After Sophie secured the shares, the servants at the Hart residence began treating Irene with noticeable indifference.

In the days following the shareholders' meeting, the entire household buzzed with enthusiasm over preparations for Sophie's birthday party.

Ethan informed Irene in advance, mentioning that many friends they had grown up with were invited.

The unspoken message was clear. He expected Irene not to be there.

Following his instructions, the servants moved all of Irene's belongings to a room downstairs.

Agnes Hanley, who had served the family for years, spoke matter-of-factly. "Mr. Hart said Miss Lewis needs more sunlight. This room has the best exposure."

Irene heard about it over the phone. She hadn't been back for several days.

She was busy preparing her travel documents and organizing her past work to take with her.

By the time she returned, the birthday party was already underway. The house was brightly decorated, packed with guests.

Entering through a side door, she caught sight of Ethan and Miles Carter smoking near the entrance.

She instinctively stepped aside, only to hear her own name mentioned.

Miles, who had once served as a witness at their wedding, suddenly spoke with agitation.

"Are you out of your mind? You're really planning to divorce Irene and marry Sophie?"

Ethan hurriedly lowered his voice. "Keep it down. I told you, this is just a temporary measure. Sophie refuses to go to Westoria for surgery. The only way I could reassure her was to give her what she wants, a wedding."

Miles let out a cold laugh. "Have you forgotten how she disappeared without a word and left you back then? You were barely holding yourself together, and she was off traveling the world, living freely on the inheritance her parents left her. So now that she's sick, she suddenly comes back looking for you? Ethan, have you forgotten who helped you pull yourself together back then?"

Ethan said nothing, an awkward look settling on his face.

Irene leaned quietly against the wall as memories surged through her mind.

Back then, she had just established herself in Harborhaven's design scene, her first solo exhibition opening successfully at the International Center.

As one of the investors, Ethan attended every show, always sitting in the audience, watching the spectacle with a quiet, lonely expression.

At her thank-you banquet later on, he approached her on his own, as if discovering a point where their lives intersected. The dullness in his eyes slowly gave way to light.

When Ethan fell in love, he never hid it, acting as though the whole world needed proof of his devotion.

Irene had once been the lifeline he clung to at his lowest point. Now, she was the one he chose to let go.

"It's just a wedding. Once her surgery goes well, I'll go get Irene back immediately."

It sounded more like he was convincing himself, his tone firm, his gaze as unwavering as when he once pursued her.

Miles scoffed softly. "I don't think Irene would come back to you if she knew the truth. Ethan, she's not dependent on you."

"No. That was who she was five years ago," Ethan said with faint contempt. "Now she can't live without me. For the past five years, she abandoned her design dreams and revolved entirely around me. To the outside world, she was just Mrs. Hart. Who even remembers the young designer Irene Shaw anymore?"

His confidence crawled over Irene's body and mind like something foul and invasive.

"She clipped her own wings for me. Loving me is all she has left."

Irene loosened the fist she hadn't realized she'd clenched and turned toward the room.

But barely fifteen minutes later, she stormed back into the hall, her face dark, heading straight for Ethan.

"Where are my design drafts?"

Ethan swirled the wine in his glass, one arm still wrapped around Sophie's waist.

"I've thrown them out. Why keep something that's been collecting dust?" He frowned at the glances coming from the guests, his expression darkening. "Didn't I tell you to stay away tonight?"

Sophie's face hardened as she bit down on her lower lip. "Irene, did you really have to come and ruin things for me today?"

Irene raised her hand and slapped her hard. The sharp sound cut through the air, bringing the gentle music to an abrupt stop.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Furious, Ethan grabbed her wrist and dragged her toward the exit without giving her a chance to resist.

Irene yanked herself free. It wasn't until they reached the doors that she finally caught her breath.

Ethan was still raging. "How could you hit her? Do you know how long it took me to convince Sophie to let me celebrate her birthday? Her parents died in a plane crash on her birthday. She hasn't celebrated it in years…"

"I've already signed it, Ethan. We're getting divorced."

The words were spoken lightly, yet they stopped Ethan cold.

He stared at her in disbelief. "What did you say?"

She pulled the agreement from her bag and slapped it against his face.

"Isn't this what you wanted? I've agreed. But I don't have time to waste on you. We do it now."

Ethan's eyes widened, his hands trembling at his sides. A moment later, he forced himself to calm down.

He made a call, and a faint smile even crept onto his face.

"No need to go through all that trouble. I'll have someone come handle it. Irene… I didn't expect you to come around."

He called Agnes over and told her to retrieve the design drafts that had been thrown into the trash and give them back to Irene.

Throughout the entire process, he was calculating time. The surgery date was less than a month away, and he still needed to hold a private wedding to reassure Sophie.

Once Sophie obediently went into surgery, the dress he'd ordered for Irene would arrive as well. By then, he'd need to figure out how to suddenly "remember" Irene.

When the staff arrived to handle the paperwork and reminded them to sign, he couldn't help glancing at Irene quickly.

Irene's eyes didn't redden. She signed without hesitation.

"The divorce decree will take some time to process," the staff member said.

She wrote down an address, handed it over, then stood up, lifted the box of design drafts, and turned to leave.

A sudden hollowness hit Ethan. He stood and followed her. "Where are you going? I'll have the driver take you."

The moment his fingers touched her arm, she flung his hand away.

"Get away from me."

Ethan relaxed. Irene had always been like this. If she could still lash out at him, it meant she still cared.

With that thought, his indifference returned. "Suit yourself. We're done anyway. This marriage was a mistake to begin with."

Sophie rushed out from the hall, clearly having already heard about their divorce.

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she waved at him like she used to as a child. A ring he'd ordered not long ago gleamed on her ring finger.

Ethan felt an inexplicable irritation. When he looked up, Irene was already walking away, dragging the box behind her.

As he held Sophie's hand to cut the cake, his hand suddenly trembled. A large chunk of frosting slid off and splattered onto the floor.

The guests offered hollow congratulations. "Congratulations to Ethan and Sophie on reuniting. True lovers always find their way back, no matter how much time passes."

Ethan responded absentmindedly, letting Sophie clasp his fingers tightly, her eyes shining with joy.

Leaning against his chest, she murmured softly, "Let's have the wedding tomorrow. I know you've already prepared everything."

Ethan nodded, instinctively reaching for the wedding ring pressed deep in his pocket.

He comforted himself that life was lived only once and he shouldn't owe himself any regrets. When he was young, he had imagined what a wedding with Sophie would be like.

He told himself this was simply fulfilling a youthful dream. Once it ended, he would return to where he truly belonged.

That night, he got drunk for the first time in ages, throwing an arm around Miles's shoulder and slurring out his truth.

"I never really imagined Mrs. Hart being anyone other than Irene. But come on, when a man's first love shows up, how many can actually resist?"

As he said this, Irene had just passed through boarding. She stepped onto the plane without looking back.

As she took her seat, a new message came in from Ethan.

This time, she didn't open it. She removed the SIM card and dropped it straight into the airsickness bag.

Along with a marriage fractured by five years of cracks, she left it all behind.

Irene landed at the airport in the early hours of the morning. It had been a long time since she'd slept this deeply.

Rubbing her stiff shoulders, she pulled her suitcase toward the exit, scanning the crowd for a pickup sign.

The apartment she'd purchased in Valemont belonged to a young owner, who, after learning her flight details, had enthusiastically offered to pick her up.

After a long moment of searching, she walked hesitantly toward a man dressed in black, his expression solemn.

"Did Mr. Martin Cooper send you?"

The man neither confirmed nor denied it. After quickly matching her face with a photo on his phone, he respectfully opened the rear door of the car.

"Ms. Shaw, please."

Irene was momentarily taken aback. She hadn't expected the owner to send a stretch limousine.

She ducked into the car, watching as the men in black carefully loaded her luggage into the trunk.

Once the car pulled away, she said politely, "This is a bit of a hassle at this hour. Please thank Mr. Cooper for me."

The driver remained silent, posture rigid. The man in the front passenger seat spoke instead.

"Ms. Shaw, It was Mr. Wells who asked us to pick you up. He's still in the country handling some matters and will come see you later."

Adrian Wells?

She lowered her head instinctively, a quiet stir of emotion rising within her.

They hadn't been in contact since her marriage.

They didn't even have each other's phone numbers. That was why she'd sent him an email once she'd made up her mind.

Win or lose, she felt he deserved to know.

Irene soon let it go. If Adrian wanted to know something, he had his own ways.

Still, she couldn't help feeling that he always appeared in her life when she needed it most.

The car pulled up in front of the small apartment building. The bodyguard stepped out and began unloading her luggage one piece at a time.

When the door was opened, Irene stepped out.

The bodyguard handed her a brand-new phone with both hands. "Mr. Wells asked me to give this to you. He said you might need it."

She accepted it without hesitation, watching as the driver and bodyguard carried all her luggage upstairs.

They checked every lock carefully and even took photos of a broken light on the exterior stairway.

"I'll have someone come fix it tomorrow." The bodyguard reminded her again, "Ms. Shaw, you can contact me anytime if you need anything. Until Mr. Wells arrives in Valemont, I'll be responsible for your day-to-day needs."

He gestured toward a building less than fifty meters away. "We're staying over there."

Irene couldn't help widening her eyes. Adrian had moved faster than she'd imagined.

A strange realization surfaced. He might have already been putting things in place before she'd even finalized the purchase.

Over the next few days, Irene went to the school and met with Caleb.

The enrollment process went smoothly. Caleb even arranged evening language classes specifically for her.

When he asked whether the schedule suited her, Irene brushed it off.

Having just ended her marriage with Ethan, she didn't want people linking her to anyone else too soon.

Especially Adrian. She didn't want to cause him trouble.

Irene vaguely remembered seeing reports about Adrian not long after her marriage. The reclusive business magnate seemed close to an engagement with a prominent heiress from Kofraiwana.

Life felt as if someone had pressed fast-forward. She was too busy to spare any time grieving over Ethan.

Her days were filled with language classes, assignments, and gallery visits.

At dusk, she would sometimes see the bodyguard pacing downstairs, responding quietly through his earpiece.

She didn't know that after holding himself back for three days, Ethan had finally stormed off to confront Gordon. "Where is Irene?"