Chester Ford brings home a female university student for the 10th time during our 10th wedding anniversary banquet.

He walks into the banquet hall with the young lady in his arms.

"Don't you see that your outfit is clashing with hers, Yuna Sutherland? Take off your dress. Right here and now."

He slowly loosens his tie while I take a step back in panic. He then proceeds to tug my pearl necklace from my neck.

"What are you waiting for? Stop acting like you're innocent. Your father tossed your younger sister to Ford Group to be a kept woman back then. He also practically delivered you straight onto my bed, all for 30 million dollars. I'll never forget how he looked when he was begging on his knees."

Everyone eagerly watches the drama unfold with champagne glasses in hand.

I stare at the wedding ring on his ring finger, which is close to becoming tarnished. For the 10th time, I request a divorce.

Chester sneers. "How original of you, Yuna. Yet, you eventually kneel and plead for forgiveness every time. If you leave the Ford family, who's going to pay to keep your sister alive in the ICU?"

Amid the laughter of the banquet attendees, someone shouted loudly, "How about we take bets on how long it'll take for Yuna to admit defeat, Mr. Ford? I bet she'll cave by tonight!

"Without the Ford family's financial support, she won't even be able to afford three days' worth of her sister's medicines!"

The female university student deliberately waved her hand, showing off the wedding ring on it. She said in a soft, sugary voice, "I don't have any money, but I bet 50,000 dollars that Ms. Sutherland can't bear to break up with Mr. Ford."

I stared at the diamond ring that was supposed to belong to me before suddenly laughing out loud.

How ridiculous.

During our wedding 10 years ago, Chester kissed the back of my hand and declared that he would protect me for life.

Yet, he was now threatening me with Luna's life and had put the wedding ring on someone else's finger.

I chuckled and shook my head. "I've already signed the divorce agreement, Chester. All you have to do is sign it too."

Over the years, I'd lost count of the number of times I'd brought up divorce.

However, this was the first time I'd actually brought a divorce agreement to the table.

I slipped my wedding ring off my finger—the exact same design as the female university student's—and set it down forcefully atop the agreement. I then slid the agreement across the table toward Chester.

Chester's pupils dilated in shock, and he stared at me for a good 10 seconds.

Perhaps he found my actions rather hard to believe.

After all, a woman who had always been silently putting up with him, someone who was little more than a bootlicker, was now suddenly leaving him of her own accord.

He sneered, snatched up the agreement, and tore it to pieces amid the shocked exclamations of the crowd. "Have you become addicted to playing the victim? Do you think you'll have my heart if you do this?

"You don't have to threaten me with divorce. I've long grown tired of our marriage, after all."

I lowered my gaze in silence and took an identical divorce agreement out of my bag. "Since you've long grown tired of our relationship, how about you sign the agreement?"

He suddenly flew into a rage and forcefully pushed aside the female university student in his arms. The movement caused his tie to be tugged askew.

"You practically have my name plastered all over you, Yuna Sutherland! Even if you divorce me, who would dare want a woman like you? If you leave the Ford family, your entire family will have to beg on the streets to cover your sister's medical fees and your father's gambling debts!"

I turned away, intending to leave, but Chester slammed me against the floor-to-ceiling window. I screamed in pain.

A second later, he roughly grabbed hold of my waist in front of all the guests.

I struggled fiercely and viciously bit his arm.

He tilted his head and looked at me. "Are you a mad dog?"

I stared directly at him. "Don't touch me. I despise your filthy hands."

He smiled coldly. "Filthy, you say?"

Chester took the divorce agreement from me. He smoothly signed his name, then gave his assistant—Eustace Bookman—some orders.

"From today onward, the Sutherland family can forget about getting a single penny from me," he told me. "Your sister still has enough medicine to last a week. If you want to save her life, get on your knees and beg me."

He was smiling smugly, as if he were absolutely certain I wouldn't endanger Luna's life over this farce.

I wanted to tell Chester that a few months ago, nurses at the hospital had repeatedly attempted to hand me a critical illness claim form for Luna.

I wanted to tell him that I'd called him countless times back then, wanting him to come visit Luna for the last time.

And yet, he had said to me, "Is the little witchfaking her illness again? What kind of new lie have you come up with this time? Even if you want me to go back, there's no need to wish death on your sister, is there?"

Luna passed away that same night, marking the death of my only blood relative in this world.

Chester could no longer threaten me.

I met Chester's confident gaze and said indifferently, "Whatever. I'll see you at the courthouse."

I then picked up the luggage I'd packed up beforehand and left without a backward glance as everyone watched.

The musty odor of the cheap apartment unit I'd procured blended in with the scent of the sycamore trees outside the window. The resulting smell was actually more pleasant and refreshing than the smell of incense that always seemed to cling to the Ford residence.

I was lying in bed that night when my phone suddenly rang.

The word "Dad" displayed on my phone screen was such an eyesore. After a brief hesitation, I answered the call.

"Yuna Sutherland! Have you gone insane? How dare you bring up divorce with Mr. Ford? Get back here right now!"

I clenched my hands around the corners of my blanket. My nails were digging into my palms.

When I opened the door to my family's home, I was assaulted by the stench of alcohol mixed with cheap perfume. My father, Carl Sutherland, closed in on me while waving the wine bottle in his hand.

"Without the Ford family's funding, who's going to pay for your sister's medical expenses?" he bellowed.

Before he had even finished speaking, he slapped me so hard I could feel the accompanying wind.

I stumbled and knocked over the coffee table. The sound of shattering glass reached my ears.

I braced myself against the wall. My throat was tight as I said stubbornly, "I want my sister's cremation urn."

After Luna passed away, Carl kept the news a secret so that he could continuously receive money from Ford Group. However, now that I'd filed for divorce, that source of funding was gone.

"You filed for divorce because you wanted to cut off my means of survival now that your sister is dead! How am I going to keep gambling in the future without any money? I know you're trying to drive me to death! You're just a heartless ingrate!"

My stepmother, Jessica Price, couldn't resist chiming in. "You're in the wrong here, Yuna. Mr. Ford is the president of a major company. Ordinary people don't even have the privilege of marrying him."

I ignored them and just walked straight toward my room. "I don't need you concerning yourselves with my affairs. I'll be leaving as soon as I get what I came for."

The urn I'd placed at my bedside was gone. When I turned around, I saw that Luna's cremation urn was in Carl's hands.

I hurriedly walked over to him with a stormy expression on my face. "Give it to me. That belongs to Luna. You don't deserve to hold—"

Carl smashed the urn against the floor with a loud bang, scattering grey-white powder everywhere.

"I don't deserve it, you say? How dare you say those words to my face?" he yelled.

I rushed at him hysterically and gave him a hard shove. "That's your biological daughter! How can you call yourself human?"

That short question ignited Carl's anger. He picked up a beer bottle next to him and smashed it vehemently against my forehead.

Blood started flowing out of the wound, staining my white shirt red.

Jessica couldn't help but scream, "Carl! Stop! She's going to die!"

I raised my head, looking toward Carl with blood still streaming from my forehead. He also looked like he was at a loss.

He stared at me for several seconds. There wasn't a trace of pity or guilt in his eyes. On the contrary, he strangely seemed to be pleasantly surprised.

Then, he took out his phone and started snapping a few close-up photos of my injured face.

A second later, he made a phone call with a fawning smile on his face. "I heard that my daughter hasn't been behaving sensibly, Mr. Ford. Please calm down!"

He directed his phone camera toward me, showing off my miserable state. "Look at how thoroughly I've taught her a lesson! So, please have mercy and forgive her this once.

"The two of you started dating when you were still students, after all. You've been married for ten years now, so how could you two so casually divorce each other? Moreover, I was the one who failed to recognize your greatness and forced her to break up with you back then.

"Speaking of which, back when you were involved in that traffic accident, it was my daughter who—"

Chester's indifferent voice rang out from the receiver. "What does she have to do with me getting into a traffic accident? Did she contribute to it?"

Carl paused for a moment before continuing hurriedly, "Yes, that's right! You were blessed with luck, Mr. Ford, but Yuna certainly also—"

Chester asked with extreme impatience, "So, you want money?"

Carl's eyes lit up. "Yes, that's right! We can't have the funding for Luna's medical expenses cut off, after all."

Before he'd finished speaking, a gentle female voice could be heard from the other end. "It's Ms. Sutherland who behaved insensibly, Chester. There's no need to implicate her family members, is there?"

"Between the two of us, you're the kinder one," Chester said to her.

He then sneered and said to Carl, "If you want me to continue forking out money, then tell Yuna to crawl back to me and beg for my forgiveness."

Carl hung up and said furiously, "I've beaten you up this badly, yet he doesn't even care! You really saved him for nothing in that accident back then!

"I don't care how you do it, but you have to get some money from him! I owe a lot of money, and I'm still waiting to get the money to make a comeback! If you don't bring the money, I really will kill you!"

I numbly swept up the ashes on the floor and placed them back in the urn. Then, I silently left the house with the urn in my arms.

I had fallen in love with Chester in college. He'd hidden his identity back then, so I thought he was just an ordinary person. We dated each other like ordinary people and planned out our future together.

My father was constantly in debt, so he set his sights on Luna, who was still studying in college back then.

He cajoled Luna into interning at Ford Group, telling her that she'd be able to receive a generous salary there.

In truth, he wanted to give her to the acting president of Ford Group back then, Jeff Ford, who also happened to be Chester's father.

I realized that something was fishy and tried to stop Carl, but he scolded me for being selfish.

Luna, who was innocent and naive, really ended up joining Ford Group.

In the end, she fell from the top floor of the Ford Group building that same day. From then on, she remained in a vegetative state, and we needed to pay expensive fees to keep her alive.

I'd lost my mother when I was young, and Carl refused to fork out a single penny. He even threatened me to break up with Chester.

He told me that if I didn't marry a rich man, he would have to sign the agreement to refuse treatment for Luna.

In the end, I compromised.

I had no choice but to harden my heart and push Chester away, saying harsh words to him.

We broke up, and after that, I started going on blind dates frequently.

Chester later caught me while I was on one of my blind dates. He sneered and dragged me over to a Lamborghini before declaring, "You just want money, don't you, Yuna? Well, I have no shortage of money!"

He started speeding along the roads like a madman with me in the car. In the end, he failed to brake in time and ended up getting into a traffic accident.

I had to carry him on my back along a winding mountain road for miles. I passed out as soon as I arrived at the entrance of a hospital.

After I regained consciousness, Carl realized that Chester was an honest-to-goodness rich young heir.

He then plotted to drug both me and Chester with aphrodisiacs, so he could force Chester to marry me.

In my opinion, it was understandable that Chester had hated me for so many years.

After all, I'd turned him away in favor of money, yet I just had to get tangled up with him again.

Therefore, I didn't blame him any longer, and I had decided to leave everything in the past.

Not long afterward, Eustace sent me a photo.

The young lady in the photo was smiling sweetly in Chester's arms. I could see a shadow of my younger self in her features.

After staring at the photo for a long time, I replied with a simple, "Congratulations."

Chester once brought countless women to attend our anniversary banquets. Those women were all nothing more than tools for him to vent his frustrations.

This young lady, whose name was Courtney Zeller, was the only exception. He would accompany her to the movies and take cute photos with her, just like we used to back in college.

If my departure would allow Chester to attain his own happiness, then the divorce would be a good thing for both of us.

I applied for a certification to study abroad. While still in the country, I helped out my best friend, Vivi Jarvis, at her bar to earn some extra money.

One day, I ran into Courtney.

One of Chester's friends introduced me. "This is Chester's wife, Yuna Sutherland. Don't you think you two look a little similar?"