After getting married, Winter Adeline had stopped taking on cleaning jobs. But this time she said yes, only because the middle-aged ex-coworker asking for help had always been kind to her.

She never expected to walk into the villa and find her husband, who was supposed to be away on a business trip, sitting there.

"Cassian, how do I look in this outfit?"

The woman on the sofa was bundled in layers, the way new mothers often were during recovery after childbirth.

Cassian let out a soft sigh and sat beside her. "You look great in anything, but put your socks on first."

He took her foot in his hands and slid the socks on with gentle care. Then his touch lingered, drifting upward over her hips, along her waist, until his hand slipped beneath her sweater. Then, their lips met.

Behind them, Winter, who was wearing a mask, stood frozen. The bucket of water in her hands tipped and spilled across the floor.

Both of them turned, startled, but instead of snapping at her, Cassian asked kindly if she was all right.

She shook her head, trembling. Before he could say anything else, she grabbed the bucket and hurried into the bathroom.

Leaning against the doorframe, numb, she fumbled for her phone in the pocket of her cleaning uniform.

Her voice shook as she asked, "Cassian, where are you right now?"

His voice came first from outside the bathroom door, then again, through the phone.

"What’s wrong, sweetheart? I’m on a business trip. I’ll be home in two days."

"I can’t talk right now because the client’s rushing me. I brought you that tie-dye scarf you liked. Just wait for me, okay?"

The call clicked off. Tears blurred her vision.

There was no client. She recognized that voice in the background, Yvonne Harris.

So, when he had said he would be gone for a month on business, what he really meant was that he would be here, playing the doting husband to Yvonne, his ex-wife, during her recovery.

The low murmur of flirtation outside the bathroom seeped into her ears. Her heart felt torn apart.

What was even more frustrating was that she didn't even have the luxury to fall apart.

 A message from the housekeeper popped up. [My boss is disappointed and wants to file a complaint.]

She wiped her face quickly, refilled the bucket and stepped back out.

The woman on the sofa was gone. Yvonne had left.

Winter kept her head down, dropping to her knees to mop up the spilled water.

Until the conversation overhead made her freeze in place.

"Are you really going to divorce Winter, Cassian?"

Cassian handed over a glass of water.

"Yeah. It’s the third thing Yvonne asked for. I agreed a long time ago. Winter knows."

Yohan shifted uneasily. "Does she know you’re divorcing her just to remarry Yvonne? If she finds out, it’ll break her."

Cassian paused for a moment. "She won’t find out. I won’t let her. Besides, Yvonne just needs my name in the father’s box on the kid’s birth certificate. Once that’s done, I’ll marry Winter again."

Yohan hesitated for a moment.

"Cassian, will you really? Or let me put it another way. Do you still love Winter?"

The man remained silent, not answering either question.

That silence hit Winter like a blast of winter air—cold enough to seep into her bones.

"I can see it, Cassian. You’re different with Yvonne now. You’ve got a kid with her, you’re about to remarry her… but what’s left for Winter?"

The question seemed to rattle him. He remained quiet for a long time before finally giving an answer.

"I will marry her again. She’s been with me for ten years. I owe her. Taking care of her for the rest of her life… that’s my responsibility."

A debt. A duty. But not love.

Winter twisted the rag in her hands until no more water dripped from it. Then she fled, back into the bathroom.

She pressed her palm over her mouth so her sobs wouldn’t escape.

Outside the door, their voices carried on and each word cut deeper.

She had never imagined a simple part-time cleaning job would strip the truth bare.

It turned out that Cassian didn’t love her anymore and that she had been fooling herself into thinking they would find their way back.

Her parents had died when she was young, leaving her to be raised by her uncle’s family.

At sixteen, her uncle had tried to undress her more than once. She had tried to run away again and again, but he always caught her and dragged her back.

One afternoon, she climbed to the roof of the school, ready to jump—until Cassian Luke pulled her down to save her life.

She couldn’t break free from his grip, so she told him everything, hoping he would help her escape.

He said back then, "Then come with me. I promise I’ll go hungry before I ever let you starve."

With nowhere else to go, she left school and followed him to Melbourne to make a living. 

And yes, she never went hungry again.

At twenty-two, while filing documents for Cassian’s small company, she was cornered by a rich brat.

She called the police for help, but the scandal nearly bankrupted Cassian’s business.

In the end, to save the company, he accepted Yvonne’s offer.

The Harris Family was one of the most powerful in the city and with their backing, his company bounced back fast.

The night before his wedding to Yvonne, he held Winter in his arms and cried until dawn.

He had assured, "Don’t worry, Winter. I don’t love her. Three years from now, I’ll find a way to divorce her and marry you."

Because she blamed herself for putting him in that position, she couldn't bring herself to walk away.

From that night on, she wasn't his partner anymore—and became his caged bird.

Because of the Harris Family’s conditions, she had to step down from Cassian’s company.

She didn’t want to live off him, but without a degree, the best she could find were odd jobs. Eventually, she started cleaning houses.

Three years later, he kept his word. He divorced Yvonne and gave Winter a lavish wedding.

However, the price for that wedding had been agreed to on three demands from Yvonne.

The first was a child, even if it meant IVF. This, Cassian refused.

It wasn't until today that Winter finally understood that he had rejected the IVF part. In fact, he had been willing to have a child with her all along.

The second demand was a villa and he bought it for Yvonne.

Meanwhile, after the divorce, Winter and Cassian stayed in the same cramped rental apartment they had always shared.

The third condition… she only learned about it today. It was a divorce.

A month ago, Cassian had told her the company was in trouble and he didn’t want her dragged into the fallout, so he said they should divorce for now.

When it came to Cassian, she never questioned, as she had always trusted him completely.

And so, she signed without hesitation. The mandatory waiting period was almost up.

Now she knew it had all been a lie.

Now she understood that his gentleness, his easy agreement to whatever she wanted—they weren’t signs of love, but of obligation.

Ten years together and not once had he told her he loved her.

He had spent three years spending his time with the woman he truly loved and what was left for her was a sense of duty.

Yes, Cassian was a man who kept his promises, but love was never one of them.

The realization felt like someone had torn her heart in two. Tears splashed at her feet.

She lifted her head, searching for air, but every breath only tightened the ache.

Perhaps it had all been a mistake—from the very moment he had pulled her back from that rooftop.

She couldn’t remember how she got through the rest of her three-hour shift. The second she stepped outside the villa, she staggered to the trash bin and threw up.

Her knuckles went white around the rim of the bin and she noticed blood in the saliva.

She took a taxi back to her apartment with thoughts spinning in her head. Then she picked up her phone.

"Tanya, I’m coming to stay with you in Mapleton Village."

Her friend’s voice instantly brightened. "What? Are you for real?"

And before she could answer, Tanya went on, "Well, either way, I’m done caring about Cassian. I’ll take five days off and come get you."

The warmth of true friendship hit her like sunlight breaking through clouds. A faint smile tugged at her lips. "All right. Don’t worry about him."

Because in Cassian’s eyes, she wasn’t his safe harbor anymore—just an anchor, dragging him down.

Maybe letting go would lift the weight from his shoulders.

And maybe, that would be the last gift she could give him.

The moment she stepped inside, Winter collapsed onto the sofa and could no longer hold back her tears.

This cramped apartment had been home for ten years and every corner of it held pieces of her life with Cassian.

The framed photo on the wall, the stubborn oil stains on the kitchen backsplash, the sagging couch, the blueberry plant they had once tended together.

One by one, the memories replayed in her mind like an old slide reel.

By the time the sky outside had gone dark, her tears had finally run dry.

She sat in silence, eyes roaming over the room. But her thoughts kept drifting back to the spacious villa she had seen earlier that day.

It was a home filled with Cassian’s presence, too, but it showed two completely different worlds.

And suddenly, she knew—she was the only one still clinging to the past.

Perhaps this apartment was nothing but a reminder to Cassian of the years he would rather erase.

After all, this room was a reminder of his lowest point—when he was more used to taking orders than giving them and the best meal he could afford was instant noodles with a single sausage.

The ceiling sagged under layers of makeshift waterproof sheeting, slapped on after leaks had ruined important papers more than once.

There was still a patched hole in the door—left from the time the landlord kicked it in, shouting for rent.

Back then, he covered her ears and hummed quietly, telling her she didn’t need to be afraid.

On the nightstand sat a glass jar filled with tiny folded paper stars.

They had written wishes on each one years ago. Supposedly, those wishes had all come true by now, so the jar no longer served a real purpose.

She thought about tossing it straight into the trash, but instead, she began unfolding one star open.

Back then, neither of them had shared what they had wished for, so she was curious to see if any of his wishes had been about her.

One by one, the paper stars were unfolded, revealing his wishes, but not a single one mentioned her name.

 By the time she reached the last star, she did not even want to look. A laugh burst from her, sharp and wet with tears.

She crumpled the star in her fist, then tore every scrap of unfolded paper into pieces and dumped it all in the trash.

The bedroom walls were plastered with photos of them. She ripped them down, cut them into shreds and flushed them away.

When she came across an old photo of them together, she froze. She couldn’t bring herself to destroy it, so she shoved it into an old cardboard box instead.

The more she cleared, the emptier the apartment became. By the time she was done, the 600-square-foot space felt so hollow.

She carried all the discarded things to the hallway, where the junk collectors would pick them up in the morning.

When she finally sat back down, a strange numbness settled over her. She sat on the sofa, staring at nothing.

Until her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Winter? This is Yvonne.”

Winter stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

Yvonne’s voice was light, almost teasing. “You saw what happened today. So, are you going to walk away on your own, or do I need to push you?”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. And then, like a delayed punch, she realized that the kind middle-aged ex-coworker who had asked for help earlier had deceived her.

Yvonne had been looking for her the whole time. And because Winter had quit her cleaning job, she used someone Winter trusted to lure her into the villa.

All of this suddenly felt ridiculous.

Ten years in this city and she didn’t even have one single real friend.

When she still didn’t answer, Yvonne’s tone sharpened. “You know I’m not letting go of Cassian. But as long as you’re around, he won’t leave you. I’ll give you half a million dollars to disappear.”

“If you don’t, his company will be finished before long. I’ll give you a week to think about it.”

Winter spoke before the line could go dead. “No need for a week. I’ll tell you right now—I’m leaving.”

She did still love Cassian and she couldn’t stand the thought of watching him lose everything again. But this time, she was saying yes for herself, not for him.

He had once saved her life and she had repaid him with ten years of hers. That was enough.

Yvonne arched a brow. “Fine. Just make sure you mean it. Don’t play games with me.”

A faint, bitter smile tugged at Winter’s lips. Play games?

That would only work if Cassian loved her too. And he didn’t.

That night, she tossed and turned. Her dreams played the same scene over and over.

In there, Cassian was standing beside Yvonne at their wedding. Not once did his eyes find her.

She wept in every dream until her eyes throbbed, trying to wake, but her body wouldn’t move.

And then—through the blur—Cassian began walking toward her.

“Winter? What’s wrong? Wake up.”

She woke to the warmth of a palm against her cheek. Blinking her eyes open, she saw Cassian.

For a moment, she thought she was still dreaming—her vision still hazy.

He gently brushed the tears from her face, his brows knit in concern.

"What were you dreaming about? Why are you crying like that?"

And that was when Winter knew she was awake, because the Cassian in her dreams never wiped her tears. He only looked at her with that same cold detachment.

She turned away from his hand, brushing the tears off herself.

"It’s nothing. I don’t even remember."

Cassian stared at his empty palm for a beat, thrown off.

Then, he unzipped his suitcase and pulled out a scarf.

"You’ve always loved tie-dye from this brand, right? I brought this back for you. Do you like it?"

One glance told her it was a cheap print, not real tie-dye.

There was a time she had believed he simply didn’t know any better—that he didn’t understand her tastes.

Now she knew he just didn’t care enough to try.

In the past, she would have teased him for it, maybe even mock-threatened him to bring the real thing next time.

But that spark was gone. If he couldn’t bring her what she loved, she would go see it for herself.

She took the scarf, offering a small, polite smile. "Thanks."

The word seemed to catch him off guard. A strange, cool distance settled between them, one that made him uneasy.

And if she truly loved tie-dye so much, how could she not notice it was fake?

He had braced himself for her to playfully scold him, maybe even throw a pillow his way, but she did nothing.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, his phone chimed, right as she spoke.

"Why are you back so early?"

He typed a quick reply and then ruffled her hair with a smile.

"Because today’s the end of the cooling-off period. If we miss it, we’ll have to reapply."

"I didn’t want my mistake to hold you up, so I wrapped up work and came back sooner."

Her breath caught. A faint sting burned behind her eyes.

She lowered her head, hiding the flicker of hope she didn’t want him to see. Her half-smile was tinged with ache.

Of course, he hadn’t come back early because he missed her. It was because of the divorce.

Winter took a slow, steady breath before finally lifting her head. "Let’s go."

Cassian’s fingers froze mid-typing. He glanced at her, sensing something was off, though he couldn’t quite name it.

The shrill ring of his phone broke the moment. He silenced it and walked toward the living room.

When Winter emerged, she found him carefully plucking the strawberries off a small cake.

It was a habit he had picked up after marrying Yvonne. Every time he came home to see her, he would bring her one of these little cakes.

Once, she had thought it was a romantic gesture. Now she understood it was a silent apology.

Cassian said apologetically when he saw her coming. "Winter, I was in a rush. All I could grab was a strawberry cake. I picked off the strawberries so you could have it."

She shook her head gently. "Don’t bother. Let’s just go."

The truth was, she had never liked these cakes and she was allergic to strawberries.

Worse still, she had spotted this exact box sitting in the villa’s fridge yesterday.

She wondered how many times she had been handed leftovers from someone else’s table, but now the thought alone made her stomach turn.

Without another glance at Cassian, she walked to the door first.

He felt that strange distance once again. The woman who used to cling to him like a little puppy was suddenly acting cold and indifferent.

As he followed her out, ready to ask what was wrong, he stopped short. A row of cardboard boxes lined the hallway.

At first, he thought they belonged to someone else. But the longer he looked, the more familiar the contents became.

His chest tightened as he turned to her. "You packed all this? Why are you throwing so much away?"

She answered evenly, "Just some things I don’t need anymore. Cassian, I'm actually planning to—"

Before she could finish, her words were cut short by his phone ringing again.

The rest of the sentence—I'm actually planning to leave Melbourne—stayed lodged in her throat.

Watching his back while he answered the call, her eyelashes trembled. She wouldn’t tell him about it, then. Let it be a surprise.