Chapter 2

The photo I got a few hours ago was still in my phone.

It was old and a bit blurry, but I recognized Charles right away, young and handsome, with Megan leaning close to him, looking pretty and sweet.

Their smiles were beautiful.

Too bad Charles never smiled at me that way.

The photo came with a message: [Do you really think you have a chance with him?]

I took a deep breath and quickly typed back: [I've already won. I'm his wife!]

I was his wife.

But... so what?

He never loved me.

My lawyer friend Michelle quickly prepared a divorce agreement for me.

She handed it over, looking totally shocked. "For real? Charles?"

She added, "You almost went to war with your dad for him back then, and now, after just a few years together, you want a divorce?"

She wagged her finger right in front of my nose. "Did he cheat on you? Don't tell me you're sick or something?"

"Hey," I cut her off. "Don't jinx me."

She pressed, "So what's going on? Come on, just tell me already. You have no idea how much I'm dying to know."

I took the agreement and flipped through it quickly. "Nice job. Looks good."

Michelle suddenly started shouting. "Come on, just tell me already! What's going on?"

"Wait. Are you kidding me? Is this agreement even legit?" She was almost jumping out of her seat. "Anna, get a grip!

"And what about splitting the assets? I was waiting for you to bring that up! Do you even realize how much his company is worth now? You're seriously just asking for the money you lent him back then, plus interest?

"Are you running a charity or something, Ms. Newton? What about all the connections and resources your family gave him? If your dad finds out, he'll be furious!"

I knew better than anyone that never making a losing deal was our family's golden rule.

But a deal was only a deal if both sides were willing.

I said, "I'm not short on money, and I never expected anything from him when I helped him out."

Michelle said, "Seriously? If you didn't want anything from him, why did you push for marriage, especially when he was at rock bottom?

"Back then, we all said you, Ms. Newton, were a natural at making deals."

I gave a wry smile. Honestly, I couldn't blame anyone for thinking that.

When Charles's family fell into crisis, he and Megan were about to graduate from college and had plans to go abroad for further studies.

His father was accused of corruption right after retiring, and his mother was hospitalized after a car accident. The medical bills were sky-high.

It was as if fate had conspired to drag Charles from his prime straight into a whirlpool of disaster.

And just then, when he needed her most, Megan walked away and left him all alone.

I'd seen the way Charles loved her, fierce and all-consuming.

Whenever he looked at her, there was light in his eyes, and no one else could ever enter his world.

So I was downright shameless.

I took advantage of him at his lowest, offered him a lifeline. I asked him, "So, do you want to marry me?"

Looking back, I didn't just kick him when he was down. I basically looted him.

"Talk about a sweet deal for me," I said. "But I guess my conscience finally kicked in, so I'm setting him free."

Michelle shot me a suspicious look, eyeing the smile on my lips. "Does your family know about this?"

My dad and my brother... I guess they probably wouldn't object.

They were always trying to set me up with someone else a couple of years ago.

They said, "Tommy is younger than Charles. Want to meet him?" or "David just opened a new branch, and he's single, maybe you should check him out."

But these past few years, they had gone quiet about it.

Maybe it was because I was getting older, or maybe it was because Charles's business was finally thriving. Either way, they stopped trying to push us apart.

Everything seemed to be going well, but I just couldn't hold on any longer.

"They'd probably be glad it's happening, right?" I shook my head and signed my name.

*****

But I never expected to walk into a house filled with explosive anger.

My dad, George, just sat in his study, silent and grim.

"Divorce?!" My brother Frank slammed his glass down, face flushed with fury. "I knew it. Charles is always scheming. He never has anything good up his sleeve.

"Now he's just kicking you to the curb after getting what he wanted. Typical. Use you and then burn the bridge! Unbelievable."

I didn't really get what he was saying, but I still frowned. "Come on, don't talk about him like that. It's actually me who—"

"You're still defending him?!" Frank cut me off, not even listening. "Do you even know what he's up to right now? He's moving in on the Newton family's turf.

"No wonder this whole year's been a mess for me. Turns out that guy's been sabotaging me behind the scenes. I seriously underestimated him.

"And now he wants a divorce? Isn't that just using you and then tossing you aside? Fine, go ahead and divorce him! But make sure he pays up with his company if he wants out."

Frank kept going on and on, and it finally made sense to me.

I looked over at my dad, who'd been silent this whole time.

He finally looked up and said, "We always thought of him as family, so we were willing to let some deals go for his sake.

"But for the West City project we'd been preparing for half a year, he went straight to our competitors and undercut us for the bid. That move cost us a fortune.

"Anna, you've been sharing a bed with a wolf all this time."

"Maybe it's better to cut things off now," Dad sighed. "You're still young. You've got plenty of chances to start over. Just right now, there's not much I can do to help you."

Guess this was payback.

This was what I got for swooping in when he was at rock bottom.