"No way! How could she leave me?"

The bright white papers with Ava's name signed at the bottom hit Marcus like a punch to the gut. He stumbled backward, his face going pale.

Sophia watched Marcus fall apart and spoke in her sweetest fake voice.

"Marcus, I probably shouldn't say this, but Ava has hated me since we were kids. She always told mom and dad she would run away from home. She's done this before just to get attention."

"This is crazy!" Marcus's voice echoed through the mansion, cold and angry. His hands shook as he held the papers.

He grabbed Sophia's arm tight and pulled her toward the door. The marble floors of their Versace-decorated hallway clicked under their feet as they rushed outside into the dark night.

"Get in the car now! Ava has nowhere else to go except her grandmother's old place. She has to be there."

"Marcus, don't be mad at her. She grew up with simple country people. After being around them for so long, she doesn't know what's right or wrong."

Before Sophia could finish talking, Marcus grabbed her shoulders hard. His eyes looked wild and scared.

"When we get there, you're going to lie. You'll say I never slept with you. I was just playing games with her all these years, but she has to love me like she always did."

"But Marcus... what about me? Won't you marry me now that she's gone?" Sophia's voice broke as she started crying. She couldn't believe how upset Marcus was about my leaving.

"She's not gone! Ava can never leave me - I won't let her! You don't get it, Sophia. I have to be the one to leave her, not the other way around!"

Sophia sat in the black Bentley without saying another word, still shocked by how Marcus was acting.

The leather seats felt cold against her skin as they drove through the empty streets.

"I... I've waited so long to be with you... I can wait longer." Marcus felt bad for the woman next to him and tried to be gentle.

"I'll marry you, but not now." Sophia's hands turned into fists as they drove through the night. The city lights blurred past the tinted windows.

When they got to my old grandmother's place, Marcus felt his heart sink. They found out I'm not at my grandmother's old place.

"I can't believe Ava would do something this big without even talking to you first. I'll take care of your house until she comes back."

"No. We'll talk about this later."

"What?"

"Get out. Let's talk tomorrow."

"Marcus! I'm your true love, so why are you treating me like this?" Sophia couldn't take it anymore. Tears ran down her cheeks like rivers.

"After living with my sister for so many years, are you... are you going to leave me too?"

"You don't understand! Years ago, I told my grandfather clearly that I would break up with Ava and marry you. But she used dirty tricks to force me into this marriage. She even got seven percent of the Moretti company shares!

I hate people who try to play games with me. That's why I can't let Ava go free. She has to suffer until the very end."

Sophia couldn't say a word after that. She just nodded.

Marcus dropped her off at her Chanel-filled apartment and rushed home. He called my number over and over, but it just went to voicemail every time.

"Damn woman!" Marcus cursed as he told his assistant to get him a new phone number the following day at his office.

It was past midnight when I got a call from a number I didn't know. Thinking it might be one of my friends, I answered quickly.

"Ava, when are you coming back from your Canada trip?"

Marcus's deep, rough voice made me sit up in bed. My whole body started shaking when I realized my husband knew exactly where I was.

"If you hang up on me, I'll make sure no hospital in Canada will help your."

My finger stopped right over the hang-up button. I took a deep breath.

"Didn't you already cheat on me with Sophia? Now that I'm gone, you should be happy-"

"NO! That only happened once. It was a mistake!

Didn't you marry me for money and the fancy life? You got shares in Moretti Corporation. You had everything you could only dream of before. Now you're my wife - the woman married to the richest CEO in the country.

You have everything other people can only wish for. So stop acting like a child and listen to me. Come back tomorrow."

A small smile came to my lips as I laughed and cried at the same time.

"Wife of the richest CEO? My life was worse than someone living on the streets.

The terrible life I've lived these past years... I couldn't even eat one meal a day. Is this what you call fancy living?

Do you know how many days I worked until I passed out from being so tired? Do you know how many nights I went to bed hungry just to stay thin so you wouldn't be disappointed in me?

The fancy life you talk about... I don't want it anymore."

Marcus felt guilty for a moment, but then he remembered how his grandfather forced him to marry me. His face got hard again.

"You said you wanted to work. You're not a baby, Ava. Did you expect me to feed you with a spoon? Everything that happened to you was your own fault."

My heart broke completely when I heard Marcus say that.

When I didn't answer because I was so shocked, he kept going.

"Don't forget - I was the one who took care of you after your brothers kicked you out. Even your parents were disappointed in you. You have no one in this world except me, Ava. Not a single person who would accept how messed up you are.

Come back to me and I'll forgive you. All the problems you had before - I'll fix them. Whether it's the servants treating you badly or the disrespect you got from your place of work, I'll take care of everything-"

"I don't need your help."

Marcus stopped talking. The silence between us felt heavy.

"What did you say?"

"I don't need any of you anymore. My parents threw me away as soon as I was born. Even after they found out I was their real daughter, they loved Sophia while I was always just a problem to them.

I don't need you to control me anymore, Marcus. I might not be perfect, but at least I'm not heartless like you. In this world, I've finally found someone I can call my own. I can survive and be happy without you. I don't need your help."

I touched my belly gently, thinking of my twin babies. They were my happiness and hope, even when everything else was sad.

When Marcus heard what I said, he got so angry I could hear things crashing in the background. Then he started laughing in a scary way.

"Sophia was right. You're nothing but a cheap woman raised by nobody in some small town. Since you couldn't stick to me like a leech, you moved on to the next man without feeling bad about it!

Tell me, Ava - how many men have you tricked so far? Are you living with another man when we're not even divorced yet?"

"Marcus!"

"I'm not as shameless as you, Marcus. Doing disgusting things like that fits you and Sophia... not me." I kept my voice calm and steady, which made Marcus even more angry.

"Ava! How dare you!"

His voice cracked through the phone like thunder in the quiet French night.

"Did you sleep with that man? Did you moan and cry out under his body?"

Marcus's dirty words made me furious, but I held back. No matter what, I couldn't let him know about my twin babies. My children shouldn't have a cruel father like I had cruel parents. I suffered my whole life, but I wanted my babies to grow up with warmth and love.

"We're done, Marcus. This conversation is over, so stop bothering me. Whether I choose another man or not has nothing to do with you anymore."

"Just sign those divorce papers then." Marcus laughed, but there was no humor in it. I could hear him grinding his teeth in anger.

"You shameless woman, are you so excited for a divorce because you want my money? Do you think the money you get from me will make you and your lover rich?"

The line went quiet for a moment. I could hear him breathing heavily.

"Let me tell you a secret, Ava. From the very beginning of our marriage, I knew exactly what kind of disgusting, creepy woman you were."

Marcus's words felt like acid burning through my heart. Each word cut deeper than a knife, leaving me speechless.

"So I made sure to prepare for this day when I would kick you out of my life. You probably think you'll live well with my money, but let me tell you something - I'll make your life hell! I'll use every trick I know to make sure you don't get a single penny!"

I refused to let the tears in my eyes fall. I finally understood that Marcus had been using me from the very beginning.

"Do whatever you want, Marcus. I don't care."

With that, I hung up the phone.

The rain started hitting my hotel window as I realized the truth - loving Marcus was my biggest mistake.

A week crawled by like a slow, painful dream. It was my first day at my new office in downtown Toronto Canada. The Hermès scarf around my neck felt like the only piece of luxury I had left as I sat reviewing documents.

"Miss Ava?"

I looked up to see a young woman Ms. Lyla  with nervous eyes standing by my desk.

"Yes? How can I help you?"

"The manager wants to see you in his office. Right now."

My stomach dropped. The cold air from the air conditioning made me shiver as I knocked on the glass door.

"Come in," a gruff voice called.

"Miss Ava, I'm sorry to tell you that the position you were hired for has been given to someone else." The manager didn't even look up from his papers as he spoke.

My breathing got heavy. "But sir, it was the senior management who offered me this job in the first place. Please let me talk to them. I need to know why this is happening."

"Are you questioning my authority now?" The manager's face turned red with anger when I asked for answers.

"I don't understand why I would be fired like this. I haven't even started working yet."

"I'll give you a reason."

Another voice made me turn around. My blood turned to ice when I saw Marcus standing right in front of me with his arm wrapped around Sophia's tiny waist. She wore a pink Chanel suit that probably cost more than most people make in a year.

Marcus's face twisted into a fake smile as he looked at the manager. "Could you give us some privacy, please?"

The manager quickly left, closing the door behind him.

"You were so confident that you could survive without me, weren't you?" Marcus walked closer, his expensive Gucci shoes clicking on the marble floor. "I invested in this company, and now I'm a shareholder. Just like that, I'm back on top and you're still at the bottom, begging. Didn't you say you didn't need me?"

"Marcus, please stop. Don't talk to my sister like this." I felt sick watching Sophia's fake performance as she dabbed her eyes with a silk handkerchief.

"Sister?" Marcus's voice got sharp and cold. "This woman stole me away from you and became my wife by blackmailing my grandfather. Why are you still being nice to her?"

"Marcus, please. Ava is still my sister. She might have made mistakes in the past, but I can't just abandon her." Sophia reached into her Louis Vuitton purse and pulled out a stack of money.

"This might help with your medical treatment, sister. Please take it."

In the past, I would have hung my head and put up with Sophia's fake kindness. But this time, a slow smile spread across my face.

"What is that? A few thousand dollars?" I laughed softly. "If you had actually studied once in your life instead of fooling around with other people's husbands, you'd know that money can't even buy one month of asthma medicine, let alone pay for real treatment."

I stood up slowly, feeling stronger than I had in years.

"Instead of giving me charity, how about you use that money to get an education?"

"You-!" Sophia's mask slipped for a moment, and I saw the real anger in her eyes before she put on her sweet voice again.

"Never mind. I'm not here to fight with you." She turned to Marcus with a sugary smile. "Marcus, why don't you tell Ava why we came here specifically to see her?"

While Sophia argued with me, Marcus stared at my face without blinking, like he was trying to read my thoughts.

The office felt too small, too hot. The city noise from outside seemed far away.

"This can still change, Ava." Marcus's voice got softer, almost gentle. "Just like I promised you before - if you come back to me, I'll make up for everything that happened in the past. We can get over this."

Sophia's confident smile disappeared completely. She stared at Marcus like he had just slapped her.

"What are you saying?" she whispered.

"No." My voice came out stronger than I expected. "I will never come back to you."

Marcus's face went hard. The gentle look he used to trick me with vanished, and he glared at me with pure hatred.

"Fine then! Don't blame me for being cruel!"

He pulled out a stack of papers and threw them at my feet. The documents scattered across the expensive carpet like fallen leaves.

"There. I signed the divorce papers myself."

The papers lay there between us like a bridge that had finally burned down. In the silence that followed, I could hear Sophia's sharp intake of breath and Marcus's heavy breathing.

I looked down at the papers, then back up at his face.

"Good," I said quietly. "This is exactly what I wanted."

Instead of looking upset like Marcus expected, I actually looked relieved to see the divorce papers all signed. There was no panic on my face at all, which made Marcus feel angry and confused about how easily I could leave him.

He pulled Sophia close and smiled down at me with a cruel look.

"Next month, I'm going to marry Sophia as my legal wife. You, as her sister, are invited too." His voice was cold and sharp. "Unlike you, who could never give me a child, Sophia will do everything a Moretti family wife should do. Her children will be my heirs."

Sophia's eyes lit up with excitement. She hadn't expected Marcus to marry her so soon.

"Ava, I know you loved Marcus a lot, but please try to understand, sister. You can't force someone to love you back," she said with fake sweetness in her voice.

I squeezed my hands into tight fists, trying to stay calm even though my heart was breaking into pieces. It would have been okay if he just replaced me - I had no hope left for Marcus anyway. But to say that I could never be a mother? That cut deeper than anything else.

He crushed my heart without any mercy.

The office felt too small, too hot. The smell of Sophia's expensive Dior perfume made me feel sick.

"Goodbye, sister Ava." Sophia's smile was full of mockery. "If you want, I can make you one of my bridesmaids."

"I'd rather die," I whispered under my breath.

I ran out of the office with tears filling my eyes, not caring about anything anymore. I just needed to get away from them. But as I rushed through the glass doors outside the building, I crashed right into someone, and my body fell backward from the impact.

The next moment, gentle arms caught me and held me tight, stopping me from hitting the ground.

Looking up through my blurry, tear-filled eyes, I apologized quickly.

"I-I'm sorry, please forgive me... it was my fault."

"No."

The answer surprised me, and I stopped moving to look up at the person who caught me. It was a man wearing a black mask that covered half his face. Beautiful blue eyes stared back at me with concern.

"If you're really sorry, you better make up for my loss." He pointed to the spilled coffee on the ground, which made me feel even worse.

"Okay." I fumbled with my purse, trying to find some money, but he stopped me.

"Not like that. There's a cake shop near the office. Buy me something there."

The weird request made me stop crying as I pouted like a child.

"Fine. But if you're trying to kidnap me, you should know that I don't have any money, and I have no family to pay ransom for me. Also, I just got fired today." My complaint made him laugh in a warm, rich way.

"Alright, let's postpone the kidnapping for later then-"

"Wait, what? Are you really going to kidnap me?"

"No, darling." He spoke clearly, then muttered something under his breath that sounded like, 'Even if I wanted to kidnap you, Ava, I'm not exactly a kidnapper.'

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Let's just go."

We walked to the bakery shop, and this shameless man didn't think twice before ordering what looked like a whole buffet - raspberry cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, a blueberry milkshake, and so many other things.

Strangely, all of the items he ordered were my favorites. We got a table by the window with a beautiful view of the Seine River.

"What, you're not going to eat any of this?" I asked angrily, just thinking about how much money all this food cost. Just because I spilled his coffee, he made me buy him a feast.

"I don't like sweets."

By now, my stress and tears had completely disappeared, and I looked ready to murder this man.

"What?!"

"Since you spent so much money on it, why don't you try how it tastes?" Even though I couldn't see his whole face, I could hear his voice become gentle, and it looked like he was smiling behind that mask.

"I hate that I bumped into you!" I shouted. My pregnancy hormones were making me drool over all the food, so I dove in without caring about this stranger. If I paid for it, I might as well enjoy every bite.

The raspberry cheesecake melted on my tongue like heaven. For the first time in days, I felt a little bit happy.

When I had almost finished eating everything, the man's phone rang, making him sigh deeply.

"It was nice meeting you, stranger. Now I have to go." He stood up and put some dollar on the table.

Suddenly it hit me - this was a complete stranger, and I had been eating with him like we were old friends, completely forgetting about Marcus and Sophia.

"Wait... do we know each other?" I asked him quickly as he got ready to leave.

"Maybe, darling." And with that mysterious answer, he was gone.

The waiter soon came over with a bouquet of beautiful yellow roses, holding them out to me.

"Um, I think you have the wrong person. I just need the bill."

"Madam, there's no mistake at all. The bill is already paid, and these flowers were left by the gentleman who was with you." The waiter smiled kindly. "Also, you now have a lifetime membership to our chain of restaurants, so wherever you go, you'll get the best service."

Shocked, I took the roses. They smelled like sunshine and hope. Just then, I saw a small card tucked between the flowers.

'Welcome to Canada, Ava~ Your friend Dominic Moretti'

"Dominic Moretti." My breath caught in my throat as my eyes went wide with shock.

The roses suddenly felt heavy in my hands. Dominic Moretti - Marcus's older brother who had disappeared years ago after a family fight.

While I was trying to figure out what just happened, Marcus found himself thinking about me obsessively. The very next morning, he ordered his assistant to find out everything about where I was in canada and to have someone secretly watch me.

To get more information about where I might go and who I might talk to, Marcus searched through all my things in our mansion.

When he opened my walk-in closet, he realized that all the expensive jewelry he had bought me as gifts was still there, untouched. Most of the designer dresses still had their tags on them. Only a few regular clothes that I had bought with my own money from working at the gallery and restaurant were missing.

After our fight, Marcus had wanted to burn all my things, but seeing all the untouched expensive items made him freeze.

"Strange. A greedy woman like her... why would she leave all this behind?" Marcus muttered to himself as he went through my belongings.

His hands touched the Cartier necklace he'd given me for our first anniversary - still in its box. The Tiffany earrings from last Christmas - never worn.

Suddenly, a document fell out from between some old books.

[KIDNEY TRANSPLANT]

[DONOR NAME: AVA HARRISON]

Marcus stared at the paper, his hands shaking. The date showed it was from two years ago - right around the time I had been "sick" for weeks and he had accused me of being lazy.