Chapter 1

The day I agreed to the divorce, the sun had been warm.

But on the phone, my husband, Raymond Cole's voice had been ice-cold.

He said, "Tessa is pregnant with my child. I don't want her and the baby to be fodder for the gossip. I want to marry her."

A month earlier, after our argument, he had blocked me everywhere. This was the first time he'd reached out and it was for Tessa Bryant.

"Raymond, it's fine if your wife doesn't agree," Tessa said, her voice sugary and sweet. "I don't care if I wasn't married to you as long as I get to stay with you."

As if afraid I couldn't hear her clearly, she leaned even closer to the phone. "It's all my fault. She can hit me or yell at me if she wants, but the baby is innocent. I just hope she can help us and not let your child be born illegitimate."

It was typical of Tessa. She was always pretending to be pitiful, but all smugness underneath, always hinting she'd got Raymond eating out of her hand.

It was just like what she had done a month before.

*****

But that time, I went straight over there, furious and out of control.

I smashed the bed they'd shared into pieces.

I was hysterical, completely losing it, while Raymond just glared at me, his expression cold and unfeeling.

I scratched at the hickeys on his neck, leaving his skin red and raw.

Raymond called me crazy. "You're just like a shrew now."

I slapped him hard, grabbed his collar, and yelled, my voice raw and shaking, "Raymond, I've been by your side since I was eighteen.

"I've put up with so much for you, gone through hell, and after all that, you call me a shrew?"

Raymond pried my hand off him with zero sympathy and shoved me away hard.

I stumbled, smacked my head against the marble counter, and blood instantly gushed from my forehead.

But Raymond's cold indifference stung way more than the pain in my head.

"Did I ask you to be with me when you were eighteen?" Raymond said coldly. "Did I make you go through all that hardship with me?"

Every word was like a knife, cutting deep and leaving me bleeding inside.

Tessa sat on the couch, wearing Raymond's shirt, her bare legs on full display.

She propped her chin on her hand, looking down at me loftily.

From her eyes to gesture, it was all one big, smug show. She was practically shouting, "Look at you, what a mess."

Blood stained the corner of my eye, but I still staggered to my feet, clinging to the last shred of dignity I had left.

I honestly had no idea how I even made it home that day.

All I remember was the sun blazing overhead, but inside, I felt frozen to the core.

When I got back, I locked myself away.

I used whatever it took just to knock myself out: alcohol, sleeping pills, anything.

I lay in the bathtub, staring at my phone, the screen covered in exclamation marks from undelivered messages.

I cut my wrist, let it heal, then did it all over again.

I was numb, just going through the motions.

When Raymond called, I still clung to the last shred of hope.

I answered, heart full of anticipation, only to get slapped in the face by reality.

I stared blankly at the chaos around me, and it felt like a wire in my brain just snapped.

So be it. I had already tried my best.

Maybe I didn't really move on. It just hurt so much that my body went numb, blocking out the pain.

My throat felt like I'd swallowed a knife, raw from not speaking for so long.

"Fine, we can get divorced. But I want half of everything, including the company shares," I said. "If you agree, then draw up the divorce agreement. I'll sign it."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Raymond finally spoke, his voice low and cold. "Where are you? Let's talk in person."

After the call ended, I sat there in a daze for a while before I got up.

Once I'd made myself look presentable, I got ready to head to the hospital.

Honestly, I looked like a total mess.

At the hospital, I'd just finished getting my wounds bandaged when I saw Raymond carefully helping Tessa along.

The two of them walked side by side, checking the test results in their hands.

Raymond rested his hand tenderly on Tessa's belly, his eyes soft with affection.

Even with the crowd between us, I could see the happiness glowing on their faces.

I couldn't tell what I was feeling at that moment.

That old impulse to rush over and start a fight was gone.

In the end, after all that obsession, one just ended up saying, "Whatever."

Raymond noticed me, his gaze flickering for a moment.

He stiffened, but Tessa was quick to draw him back in, stealing his attention away almost instantly.

On my way home, my phone was flooded with text messages.

Tessa acted like she owned Raymond.

She was like a general charging into battle, always on guard, as if any threat to her territory would set her off.

She wrote: [Ashley, being too greedy can bring you trouble. But since you did such a great job breaking Raymond in for me, I guess I can throw you a bone.

[I'll have Raymond send you 600 thousand dollars. Think of it as your payoff for all those years.]

She made sure I knew that Raymond was completely wrapped around her finger now, and that he'd already promised to marry her.

If I'd just wised up sooner, I could've agreed to the divorce and not be humiliated like this.

I stared at the messages, almost shocked at how calm I was.

Stuff that used to get under my skin just rolled right off me now.

I didn't bother replying. I just deleted the messages and blocked her.

I went through my place and tossed out everything that had anything to do with Raymond.