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.

At City Hall, it only took a few questions before the staff slid two divorce decrees across the counter.

Winter stared at the covers, her vision blurring.

Something she had held onto for ten years had popped like a soap bubble in less than one.

The marriage that felt like a dream was officially over.

Cassian was moved by the tears in her eyes so much that he couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze. He pulled her into a gentle hug.

"Winter, once the company gets through this rough patch, we’ll definitely remarry. Just wait for me, all right?"

For the first time, she didn’t give him the answer he wanted. She buried her face in his shoulder and whispered, "No."

But his phone rang before he could hear her.

He glanced at the screen and quickly declined the call—but not before she caught the caller’s name. My Princess.

A prince belonged with a princess. She… she was just a Cinderella without the magic.

She turned her face away to force her tears back and lift her head to calm the storm within.

Cassian slipped on the suit jacket draped over his arm and ordered a taxi for her.

"Go home and wait for me. I have to run by the office."

After saying that, he gave the driver a string of instructions to drop her off close to the entrance so she wouldn’t have to walk far and to drive slowly so she wouldn’t get carsick.

He spent ten whole minutes making sure every detail was right before getting into his own car.

Winter kept her head bowed, catching her tears before they could fall. Her throat ached as she swallowed them down before she spoke to the driver.

"Let’s go."

She didn’t care where Cassian was going… until the roads began to overlap.

At a fork, she found herself quietly telling the driver to follow him.

She wasn’t prepared for where he stopped. City Hall, again.

From the backseat of the taxi, she watched Cassian stride up to Yvonne with arms wide open. Then, he pulled her close in a full embrace.

The wedding ring that had once matched Winter’s was gone from his hand. A bright red tie replaced the one he had worn earlier, all to make himself completely belong to Yvonne Harris alone.

She had known he had divorced her to marry Yvonne, but she hadn’t expected it to be the same day.

The ink on the divorce papers had barely dried and the next moment, he and Yvonne had already obtained their marriage certificate.

Seriously, Cassian couldn’t wait even one day?

The clerk’s office had been cleared just for them. In less than five minutes, they walked out holding a fresh marriage certificate.

Cassian took out a bouquet as if from thin air, then bent and scooped Yvonne up in his arms, carrying her bridal-style to the car.

This was how he loved someone. It was the first time Winter had ever seen that light in his eyes.

Her fingers tightened around the divorce certificate in her lap as she rolled up the window.

"Drive."

As the car pulled away from City Hall, she kept her gaze fixed on the blur outside, her eyes heavy with tears that refused to fall.

She didn’t go home. Instead, she headed straight to the office.

The moment she stepped inside, Yohan, one of the senior staff, spotted her and came over with a grin.

"Winter, I thought you were off today. What brings you in?"

Winter offered a faint smile. "I’m here to hand in my resignation."

Since Cassian's divorce with Yvonne, she had come back to work, though her role as Yohan’s assistant was more honorary than anything, so there was never much for her to do.

His smile faltered upon hearing her reason. "Why resign? Does Cassian know about this? He’s not going to agree to this."

Her eyes welled up. She first slid a signed contract and uploaded the digital version to the company system.

"You’re my direct supervisor. I only need your approval."

Yohan could clearly guess she knew something, but was not daring to ask.

He tried to talk her out of it, but she didn’t budge. In the end, he pulled out his phone and dialed Cassian.

The line rang and rang. When Cassian finally picked up, all he said was, "Whatever it is, you decide."

His expression turned awkward as he hung up.

A dull ache spread in Winter’s chest, but she forced a graceful smile.

"Don’t feel bad. I already talked about this to him and he’s fine with it. I just need a break. Planning to take a trip, clear my head. I’ll be back before you know it."

Yohan felt slightly relieved upon hearing she was planning to take a trip.

He told himself that only a handful of people knew the truth and there was no way it could have reached her ears. So, he didn't even think twice before agreeing.

She said her goodbyes, but still didn’t want to return home.

On the way home, she walked the entire way, as if she wanted to take in the entire city where the man he loved was.

She ended up by the river. Sitting down on a bench, she realized she had been here before—with him.

Back then, the land across the water was nothing but weeds and dirt, with rumors that luxury villas would be built on it.

Back then, Cassian had been wearing an old, faded shirt, picking at a flimsy takeout box. When she had taken his hand, the tips of his ears went red and he had covered his shyness with words.

"When this place is developed, I’m buying you the sunniest villa there."

At that time, she had just laughed and called him a liar.

Now, the promise had come true, just not for her.

The villa where Yvonne lived was exactly as he had described, flooded with golden light.

A breeze brushed her cheek, snapping her out of the memory.

She looked down and found her face was already wet with tears.

Her chest ached. She pressed a hand to it, head bowed, breathing heavily. But the tears kept coming, harder now.

Her phone suddenly rang. She swallowed the sobs threatening to escape and answered.

"Hello?"

Her voice was thick, choked with emotion and Cassian froze for a moment.

He strode out of the room and found a quiet place. "What's wrong?"

Winter blinked away the heat in her eyes and forced a few deep breaths. "Nothing. Just yawned. Do you need anything?"

Relieved she wasn’t hurt, he got straight to the point. "I’ll send you an address. Can you bring some things over for me?"

At this point, she had had enough of being at his beck and call, so she immediately refused.

"Why not ask your assistant? I—"

But before she could finish, he had already hung up. A moment later, a text came through with the address and the list.

With that came one final line. [Winter, stop messing around. This is really urgent.]

She didn’t answer. Instead, she forwarded the message to his assistant.

She wanted him to understand that she wasn’t going to say yes every time.

Ten minutes later, her phone rang. It was the assistant.

"Winter, I’m so sorry… my grandma’s sick. I’m back in my hometown for two weeks. I can’t help you since I'm not in Melbourne."

The girl sounded panicked, like she was already halfway to packing her desk.

Winter caught the fear in her voice and sighed, "Okay, take good care of your grandmother. Don't worry about it."

She ended up buying the things herself and taking them to the address of Cassian’s banquet.

She knocked several times, but no one answered. With no other option, she handed the bag to the security guard and asked him to pass it along. He just waved her inside, telling her to deliver it herself.

Left with no choice once again, she pushed open the door.

As soon as the door opened, she stepped into a sudden hush. Then came the whispers.

"Who’s that? Looks like she’s wearing rags."

"Even my tablecloth is better quality than that. Guess we’re getting a little variety in the entertainment tonight."

"I’ve seen her before. Isn’t she the mistress of Yvonne’s ex-husband?"

"Huh. If that’s the mistress standard these days, charity work would be a better use of time."

Winter barely flinched. Years of standing beside Cassian in business had made her immune to insults.

But when she heard them call her a mistress, something in her chest twisted.

Two days ago, she would have snapped back—she was his wife, not some other woman. But today… she wasn’t sure what she was anymore.

Not a mistress, but not a real wife either, because Cassian had never loved her.

She weaved her way awkwardly through the crowd until she spotted him near a sofa.

A glass of wine in his hand, he stood facing Yvonne, who was smiling brightly at him. Together, they looked like the perfect pair, wrapped in their own little world.

Her grip on the paper bag tightened as she stepped forward.

"Cassian, here’s what you wanted."

He glanced at her clothes and frowned.

"Why didn’t you call me? Why just walk in like this?"

His eyes and voice dripped with obvious contempt and in that instant, Winter felt the sting of humiliation.

She had brushed off every cold remark and cutting comment from the crowd earlier, but one sentence from him had knocked down the walls she had built around herself.

Suddenly, she felt ridiculous for even bothering to bring him painkillers.

She tossed the paper bag onto the sofa, jaw tight and met his gaze without flinching.

"I called, but you didn’t answer. Transfer me the money for the meds. Anything else? If not, I’m leaving."

Before he could say a word, she stepped back and turned to go—only to hear someone call her name.