Natalie stepped out of the bedroom, intending to go downstairs for a glass of water.

As she passed the guest room, she saw what was happening inside.

Adrian and Yana were lying on the bed. He was gently resting a hand on her belly while telling her unborn child a story.

Seeing this, even though she had already given up on him, Natalie's heart still clenched painfully.

She had once been pregnant too. But three years ago, Adrian had suffered serious liver problems.

When no one was willing to undergo a living liver donation, she had quietly had an abortion and donated part of her liver to him.

From that moment on, her health was never the same, and it became very difficult for her to get pregnant again.

The entire Brown family knew about it. Everyone except Adrian.

He had always thought she avoided having children because she was afraid of pain, never realizing that she had nearly lost the ability to be a mother because of him.

After coming downstairs, Natalie had just poured herself a glass of water when Yana appeared.

"What's wrong? Trouble sleeping alone, Ms. Harrington?"

Natalie didn't want to engage, but Yana stepped directly into her path.

"Don't go. Let's have a proper talk."

"What, showing your true colors at last?" Natalie looked up at her. "Not going to keep pretending?"

"Pretend for what? You and Adrian already signed the divorce papers. What's left for me to pretend?" Yana sneered. "Since you've decided to divorce, then get lost already. Stop dragging this out and playing hard to get, thinking you can make Adrian change his mind. Dream on. He's destined to be mine!"

Her words completely stirred up what little calm Natalie had left.

"Yours? Yana, I've known Adrian for decades. How long have you known him? One year. And after one year, you dare say he belongs to you? That's bullshit!"

She stared at Yana, her eyes icy and devoid of warmth. "I was willing to step aside for a mistress like you. You should be grateful, not showing off in front of me. Yana, if you provoke me again, I'll tear up that divorce agreement immediately and make sure you never become Mrs. Brown."

"You—how dare you!"

Yana raised her hand to strike her, but Natalie caught her wrist tightly. "Try me and see if I dare. I've always lived by one rule, if you don't provoke me, I won't provoke you. You mark my words! Adrian wasn't taken by you. I threw him away. You picked up my discarded trash. What do you possibly have to be proud of?"

"It hurts, Natalie! Let go of me!" Yana struggled, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break free.

"Remember what I said. Don't provoke me. Otherwise, I'd rather ruin things completely with Adrian than ever make things easy for you."

Natalie flung her hand away and turned to go upstairs.

Behind Natalie, Yana suddenly grabbed the water from the table and poured it over her own head.

"Ah! Ms. Harrington, why would you do this to me?"

Before Natalie could even react, Adrian rushed down the stairs.

"Yana, what happened to you?" Seeing her drenched, Adrian exploded. "Who did this? Natalie! Was it you?"

Yana spoke pitifully. "Adrian, don't blame Ms. Harrington. I know she doesn't want me to be pregnant, and she doesn't want me to marry you… I understand."

"Natalie, apologize to Yana!" Adrian's expression darkened. He glared at Natalie, disappointment filling his eyes. "I thought you were truly understanding, willing to divorce me so I could marry Yana and give her a proper status. But it turns out you're this two-faced. You've disappointed me deeply!"

Natalie laughed softly. "You believe her just like that? You don't even ask me whether I actually poured water on her?"

Adrian used to trust Natalie completely.

She remembered once, when someone falsely accused her of stealing, Adrian had rushed forward and fought that person, insisting she would never steal. He had said that even if the whole world doubted her, he would believe her.

But now, he had changed.

"Yana wouldn't falsely accuse you. Apologize!"

"I won't." Natalie spoke stubbornly. "I, Natalie Harrington, will never admit to something I didn't do!"

"You're hopeless!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Adrian grabbed the water pitcher from the table, raised it above her head, and poured it down.

Ice-cold water streamed from her scalp into her clothes, the bone-chilling cold spreading through her entire body in an instant.

Natalie slowly lifted her gaze, barely able to believe the man standing before her.

"Adrian… you're treating me like this because of her?"

"If you refuse to apologize, this is the only way! I'm telling you, Natalie Harrington, since I've decided to give Yana a proper status, I won't allow you to bully her anymore! If you dare do anything else that displeases me, then a year from now, we won't remarry at all."

After throwing out those words, Adrian wrapped an arm around Yana and went upstairs.

As they brushed past her, Yana deliberately slammed into her.

Natalie lost her footing and fell heavily to the floor.

There was a loud thud, but Adrian never once turned his head.

Since he was this heartless, she no longer felt any attachment to him.

Natalie pulled out her phone and booked a ticket to Valoire for the next day.

Adrian had no intention of remarrying. So be it.

Whatever lay between them was over. Completely.

Early the next morning, Natalie left the mansion, pulling her suitcase behind her.

She went to the company's HR department and submitted her resignation.

The HR manager asked in disbelief, "Ms. Harrington, are you really resigning? What will happen to the company if you leave? We all know that although Mr. Brown is the CEO, almost everything is managed by you. If you go, the company will collapse!"

"Whether the company collapses or not has nothing to do with me. I've decided to leave, and starting tomorrow, I won't be coming back to the company." After saying that, without giving the HR manager any chance to respond, Natalie turned and walked away.

Dragging her suitcase, Natalie stood at the entrance of the building and took one last look.

Then she hailed a taxi and headed for the airport.

Before boarding the plane, her phone suddenly vibrated. It was a call from her father.

"Natalie, if you've already left the Brown family, then I'll start taking action. All business dealings with the Brown family will be cut off from this moment on. Are you alright with that?"

"No problem, Dad. Whether the Brown family lives or dies from now on has nothing to do with me."

Not long after she hung up, Adrian's calls started coming in.

One after another.

Natalie didn't answer. Instead, she turned her phone off.

This time, Adrian was truly part of her past. They would never meet again.

Yana had complications with her pregnancy, and Adrian accompanied her to the hospital.

After seeing the doctor, Yana began to put on an act.

"Adrian, why don't you take me to the mansion in the suburbs? I don't dare go back home with you anymore. I feel like Natalie really doesn't like me, and she won't like the baby either. What if she does something to my child—"

"Don't worry. I won't let her do anything. I'll divorce her soon, and you'll be my wife. What is there to be afraid of?" Adrian said coldly, "I don't know what kind of tantrum she's throwing. I called her so many times this morning and she wouldn't answer. I spoiled her too much before, that's why she's like this now! And she even caused you pregnancy complications. When we get back, I'll make her apologize to you properly!"

After Adrian finished speaking, he failed to notice the faint, fleeting smile at the corner of Yana's mouth.

In truth, there was nothing wrong with her at all. She only wanted to humiliate Natalie.

When the door opened, Adrian immediately began looking for Natalie.

"Where is Natalie? Have her come out. Yana has pregnancy complications and needs someone to take care of her. From now on, Natalie will handle her daily needs. She'll do it as an apology!"

The servant looked troubled. "Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown left early this morning with her suitcase."

"Left?" Adrian frowned. "Where did she go? Why didn't I know about this?"

"I don't know either. I asked once. She only said she was leaving and would never come back."

Adrian wondered if he had heard wrong. "What do you mean, never coming back? She's my wife. She has no other family here. Where could she possibly go?"

Knowing Natalie had left, Yana could barely contain her delight, yet she still put on a concerned act. "Adrian, is Natalie angry with me, so she ran away from home? Maybe I should move out. You should go and bring her back."

The more magnanimous she appeared, the more unreasonable Natalie seemed by comparison.

"Find her for what?" Adrian grew even angrier. "She's clearly the one who did wrong, yet she dares to run away from home. Fine then. I want to see whether she can survive without me!"

He immediately called his assistant. "From today on, cut off all of Natalie's secondary cards. Stop transferring her living expenses as well. I want her to back down. I want her to know who's been supporting her all these years!"

"That might be for the best. Maybe when Natalie runs out of money, she'll come back soon."

But seven days passed, and Natalie never came home.

Assuming she was at the company, Adrian didn't even go to the office.

During those seven days, he stayed with Yana every single day.

To please her, he spared no expense and bought her a yacht.

To give the child a good place to live after birth, he even spent a fortune on a mansion and registered it under Yana's name.

Knowing she had never been abroad, he took her overseas on a trip.

To make Natalie realize how serious things were, he even turned off his phone and cut off all contact.

A month later, he finally returned home.

The first thing he did after getting off the plane was turn on his phone.

Adrian had expected to see countless missed calls or unread messages.

There were some. But none of them were from Natalie.

Even the chat thread between him and Natalie was still frozen a month earlier.

For an entire month, she hadn't called him once. She hadn't sent a single message.