The next day, Kyla woke up pretty late. By the time she went downstairs, Gerald had already left for the laboratory.

The entire day, she found herself alone in the villa.

But as evening approached, the doorbell rang unexpectedly.

Through the monitor, Kyla saw Aubrey standing outside, holding a few exquisitely wrapped gift boxes and wearing a sweet, innocent smile.

Kyla hesitated to open the door, but Aubrey was persistent, continuously pressing the doorbell and even pulling out her phone, seemingly ready to call Gerald.

In the end, Kyla opened the door.

"Kyla, I've come to see you." Aubrey bounced inside cheerfully, took off her jacket, and hung it on the rack as if she were at home. "I couldn't stop thinking about what happened yesterday and felt so guilty. Gerald blamed me and asked me to come over to apologize to you."

Aubrey placed the gift boxes on the coffee table and opened them one by one. "These are skincare products I specially picked for you, and your favorite scented candles. Please don't be mad at me, okay?"

Kyla watched her display with a cold demeanor.

Aubrey seemed unfazed by the icy reception and wandered around the living room, as if inspecting her own territory.

Her eyes lit up when she spotted a lush orchid plant in the corner of the study. "Wow, this orchid is thriving, evidently well cared for. Kyla, you are so amazing."

That plant had been nurtured by Kyla for five years, growing from a tiny seedling into the verdant, glossy-leaved beauty it was now.

Gerald had once mentioned his admiration for the orchid's endearing qualities, so she had tended to it diligently, watering and polishing it daily, much like she nurtured the fragile relationship they shared.

Aubrey walked over and reached out to touch the leaves but suddenly sneezed dramatically, followed by several sneezes.

"A-achoo!" She rubbed her nose, looking apologetically at Kyla. "I'm sorry, Kyla. I... I think I'm allergic to pollen, especially from flowering plants."

She sneezed again, her eyes reddening, looking pitiful.

Kyla stood there, staring at her coldly.

Just then, the front door swung open, and Gerald walked in. He must have just returned from the lab, still clad in his white coat.

"Aubrey? Why are you here?" he asked, surprised, but his attention quickly shifted to her reddened eyes and unusual cough.

"Are you alright? Feeling unwell?" He immediately approached her, his brows furrowed, his voice filled with concern.

Aubrey quickly waved her hand, leaning weakly against the bookshelf, her voice nasal. "It's nothing, Gerald. I just... seem to be a bit allergic to that plant." She pointed to the orchid.

Gerald's gaze followed her gesture, landing on the plant before turning to Kyla with a darkened expression. "Didn't I tell you Aubrey is allergic to pollen? Why did you still keep the plant here?" His tone was openly accusatory.

Kyla was taken aback.

When did he ever say that? She was unaware.

She picked up her phone to type a question but saw Aubrey flash her a quick, secretive smile of triumph.

In that moment, Kyla understood everything.

It was just another one of Aubrey's tricks to assert her dominance.

Kyla's heart sank to the depths.

She looked at Gerald, seeing only his anxiety and concern for Aubrey, not even granting her a chance to explain.

Kyla didn't type anything, just approached the orchid, reaching out as if to move it.

"Leave it," Gerald commanded coldly, then turned to Aubrey. "Go sit in the living room. I'll handle this." With that, he stepped forward, without hesitation, and picked up the orchid plant, pot and all.

Kyla's eyes widened in shock. She rushed forward to grab his arm, shaking her head vigorously. That wasn't just a plant but the sole companion of her silent years, her only solace.

"Don't make a scene." Gerald impatiently tried to shake off her hand; his gaze was cold and unyielding. "It's just a plant. Aubrey's health is more important."

"Oh, no! Gerald, please don't..." Aubrey interjected with feigned sincerity. "Kyla seems to really love that plant. Maybe... maybe I should leave. I can endure it..."

Her words only darkened Gerald's expression further.

He saw Kyla as unreasonable, deliberately making things difficult for Aubrey.

"Enough!" he barked, forcefully shaking off Kyla's grip, causing her to stumble back, crashing into the cold bookshelf with a dull thud.

Yet he didn't spare her a glance, carrying the orchid out of the study, out of the villa.

Soon, the sound of something heavy shattering on the ground echoed from outside.

Kyla knew her plant was gone. Along with it, the last shred of her laughable persistence and hope, shattered by his own hands. She stood rooted to the spot, feeling cold all over.

Aubrey approached her, whispering in a voice only they could hear, "Kyla, did you see? To him, your past five years mean nothing compared to a single word of my allergy." With that, she turned and skipped away lightly.

"Gerald, wait for me! Let me help you clean up the pieces so you don't cut yourself..." Her sweet voice drifted in from outside, like a dagger wrapped in honey, repeatedly cutting into Kyla's already battered heart.

After the orchid pot was smashed, Kyla and Gerald entered a period of complete silence and avoidance.

Gerald started staying out all night, and when Kyla messaged him, his replies came slower and slower, evolving from initial "I'm busy" to just leaving her on read.

Kyla knew that he no longer wanted to come back home.

That day was the Company Family Day of the Paragon Group, and employees were required to attend with their families.

In an unprecedented move, Gerald came home a day early.

"Tomorrow at ten in the morning, at the western suburbs racetrack. Don't be late." He tossed a golden-embossed invitation card onto the coffee table. His tone was commanding, leaving no room for negotiation.

Kyla looked at the invitation, feeling nothing. She picked up her phone and typed, "Can I not go?"

"No." Gerald's answer was simple and resolute. "You are still, at least in name, my wife."

In name.

His wife.

Kyla felt as if an invisible hand gripped her throat, suffocating her.

She went anyway, dressed in a suitably elegant suit and wearing light makeup, masking herself as a competent and happy Mrs. Spencer.

At the racetrack, the sun was bright and the crowd was bustling.

Aubrey, clad in riding gear, sat boldly astride a chestnut horse, like a striking figure that drew everyone's attention.

Gerald stood prominently at the edge of the field, his gaze following her, and a subtle smile appeared on his lips, almost unconsciously.

Kyla seemed like an outsider as she sat quietly under a parasol in the resting area.

During the intermission, Gerald walked towards Aubrey with two bottles of water. He opened one for her with care, then gently moved her damp hair aside, wiping away her sweat. The intimacy and familiarity of his actions prompted teasing remarks from their colleagues.

"Dr. Spencer and Aubrey really make a perfect pair."

"I can't agree more. Who knows? We might be attending your wedding soon."

Aubrey lowered her head shyly, stealing a glance at Gerald. He didn't deny it; he just smiled. That smile was full of indulgence and consent.

No one remembered that his legal wife was sitting right there.

Kyla's heart was like ice melting away under the intense heat of the sun. It gradually melted, evaporating, until nothing remained.

Before the event ended, she left alone, unwilling to witness any more of that glaring scene.

As she stepped out of the ranch, she was so despondent that she accidentally bumped into someone.

Just as she was about to apologize, she heard a tentative voice. "Ms. Gibson, the famous lawyer?"

Kyla looked up and saw a face both unfamiliar and familiar.

The man quickly introduced himself. "I used to be an intern at Fairchild & Associates. My name is Blaine Shaw. I wonder if you remember me…"

Surprised to meet a former colleague there, Kyla nodded in response. She never forgot anyone she had worked with.

"Really? I can't believe such an esteemed lawyer remembers me!" Blaine Shaw exclaimed with excitement. "I've studied every case you've defended, especially that brilliant defense for the medical student falsely accused. But…"

He hesitated as he glanced at Kyla, wanting to say more but refraining.

However, Kyla was too engrossed in her own emotional turmoil to notice his hesitation.

Back home, almost instinctively, she wandered into Gerald's closet.

Reaching into the inner pocket of a suit jacket, she found a velvet jewelry box. Inside lay a dazzling diamond necklace, the latest design from Van Cleef & Arpels.

The box bore an elegant inscription—"For Aubrey".

Kyla remembered that the previous month on their wedding anniversary, she had silently mouthed "beautiful" to Gerald while pointing at this necklace in a magazine.

How had he responded then?

He had remarked, "It's too flashy for you."

It turned out it wasn't that it didn't suit her but that she wasn't worthy.

Kyla held the necklace in her hand, feeling as though every drop of blood in her body had frozen solid. She returned to the living room, sat on the sofa, and quietly waited for Gerald to come back and deliver the final decision.

Gerald didn't return home until very late. As he entered, Kyla placed the jewelry box on the coffee table in front of him and pushed it towards him. She looked up at him quietly, her eyes devoid of anger, only a hollow emptiness.

Gerald was momentarily taken aback when he saw the jewelry box, but then realization dawned on him. There was no panic on his face as if caught in the act; instead, he appeared to have shed some facade, revealing a hint of weariness and determination.

"So, you saw it." It was a statement, not a question.

Kyla picked up her phone, typing slowly, letter by letter. "Why?"

"There is no why." Gerald leaned back on the sofa, rubbing his temples. "Kyla, let's stop deceiving ourselves."

He finally looked into her eyes, his gaze colder and more ruthless than she had ever seen.

"Aubrey is great. She's lively, cheerful, can discuss the latest academic advancements with me, and makes me laugh when I'm tired. She reminds me what it means to live. And you?" He suddenly leaned closer to Kyla, his voice suppressing a surge of emotion. "For the past five years, what have I come home to? A silent house with a silent wife. When I talk, you respond only with your phone. When I'm happy, you can't share it. When I'm sad, you can't console me. Kyla, do you know how suffocating this life is?"

Gerald was actually blaming her silence.

He was using the sacrifices she had made for him as a reason to betray her.

Kyla's heart was being torn apart by him at that moment. She was in such pain that she almost convulsed, her vision going black.

Summoning all her strength, Kyla steadied her trembling hands to type on the phone. "Who did I lose my voice for?"

Gerald read the words, a flicker of guilt flashed in his eyes but was quickly replaced by deeper irritation.

"You want to bring up that lawsuit again, don't you? How many times have I told you not to mention it again?" Gerald's tone contained no gratitude for Kyla's past efforts to save him but only endless disgust.

Even his eyes seemed to avoid hers, as if he was hiding something.

After a long silence, Gerald let out a long sigh. "Yes, I admit it. I'm grateful to you. That's why for the past five years, I've tried my best to make it up to you, to take care of you. Isn't that enough? I'm a normal man; I need a normal partner instead of a patient whose emotions I need to always gingerly care for."

A patient. He finally said those word.

The last trace of color drained from Kyla's face. So, all her deep affection and sacrifices were nothing but an exhausting ordeal in his eyes, and he was the weary, impatient caregiver.

She laughed silently, bitterly. Tears finally broke free, falling in large drops onto the cold phone screen.

Seeing her collapse, Gerald seemed to feel a flicker of hesitation. He averted his gaze, his voice softening, yet it cut like a dagger. "Kyla, let's get a divorce. It's better for both of us."

With that, he stood up, seemingly unwilling to look at her again, and turned to head upstairs.

Kyla's world crumbled at that moment. She curled up on the sofa in despair, feeling abandoned by the entire world.

Just then, the phone she had tossed aside vibrated with a few messages from an unknown and unlisted number.

Kyla stiffly swiped the screen open with a blank look. "Ms. Gibson, this is Blaine. I've thought about it for a long time and decided to tell you. It's about the case five years ago, when Seawise Group's predecessor accused Gerald Spencer of academic fraud.

I couldn't help wondering why a corporation as large as Seawise Group would go to such great lengths, even using overseas connections to falsely accuse a penniless, yet-to-graduate PhD student. It doesn't make any business sense. But recently, I discovered the truth behind it all."