Even in July, the heat in the city of Merlin lingered in the air. Trees, buildings, cars, and people had no choice but to bask in the scorching sun all day and endure the warm temperature at night.

As soon as Gwen Lewis hopped off the car, the evening breeze immediately touched her skin. She raised her head and stared at the huge building of Grand Oasis.

Two days ago, she swore to Hayes Gilmore that she would never sign the divorce papers.

Today, their paths would cross again.

She was welcomed by the manager of Grand Oasis. The manager led her to an elevator and pressed the floor button.

Gwen stood outside a massive door and looked at the “888” number printed on the wooden door.

Not long after, the manager opened the door. “Mrs. Gilmore, you may come in.”

Gwen nodded and thanked the woman before stepping inside.

Cheerful jazz music boomed inside the large room. The sounds of laughter and the chattering of different voices almost startled her. Gwen slightly scrunched her nose when the smells of cigars and alcohol hit her.

Heads turned toward her direction, and the murmurs of people faintly died down. However, Gwen was too determined the find the person she was looking for, so she didn’t pay attention to them and just continued walking.

The room was large, and there were a lot of people. Gwen craned her neck several times, looking for him until she stopped in front of a poker table.

Dressed in a tight white tube top and red flowy skirt, Lacey Brooks languidly sat on the armrest of Hayes’s chair. Her alluring face looked relaxed and happy as she watched the game.

The first person who saw Gwen was the man sitting opposite Hayes. His gaze lingered on her for a while before he let out a soft whistle.

“Looks like you have a surprise visitor, Mr. Gilmore,” he said with an evil smirk.

The rest of the people at the table raised their heads to look at Gwen.

“Mr. Gilmore, your wife’s here,” the other man said and let out a meaningful smile.

Aside from knowing who she was, almost everyone knew that Gwen was Hayes Gilmore’s wife.

Three years ago, this couple’s wedding was the grandest and the most talked about event in the city. It was a pretty big deal.

Hayes poked his cheek with his tongue as he glanced at Gwen, who was sternly looking at him. Then, he withdrew his gaze and tossed the card on the table.

Unbothered by the people’s curious gazes, Gwen walked towards Hayes. Lacey immediately rested her palm on the man’s shoulder, displaying her perfectly manicured red nails against his black shirt. She leaned closer to Hayes and raised an eyebrow.

“What brings you here, Gwen?” Lacey tilted her head.

Gwen pretended like she didn’t hear her. She didn’t have the time to give these people a show to watch.

“Let’s talk,” she coldly said to Hayes.

Hayes remained staring at his cards. “What is it?”

Gwen sighed and pursed her lips. She glanced at Lacey and said, “About the divorce.”

She grabbed the papers from her bag and showed them to Hayes. “I signed the papers already. I can go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs to process the rest of the requirements anytime.”

It wasn’t ideal to talk about such a serious and private matter in front of these people, especially when everybody knew that it was Hayes who wanted to call their marriage off.

However, Gwen couldn’t wait any longer.

Of all people, she knew that Hayes was ruthless and always did everything to get whatever he wanted. But never did she ever think that he would do the same thing to her.

Hayes glanced at the papers in front of him but didn’t say anything.

The people at their table suddenly went quiet while Gwen tried to figure out what her soon-to-be former husband was thinking.

Lacey’s eyes caught the man sitting opposite them. She saw him place a cigarette between his lips before lowering his head to light the object with his lighter.

Smoke instantly rose in the air as he inhaled. Tempted by the smell of smoke, the man beside him grabbed the cigarette box, only to find it empty.

“Give me a stick, Seth,” the man whispered.

Seth Parker lifted his eyes and looked at the man. “A hundred thousand dollars for one cigarette. Deal?” he asked while smirking.

“The fuck? Does that thing have diamonds inside?” Tucker Scott replied incredulously. He grabbed the empty box and threw it on Seth’s face.

Seth laughed and blocked his face with his hand. As soon as the box touched his palm, he instinctively waved his hand, making the object fly across the table.

Seth and Tucker watched the thing fly in the air as if it was in slow motion. The box fell on someone’s head with a thud.

“Aw,” Gwen muttered before covering her head. She looked at the floor and saw a cigarette box.

Tucker coughed deliberately. He gave Seth a warning glare before looking at Gwen. The latter coldly looked at him.

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Gilmore. I-I mean, Ms. Lewis. It was an accident. I didn’t throw it. It was Seth,” he stuttered before chuckling awkwardly. “He’s a prankster.”

Gwen’s serious eyes transferred to the man beside Tucker. The pair of dark orbs pierced through her as he raised a brow. His lazy-looking eyes looked at her with no traces of remorse or regret.

Gwen scanned him from head to toe, then calmly looked away.

Tucker adjusted his seat, slightly excited as if watching an entertaining show.

Gwen looked at Hayes again. “If you don’t want Ms. Lacey to be dragged into this mess, I suggest you spare me a few minutes to talk. I’ll wait for you outside.”

Of course, Gwen and Hayes were not legally divorced yet. Even if Hayes loved Lacey, she would remain just a mistress in the relationship.

Not waiting for his reply, Gwen turned around and walked to the room’s exit. She stood outside the room for a few minutes until Hayes finally appeared in front of her.

The man’s penetrating gaze remained on her but still didn’t say anything. Gwen also glared at him, unwilling to back down.

A man who was walking in the corridor passed by. He immediately sensed a heavy and strange tension, so he increased his pace until he disappeared through the dark hallway.

Gwen sighed.

Hayes took out a cigarette and lit it in front of her. “I changed my mind. Those divorce papers need to be changed,” he spoke.

Gwen blinked her eyes. “What do you mean?”

Hayes inhaled the cigarette and blew the smoke in the air. “You know how much I hate being threatened, Gwen. I’ll contact the lawyer and ask to draft a new divorce agreement. Your father will be safe in prison, but you’ll leave my house and get nothing from me.”

Gwen snorted, resisting the laughter that wanted to escape her lips.

‘You hate being threatened, or you just hate it when Lacey’s involved?’ she thought.

“Sure.”

She didn’t want anything from him in the first place. She also forgot to read everything in the agreement she signed before, so changing it was a good thing.

However, Gwen couldn’t stop the uneasy feeling growing inside her. Hearing Hayes’s words made her feel sad and angry at the same time.

‘Didn’t the three-year-long marriage matter to him at all? Did he really feel nothing toward her during those years?’ she asked herself.

A flash of lightning disrupted the quiet night sky, followed by the roar of thunder. Gwen looked up, and the big blots of rain instantly trickled down her face.

She walked and walked, not minding the heavy rain. The images of her and her former husband from the past flashed in her mind.

Gwen wandered until her foot tripped onto something. She was caught off guard, and she immediately fell to the ground.

Gwen groaned in pain and looked at her knee. She tried to get up, but her whole body felt so exhausted that she couldn’t stand up.

The vehicles on the road continued moving against the rain. People breezed their way on the sidewalk, wanting to get to their destination as soon as possible.

Gwen remained sitting on the side. She lowered her head and stared at the ground. Her head was empty, and her body felt numb.

All of a sudden, a loud horn blared beside Gwen, making her shoulders jump in surprise. She slowly stood up to see what or who it was. Her soaked clothes were glued to her skin as the rain continued to pour.

Her eyes fell on a gray sports car parked near her. Gwen squinted her eyes to see who was inside.

Suddenly, the car window rolled down, revealing the man sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Enjoying your pity party, Mrs. Gilmore? Unfortunately, Hayes is too occupied with the new woman beside him now, and he won’t be able to see your little tricks.”

The man’s eyes were cold and menacing. His tone sounded rude and sarcastic as he spoke.

Gwen seemed not to hear what he had just said. She stepped closer to him and crouched a little. “Are you free tonight, Seth? Can you bring me to a hotel?” she murmured.

Seth’s eyes widened slightly by her words. However, he immediately changed his shocked expression and leaned against his seat. A chuckle escaped his lips while his eyes scanned her body.

Gwen was wearing a fitted chiffon shirt and a pair of black wide-leg trousers. The shirt was neatly tucked in her pants, revealing her curves. Seth immediately knew that this woman had a body to die for.

“Hotel? You think I’ll sleep with the woman Hayes Gilmore already slept with?”

Gwen’s lips parted in surprise. Seth barked a laugh before closing the car window. The headlights of his car beamed brighter as he drove away.

The car’s tires screeched through the puddles, and the water splashed all over Gwen’s body. She tightly closed her eyes as she shivered from the cold rain.

Gwen opened her eyes when a sudden realization hit her.

‘What was I thinking? Why did I say such a thing to Seth? Of all people, I asked Seth to go to a hotel with me?’ she inwardly scolded herself.

Gwen finally arrived home, feeling exhausted and sick from being drenched in the rain for so long. After a warm shower, she immediately went to bed.

Nightmares instantly clung to her mind that night. Ugly memories from her past played like a broken record as she slept.

When the morning came, Gwen was woken up by the loud ringing of her phone. She immediately picked up the call when she saw it was Hayes’s lawyer.

The lawyer informed her that the revised divorce contract was all ready and would arrive at her house in a while. This meant they were already rushing the divorce, and Gwen needed to sign the papers immediately.

Unlike the last time, Gwen didn’t kick the lawyer out of the house. Instead, she calmly took the papers, read them, and signed without complaint.

Right after the lawyer left, Hayes called her. They said they needed to go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs later, at four o’clock, to finish the divorce process.

Gwen could only sigh at the man’s impatience.

She arrived at their meeting place five minutes before four o’clock in the afternoon. She stood at the entrance waiting for Hayes until a familiar car halted on the road.

Gwen watched as the doors of the driver seat and passenger seat opened simultaneously, revealing Hayes and Lacey.

Lacey’s bright red dress could easily capture the attention of people. Her long, slender legs looked fairer because of her short-hemmed clothes.

Lacey smiled and waited for Hayes to reach her. Then, she clasped their hands together before walking toward Gwen.

Gwen looked away slightly after remembering some memories again. Like a déjà vu, she recalled how she used to cling to Hayes’s arm all the time when they were still married.

But not once did Hayes look at her with eyes like that. Full of attention, sincerity, and affection. It was as if the only person he could see was the woman beside him.

For a cold-hearted and ruthless man like Hayes, it would always be a wonder how he treated Lacey differently from the others.

Gwen would be honest. Hayes and Lacey looked good together. Both were blessed with great genes. While one looked cold on the surface, the other person seemed to be filled with sunshine and warmth. One look at them, and one could see how they matched each other very well.

Gwen was too preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn’t realize that the two were already standing in front of her.

Lacey’s lips curled into a smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Gwen. It’s Hayes’s fault,” she meaningfully said before looking at Hayes.

Gwen tried hard to ignore the pain in her chest. Her emotionless face only stared at them.

Hayes glanced at her. His expression looked indifferent as usual, and his eyes bore into her intensely.

“Let’s go inside,” he commanded.

Gwen didn’t spare him a glance and just turned around to enter the building.

Hayes’s gaze followed her retreating form.

“You don’t want to divorce her, do you?”

Lacey’s voice snapped him back to reality. He turned to her but didn’t say anything. Instead, he held her waist and led her to the door.

Twenty minutes later, Hayes and Lacey went out of the office. Gwen trailed behind them, silent and deep in thought.

Lacey and Hayes got into the car. Hayes was about to start the engine when Lacey suddenly snatched the car key from his hand.

Hayes’s furrowed his eyebrows.

Lacey briefly glanced at Gwen, who had just left the building. She turned to Hayes and smiled seductively.

“Kiss me, Hayes.”