I no longer looked at him and turned to leave the private room.

After a few steps, hurried footsteps followed behind me.

It was Claire.

She caught up and stepped in front of me.

Then she held up her phone screen, showing a list of visitor records on her video page. "All the views on my video came from you, Miss Fuller, right? Why bother? Pretending to act like you don't care at all, but secretly watching so closely. Aren't you tired?"

I looked at her and suddenly remembered that when I was still struggling with bit parts, I used to dress like that too.

Since I stayed silent, she seemed even more certain. "I know what kind of man Ayden is. He is disciplined and proud, never allowing anyone to overstep. But now he breaks his rules for me. You know that clearly, don't you? Why do you still cling on and refuse to step aside?"

I waited quietly for her to finish, then smiled softly. "Is that so? That's great then."

Claire froze, apparently not expecting this reaction.

I paused, then continued. "Then go make him divorce me. See if he listens to you."

The color drained from Claire's face.

She forced herself to stay calm and said. "We'll see about that. Let's see if he chooses me or you, the worn-out wife."

After Claire left, my alternate account got a notification that she and I had mutually followed each other.

Ayden still did not agree to the divorce afterward.

A few days later, Claire sent me a message.

No text, just a photo.

The lighting was dim, with a rough wall in the background.

The shooting angle vaguely captured a corner of a familiar floral tablecloth, the one my mother loved most before she passed.

My heart sank sharply.

Immediately after, a second message popped up. "Miss Fuller, guess where we are? Ayden said this place holds some sentimental value."

Sentimental value?

A chill instantly crawled up my spine.

Before I could react, a third message followed. "Ayden told me this is the old house where you and your aunt lived together back then. Oh dear, why keep this old and rundown place? I think Ayden should just have the building demolished."

That basement was my shelter during my lowest times and the place where my mother spent her final days.

Everything inside, though cheap and worn, I had carefully preserved. It was the most sacred corner in my heart that no one could defile.

Ayden clearly knew that, yet now he brought Claire there.

He even allowed her to take photos and encouraged her to send me messages commenting and planning.

My fingers trembled uncontrollably. "Get out of there!"

I could almost picture Claire nestled against Ayden.

Gloating and curiously examining that small space, freely pointing at the last remnants my mother left me.

I stared hard at the screen, but there was no reply for a long time.

I gritted my teeth and typed another message. "Did you hear me? Get out! Don't pollute the place where my mom rests!"

After the message sent, a video call request immediately popped up.

It was from Ayden.

I stared at the bouncing avatar and pressed accept.

On the screen, it was indeed that familiar corner of the room.

The camera first swept over Claire, then turned aside.

Ayden leaned against the old desk, toying with a cheap ceramic mug in his hand.

He did not look at the camera and spoke lazily to the person beside him. "See, I told you. This is the one thing she can't stand."

Then, he slowly turned his face to look at me on the other end of the screen.

He faced me, curled his lips, and said word by word. "Ella, do you still dare to mention divorce?"

The moment the video cut off, I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door.

The entrance to the old building felt like a familiar scar.

The smell of cheap perfume mixed with mold wafted from the slightly open door.

I pushed it open.

Claire stood with her back to the door, holding a tube of lipstick, about to reach for my mother's photo on the table.

"Stop!"

She jumped and turned around, the lipstick falling to the ground.

I charged forward and slapped her across the face with all my strength.

She staggered, knocking over clutter, and clutched her cheek while looking at me in terror.

Tears poured from my eyes uncontrollably. "Who gave you permission to touch anything here! Who let you come in!"

I pointed at Ayden, who had just stood up from the shadows. "Take her and get out! Disappear from my mom's sight!"

I grabbed whatever I could reach and hurled it at them wildly.

"Ella!" Ayden seized my wrist, panic in his voice for the first time. "Calm down! I didn't..."

"You didn't what?" I struggled, glaring at him through blurred tears. "Ayden! Do you think this is fun? Does it prove you won, prove you can easily control me?"

"I didn't mean it that way..." His face paled as he tried to explain.

"Get out!" I wrenched free and stood protectively in front of the memorial tablet, shaking all over. "Get out right now!"

He looked at my breaking face, then stiffly pulled the sobbing Claire toward the door.

The door closed.

I slid to the floor and sobbed aloud.

Once, I had held my mother's portrait and told her I had found someone to rely on.

Now, that same reliance brought another woman to disturb her peace.

I had been wrong.

I stayed in that dark, sunless old building for half a month.

In the middle of the night, the cold woke me.

There was no heating, and the late autumn chill seeped into my bones.

I curled up and instinctively reached toward the warm heat source beside me.

There was only icy emptiness.

I snapped my eyes open.

Under the dim yellow bulb, I was alone.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from Sophia, short and direct. "He signed the agreement."

I stared at it for a long time, then silently turned off the screen and began packing my mother's belongings.

But before I left, Claire's revenge arrived.

Blurry photos from my early days as a minor actress—at shady parties and half-exposed—were carefully compiled into a long post that exploded online.

The title was eye-catching. "Digging into Mrs. Martin's Scandalous Past: From Lowly Starlet to Abandoned Wife."

The scandal spread instantly.

Even when I went to the convenience store, strangers recognized me right away.

Their unabashed comments drifted into my ears.

"That's her, right? Looks so aloof, but she used to be wild."

"No wonder an unknown little star caught Mr. Martin's eye. She has some seductive talent."

"I heard her mom was... tsk tsk, like mother like daughter."

I pretended not to hear, picked my items calmly, and left.

I took a cab to the Martin Group building.

I waited for Ayden right at the lounge door where everyone could see.

Soon, Ayden appeared on time.

I knew he spotted the printed screenshots of the web pages at a glance.

He opened his mouth as if to say something.

Claire, following behind, interrupted him.

She smiled and approached Ayden, but he yanked her away without a word.

The hall echoed with Claire's cries. "Ayden, I didn't do it!"

But no one believed her.

Her ambition to become Mrs. Martin had always been out in the open.

That same evening, she came to find me. "Ella, are you satisfied? Ayden actually scolded me over your pathetic past! But even if I didn't post those photos, I'm glad they came out! I saw them too—half-naked. Who are you pretending to be pure for? Let me tell you, it's not me crossing the line. Ayden allowed me to."

I looked at her face calmly. "Finished?"

As I moved to close the door, she suddenly blocked it. "Guess what, if something happened to both of us. Like if this rundown place caught fire, who would he save?"

I called her a lunatic and slammed the door shut.

I thought it was just an empty threat, but I underestimated Claire's madness.

In the night, thick smoke choked me awake.

I rushed to the door but recoiled from the scorching heat.

Outside, Claire's heartbreaking cries rang out.

Through the flames, I saw Ayden.

He quickly stripped off his coat, seeming ready to cover his head and rush in.

To save me, or Claire?

I soon learned the answer.

Outside the window, Ayden carried Claire and hurried away.

The moment his resolute back vanished into the fire, I closed my eyes, and my last lingering attachment dissolved with the heat.

Ayden, we were even.

I removed the wedding ring from my finger and threw it into the blaze.

Then I ran without hesitation in the opposite direction from where Ayden had gone.

Ayden sat in the corner of the infusion room, keeping Claire company while she received her IV.

When he draped his coat over her shoulders, his movements seemed distracted.

In the hallway, two nurses pushed a cart past and whispered. "Did you hear about the fire in Building Seven? The flames were huge, spreading from the first floor all the way to the third... It seems a young woman was trapped inside. By the time they got her out, she was already..."

Ayden's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered that the place Ella rented was also in Building Seven.

He stood up abruptly, moving so fast that Claire nearly slipped. "Ayden, what's wrong?"

Ayden did not answer. A chill shot straight to his heart.

His hands shook as he pulled out his phone. Just as he unlocked the screen, a call came in from his assistant. "Mr. Martin, a tenant said Miss Fuller might have gone back yesterday, but they're not sure if she was in the fire..."

Ayden could not hear the rest.

A buzzing filled his ears, and the world swayed as if it had lost all reality.

"Ayden?" Claire tugged at his sleeve.

He yanked his hand away and bolted out.

Claire's cries faded far behind him.

He was terrified—truly terrified—that something had happened to Ella.

He sped all the way until he saw the charred building still spewing black smoke.

When he tried to rush in, firefighters held him back firmly. "Let go! My wife is inside—"

At that moment, his phone vibrated with a call from Sophia. "Ayden, Ella has been taken to the hospital. She just inhaled some smoke. She's fine."

It felt like a bucket of cold water poured over him. Ayden froze completely.

He slowly lowered his arms and murmured an apology to the firefighters.

Ayden sped to the hospital again.

He burst through the safety door as if crashing into it.

Outside the ward, Sophia stood with two tall bodyguards nearby.

"Where is she?" Ayden asked hoarsely, not stopping as he headed for the room.

Sophia stepped in front of him. "She took some medication and just fell asleep."

"Let me see her for a moment." His eyes locked on the ward door. He moved to go around Sophia.

"I said she needs rest. The doctor mentioned she suffered severe shock and her emotions are unstable."

The two bodyguards caught her signal and stepped forward to block Ayden.

Ayden grew furious. "Move!"

He growled and reached to push the bodyguards aside.

Sophia looked up coldly. "If you barge in like this without a care, do you want her to wake up and see you first thing, then bring up divorce again?"

Ayden's raised hand froze in mid-air.

He remembered his choice in the fire and felt overwhelming guilt.

In the end, he said nothing more, took half a step back.

His gaze passed over Sophia and the bodyguards, lingered on the closed ward door one last time, then he left dejectedly.

For the next few days, Ayden remained in a daze.

He did not dare visit Ella, afraid she would mention divorce again.

After much thought, he decided to send his assistant to check on her.

The assistant stood at the ward door but was blocked by the bodyguards, who said Ella refused visitors.

He had no choice but to leave and planned to hand the supplements to the nurse on duty.

The nurse told him Ella had been discharged two days earlier.

The assistant paused, pulled out his phone to call Ayden.

But the line stayed busy.

He hesitated, worried that reporting rashly would cause trouble.

So he decided to check if Ella had returned to the villa first.

At that moment, Ayden sat distracted in the conference room.

Claire's calls came one after another.

Each time the screen lit up, he thought it was the assistant, but all seven or eight missed calls were from Claire.

He finally answered, wanting to see why she called so many times.

On the other end, Claire's voice carried tears. "Ayden... my head hurts so much. No one's home. Can you come keep me company?"

Ayden closed his eyes. He did not want to go.

But her helpless and dependent tone reminded him of how she trembled that night in the fire.

After all, he had dragged her into this.

"I'll give you another week off and have someone take you to the hospital."

Claire cried louder. "I don't want anyone else... Ayden, please, just come for a little while, okay?"

Ayden sighed and finally gave in. "Send me the address."

He stood and left, leaving a room full of executives staring at each other.

By the time the assistant returned to the company, Ayden's taillights had just vanished from the garage exit.

...

In the apartment, Ayden sat on the sofa.

Claire wrapped in a blanket, only her red swollen eyes visible.

When she opened the door, her face looked pale, as if she truly felt ill.

Ayden sat beside her, yet felt little pity.

He even zoned out, staring straight out the window, lost in thought.

Claire spoke softly to him. "Ayden, thank you for coming... I'm really scared alone. Every time I close my eyes, I see fire, I see smoke..."

Ayden gave a faint "mm" and said nothing more.

His mind drifted back to the hospital, wondering how Ella felt now.

Did she still feel unwell? Would she have nightmares at night?

"Ayden, what are you thinking about?" Claire probed.

Ayden snapped back, stood up, and said. "Nothing. Rest well. I have things at the company."

"You're leaving?" Claire panicked, threw off the blanket to grab him, but stood too quickly and nearly fell as her vision darkened.

Ayden instinctively steadied her.

At that moment, several camera flashes flickered from downstairs.