"You… you mean it? No tricks?"

"Tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. The county clerk's office. I'll see you out front."

My voice was level.

"Under property division, spell it out clearly: I'm giving up the house of my own free will, and I won't dispute it."

Beside him, Rachel's voice was so excited it shook. "Sabina! You're such a good person!"

"Julian, hurry up and print the agreement, before she changes her mind tomorrow!"

I laughed, cold.

"Don't worry, I won't go back on it. Whoever doesn't show tomorrow is a coward."

I hung up and dragged the suitcase out from under the bed.

Documents, laptop, a change of clothes. I packed them in.

Julian's things in that apartment, I didn't so much as touch.

They felt filthy.

The next day, outside the county clerk's office.

Julian and Rachel were already there waiting, early.

Rachel wore a loose maternity dress, one hand carefully cradling the small swell of her belly.

A smile on her face.

Julian had those few sheets of paper clamped in a death grip.

The moment he saw me coming, he rushed over.

"Sabina, I've got the agreement printed. Take a look. If there's no problem, just sign."

I took it. Brutal, really.

Not only did he get the house, he didn't leave me a single thing—not the car, not one appliance.

He'd even added a line: the wife voluntarily assumes the joint debts incurred during the marriage.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Joint debt? Since when do we have joint debt?"

His eyes darted away for a second.

He forced himself calm.

"It's… it's the credit card we ran up buying furniture for the place before."

"You make good money anyway. That kind of money's nothing to you."

Rachel came over and tried, all warmth, to loop her arm through mine.

I turned aside and dodged it.

She wasn't embarrassed at all. She just smiled, eyes crinkling.

"Sabina, Julian's got me and the baby to support now. The pressure's just too much."

"Think of it as helping us out."

"Once the buyout settlement comes through, I'll pay you back double!"

I looked at her face and choked down the disgust.

"Fine. I'll sign."

I clicked the pen open and signed my name in two quick strokes.

Julian stared at the signature on the agreement and let out a long breath.

"Sabina, smart of you to know your place."

"From here on out, you go your way, I'll go mine."

"And don't be eyeing Rachel's buyout settlement. That's for the baby."

I tucked away my copy of the agreement.

Looked at him, cold.

"Don't worry. I won't be eyeing a cent of it."

"Here's wishing you two a long happy life together, and a child soon."

With that, I turned and walked off.

Behind me came Rachel's voice.

"Julian, we finally have a home of our own!"

"The baby can run around in a big house from now on!"

I listened to it.

And let out a cold laugh.

A big house?

I hope the two of you live in that house in peace.

I dragged my suitcase straight to an apartment near the office.

I lay down on the bed and slept peacefully, a good night's sleep.

The next day, the moment I opened my phone,

a post from Rachel turned up in my feed.

The photo was Julian from behind, in an apron, cooking in the kitchen.

【A love where both run toward each other—looking forward to our new home and our baby. Thanks to certain people for letting go, so I could meet the right one.】

Underneath, nothing but likes and comments from mutual friends.

I opened the group chat with our mutual friends.

It had already blown up.

Julian was in there pouring out his sob story to anyone who'd listen.

"Guys, I'm finally free."

"That woman, Sabina—she had to control everything."

"She'd check the books even when I bought a pack of cigarettes. The woman's a vampire!"

"And she was so obsessed with money. Walking away with nothing was the only way I bought my freedom."

A few clueless people in the group chat chimed right in.

"You've really been through it, Julian!"

"Better to cut a gold-digger loose early."

Rachel dropped a two-hundred-dollar luck-of-the-draw cash gift into the chat.

Playing the good-hearted peacemaker.

"Come on, everyone, don't talk about Sabina like that. She had her own struggles too."

"Honestly, I just couldn't stand watching Julian end up out on the street."

"So I took him in out of kindness. I never expected feelings to grow over time."

"I hope you'll all wish us well."

Watching the screen fill up with congratulations on his fine new wife and wishes for a long, happy life together.

I opened the keyboard and typed out a line to set the record straight.

Then I thought about it, and quietly deleted it.

Explaining myself to these people now would be a pure waste of breath.

Instead, I turned on screen recording.

Every message of theirs, every lie, every twisting of the truth.

From the first word to the last, I saved all of it, leaving nothing out.

Once that was done.

I cleanly exited every group chat we shared.

And while I was at it, I blocked Julian and Rachel completely, both their messages and their numbers.

Out of sight, out of mind.

I washed up and took a cab straight to the bank.

Sitting down at the VIP counter.

I slid my ID across to the teller.

"Hi. I need you to cancel the supplementary card linked to Julian Woodward's phone."

"And the joint account in both our names, freeze it and settle it out completely."

Back when we set it up, it was just the easy thing to do, every household expense ran through that account.

Julian's dead-end paycheck barely covered his own cigarettes and drinks.

For the past few years, I'd been the one keeping him afloat.

Now it was time to cut him off.

I'd just stepped out the bank's front doors.

When my phone rang.

An unfamiliar local number.

I picked up, and a frantic voice came through.

"Hello? Is this Sabina? It's Katherine Lambert, I used to live next door to Rachel's family!"

"Mrs. Lambert? Is there something I can do for you?"

"Oh, thank goodness I got through!"

Katherine's voice dropped very low.

"Sabina, have you seen Rachel lately?"

"What's happened with her?"

"Something's gone down at her family's old house!"

"This morning a whole crowd of men showed up."

"Carrying red paint, splashed her door until it was covered in writing!"

"All of it stuff like pay your debts or your whole family dies!"

My heart gave a hard jolt.

"Debt collectors?"

"What else could it be!"

Katherine slapped her own thigh.

"Those men pounded on that door like animals, said Rachel owed them millions!"

"I was too scared to even step outside."

"Sabina, you stay far away from her, don't let her drag you down with her!"

"I understand. Thank you, Mrs. Lambert."

I hung up.

Stood there on the street.

And in that moment every thread in my mind closed into a full circle.

I finally understood.

Five years ago, Rachel received four hundred and seventy thousand dollars from her property buyout.

But she'd never saved a cent of it.

She'd burned through all of it long ago, and even gone deep into loan-shark debt!

The sham marriage was never about scamming a buyout settlement.

It was about scamming the marital home out from under me!

She needed a property worth millions to plug the hole the loan sharks had torn open!

No wonder she'd pressured me overnight to walk away with nothing.

No wonder she was in such a rush to get the house signed over into Julian's name.

So it turned out she was hunting for a scapegoat.

And Julian, that fool.

Still thought he'd landed himself a wealthy woman about to cash in on a buyout.

Grinning, he slipped his own neck right into the loan sharks' noose.

I took a deep breath.

And couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Julian, oh Julian.

That one true love you can't stop pining over.

She's about to hand you one hell of a gift.

I'd just finished lunch.

An unknown number lit up my phone.

I picked up and said nothing.

"Hello? Sis, it's me."

Rachel's voice came through, deliberately soft and syrupy.

In the background, I could hear her gagging.

"Ugh, this morning sickness is killing me."

I tapped the call-recording button.

My voice stayed flat.

"If you've got something to say, say it."

"Sis, don't be so cold."

Rachel put on her sweetest tone.

"It's just, I've moved into the new place, and I found that bag of yours still here."

"I think it's gorgeous, and the baby loves it too."

"Just think of it as a maternity gift to me, okay?"

I raised an eyebrow.

That bag was a limited edition I'd paid fifty grand for.

She actually had the nerve to ask.

I played along, letting out a sigh like a woman down on her luck.

"Rachel, I'm renting now. Money's tight."

"I was actually planning to list that bag on a resale site for some living expenses."

The moment she heard that, she laughed, smug and pleased.

"Oh dear, Sis, how'd you end up in such a rough spot?"

"If I'd known, I'd have told Julian to leave you a few hundred more."

She paused.

"But don't you worry."

"Once my buyout settlement comes through next month."

"That house in Julian's name will be all mine."

"And if I'm in a good mood, maybe I'll toss you a few thousand."

"Let you have a nice holiday too."

I lowered my eyes.

That was exactly the line I wanted.

"Is that so? Congratulations in advance, then."

I reminded her, offhand.

"Oh, right. The property fees and utilities on that house are due this month."

"Two thousand eight hundred total. Make sure you pay on time, or they'll cut off the water and power."

Before she could blow up.

I hung up.

Looking at the file saved successfully on my screen.

I gave a cold little laugh.

One more piece of evidence.

Less than half an hour later.

The landline at the company front desk started ringing like mad.

The receptionist picked up, got startled, and rushed to transfer the call to me.

"Sabina! Are you out of your mind?!"

The line had barely connected before Julian's furious roar came through.

"Who gave you the right to cancel my card?!"

"The fact that it was opened with my ID."

I held the receiver a little further from my ear.

"What? Card won't go through?"

Julian was breathing hard with rage on the other end.

"I'm at the baby store! Buying prenatal supplements for Rachel!"

"The card got locked when I went to pay!"

"There were a dozen people in line watching me!"

"You humiliated me in front of everyone!"

I listened to him falling apart.

And felt nothing but satisfaction.

"You brought the humiliation on yourself."

I told him, ice cold.

"It's not just the supplementary card. I froze the joint account too."

"From today on, don't expect to take a single cent from me."

"Don't you have a sweet little wife about to be worth millions?"

"Have her pick up the tab."

"Sabina! You poisonous witch! You just wait!"

Julian raged uselessly on the other end.

I yanked the landline cord straight out of the wall.

The world went quiet.

During the lunch break.

I took the buyout documents and the recording I'd just made.

And went to a law firm downtown.

Found John Whitney, the attorney who specialized in property disputes.

"Lawyer Whitney, I need to draft an anti-fraud and asset-protection declaration."