Almost instantly after I sent the message, a reply popped up.

"Yes, I am," Solomon-from-the-future replied.

I stared at the screen and suddenly found it ridiculous.

"Don't you think it's a little too late to apologize only ten years later?" I replied, my fingertips running cold as I typed out the words slowly. "I don't want to listen to your apology anymore."

There were no new messages for a while. Then, the replies came in.

"I know.

"I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I just want to tell you the truth."

The truth?

I suddenly recalled the first text message, and a frightening thought struck me.

"If I didn't die because of overdosing on sleeping pills, then how did I die?"

This time, the silence was even longer than before.

It wasn't until I began to feel sleepy that the screen lit up again.

"Melanie will say that she can't sleep tonight and insist on sleeping in the master bedroom instead. As such, you will walk out in the snow and collapse before getting incredibly sick.

"I don't want you to die, Ivy. I also don't want you to fall sick. Please take good care of your body."

…

The showering sounds in the bathroom ceased, and the bedroom door was pushed open once again.

Solomon walked in with just a bathrobe on, fresh out of the shower.

"Melanie can't sleep tonight because she isn't used to the mattress in the guest bedroom. Let her sleep in the master bedroom tonight. You can sleep in the guest room."

His tone was loud and confident, as though he knew that I would obey him no matter what.

Melanie's saccharine-sweet voice then floated in. "Did you know, Ivana? Actually, Sol and I have always slept in the master bedroom whenever you weren't around. And I just can't suddenly sleep elsewhere that feels foreign to me.

"You know that Sol's only doing this for my own good, right? You won't get mad at us, right?"

I glanced at her feigned innocence before looking away indifferently. As it turned out, even Melanie's provocations couldn't get to me anymore because I was already thoroughly disappointed with Solomon.

When he saw that I was still standing there quietly without moving, he frowned and said, "Melanie is only staying here temporarily. Can't you stop giving us an attitude about it?"

I glanced at his frustrated look and said lightly, "Don't bother. I'll move out."

I wasn't going to let myself collapse in the snow anymore like Future Solomon said I would. However, I simply couldn't bear to watch the wretched couple being intimate with each other.

Solomon was stunned.

I didn't say a single word and went straight to the wardrobe.

"You guys can have this room if you like it that much. And Ms. Cosgrove can have the things in the drawers and shelves too, if she doesn't mind them."

I then retrieved a random handful of jewelry that Solomon had once gifted me on our anniversaries and put them on the dressing table.

Solomon frowned even harder.

"What do you mean by this? Are you insinuating that the things I got you are just trash to you? Is that why you think you can just give them to whomever you want?"

He grabbed my hand and questioned me angrily, his eyes as dark as thunder, but I just withdrew my hand, not bothering to retort anymore.

Melanie sauntered over and picked up a diamond necklace.

"See, Sol, this is where you don't really understand women. Ivana is feeling upset about the whole situation, so she's using this tactic to try to get your attention and pity. She's just playing hard-to-get, that's all. We, women, know each other's tricks, after all."

She looked up and gave me a faint, victoriously smug grin.

"Playing hard-to-get?" Solomon echoed, suddenly looking like he'd had an epiphany. Then, the fury in his eyes turned into a look of contempt.

"So, you're resorting to such a ridiculous tactic to force me to stay with you," he said, narrowing his sharp eyes at me. He then continued in a harsh tone, "Fine. You want to cut off all ties with me?

"I was the one who paid for everything that you're wearing right now. Take them all off if you dare! Don't you dare play the moral high-ground with me when you're nothing but a hypocrite."

A deafening silence fell upon the room.

Melanie stood to the side, looking at me smugly and with anticipation.

Meanwhile, I stared at the man standing before me. He used to be someone I'd loved for more than half of my life. And now, the final thread of affection I still had for him completely snapped clean.

"Okay."

I didn't hesitate and took off the pearl earrings he had given me on our first anniversary. Then, I removed my necklace, bracelet, and even began unbuttoning the clothes I was wearing.

"Ivana Wesley!"

The anger on Solomon's face immediately turned into shock and panic. When I slid the jacket off my shoulders, he rushed up to me and grabbed my wrist tightly.

"That's enough! Are you fucking done throwing a fuss like this?"

His fingers were cold, and his voice was trembling slightly.

I just looked back calmly into his eyes.

"You were the one who told me to take them off."

He was at a loss for words.

However, I wasn't even looking at him anymore. I just picked up the jacket on the ground, the one I'd bought with my own money, and left without saying another word.

Behind me, Solomon's breathing came in ragged, uneven breaths. It sounded as though he wanted to call out to me, but I had no intention of looking back anymore.

My phone began buzzing in my pocket.

"That bastard! I really wish I could go back and strangle him myself!"

A few seconds later, Future Solomon calmed down and said cautiously, "I'll help you leave him, Ivy."

I locked the guest bedroom door behind me and replied, "Solomon would never let me go. I believe that you know that as a fact more than I'll ever do."

To him, his wife and his mistresses were like his spoils and trophies for being a "successful" man. He would never let anyone go that easily.

If he went through with the divorce, it would only mean admitting that his "perfect" life had begun to crack. He would rather torture me until my death than ever let me go.

A long while later, the screen lit up again.

"Melanie is pregnant."

I stared at the line of words, feeling my pupils contract slightly in my eyes.

Future Solomon continued texting. "Solomon will host a banquet for her in a few days. He'll say it's ostensibly to celebrate a successful business collaboration, but it's really to formally introduce Melanie to everyone and give her a title."

The texts then slowed down, as if it were getting difficult for him to go on.

"When you found out about it, you dragged your seriously ill body there and kicked up a huge fuss. And not long after the banquet, you…"

He didn't continue the sentence after that, but I knew what he was trying to say.

I closed my eyes, almost able to see Melanie embracing Solomon as she announced the news to everyone present, while I threw a massive tantrum, made a fool of myself, and ultimately succumbed to the abyss.

…

Subtle glances came from all directions when I appeared in the banquet hall days later.

"Why is she here?"

"She's so shameless. Doesn't she know that Mr. Geyser clearly doesn't want to see her?"

"She looks so old and haggard. It's no wonder she wasn't able to stop her man from seeing other women."

The gossip around me pierced my ears like needles.

In the post, I would have been worried sick that words like these would embarrass Solomon. But now, they didn't even manage to stir up my emotions one bit.

Solomon frowned as soon as he saw me. He marched up to me and yanked me into a secluded corner. His voice was frustrated as he demanded, "What are you doing here?"

I met his impatient gaze and smiled slightly. "I'm here to congratulate you, of course. This is such a huge celebration, after all. How could I possibly be absent, as your wife?"

His gaze was filled with scrutiny as he glared at me.

"Congratulate me?" he echoed, frowning. "I'm warning you, you'd better not cause any trouble tonight. Behave yourself and go home after a while. Don't go embarrassing yourself anymore."

Melanie sauntered over to us and wrapped her hands around Solomon's arm intimately.

"Don't be angry, Sol. Ivana's presence here only showed how gracious she was and that she had genuinely come to congratulate us. Isn't that so?"

While speaking, she grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter.

"Since you're already here, you must drink a toast to us. That'll prove that you're truly here to congratulate Sol and me."

I stared at the liquid in the glass and felt my stomach churn on instinct. I avoided the glass and looked at Solomon, my voice dry as I said, "I can't take alcohol because of my stomach ulcers. You know that."

Doctors had strictly warned me never to touch another drop of alcohol again because of my horrible stomach ulcers. The ulcers developed after I was forced to attend drinking parties and networking events during the early days when Solomon first started his company.

When he learned about it a few years ago, he'd also strictly forbidden me from touching alcohol again.

I watched his eyes flicker now, looking as though he was uncertain about it. Melanie then tightened her hand around his arm and said in a coquettish voice, "It's just champagne. The alcohol content is very low.

"Surely you're not going to leave us hanging just like this, Ivana? Is it because you hate me?"

She then turned to Solomon and said in an innocently aggrieved voice, "All I wanted was Ivana's sincere blessings and congratulations, Sol. Is it really that much to ask for?"

His hesitation disappeared as soon as Melanie used her tactics on him. His eyes turned cold and hard as they turned to me. "If Melanie told you to drink, then you will drink every single drop of it.

"It's just one glass. What's it going to do, kill you?"

I dug my fingernails deep into my palms, but I couldn't even feel the pain anymore.

The last of my hopes vanished into thin air. With that, I turned to leave.

"Stop her!" Solomon gave out his orders at once.

Two waiters came up to me and stopped me.

Solomon then took the champagne glass from Melanie and pressed its rim to my lips. He spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Drink it, or I will make someone force it down your throat."

I kept my lips tightly sealed and looked away.

"Force it down her throat!"

Solomon lost his patience and handed the glass to a waiter instead, barking out his order at him. The alcohol was forced down my throat, and I choked on the burning liquid, doubling over in a thoroughly disheveled state.

A sharp, stabbing pain shot through my stomach at once, and my vision blurred. I knelt on the carpet, my face smeared with champagne and tears.

Solomon looked down condescendingly at me, a deep frown etched on his face.

"It's just a glass of champagne. Why must you make it seem like you're dying from just that?"

Melanie crouched over with a napkin in her hand and said, "Oh, your dress is wet. Let me help you dry it."

Before the words were even out of her mouth, there was a loud tearing sound as she ripped away the thin fabric covering my chest.

My bare chest was exposed to the public.

I screamed and hurriedly covered my chest with my arms.

Solomon frowned and yanked Melanie up from the ground.

"You've gone overboard."

Melanie's eyes went red. She explained in an aggrieved tone, "I was just trying to help Ivana dry her dress. I didn't think that the dress would be so poorly made."

He looked at me, disheveled and curled up in shame, then at Melanie, looking pitifully at him. A flicker of complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

He took off his suit jacket and casually tossed it over my body.

"Alright, just put this on and get the driver to send you back. Stop embarrassing yourself here."

I kept my head lowered, the jacket still heavy with Solomon's warmth and Melanie's perfume against my skin.

It felt colder than being completely naked in public.

After slightly tidying himself up, Solomon walked straight onto the stage.

"Hello, everyone. I would also like to take this opportunity to announce some good news.

"This lady next to me, Ms. Melanie Cosgrove, is pregnant. And this is the proof and fruition of our love; a gift straight from heaven itself."

Loud applause erupted around us, followed by countless subtle glances cast in my direction.

"However," Solomon said, "Ms. Ivana Wesley will still be my lawfully wedded wife. I will make proper arrangements for Melanie and the child. She will not be threatening Ivana's position as my wife. I would like everyone here to bear witness to that."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Melanie wove through the crowd and stopped right before me. She extended her hand and said in a gentle voice, "We're going to be family from today onward, Ivana. I will be showing you proper respect next time."

Just as she was about to touch me, she then added casually, "You've miscarried before, haven't you? And you can't ever get pregnant again. Am I not right?"

My fingers turned ice-cold as I snapped my head up to glare at her.

My miscarriage had left a deep scar that I still couldn't get over. Yet, Melanie had so easily exposed it to the public.

All of my grievances I'd been suppressing from before finally burst forth at that moment.

"Don't touch me!" I said, shaking her hand off.

However, a split second later, she acted as though she'd been shoved back with a terrible force and fell to the ground heavily.

A thin trail of red began to run down the inside of her calf.

"Blood! Ms. Cosgrove is bleeding!"

The entire hall descended into chaos.

Solomon rushed up to me, his eyes bloodshot and furious. He looked at the blood on Melanie's leg and then at me, who was frozen to the ground. He didn't even give me a chance to say a single thing before slapping me hard in the face.

I staggered back by a few steps and fell into the tall champagne tower next to me.

Alcohol and glasses rained down on top of me, and I was immediately turned into the most disheveled mess in the entire hall.

"You're such a vicious bitch! And to think that I thought you'd finally learned to behave yourself tonight! You're still as vicious as ever! How could you even bear to lay a finger on an unborn child?"

Solomon continued yelling at me as he pointed a finger in my face. "What else do you want from me, Ivana Wesley? You already have the title of 'Mrs. Geyser', and you eat and live for free while living under my roof!

"Must you destroy everything before you're finally happy with yourself?"

The immense pain in my cheek turned numb. I slowly raised my head and looked at him.

All my feelings for him were completely dead.

Even the last embers had long been scattered by the storm.

Amidst the whispers, I endured the throbbing pain in my face and pulled the divorce papers from my bag.

My voice was hoarse as I said, "I don't want the title of 'Mrs. Geyser' anymore, nor any of those things you said you gave me, Solomon Geyser. Let's get divorced."

The entire hall fell into a hushed silence.

The rage on Solomon's face receded like the tide, leaving behind only shock and astonishment. He looked at me abruptly like he wanted to say something, but my phone suddenly began buzzing loudly.

The notifications kept coming, and it was particularly jarring in the otherwise deathly quiet banquet hall.

Solomon's gaze fell on my bag. He shot forward and rummaged through the bag to find my incessantly vibrating phone as text messages flooded in one after another.

"That bastard! How dare he do such a thing to you!

"I'm going to kill him! I swear I'm going to kill him right now!"

Solomon glared daggers at the screen before looking at me.

"Who is this?"

His voice was dry and hoarse. He probably didn't even realize it was trembling slightly as well.

He then shoved the phone under my nose.

"Is this the bastard you've been cheating on me with the whole time? You're divorcing me because of him, aren't you?"