Since we're already divorced, I no longer have any duty to entertain these clowns.

In the decorative mirror in the hallway, I saw my reflection.

My skin was sallow, my eyes were sunken, and my gaze was full of a bone-deep exhaustion.

I was only thirty, yet I looked fifty.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth. The man in the mirror smiled too.

Yes, I looked old. I looked awful.

But from now on, I wouldn't.

I had just taken a step when Serena's voice sounded behind me.

I was a little surprised. I hadn't expected her to actually follow me out.

"I know you're only acting out of anger.

"How about this? Move into that little villa in North Ridge first. I'll visit you when I have time.

"Even if you no longer have the title, all these years still mean something."

She crossed her arms. Her tone carried a trace of impatient charity.

I refused coldly. "No, thank you. I'm divorcing you willingly.

"If you really have even half a shred of feeling left for me, please transfer my share of the assets as soon as possible."

With that, I didn't look at her face turning ashen. I turned and strode away.

When I walked out of the hotel, the winter wind struck me head-on, but I felt lighter than I had in years.

By the time I got home, my belongings had been thrown into a corner by the door like trash.

People were coming and going inside the villa. Movers were carrying things out.

Richard and Margaret Prescott's laughter floated through the open doorway, full of joy.

"Mason is so much better. It hasn't even been three months, and our Serena is already pregnant."

"Unlike a certain useless man who occupied the position and couldn't give us a child."

I lowered my eyes, hiding the mockery in them.

Serena and I had once had a child too.

I only found out after she'd already had it removed.

She said she was still young and didn't want to be dragged down by a child so early.

Later, when her parents blamed me harshly, I took all the responsibility onto myself.

Serena simply watched me get cursed out by her parents without saying a word on my behalf.

Back then, I kept making excuses for her. I told myself she just wasn't good at expressing herself.

Now, thinking back, love and the absence of love had always been obvious.

In less than three hours, news alerts on my phone went wild.

"Prescott Group Parents Welcome New Son-in-Law in High Profile Move. Former Husband Thrown Out."

"Serena Prescott Publicly Announces Grand Wedding With Mason Clark."

Serena, who had always been sparing with words in front of the media, gave a rare interview and warned everyone:

"Please don't spread baseless rumors and hurt Mason. I will pursue any false statements to the fullest extent."

The public recognition and protection I'd dreamed of for years, she finally gave today.

Only I wasn't the person receiving it.

I swiped the video away and stared at the text message showing that five hundred million had arrived in my account.

Then I smiled.

I casually booked the most luxurious private club in Riverton.

My phone buzzed nonstop. My best friend, Miles Dawson, called.

"Caleb? Are you all right?"

His voice on the other end was cautious, full of worry.

I was in a good mood. I even laughed out loud.

"I'm great. Are you free? Come out for a spa and massage. My treat."

Miles shrieked. "Have you lost your mind?"

I relaxed under the hands of several masseurs and said lightly, "I haven't lost my mind.

"I've just gotten divorced."

There was a long silence on the other end.

He couldn't believe that I, the man who had thrown away every ounce of dignity for Serena Prescott, could be so calm.

After all, he'd seen with his own eyes how humble I'd been for Serena all these years.

"Come over," I said. "I need to talk to you about something anyway.

"I want to start a company."

"Holy shit!"

This time, Miles's shout was full of wild joy.

"You finally came to your senses!

"I told you years ago that you were being stupid. You were the top finance prodigy at Franklin University, and you ran off to work like an ox for the Prescott family.

"The media even called you a kept man. I felt suffocated just watching it happen."

More than suffocated. It was stupid.

In my last life, I single-handedly turned the nearly bankrupt Prescott Group into a national industry leader.

Because of that, the Prescott family became the richest family in the country.

But I, the Prescott Group vice president who had worked myself to the bone, earned less than a thousand dollars a month.

The trillion-dollar fortune I had spent my life building ultimately benefited Mason Clark and his children.

Before I died, I couldn't even afford a two-dollar hot dog. I died cold, hungry, and destitute.

This life, I wanted to see whether the Prescott family could still shine without me, Caleb Warren.

Haircut, styling, full-body spa.

After the full treatment, I looked like a completely different person.

The hollow-eyed, gray-haired middle-aged man was gone.

In his place stood a young man with neat black hair and a tall, straight frame.

Miles walked around me, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"That's more like it. Back when you were at Franklin, you were definitely one of the better-looking guys.

"The way you looked before was so shabby I could barely stand to see it."

In the past, to please Serena's parents, I had barely spent a penny on myself.

Even if I had only a thousand dollars in hand, nine hundred had to go toward the Prescott household's daily expenses.

Even then, they still thought I was after their money, an insatiable parasite.

Now, I didn't care anymore.

I snapped my fingers, ordered several bottles of the most expensive liquor in the club, and smiled at Miles.

"Tonight, we drink until we drop."

News that I was preparing to start a company spread quickly, and the market was soon full of gossip columns predicting my failure.

A few people who truly understood my abilities quietly asked whether they could invest.

More people called me overconfident and waited to watch me become a joke.

Even Serena called me personally.

"Caleb Warren, you think you can start a company just because you have some money now?

"If you want to work, come back to Prescott Group. Don't embarrass the Prescott family out there."

It was the same old belittling tactic.

I calmly reminded her, "Miss Prescott, we're already divorced. What I do has nothing to do with the Prescott family."

Her breathing sharpened, but she still suppressed her anger.

"Enough. Stop acting out. Come back. That project with the Bennett family last time..."

"Not my problem."

I cut her off directly. "You've got the wrong person."

So that was why she had remembered me. There was a project she couldn't handle.

I had secured several highly profitable international deals for Prescott Group.

Without me, the people at Prescott couldn't manage the follow-up at all.

She was enraged and shouted, "Caleb Warren! When you squander all the money in your hands, don't come crying back to me."

I rolled my eyes and hung up.

Who would be begging whom was still undecided.

Serena stared at the disconnected call and flung the phone aside in fury.

She was used to my obedience and had never seen me this out of her control.

A restless sense that things were slipping beyond her grasp rose in her chest.

The marketing director beside her asked nervously, "Ms. Prescott, is Mr. Warren willing to come back?"

"Get out!"

Serena shouted in humiliation and anger.

Mason hurried over and wrapped his arms around her from behind, soothing her softly.

"Don't get so angry. You're pregnant."

He helped her calm her breathing with a pained expression, though something else flashed in his eyes.

"Serena, it hurts me so much to see you this tired. Why don't I come into the company and help you?"

Serena frowned, not quite approving.

"You don't have any experience. Why don't you rotate through a few departments first and get familiar with things?"

Mason immediately became unhappy, his mouth turning down in grievance.

"Why did Caleb get to become vice president as soon as he arrived? Am I worse than him?"

Serena instinctively wanted to retort that Caleb was a top finance prodigy from a famous university, so what did Mason have to compare with?

But when the words reached her lips, she saw Mason looking like he was about to cry, and her heart softened again.

Besides, she was still there to oversee the company. Nothing too serious would happen.

She nodded tiredly. "Fine."

Mason immediately broke into a smile through his tears and promised, "Serena, don't worry. I'll definitely do better than Caleb."

Mason began making sweeping reforms at Prescott Group while still finding time to create trouble for me.

I had spent too many years in business. His little underhanded tricks were too crude to matter. I could dissolve them with a flick of my finger.

While I was at it, I intercepted several small projects Prescott Group had been negotiating.

Several old employees who had followed me at Prescott heard I had started my own firm and asked to join me.

Ever since Mason found out they were my people, he had been openly and secretly suppressing and nitpicking them. Their days had become miserable.

I accepted them all.

Prescott Group suddenly lost more than a dozen core business staff, along with their client resources.

Mason didn't care. He stuffed the company with his relatives and friends.

In his eyes, Prescott Group was a huge enterprise. It wouldn't miss a few employees.

Within three months, Prescott Group's problems erupted one after another.

Several major projects in progress were snatched away by competitors.

Panic spread through the company. Rumors flew everywhere.

On my side, I led my team through several deals worth tens of millions, and our name began to ring out in the industry.

I announced on the spot that everyone would get three paid days off and that project bonuses would be doubled.

The office erupted into cheers loud enough to shake the walls.

Smiling, I went downstairs to buy coffee for my team, who were all running on adrenaline.

But as soon as I reached the lobby, I ran into an unwelcome guest.

I pretended not to see her and walked straight past Serena.

She grabbed my wrist and glared at me in frustration.

"Caleb Warren, what exactly do you want?"

She looked terrible.

Even her delicate makeup couldn't hide the exhaustion on her face.

I pulled my hand free and said distantly, "Miss Prescott, I don't understand what you mean."

She lowered her face and ordered me, "Stop making trouble. Shut down that little company of yours and come back with me."

I was so speechless I almost laughed.

"Does Miss Prescott have memory loss? How many times do I have to remind you that we're divorced?

"You have no right to manage me."

My attitude enraged her. Her voice rose sharply.

"Don't push this too far, Caleb. Otherwise, there won't be another chance."

She lifted her chin, as if granting me an enormous favor.

"If you come back, I'll give you the CEO position this time."

I watched her go mad with cold detachment.

"No, thanks. I'm not interested. You should leave the CEO position to your wonderful husband, Mason Clark."

She froze, then suddenly seemed to understand something and laughed.

"So that's it. You're jealous about the title?"

She thought she had seen through me.

"You're really that possessive? Fine, this was my fault.

"In two years, I'll remarry you. Happy?

"But there won't be another wedding. Don't make trouble in front of Mason. I'm afraid he'll be hurt."

I had never been so speechless.

What on earth had I been thinking back then, to fall in love with such an arrogant, stupid woman?

"I don't want to remarry you.

"I just want you to get lost. Looking at you for even one more second makes me sick."

That sentence completely ignited her fury.

"Caleb Warren! You really think you're strong enough now?

"In Riverton, crushing you is easier than crushing an ant.

"I don't mind making you lose everything."

As soon as she finished, a crisp, pleasant voice sounded behind her.

"Really? I'd love to see how Miss Prescott plans to make him lose everything."

Serena turned toward the voice. Her face stiffened as if she'd seen a ghost.