sitting at the table with cold dishes, was living like a joke.

My phone buzzed. It was a message from Silas.

Silas: [Busy tonight. Not coming home.]

I stared at the message for a long time, holding back tears.

Finally, I threw all the food into the trash.

I knew it was time to let go.

Silas didn't love me, which was an open secret.

Back then, I insisted on marrying him and asked my family to arrange the marriage.

Silas was a famous heartthrob. Lots of girls dreamed of marrying him.

I fell for him at first sight, and used the partnership between our families to force him marry me.

In the three years of marriage, all I got was the title of Mrs. Voss and a bank card with no limit. But he never loved me.

At home, Silas barely said a word to me, always treating me as an outsider.

I used to believe that if I just kept loving him and treating him well, maybe one day he'd eventually have some feelings.

However, it was all just me fooling myself.

I went back to my room and wrote up the divorce papers.

When I signed my name, I felt this strange sense of relief that I never felt before.

In the three years, I'd held back my temper, trying to play the role of the perfect wife.

I was done with it.

I wanted to be myself again, no matter how bad my temper was.

The next morning, I left the divorce papers right on the nightstand, making sure that Silas would see them at first sight.

I was done here.

I didn't go back to my parents' place, not wanting them to worry. So I just went to my best friend Nova's penthouse.

"You really mean it this time?" Nova asked, handing me a beer.

"Lila, don't just fool around this time. Will you go back just because Silas asked?" Nova joked.

"Not this time," I muttered, chugging the beer and letting its bitterness linger in my mouth.

"Lina's back," I added.

Her full name was Lina Hale.

She was Silas's forever crush, whom he could never get over.

Nova went silent for a second, then slapped her thigh. "Shit! That bitch is back? No wonder you ran off. Honestly, good for you to get a divorce. With your family's power, you could have any guy you want!"

"Exactly!" I said, a little drunk. Then I shut off my phone and threw it on the couch.

"Tonight, we're getting wasted! I want ten male models!" I shouted.

But for all my tough talk, I didn't go anywhere that night. I just stayed with Nova and almost cried to death.

I really loved Silas.

Even though I knew he loved someone else, I still threw myself into marrying him.

But I've got my dignity.

I must've really been drunk, because when I finally woke up, it was already noon.

My head was pounding.

I fumbled for my phone and turned it on. A flood of messages bombarded me.

Every single one was a missed call from Silas, more than fifty of them.

My messages were blowing up, too.

Silas: [Where the hell are you?]

Silas: [Lila, answer the damn phone.]

Silas: [What do you mean by the divorce papers? Seriously, what drama are you pulling now?]

Silas: [Come home right now. That's an order!]

Seeing those messages, whatever hope I'd just felt got snuffed out in a heartbeat.

See? That was Silas.

Even when I'm about to divorce him, he still thought it was just a "drama", like I'm just testing his control.

I snorted and texted back. [See you at the divorce office.]

Then I blacklisted him again.

I holed up at Nova's house for three days.

For those three days, I binged on shopping, stuffed myself with food and drinks, and did everything I'd been longing to do these past three years.

Just when I thought Silas had finally given in and was ready to talk divorce, he showed up right at Nova's door.

Nova wasn't home that day, and the doorbell rang urgently.

I thought it was just the delivery guy or something, so I opened the door without thinking.

Standing outside was Silas, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, his expression dark.

There were deep shadows under his eyes, and rough stubble along his jaw. He looked a bit haggard.