I was kicked out of the home I had lived in for seven years.

Rhett didn't even let me in. He just tossed a suitcase onto the porch.

A note was stuck to it. "Don't ever come back to me."

I opened the suitcase to find only a few old clothes I had brought from my hometown.

The sweater I made for him, the scarf I bought for him, and the latest model phone I saved up to buy for him were gone. Every trace of my existence had been wiped clean.

Even the silver bracelet my grandmother left me was not in my suitcase.

I sat on the cold stairs and repeatedly dialed Emeline's number.

She didn't answer.

I texted her. "He changed the locks, and I can't get home. I have nowhere to go."

An hour later, she replied, "Sorry, Kristy, but I'm in an important meeting. You find a small motel for now. I'll transfer some money to you later. We'll discuss the appeal tomorrow."

Reading the cold message, I felt my heart sink.

Emeline and I had been friends for over a decade. We shared a dorm since college. She knew I had no other friend in this city besides Rhett.

But she only suggested I stay at a hotel.

I huddled in a 24-hour fast-food restaurant.

The next day, I had only a few dollars left with me and went to Emeline's law firm.

I had to see her and figure out what was going on.

The receptionist stopped me and smiled politely. "I'm sorry, Ms. Graham is at a meeting. Do you have an appointment?"

"I'm her friend. Tell her Kristy is here."

"She has told me that she wouldn't see anyone today."

I was left outside the law firm and felt like a joke.

I didn't want to lose my composure in public, so I walked to the waiting area, where I stared intently at Emeline's office door.

It wasn't completely closed, leaving a small gap.

A man's smug voice came through. "Dr. Mason, it's all thanks to your girlfriend. Otherwise, getting rid of that country girl wouldn't have been easy for you this time. You divorced her without giving her anything. This case was handled perfectly."

Rhett's girlfriend?

I felt my blood freeze instantly.

Then I heard Rhett's voice. I had been familiar with it for seven years, but it sounded harsh, which I hadn't heard before.

"What do you know? If I have to give her some assets, how would I have money to pay you the lawyer's fee? We just have enough money to pay our son's educational fee when he goes to school abroad."

Their son...

The educational fees when he went abroad...

I felt like I'd been blown over the head with a club, and my ears were buzzing.

Then I heard Emeline's voice, which was coquettish and unfamiliar to me.

"Oh, Rhett, don't say that to James. He's a good lawyer. The fake medical record has to look real, of course. Otherwise, how would she believe it and never dare to get married and give birth to children again for the rest of her life?"

Hearing that, the last pillar of my world collapsed.

I staggered back and knocked over a display stand behind me, which caused a loud noise.

The office door swung open.

Rhett and Emeline stood there, and their faces were covered with shock.

Emeline was holding the hand of a boy about four or five years old.

That boy had eyes exactly like Rhett's.

When they saw me, the surprise on their faces quickly turned into annoyance and indifference.

They didn't have to pretend any longer.

Rhett said, "Since you've heard everything, I don't have to explain further."

His tone was casual, as if he were discussing the weather.

Emeline crouched down and straightened the boy's collar. Then she stood up, with her arms crossed. She looked down at me with a slightly contemptuous smile on her lips.

"Kristy, shouldn't you thank me? I'm helping you break free. Think about it. How do you continue your life, as you might get sick at any moment and carry the burden of possibly passing on a curse to the next generation?"

Each word she uttered pierced my heart like a poisoned needle.

The little boy tugged at Emeline's sleeve and asked timidly, "Mommy, who is this lady? Why is she crying?"

Emeline gently patted her son's head and said in a sick-sweet voice, "She has nothing to do with us, baby. Let's go. I will take you to your Lego class."

She took the boy's hand, and Rhett followed behind them. The family walked past me.

Rhett never looked back at me.

I seemed to be an inconvenient obstacle in their path or a speck of dust on their shoe.

The law firm's security soon came to me. They grabbed my arms from either side. "Miss, please leave. You're disrupting our work."

I was forcefully shoved out of the exclusive office building.

I stood on the bustling street and looked at my disheveled reflection in the glass facade. Suddenly, I laughed.

Then tears ran down my face.

Seven years of devotion, seven years of my youth—I worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk, funding his education, doing his laundry and cooking for him, and giving him all the best things I had.

I had thought I was his strongest pillar of support, the one he promised, "When I achieve great success, I will make you the happiest woman in the world."

But in fact, I was just a tool to be discarded after use, a convenient scapegoat for their affair, and a "country woman" beneath the pedestal of their happy life.

After my sadness, a chilling coldness rose from my feet, and it instantly froze my tears.

It was anger.

My anger was about to burn everything to ashes.

Did they think they could destroy me so easily?

Did they think I would live out my days in the shadows, burdened by the false accusations as they planned?

I wouldn't.

I absolutely wouldn't.

I wandered aimlessly on the streets for a long time until my legs felt like they were weighed down by concrete.

My phone had shut down for a long time due to a dead battery.

I was penniless and had no one to turn to in the city.

As night fell, the city's neon lights flickered on one by one, but none seemed to light up for me.

Just when I was about to lose all hope, I felt a crumpled card in my pocket.

A few years ago, I worked in a textile factory. The manager's wife, Wendy Lewis, gave me the business card back then.

She once fainted due to low blood sugar when she came to have an inspection in the factory. I noticed her situation, fed her some candy, and helped her to a ventilated area to rest.

She specifically came to show her gratitude to me afterward and gave me that business card. She told me that I could reach out to her if I ever faced difficulties.

I had thought it was just a polite gesture and stuffed the business card into my pocket without much thought. I had never imagined that it would become my lifeline one day.

I used a public phone on the street to dial the number.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered, and I heard Wendy's warm voice. She sounded slightly puzzled. "Hello, who is that?"

"Hello, Wendy, it's me, Kristy Wright. I used to work at the factory..." My voice trembled with emotion.

Wendy paused for a moment and remembered who I was. "Oh! Kristy. I remember you now. Why are you calling me from such a number? Didn't you marry that doctoral student? How is everything going?"

Her words broke through my emotional defenses, and I choked up.

I briefly explained what happened to me. I told her how I divorced Rhett and was now homeless.

Wendy was silent on the other end for a long while, and then she exploded with anger.

"Rhett Mason! I always thought he was not a good guy and a real smooth talker, but I never imagined he'd be so despicable. Kristy, don't be afraid. Where are you right now? I'll come to pick you up immediately."

Half an hour later, Wendy found me and drove me to her home.

It was a place not spacious, but clean.

She brought me some warm dishes, and as she watched me devour them, her eyes turned red.

"Eat slowly, dear. Look at how much weight you've lost."

After eating something and taking a hot shower, I changed into the clean clothes Wendy offered me. I finally felt alive again.

I told her everything, including Emeline's betrayal, the fake medical report, and the boy.

Wendy was so angry that she pounded the table.

"This isn't just a divorce. It's fraud! As a lawyer, Emeline breaks the law. It's a scandalous betrayal of her profession. And Rhett used such cruel means to dump you. Isn't he afraid of karma?"

My eyes were red, and my voice was hoarse. "Wendy, what should I do? I have nothing now."

Wendy held my hand, and her gaze was firm.

"Who says you have nothing? You have your strength, your freedom, and your dignity. That's priceless. Didn't they say you have a family medical history? We'll first prove you don't have that. You said that the fake medical report was from your hometown clinic. Right? Let's go back to your hometown and start from the source. I don't believe such an elaborate lie has no cracks."

Her words were like a beacon, illuminating my dark world.

She was right. I couldn't just let go of Rhett and Emeline.

I had to peel away the disgrace they pinned on me with my own hands.