Yes, it seemed ridiculous, really.

Susan's birthday also happened to be Mom's death anniversary.

Yet, aside from me, no one remembered.

That included Hans, who once held me close and softly promised, "From now on, I'll accompany you to pay respects to your mom on her death anniversary. I won't let you face the past alone."

On the day of Mom's death anniversary, he chose to drive toward the bustling city instead of the desolate cemetery.

He held my hand and led me into the grand, luxurious hotel lobby filled with glamorous birthday posters of Susan everywhere I looked. Some were of her alone; others were of her and Dad in sweet, intimate embraces.

As I walked into the private room, Susan was sitting in the main seat as though she owned the place, wearing a pale purple strapless gown. Her long, voluminous curls cascaded down her back. She exuded the presence of a queen.

A diamond ring, several carats in size, adorned her slender, pale finger. It was dazzling enough to hurt my eyes.

When Mom was alive, she once told Dad that she wanted a diamond ring from him for her 40th birthday. It didn't have to be an expensive ring; just something worth a few tens of thousands would do.

And yet, Dad didn't even come home on Mom's 40th birthday.

In the end, I used my pocket money to buy her a diamond ring.

I had a ring just like the one Susan wore. Hans gave it to me on our wedding anniversary last year. It cost over three million.

I didn't want to look, but I couldn't help glancing.

I noticed Dad gazing at Susan with a doting expression. When he saw a strand of hair on her shoulder, he gently picked it off and discarded it.

Such meticulous, tender care was something Mom had never experienced.

Trembling all over, I bit down hard on my tongue.

"You're here, Yarmilla," Susan said. "It makes me happy to see you here today." Her gaze first lingered on Hans' face for a moment, then swept lightly toward me.

As she rose gracefully, her diamond-encrusted nails glinted under the lights, complementing the transparent stem of her wine glass. The crimson liquid in her glass swirled in slow, deliberate circles.

When Hans noticed I wasn't reciprocating Susan's gesture, he picked up a glass of wine from the table and drank in my place.

But before he could finish his drink, I flipped the table.

I still remember vividly the moment those exquisitely plated, outrageously expensive dishes fell to the floor. The way Hans looked at me…

Disappointment. Displeasure. Disdain.

The ever-composed Mrs. Luther had lost her composure today.

I had embarrassed him.

Come to think of it, this was the first time Hans had ever looked at me like that since we met.

When we first started dating, we were just like any ordinary couple. We hiked, watched sunsets, and camped and stargazed together.

On our wedding night, he promised me that I would never have to suffer any grievances for the rest of my life. He swore he would never force me to do anything I didn't want to.

He also vowed that he would never repeat the mistakes my father made.

Susan hadn't set her sights on Hans yet back then. It wasn't until I started noticing something off about Hans and investigated that I discovered the truth.

Since last year, Susan had been secretly contacting Hans under the guise of wanting to repair her relationship with me.

A whole year.

And Hans didn't breathe a single word about it to me.

I had thought about treating Hans as a safe harbor. I tried to trust him. But I was glad I always held back. That restraint allowed me to pull away immediately when things went wrong.

Susan's betrayal and Mom's death had long taught me to never trust anyone fully.

Because of that mindset, I had been prepared for three years. And in the end, those three years of preparation came in handy.

"Have you really thought it through?" Grandma let out a gentle sigh. She knew I was joking and that I never truly blamed her.

Still, it was clear she didn't want to see Hans and me end up like this.

"Yes, especially now when we don't have kids yet."

After marrying Hans, I did consider having children.

But he always felt that I wasn't "positive" enough. He was worried that my psychological state would negatively impact a child's growth.

To help me change, he enrolled me in psychology courses. He even hired a therapist for me.

I told him that, for me, he was more important than any therapist.

But clearly, he didn't take my words seriously.

When he began secretly contacting Susan—having meals, coffee, even shopping together and exchanging gifts—my mental state was bound to suffer.

I only planned to take my things while packing my belongings. However, I ended up uncovering a stack of receipts he had hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe. They were receipts of everything from car keychains to luxury watches and jewelry.

As "senior and junior", "stepmother and son-in-law", they sure had a great relationship.

If Hans had chosen someone else, I might have considered Grandma's wishes and kept up appearances in the marriage.

But of all people, he should never have chosen Susan!

No one knew better than I did what kind of person Susan was.

Before our friendship fell apart, she had jokingly asked me why my family was so well-off, while she had to live a poor person's life. If she ever had the chance, she would take everything from me and make them hers.

And that was exactly what she did. She took my dad away from my mom.

Now that she was dissatisfied with Dad growing old and earning less, she was going to take Hans from me.

"I support you if you've thought this through. Just don't be as foolish as your mom!"

When Mom passed, she had been so impulsive that she didn't leave anything behind for me.

After Susan married my dad, she took control of our family's finances. My spending plummeted the moment Susan became my stepmother.

"She just can't stand to see you living better than her! Someone like her will get what's coming to her!" Grandma complained. She, too, felt indignant because of Susan. Thinking of Mom's fate brought tears to her eyes.

"I'll live better than her. I'll live better than all of them!" I felt confident as I thought about the preparations I had made over the past three years.

…

"Yarmilla, I heard you and Hans had a disagreement. If it's because I asked him to bring you to my birthday party, then I apologize. It's not his fault. I was the one who insisted he help us reconcile.

"You haven't spoken to me for years. I feel terrible about it. And legally speaking, you're my daughter now. I truly want us to go back to how things used to be."

Susan knew exactly how to disgust me. That was why she deliberately said those provoking words.

I didn't need to see her face to know exactly what kind of expression she must have had on the other end of the line.

"Done talking? If so, I'm hanging up."

I had already blocked Susan's number ages ago. I only picked up by mistake because she used someone else's phone to call me.

She was utterly nauseating.

It seemed like I would have to stop answering calls from unfamiliar numbers too from now on.

"Yarmilla, what's done is done. Do you think hiding will make it all go away? Whether you like it or not, my current identity is something you can't change!"

Susan, afraid I'd hang up, raised her voice immediately. Of course, now that her status was different, her tone was no longer the meek, clingy one I used to hear softly calling my name.

"I never planned to change anything. If you want to pick up the garbage I've thrown away, be my guest. Just take it."

As for that scumbag Charlie, I stopped thinking of him as my father long ago.

And Hans? Susan wanted to take him away, didn't she? I'd hand him over on a silver platter!

"You knew?" Susan asked coldly. She still didn't realize that I knew about her secret interactions with Hans over the past year.

"It doesn't matter whether I know or not. What matters is whether Charlie Sullivan knows."

I hung up the phone with a cold smirk.

The moment I left Susan's birthday party, I immediately dumped all the incriminating evidence I'd gathered into Charlie's email.

Now, I was simply waiting to enjoy the spectacle of them turning on each other like rabid dogs.

As for Hans? We could keep things civil if he agreed to the divorce. If not, I'd file for divorce. I would only gain more in court.

"Mr. Luther, why didn't you bring Mrs. Luther today? It's unlike you to attend an event like this alone."

Hans had just taken a seat when someone noticed Yarmilla's absence and quickly teased him.

Everyone in their circle knew that Hans and Yarmilla were the model couple. Whenever an event allowed for a plus-one, Yarmilla was always by Hans' side.

"Next time," Hans replied, his expression somewhat grim.

It had been over a week since Yarmilla moved out. Throughout that time, no matter how Hans tried to reach her, her only response was, "Have you signed the divorce papers?"

It frustrated him.

When Yarmilla was around, she often helped him pick up bits of useful information through conversations with other wives. Now that she was gone, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing—like he was no longer getting the full picture.

It left him uneasy.

Before they got married, he had no trouble working solo to land projects. Had Yarmilla changed him that much in just three short years?

"Hans, I'm sorry to bother you at this hour. I really have nowhere else to go."

After finishing his social engagements, Hans returned home to find Susan sitting outside his door in a white fringed dress.

Hearing the sound of the elevator, she looked up at Hans with teary eyes. There was a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and vulnerability in her gaze.

"What happened?" Hans asked, glancing at Susan before unlocking the door with his fingerprint and stepping inside.

"Yarmilla edited together some clips of us meeting over the past few months and sent them to her father. He misunderstood our relationship! He kicked me out…"

Susan scanned Hans and Yarmilla's marital home. Despite all the grandiose settings she had experienced with Charlie, they seemed insignificant compared to the wall of collectibles in Hans' home.

She quickly masked the greed that had momentarily flashed in her eyes, letting her long hair fall forward to hide her expression. Then, she skillfully acted vulnerable and helpless.

"She's just acting out because she's angry at me. Don't blame her. I'll explain everything to her, and when the time comes, I'll ask her to come home and apologize to you and Charlie."

Hans still refused to believe that Yarmilla was serious about wanting a divorce. He was convinced she was simply throwing a tantrum, waiting for him to coax her.

"I think she's more upset with me than with you. You're caught in the crossfire because of me. From the moment I met Yarmilla, I knew she was the kind of person who wouldn't budge once she made up her mind. I was the one who wanted too much. I shouldn't have asked for your help."

With those words, Susan rested her hand on her forehead and feigned a fainting spell.

"What's wrong? Should I take you to the hospital?" Hans asked with a frown. Seeing how weak Susan appeared, he hesitated but eventually supported her.

"I might have low blood sugar; I haven't eaten all day. Could I stay here for the night? I'll leave Tomorrow once I've figured out how to explain everything."

Years ago, Susan had used the same "just staying the night" excuse to sneak into Charlie's bed right under Yarmilla and her mother's noses.

Now, she was going to pull the same trick again.

Charlie had indeed fought with her earlier, but after her stubborn denials, he had apologized to her. Yet Susan insisted on leaving no matter how much Charlie begged her to stay.

"Do whatever you want," Hans said finally.

Noticing how unwell the pale-lipped Susan appeared, he relented out of consideration for her being, at least nominally, part of Yarmilla's family. He released his hold on her before turning and retreating to his room.

Susan was halfway to fully achieving her goal. Hearing the sound of Hans closing his door, she took out her phone, snapped a selfie, and sent it to Yarmilla.

Although Yarmilla had blocked her, Susan had gone out of her way to get a new SIM card just to contact her.

That night, Susan didn't lock the door to the guest room. She deliberately left it ajar as she waited for Hans.

But to her disappointment, Hans didn't storm into her room without hesitation as Charlie did.

Susan realized that even after a year of careful scheming and ensuring Hans didn't outright reject her, she would need to create a different opportunity if she wanted their relationship to progress further.