In that instant, the entire world went silent. It felt as if an invisible hand had reached into her chest and seized her heart, yanking it so hard she could barely breathe.

She stood frozen in place, as if nailed to the ground, watching blankly as James held the girl in his arms, coaxing her gently, kissing her softly, and smiling as he spoke to her. Then, just like that, the two of them disappeared from her sight. The only thought left in her mind was: James had someone else by his side.

Rain poured down, soaking her from head to toe, but she felt nothing. She stumbled forward through the storm, eyes hollow and unfocused, her mind replaying that devastating scene over and over again.

It had been twelve whole years. Other than her parents, James had been the person who treated her best in the world. He had been so good to her—so good that sometimes she felt merely meeting him must have used up all her luck.

How could he be the boy who had climbed up to her bedroom window in the middle of the night, eyes shining with confidence as he promised to treat her well forever, the boy who had thrown himself over her to shield her when street thugs surrounded her, or the man who had stood firmly in front of her when his mother pressured and humiliated her about having children?

The eyes that had once only held her reflection now reflected someone else. The lips that had once kissed hers alone now intertwined with another woman. The hands that had touched only her body now roamed across someone else’s. The thought of those tore a sharp pain through her chest, as if her heart were being ripped apart.

The mansion was dark. The heavy, suffocating silence surrounded the figure curled up on the floor. Numbly, Remi scrolled through the information the housekeeper had sent her on her phone.

As it turned out, after it was confirmed that she could not conceive, Katie had repeatedly demanded that he seek another woman to carry his child. At first, James refused her again and again, for he loved Remi too much. However, Katie began threatening him with suicide by slitting her wrists multiple times. The last time, she had even lain in a bathtub filled with blood. Thus, in pain and desperation, he compromised.

He chose Sydney Parker, a girl who looked like Remi but came from a poor background. He chose her for two reasons. For one, she resembled Remi, so the child would likely look like Remi, too. Secondly, it was because Sydney had neither power nor money. When the time came, she would be easy to dismiss.

At the beginning, out of love and guilt toward Remi, James had no intention of being intimate with Sydney; he had planned to undergo IVF. That was until one night, after being forced to drink too much by business partners, he, in his drunken state, mistook Sydney for Remi. That night, lines were crossed, and that night, it was Remi's birthday. Yet, her husband had been in another woman’s bed!

Remi laughed and cried at the same time. She did not know whether she was crying at her own misery or laughing at his so-called devotion.

It was he who had said that not having children did not matter. He had said, “Sweetheart, you’re all I need.” Yet, it was he who climbed into another woman’s bed for the sake of a child.

‘James, is this what you meant when you said you loved me so much you could give up your life?’ Remi questioned.

If he truly wanted a child, he could have told her openly. Although it would have hurt her, she would have chosen to divorce him herself and leave him. What he never should have done was claim to love her while secretly creating another family of three with someone else.

With her hands trembling, Remi slowly lowered her phone and looked up at the home she had once shared with James. The house was their love nest. Every corner held evidence of their affection. She had once looked around it, happiness in her eyes, and told him that when they grew old, they would pass the house down to their child. Now, all she felt was pain.

Her gaze turned cold. She walked to the storage room and took out a hammer. Then, she swung it hard at the wedding photo on the wall, at the furniture they had chosen together, and at every gift James had given her over the years. She smashed them all until every last piece was shattered.

The house was a complete mess. That was James’s first thought when he pushed the door open.

The entire living room had been smashed beyond recognition. Broken glass, overturned furniture, shattered decorations—everything lay in ruins. In the middle of it all, Remi sat on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, her head lowered.

Without stopping to ask what happened, he rushed over and pulled her into his arms. “Sweetheart, are you hurt?”

She slowly lifted her head to look at him. The panic and concern in his eyes were real. It was impossible to connect that devoted man with the same person who had betrayed her behind her back.

She shoved him away, her voice ice-cold as she asked, “Who is Sydney Parker?”

Shock flashed across James’s eyes. His lips turned pale almost instantly. “Sydney Parker? I don’t know who that is.”

Remi let out a bitter laugh. She grabbed the pregnancy report and threw it at him.

“You don’t know her? Fine. In that case, why is your name signed on her pregnancy report?”

His entire body trembled. For a second, he could not breathe.

“Sweetheart, I–”

She wiped her tears away harshly with the back of her hand and said firmly, “James, I know everything. Stop lying to me. Let’s get a divorce.”

In a panic, he pulled her tightly into his arms, his voice shaking. “No. No, I don’t want a divorce!”

She looked up at him, finding it all ironic. “But you’re already soiled. You disgust me.”

His face turned white. “That was an accident, Remi. I only slept with her once. I’m not soiled.”

“But in my eyes, you are.” Her voice trembled with anger. “You betrayed me. You betrayed our marriage!”

She closed her eyes in despair, finally saying, “Let’s get a divorce, James. We’ll part peacefully.”

He held her even tighter. “Remi, don’t divorce me. As long as you don’t divorce me, I’ll agree to anything.”

She slowly shook her head. “Your promises mean nothing to me anymore. Since I’m letting you go, and you should do the same for me, too.”

With that, she turned and walked away.

Watching her leave, his hand trembled as he pressed it against his chest, as if trying to crush the pain inside. However, the ache only grew sharper.

“Remi… do you really have to leave me?”

“Yes.” She shut her eyes, forcing herself to stay composed.

Finally, the man lost control. He took a deep breath and turned to the nearby household staff.

“Take the missus back to her room. Without my permission, no one is to let her out.”

Remi froze and turned back in disbelief. “James, are you imprisoning me?”

He shook his head immediately. “It’s not imprisonment. I just want you to calm down. Remi, listen to me. She looks like you, and the baby will look like you, too. After she gives birth, I’ll send her away. We’ll pretend nothing ever happened. We’ll go back to how we were before. Okay?”

Remi thought she had just heard the most absurd joke in the world. He was having a child with another woman, and he expected her to pretend nothing had happened?

She looked at him with disappointment. “It’s impossible. The moment you had a child with her, we could never go back.”

His body stiffened. His face turned deathly pale, but he remained stubborn.

“It’s fine, Remi. We have plenty of time.”

Then, he waved his hand, signaling the servants to escort her back upstairs.

“Keep an eye on the missus,” he ordered. “No one is allowed to see her except me.”

Ever since Remi was locked up, she had given up on James.

Looking at the heavily guarded old family estate, she had thought of countless ways to escape. The closest she ever got was when she disguised herself as a maid and slipped into one of the service cars heading out. However, just as the car got to the main gate, another vehicle cut across and stopped them.

James stepped out, long strides carrying him straight to the car window.

“Remi,” he said calmly, “you can’t escape.”

In the end, with nowhere left to go, she chose to set the place on fire.

When news came that the old estate was burning, James was at the apartment, coaxing a sulking Sydney. It was not until he bought her an eight-million-dollar necklace that she finally brightened up, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him several times.

She pulled him down onto the couch and excitedly flipped through some baby clothes with him. However, when his phone rang, he immediately pushed her aside and walked out onto the balcony to take the call.

Sydney tried to follow out of curiosity, but one cold glance from him froze her in place. Annoyed, she punched a stuffed toy on the couch instead. Then, she saw his face turn pale, and he grabbed his coat, hurrying toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Sydney clung to him, putting on a pitiful expression. “The baby doesn’t want you to leave today–”

He did not have the patience to entertain her, but for the sake of the child's smooth birth, he held back.

“I have something urgent to deal with. You said you liked those earrings at the auction, didn’t you? I’ll have my assistant bring them to you.”

At the thought of the expensive jewelry she was about to receive, she finally let go.

With the old estate destroyed, Remi was transferred to a villa on the outskirts of the city. When James saw her again, several days later, there were injuries scattered across her body. The anger he had been holding in dissolved into a sigh.

Carefully, he carried her back to the bed and personally tended to her wounds. His movements were gentle, yet she still frowned and hissed in pain. He immediately leaned closer and blew softly on the injured skin.

“Does it still hurt?” There was a trace of concern in his eyes.

She looked at him quietly and said evenly, “It hurts, but I don’t regret it at all, because I was the one who set the fire.”

He froze, pain in his eyes.

“Do you want to leave me that badly?” he asked.

“Yes.” Her voice did not waver. “I do, even if it means I die.”

“Remi!” Hearing that, he finally lost control. He could no longer hide the pain in his voice. “Don’t say that, okay? It pains me to see you hurt. I have no feelings for her. Just wait a little longer. I’m begging you. Everything will go back to the way it was.”

After saying that, he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Before leaving, he specifically instructed the butler to tighten security around the villa.

For the next three months, James never came back. He did not even send a single message. It was as if he intended to teach her a lesson. Meanwhile, he traveled the world with Sydney, allowing her to post their intimate photos online. In the pictures, they stood close together, feeding each other cookies mouth-to-mouth like a couple flaunting their love.

At the beach, she lay across his lap in a sheer swimsuit, running her fingers over his abs as if showing off. Under dim, ambiguous lighting, their legs were tangled together, their eyes locked on each other. For a while, the internet was in an uproar, and countless netizens flooded her comment section, obsessing over the couple.

Of course, Remi saw the photos too. In the past, she would have cried for an entire day; now she no longer held any expectations for James. All she wanted was to leave the marriage as soon as possible, and so, she did not care.

James, on the other hand, waited and waited for Remi to come to him, to soften, and to demand an explanation. However, she never did.

In the past, whenever even a harmless “close” photo of him and another woman surfaced—sometimes just from normal business events—Remi would be jealous for days. She would show up immediately, red-eyed, asking him to explain himself. That was why he was certain it would not take long this time. He thought she would come to him, eyes brimming with tears, but months passed, and no one came. There was not even a text message.

He could not sit still anymore. He secretly returned several times and checked the surveillance footage. On the screen, he saw her looking completely indifferent, playing with the dog on her own, as if she truly did not care about the scandals between him and Sydney.

Her reaction took him completely by surprise, leaving him in anguish with nowhere to vent his frustration. In the end, he could only leave in a huff.