My husband has stepped out on me countless times, but he refused to divorce me. Meanwhile, his family called me a disgraceful tramp.

Five years ago was the first time I asked for a divorce. Terrence Fulton did not say anything. He locked me up in the villa for a whole month instead.

After that month, I found out that I was pregnant.

Three years after that, I asked for a divorce for a second time. That very night, Terrence returned to his family home at Fulton Manor.

After that, I was allowed to see my son only once a week.

Today was my third attempt to get a divorce, and I could finally leave.

I discovered that my son did not love me and that my marriage to Terrence had been fake all along.

I was just like one of the women he messed around with.

For her wedding, my friend, Colette, used the wedding plan I’d originally prepared for myself.

I had spent half a year getting the whole thing together, but my fiance, Terrence Fulton, took only one minute to throw it all out the window.

He only agreed to a rushed and perfunctory wedding plan.

Still, no matter how much he fooled around, I was his lawfully wedded wife.

That was how I felt until today, when he brought his mistress to attend Colette’s wedding.

The second I walked in, everyone looked at me. Their looks carried all kinds of unspoken emotions.

Some looked as though they were waiting for the show to start. Others were just plain nosy. Of course, some looked at me in sympathy.

Only Terrence seemed above it. He was unbothered.

“We’re here,” he said.

I looked at the young woman clinging affectionately to his arm and nodded calmly.

This was not the first time Terrence had cheated on me over the course of seven years of marriage. It was not even the second mistress.

The groom, Seth, froze. He obviously never anticipated such a thing to happen.

“Oh, Kendra, you’re here. Here, take a seat. Make yourself at home!”

I composed myself and smiled at him. I was grateful that he was trying to smooth things over.

The seats had all been arranged, of course, so there were no empty ones. Terrence prioritized his uninvited guest.

Terrence looked at me and said impatiently, “There’s already someone sitting in your seat. Sit elsewhere.”

After withstanding such treatment for many years, it was second nature for me to obey him.

“Alright.”

The second I sat down, I could feel the stares grow bolder.

Seth was very apologetic. Before he left, he asked his relatives, who were seated near me, to take good care of me.

He cared more about how I felt than Terrence did.

The wedding started as planned. Colette walked down the aisle in the wedding dress I had designed and over the red carpet I had chosen.

She was joined in marriage to a person and would receive the love and happiness that I had never known.

The whole thing unfolded in exactly the way they did in my dreams.

The woman holding onto Terrence’s arm was very young and looked innocent and doe-eyed.

“Terrence says you’re great at flower arranging, Kendra. Could you make me a bouquet? I want one that’s just like the bride’s.”

The atmosphere tensed up. The others nearby exchanged glances with each other but did not dare to intervene.

I instinctively looked at Terrence.

Terrence patted the woman’s head affectionately. He tilted his chin at me and demanded, “What are you still sitting there for? Go do it. Now!”

I met his contemptuous gaze and put on an easy smile.

I got up and headed out of the wedding venue.

“Move faster,” Terrence said.

I did not respond, and my steps did not falter.

I walked out of the building and headed right out into the street.

I did not turn back.

The family’s driver was not present, so I continued walking down the street.

When I passed a trash can, I took off my red-soled heels and ditched them.

As my bare feet touched the pavement, it felt like every shackle around me had fallen away.

After seven years of marriage, I finally felt like I was walking on a path of my own.

When I got home, Terrence called me.

“How long does it take to put together a hand bouquet? Do you realize that we’re still waiting?”

I found that hilarious, but I said casually, “I never said I’d make you that bouquet. By the way, I’m home.”

Terrence let out a mocking chuckle when he heard that.

“Kendra Mercer, you’ve finally grown a spine, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

Terrence did not expect that I would actually retort.

On the other end of the call, his breathing quickened for a few seconds. I had angered him.

“Alright then. Good on you, Kendra.”

I could not be bothered to speak with Terrence anymore, so I simply hung up.

The maid was already packing my bags for me.

“Are you sure you don’t want these, Mrs. Fulton?” she asked as she looked at the walls filled with luxury items in the walk-in closet.

They were all things that Terrence had bought for me when I had to attend banquets and galas.

He had said, “I don’t care how things were for you in the past, Kendra. Since you’ve married into the Fulton family, you need to do better to hide the poverty that surrounds you like a miasma. Don’t embarrass me.”

Snapping back to the present, I shook my head and said softly, “I don’t want any of these luxury items or dresses. Just pack up everything else.”

The maid looked hurt.

“Mrs. Fulton, there’s not much else other than those to pack…”

I was stunned for a moment. Then, I could not help but laugh.

That was right. When I married Terrence seven years ago, I truly did not have much.

In this huge villa, all that belonged to me was nothing but half a bed.

That night, Terrence did not return home, and I slept very well.

The next day, I picked up the packed luggage and got ready to leave.

Other than a crystal orb, I left nothing behind.

It was the only gift he had gotten me during our years of dating and marriage.

Back then, I had just arrived in Daleport for my studies. It was then that I met Terrence for the first time and fell in love with him at first sight.

During that time, he was candid and passionate. Every day, he would wait for me at the university just to speak with me for a little while.

The crystal orb was a gift from that time.

He said that it was the first thing he had bought with his own money, and he had saved three days’ pay from his part-time job for it.

He told me that the snowflake in the orb would never melt, and it represented his love for me that would never disappear.

But I did not want his love anymore.

After leaving Fulton Villa, I found a hotel to stay at.

Before a day had gone by, Terrence called.

“Where did you run off to, Kendra? Come back this instant and pack up your trash!”

I said calmly, “I don’t want it anymore. You can throw it all out.”

Terrence was stunned for a moment before he said, “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

My tone was nonchalant. I really did not care anymore.

“Just throw it out. There’s nothing important there anyway.”

That seemed to trigger Terrence.

“Not important? Do you know that this is—”

I chuckled and interrupted him. “Something you worked three days to buy? That thing only costs $65. Mr. Fulton, what job did you work that you only made so little money in three days?”

I had heard him tell the truth with my own ears, after all. It had happened after we got married, and he had had too much to drink. He had said, “All I had to do to trick you was get some trinket from a roadside shop. Kendra, you’re so gullible and cheap!”

That was when I knew that Terrence had not changed. He had only gotten tired of pretending.

I hung up and went to the law firm where I had an appointment.

After the lawyer who received me asked about my situation, he looked hurt.

“Ms. Mercer, I think you know very well how things stand. With the Fulton family’s standing in society, it’s practically impossible that you can have an amicable divorce.”

Of course, I knew that. That was why I was willing to give up every right that was afforded to me.

“What if I don’t want any of his assets? I can just leave without taking anything.”

The lawyer’s face lit up at that, but he still seemed unsure.

“Does Mr. Fulton want this divorce?”

I shook my head, and I could feel my face drain of color.

This was not the first time I had tried to leave Terrence.

The first time I brought up the divorce was five years ago. Terrence did not say anything. He locked me up in the villa for a month.

A month later, I found out that I was pregnant.

The second time I brought up the divorce was three years ago. That very night, Terrence went back to Fulton Manor.

After that, I only got to see my child once a week.

Over the seven years we were together, Terrence had learned exactly where my weak points were. He made it so that I could not leave.

This was my third attempt at getting a divorce.

Maybe out of sympathy, the lawyer, Mr. Lansing, agreed to take my case.

When he took the marriage certificate from me, his eyes widened dramatically.

“Ms. Mercer, this marriage certificate is fake! You and Mr. Fulton are not legally married.”

“What?” I was so shocked that I jumped up from my seat. I thought that I had heard wrong.

“How can the marriage certificate be fake? Please look again carefully.”

Mr. Lansing looked at the certificate properly.

“I’m very sorry, Ms. Mercer. This marriage certificate is truly fake.”

I burst out laughing. I laughed until tears streamed down my face.

Seven years! That was 2,555 days!

In all that time, I asked myself every day why I had ever trusted Terrence. Why had I agreed to marry him?

Marrying into the Fulton family had been like serving myself up on a platter to a heartless monster.

It had taken me seven years to fully see the truth and six of those years to gather the courage to seek a divorce.

But the lawyer was telling me that Terrence and I had never really been married at all.

It was no wonder that the members of the Fulton family called me a tramp. This was why they slandered me.

I was really no different from the other women in Terrence’s life.

I wiped away my tears and thanked Mr. Lansing for his kindness.

Since we were not married, it would be much simpler to leave Terrence.

Only, I could not quite let go of Nate.

Nate was my son. He would be five years old this year.

Giving birth to him had been difficult, and I had lost a lot of blood. I had nearly died on the surgery table.

I remembered hearing the doctor ask Terrence, in my semiconscious state, whether they should prioritize saving the baby or me if it came down to it.

Terrence did not even hesitate to respond.

“The baby.”

His cold words had ripped me out of the haze. I kept telling myself that I could not die. Nate could not survive without his mother.

It was this thought that had dragged me from the edge of death.

Nate was the only reason that I still had the will to live.

Yet, two days after giving birth, Terrence’s mother, Georgia, forcefully took him away.

She said, “It’s for his own good that the baby won’t be raised by you, Kendra. Don’t forget, you’re just a tramp who crawled out from an alley. If he stays with you, he’ll just be mistreated, just like you.”

Even if it was humiliating, I bore the brunt of their mockery just so Nate could have a better life.

I woke from my nightmares countless times, clutching the clothes and toys I had prepared for my son. I sobbed till my eyes were swollen.

My crying occasionally woke Terrence up. When that happened, he would show me a video clip of Nate.

I had survived on those videos for three years!

When I had asked for a divorce again, Georgia finally allowed me to see Nate once a week.

Today was one of those days.

When I got to Fulton Manor, it was very quiet.

I stood at the door and shouted for ten minutes or so, but no one came to the door.

That was right. I had been Mrs. Fulton for seven years, but I still did not have the right to go in and out of Fulton Manor as I pleased.

One of the servants passing by could not bear to watch any longer and told me that Terrence had taken Nate away early that morning.

I let out a bitter laugh. I knew that this was Terrence’s punishment.

Every time this happened, I was forced to give in. I traded my dignity for the right to see my son.

I took a deep breath.

For Nate, I had to call Terrence.

“Hello? Mommy!” came a familiar child’s voice. It was Nate.

Instantly, tears pricked my eyes, and I could feel my heart melt.

It was my son.