Chapter 2

I don't want to put up with it anymore. Not even for one more day.

The mediation room at the police station was bathed in harsh, white fluorescent light.

Margaret sat on the bench, slapping her thighs and crying out in a thick, rural accent.

"Officer, you have to help us! My son works so hard out there, and when he comes home, just for asking her to serve the kid some food, she did something so cruel! She could've killed him!"

As she spoke, she managed to squeeze out a few murky tears, shooting me a look full of venom.

Caleb, his face blotchy and red from the burn, sat beside her, playing the part of the devoted but helpless husband.

"Officer, this is all on me. I shouldn't have quarreled with my wife. She's been pampered since she was a kid, so she doesn't get how things work in a normal family like ours. I just wanted her to be part of our family, but I never thought she'd take it so hard."

He sighed, reaching out toward me, his eyes brimming with emotion, almost like he was about to pour his heart out.

"Jolie, don't make a fuss, okay? Come home with me, please? I know I messed up. I'll listen to you from now on," he pleaded.

[Deviation from the plot: 10%. Caleb's got a grudge against you now, but he's still trying to keep up his good-guy act.]

The barrage of comments on the screen was starting to look faded.

Looking at Caleb's phony expression, my stomach twisted in disgust.

Was this really the man I was once madly in love with?

He was just a wannabe self-made guy who tried to prop up his pathetic pride by putting his wife down, and an average dude with an inflated ego, letting his whole family treat him like an ATM and still strutting around like he was hot stuff.

I ignored his outstretched hand, calmly took out my phone from my bag, and pressed play right in front of the cops.

"What, are you deaf? Go dish up the food!"

Caleb's voice, dripping with impatience and anger, echoed through the mediation room.

Right after, Margaret chimed in with her biting sarcasm.

"That's right! These city princesses think they're so special. Can't even dish out a meal without someone waiting on them? Where we come from, a wife like that would've been sent straight back to her parents!"

Then Yara, Caleb's older sister, jumped in with a snide, mocking edge to her voice.

"Caleb, you're way too soft on her. Women need rules, or they'll end up bossing you around."

In the recording, their family's ugly, genuine selves were exposed for all to hear.

Caleb's face turned white as a sheet. He looked at me like he couldn't believe what he was seeing—gone was the fake affection, replaced by pure panic and rage.

"Jolie! You were recording?!" he fumed.

I turned off my phone and looked at the officer in charge, keeping my voice steady.

"Officer, you've heard the recording. This isn't just a domestic dispute. It's repeated verbal abuse and threats to my safety. He tried to hit me, and I acted in self-defense."

"As for the injury on my husband's face," I paused, glancing at Caleb.

"I request a medical examination. Whatever compensation or detention is required, let's proceed according to the law. And I want a legal separation," I said.

"No way! I won't allow it!" Caleb jumped up, his voice trembling with fury.

"We just got married. How can you talk about splitting up? I'm not even holding the burn against you. Let's just go home and get on with our lives!"

Margaret chimed in, shouting, "Separate? Absolutely not! In the Ashford family, men don't get divorced! Once you walk through our door, you're one of us—alive or dead, you belong to this family!"

Watching them panic like rats in a trap, I couldn't help but find it utterly ridiculous.

The officer rapped on the table, signaling for them to quiet down.

In the end, with my firm stance and the recording as evidence, the mediation went nowhere.

Caleb, desperate to keep things from blowing up and ruining his so-called "bright future" at the branch of my family's company, was forced to sign a written guarantee, promising not to engage in any form of violence against me ever again.

As I stepped out of the police station, the night air hit my face, chilly and sharp.

Caleb rushed after me, grabbed my wrist, and spoke in a low voice, his words full of menace.

"Jolie, are you done making a scene? Did you have to turn everything into such a mess? You made me look like a fool before everyone in my family today!"

I jerked my wrist away and glared at his face, contorted with fury.

"Shame? You mooch off me, eat my food, sleep in my bed, drive my car, spend my money, and then you try to lay down the law by hitting me? Caleb, you're the real embarrassment here."

He was completely stunned by my words, his face going from pale to flushed, totally lost for words.

[Plot deviation is now at 25%. Caleb's resentment toward you is rising fast.]

The notification floated by again, but I barely glanced at it.

Without even bothering to hide it, I took out my phone and called the bank's customer service right in front of him.

"Hi, I want to freeze the secondary credit card linked to my account, last four digits 9665. Do it right now. No delays," I demanded.

The customer service rep's sweet voice came through the phone, while Caleb, standing right next to me, watched his face drain of all color. He looked absolutely ashen.

Almost at the same time, his phone dinged with a text alert.

He pulled out his phone in disbelief, his fingers shaking as he stared at the screen, seeing that the card had been frozen.