Regret soon consumed Stefan after the divorce. He never expected that his boring ex-wife would move on overnight, and be living her best life. Not only did a young heir of an influential family claim to be her underling, but a famous celebrity confessed to being her fan as well. Even one of the wealthiest people in the country referred to her as their senior…‘I don’t care how strong your background is, Renee Everheart. I’ll make sure to tear down your walls!’ With that, the second son of the Hunt family set out to protect the woman in secret. Stefan: “My ex-wife is so fragile that she can’t even stand on her own two feet, you mustn’t take advantage of her.”To which everyone replied, “Who would dare to mess with her? She’d rip our heads off if we ever get into a minor disagreement!”Stefan: “My ex-wife is far too naive, you shouldn’t toy with her feelings.” And yet people would say, “I’m sorry? We’ve never seen a naive woman act so unapologetically!”Stefan: “Come, darling. Let me introduce you to this powerful figure!”To which the powerful figure responded with a deep bow, “No, no, she’s the boss around these parts! I hope you accept my sincerest admiration!”Since then, Stefan has had to live a double life. He was an almighty CEO during the day, but come night time, he’d be sobbing on his knees, hoping to win Renee’s heart back.

“Let’s get a divorce, Renee.”

The man’s cold voice sounded from behind while Renee Everheart was in the middle of searing steaks. After hearing those words, she became seemingly numb to the hot oil splattering on her cheeks from the lightly sizzling pan.

“We’re only husband and wife on paper. Now that four years have passed, it’s time to end this,” Stefan Hunt said with a cold, distant tone.

Renee bit her lip anxiously.

‘Looks like this day was inevitable after all…’

Her family was declared bankrupt four years ago. Her parents, unable to endure the stress of financial hardship, took their lives together, leaving young Renee to handle the mess alone.

In the past, Renee’s grandfather fought alongside Stefan’s grandfather on the battlefield, and he even saved the latter’s life once. In his dying moments, he voiced out to his old pal his concern for his granddaughter and left Renee under his care.

And so, a marriage of convenience was arranged between Stefan and Renee to put the old man’s concerns to rest.

As time passed, Renee found herself falling in love with the man she married. She thought that as long as she played the role of a good wife, he would reciprocate her feelings one day.

However, what transpired was the complete opposite of what she had hoped for.

“I’ll give you 40 million dollars and a penthouse at Long Beach. Here are the divorce papers. Sign them if you have no objections.”

Stefan then pushed a document towards Renee. His stern expression indicated that this was no more than another business transaction to him.

Renee skimmed through the string of numbers.

‘40 million dollars for four years, huh? The Hunts are still as wealthy as ever,’ she thought to herself.

“Do we have to?” She put down the document and stared at her husband.

The man she had loved for four years was drop-dead gorgeous, yet his beautiful face was always stern and distant.

“Yes,” Stefan replied without a hint of hesitation.

Renee’s heart stung, but she was not one to drag things out. As her objections had fallen on deaf ears, she knew it was time for her to go.

‘Whatever, I got 40 million for the years I’ve spent being his wife. This is more than worth it!’

“Alright.” She picked up a pen and scribbled her signature on the papers decisively.

Stefan was taken aback by her resoluteness. The Renee he knew was fragile and indecisive, and he had never seen this side of her.

For some reason, this left a sour taste in his mouth.

“I’ll let you know once this is processed. If it’s possible, I’d like you to move out by tonight.” The man said, brushing off the unpleasant feeling in his chest before leaving.

It was painfully obvious that he didn’t intend on discussing the matter over.

On the very same night, the housekeeper immediately threw Renee’s belongings out of the villa after receiving news of the divorce. It wasn’t like she respected Renee back then, but now that they were officially separating, she became openly hostile.

“Serves you right, you gold-digging leech! It’s about time they decided to kick you out!”

Renee had no choice but to crouch down and pick her scattered clothing up. The cold night breeze only served to rub salt in her wound.

Just then, she heard the sound of a car rolling to a stop behind her. A tall slender woman emerged from the vehicle.

“Ms. Desrosiers, you’re here! Welcome, welcome!” The housekeeper, who was just yelling profanities at Renee, immediately jumped to the guest’s assistance.

However, Briar Desrosiers didn’t even bother to spare the housekeeper a glance. “Be careful with my belongings. If you break even a single thing, you wouldn’t be able to pay it back within a lifetime.”

Renee’s entire body stiffened up. In mere seconds, the pieces fell into place in her mind.

‘No wonder Stefan wanted me out by tonight. He had another woman he wanted to play house with! Hah, to think that I let that man affect my emotions! How I wish I could slap my past self!’

Briar approached Renee with a cocky smirk.

“So you’re Renee Everheart, huh? What are you still doing here? Didn’t Stefan kick you out? Get a move on! Have you no shame?!”

Despite the provocation, Renee continued packing her belongings at her own pace.

“Hey, are you deaf? I’m talking to you here!”

“Sorry, I didn’t quite hear you.” Renee met her gaze calmly.

“All I heard was some crazy bitch barking!”

“How dare you call me a bitch?!”

“I didn’t. Looks like you went ahead and got offended in the first place.” Renee replied as she got up with her luggage. She tilted her head at Briar, who was blocking her path.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me. Nice little doggies should know how to stay out of the way.”

“How dare you!” Briar’s face went bright red as she stomped her feet.

‘Wasn’t she known to be a living punchbag? When did she learn to talk back like that?’

The housekeeper quickly tried to calm Briar with flattery.

“Please calm down, Ms. Desrosiers. You shouldn’t upset yourself over a woman like that!”

“You’ll be the lady of the house soon. That insolent witch is insignificant compared to you…”

“We’ve also arranged a room for you per Master Hunt’s orders. Let me lead the way!”

Briar looked visibly pleased by the flattery. She quickly lost the mood to argue with Renee and proceeded to follow the housekeeper into the villa.

Renee was once again left alone outside. Mixed emotions welled up in her chest as she gazed upon the tall building. It felt ironic that she would return to the streets after four years of living here.

“Goodbye, Stefan.” Renee took a deep breath and left.

Later on, she moved into a small one-bedroom apartment downtown.

She felt liberated as soon as she lost her title as the missus of the Hunt family. She was free to do anything she wanted, and she was no longer the caged bird she used to be.

Renee took her phone out and dialed a number she blocked for four years.

“Boss, you’ve finally remembered that I exist! It’s been four years, you know!” A delighted voice exclaimed on the other end of the line.

This person was none other than Liam Osborne, also known as one of the Four Princes of Beach City. Despite his rebellious and unpredictable nature, he made himself sound like an underling when speaking to Renee.

“I heard about your divorce, by the way. Congratulations! You should've ditched that asshole a long time ago! I’m not sure if you know this, but while you were being Mrs. Punchbag, rumors about you started spreading everywhere! If those old geezers knew that you’re actually the ultimate boss they were looking for all this while, they’d flip their shit! So? Are we doing something big this time? I can…”

“Hold that thought!” Renee was so annoyed by his constant blabbering that she considered blocking him again.

“I promised Grandpa that I won’t go back to that life anymore. If you really do see me as your boss, you better keep this a secret.”

It appears that her past was rather ‘interesting’. However, she wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

“I called because I want you to help investigate something…”

After talking some more with Liam, Renee hung up the phone, only to receive a text message from Stefan.

Her heart started racing as she tapped her phone screen ever so lightly.

[Beach City Courthouse, 9 am tomorrow.]

Short and simple, as if she didn’t deserve any more than that. The butterflies in her stomach dropped dead in an instant. She realized how foolish she had been for expecting more from this man.

[Ok.] Renee replied, matching his energy.

The next day, Renee showed up at the courthouse at 8:30 am, even though they agreed to meet at nine.

Not only did she arrive early, but she also made sure to put on heavy makeup and her favorite outfit, a rose-red halter dress. With her long hair tied up into a ponytail, the skin on her neck and back glowed under the bright sunlight.

When paired with her elegant, yet cold demeanor, she looked angelic from afar.

Unfortunately, she had caught a cold the night before. Her body was burning up, which made her feel quite weak.

At 9 am sharp, a silver Bugatti Veyron cruised into the parking lot in front of the courthouse. Soon after, she was greeted by Stefan’s ice-cold expression as he exited the vehicle.

His eyes sparkled for a split second when he saw Renee standing there, but this was quickly replaced with a contemptuous expression for some reason.

“Well, aren’t you excited?” Stefan scoffed as he walked past Renee, heading straight towards the department that handled divorce cases.

‘…What’s his deal?!’ Renee thought to herself as she stared up at the tall figure. ‘Aren’t you the one who’s excited? You’re practically running to the counter!’

The procedure went very smoothly. All they had to do was sign a few papers, which took less than ten minutes.

“According to the new law, there is a one-month grace period for all divorces. Should any of you wish to call off the divorce, you can bring along the required documents before the thirty days are up,” explained the staff as he handed them their application forms.

Having worked at the courthouse for years, he had witnessed countless tears and fights during divorce proceedings. This was the first time he had come across such calm individuals at the courthouse.

He simply couldn’t fathom why this couple was divorcing each other. They appeared to be made for each other, especially given their good looks.

Renee immediately took the papers and read through the clauses. She mumbled to herself sarcastically, “There’s a grace period for divorce, but not marriage? If this law applied to marriages as well, I-”

Stefan’s expression darkened. With a cold smirk, he snapped, “Oh? Are you saying you wouldn’t have married me if there was a grace period for marriage?”

“Nope!” Renee lifted an eyebrow. “I got 40 million out of you. 40 million! The average woman wouldn’t even dream of making this much money in their lifetime. I guess you could say I struck gold!”

Stefan was visibly upset by her reaction. He tugged on his tie out of frustration.

The Renee from before was always very lenient as if she didn’t even have her own opinions. The closer they got to the divorce, the more sharp and spiteful her words became.

Just as they were about to part ways, a soft voice came from behind. “Stef, are you done yet?”

Renee turned around, only to realize it was Briar!

Briar was wearing a white sundress, her gaze filled with a tinge of sadness. She looked like a dandelion that would crumple apart at the slightest breeze. There wasn’t a single shred of arrogance left on her face, unlike the other night when they initially met.

Besides that, Renee had also noticed a slight bump on her belly.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait for me in the car? What are you doing out here?”

“It’s cold out here. This child is important to our family, we can’t afford to have you fall ill while pregnant.”

Stefan’s voice sounded cold and distant as usual.

Seeing the two, Renee couldn’t help but feel betrayed. Deep down in her heart, she felt extremely aggrieved.

“Don’t you think you owe me an explanation, Master Hunt?”

Stefan stared back at Renee expressionlessly.

“I don’t owe you anything.”