Caleb called me within ten minutes after the picture was posted, saying, "Ophelia, please don't misunderstand me. Mom arranged the gathering. She's my mother, so I couldn't possibly disrespect her. I—"

I cut him off, replying blandly, "Alright, I understand. Is there anything else?"

He started hesitantly, "You're not… mad?"

I huffed in amusement and asked, "Why should I be mad?"

Caleb fell silent.

After a while, he said, "It's my mother's birthday this Saturday. I'll pick you up then."

He immediately ended the call right after he said that. It was as if he was worried I would reject him.

Caleb arrived at Blair's place on Saturday. He had come early.

When his car pulled over, Emma popped out from the passenger seat and called out, "Ophelia, come on! We've been waiting for you for ages."

She was behaving as though she were Caleb's wife.

If she had done this in the past, I would have most probably dragged her out of the car and forced Caleb to choose between us. I would've been hysterical over a seat.

However, this was no longer the case now. I only gave Emma a slight nod in greeting before getting in the back seat.

Caleb's hands tightened around the steering wheel as he shot a glance at me through the rearview mirror.

I tugged my lips into a polite smile before returning to my conversation with Blair.

When we arrived at the Thorne residence, I promptly took out the gift I prepared for Pauline and said courteously, "Happy birthday, Pauline."

Then, I sat down and quietly enjoyed my meal.

Caleb and Emma were sitting next to me. They were both craning their necks as they happily chatted over my head.

Eventually, I rose to my feet and suggested, "Let's switch seats. You two would be able to chat better this way."

Everyone at the table froze.

After all, I had thrown a huge fuss when Emma had insisted on sitting next to Caleb a few months ago. I had even called her a homewrecker.

So, none of them expected me to say those words so calmly.

Emma was overjoyed and wasted no time switching seats with me. On the other hand, Caleb kept staring at me, his gaze darkening with every passing second.

I left to use the restroom.

When I returned, the atmosphere at the table had returned to its previous harmonious state.

I heard Emma say, "Mrs. Thorne, it's your birthday today. How could you give me a gift?"

I followed her voice and saw Pauline placing an emerald bracelet on Emma's wrist.

Caleb didn't stop her.

Everyone else around them had mixed expressions.

They all knew that the bracelet was an heirloom that was traditionally passed down to the next mistress of the Thornes.

Pauline hadn't been pleased when Caleb and I had gotten married. She thought I wasn't good enough for their family.

As years passed with me remaining childless, her dissatisfaction with me grew. So, it was only natural that she had never bothered giving me the bracelet.

She had wanted to give Emma the bracelet on her birthday last year.

I refused to allow such a thing to happen. So, when Emma reached for it, I immediately fought Emma for it.

Both of us fell into the lake during our struggle. Caleb didn't even hesitate to rescue Emma before lashing out at me viciously.

He had barked, "It's just a bracelet! Haven't I gotten you enough gifts? Why do you have to fight Emma for this bracelet? I've spoiled you rotten, haven't I? Fine, I'll just get you another one!"

I came down with a cold after that incident. My fever had lasted for two whole days.

Caleb only continued to berate me, saying, "It serves you right for being so immature and reckless."

I would no longer lose myself over something like this now.

Instead, I calmly took my purse, excused myself politely, and left.

I made no detours and returned home.

Caleb was right on my tail. He had a thunderous look on his face when he returned home.

"Ophelia, do you even have any common courtesy left in you? It's one thing for you not to come home for days, but how could you be so rude to our elders?"

When he noticed my silence, he yanked at his tie and sneered. "What's this? Are you giving me attitude right now? Fine, let's get a divorce."

This was the third time Caleb had brought up divorce.

He threatened divorce the first time because I had refused a drink offered by his boss, embarrassing him.

To make up for it, we invited his boss to a meal, and I ended up drinking so much that I was hospitalized. I had begged for Caleb's forgiveness whilst on IV drip.

Then, he threatened it again because I accidentally broke the jigsaw puzzle Emma had gifted him.

He was furious. I groveled and cried as I swore it would never happen again.

This time, I only looked at him calmly and said, "Alright."

The silence in the living room lasted for a full 30 seconds. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Finally, Caleb looked at me in disbelief. "What did you just say?"

I replied calmly, "I said alright. Let's get a divorce."

The divorce agreement that Blair had written up for me was in my purse.

I was just about to take it out when Caleb suddenly let out a mocking laugh. "This is another one of your schemes, isn't it? It's a pity that your tricks are far too dumb. Well, I'm certainly not falling for it!"

Then, he stormed out, slamming the door as he left.

He never came home for a month.

During that time, one of his best friends contacted me, saying urgently, "Caleb's gotten into a car accident. He's in the hospital! You should come over right away!"

I merely said in response, "I'm not a doctor, so I wouldn't be of any help. You should hire a nurse if he needs an extra pair of hands. Or better yet, contact Emma. I'm sure she would be more than happy to nurse him back to health."

I had decided to remove myself from the equation so that Caleb and Emma could have their happily ever after. Caleb should be pleased by my actions.

To my surprise, Caleb came back home not long after that call ended. He exuded a chill that could've frozen me solid.

He never spoke a word to me. However, he would make me breakfast and wash my clothes with a dark look on his face.

It didn't just end there. Oh, no. In fact, he would bring a mystery box home every day.

Opening mystery boxes was one of the few hobbies I still had to this day.

Whenever I got my hands on a new mystery box, I would always take tons of pictures of it and show it off on every social media platform I had.

Now, those mystery boxes sat unopened in their lonely corner, gathering dust.

Caleb saw the neglect happen right before his eyes, but pretended that nothing was amiss.

It seemed as though he had forgotten all about the divorce.

Blair had advised me that slow and steady wins the race. So, I didn't push for the divorce to happen immediately.

Thus, Caleb and I continued to live as though nothing was wrong between us.

Blair noticed my poor mood, so she suggested that we take a trip. I agreed to it and off we went.

We had arranged to meet at a newly established farm.

I had just gotten out of my car and walked through the entrance when someone placed their hand on my shoulder.

"Ophelia, were you following me?" The evening glow painted the world in soft colors, lighting up the clear joy on Caleb's face.

Before I could say anything, he continued, "I'll let your behavior slide this time. My friends are here too. You should join me. You know who they are."

He didn't even give me a choice before dragging me to a private room.

Sure enough, the room was indeed filled with familiar faces, and Emma was one of those faces.

Her expression sank briefly when she caught sight of me. Still, she quickly composed herself and asked in surprise, "Ophelia, why are you here?"

Someone answered, "Ophelia is Caleb's wife. She can come if she wants."

Caleb chimed in, "Don't you guys try drowning me in drinks tonight. I have to drive home later."

Everyone started teasing him, saying, "That's not what you said earlier!"

"Look at him doing a 180 now that his wife is here."

"I can't believe Caleb's not the boss of his household. That's hilarious."

Caleb didn't refute their words. He only looked at me with a twinkle of mirth in his eyes.

Emma's face darkened slightly upon hearing their words. She shot me a challenging glance as she said, "It's just as well that you're here, Ophelia. I just bought a little trinket on my way here. You should take a look at it."

She didn't bother waiting for my response as she pulled out a velvet box and opened it before Caleb.

"Valentine's Day is coming up, so I had these custom-made. Do you like them, Caleb?"

There was a pair of exquisitely crafted rings inside the box.

Although she said she wanted my opinion, she had posed her question to Caleb.

It was obvious just what she meant by that.

I was done. I found this entire farce boring. So, I rose to my feet, intending to leave. "I don't study design. I'm busy. I'll take my leave."

Caleb immediately sprang to his feet, looking panicked.

Emma quickly dashed toward me with a terrified look on her face. It was as if she were seconds away from crying. "Ophelia, you've probably misunderstood me. I only bought these because I thought they looked pretty. I didn't mean anything else. There's nothing between Caleb and me."

As she spoke, she even made sure to show me the inscriptions etched inside the rings.

It was Caleb and Emma's initials. There was even a little heart between the letters.

She had commissioned the rings from a brand owned by the Thorne Corporation.

I met Caleb's frantic eyes. Then, under the scrutiny of many, I did something none of them expected.