Her most trusted senior executives had worked through the night to finalize the acquisition. Just before dawn, Mary’s phone rang.

“Ms Mary, the deal is almost closed. We’re only waiting for your green light.”

She rushed to the office to handle the final details. But as she parked in the company’s underground garage, several hulking men grabbed her, threw a hood over her head, and dragged her away.

When she came to, she was bound, a timed explosive strapped to her chest. The alarm blared, pounding in her skull. Weakly, she lifted her head, straining to see who wanted her dead.

*Boom—!!!*

A familiar face swam into view. It was Kevin—he was the one who had taken her. All of this, for Shirley.

Her legs gave way, and she crumpled to the floor. Her lips trembled; it took a long moment before she could force out a faint, broken sound:

“Kevin… why?”

He showed not an ounce of pity. His face remained impassive, as though the woman before him were a stranger. Pinching the bridge of his nose wearily, he spoke, his voice icy and sharp:

“I warned you not to touch the Riverside project. Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Because of you, Shirley slit her wrists this morning. She’s still in critical care. All she wants is to reclaim her place in the Kevin family. Why won’t you just let her be?”

His face twisted with rage. He clenched his fist and smashed it through the table in front of him. Blood splattered. Then he let out a sudden, cold laugh.

“Five years ago, because of that absurd arranged marriage, my parents threatened to cut ties with me to force Shirley out of the family. Shirley is kind-hearted—she couldn’t bear to see me suffer. She even threatened to take her own life to make me agree to marry you. In the end, they set one condition: only if Shirley could pass every single trial they set for her could she return to the family in five years.”

This man, always so strong, now had red-rimmed eyes.

“She was only one step away! Securing the Riverside deal for the family. Just this last step, and she could come home. Mary! I’m giving you one final chance. Hand over the project, or else…”

He grew more agitated as he spoke, but Mary suddenly laughed.

“Or else what, Kevin? Are you going to offer my life to atone for Shirley?”

“I’m not joking. The bomb on you is a thought away from detonating. I’ll count to three. If you still refuse to give up the project, you can use your life to apologize to Shirley.”

Kevin turned deadly serious. He clutched the remote detonator, every muscle in his neck corded with tension, his expression that of a roaring lion.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“…”

Watching his desperate, life-or-death stare, Mary suddenly felt it was all so pointless. She tugged at the corner of her mouth, managing a weak, bitter smile.

“Heh… Fine. I agree.”

Leaning against the wall in the corner, she felt utterly drained. So he would go this far for Shirley. He didn’t care about her feelings, her safety.

His lack of love for her was now a settled fact. Why had she clung so desperately?

She lifted the corner of her mouth, trying not to look utterly defeated.

“But… I have one condition. Let’s get a divorce. Of course, you’ve made more mistakes than I have, so I want a larger share of the assets.”

Kevin’s expression flickered with shock. No matter how much she’d suffered before, Mary had never mentioned divorce. This time…

But then he thought—she was always a scheming woman. Perhaps this was just another one of her tricks. He snorted coldly. “You’d better mean it.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Kevin had someone draft a divorce agreement on the spot. Without hesitation, he signed his name with a forceful, decisive stroke.

Holding the signed papers, a chill spread through Mary’s heart. Five years of her life, thrown away on someone who never cared. Her knuckles trembled as she finally made the call.

“Drop the Riverside deal. Stand down.”

Before she could catch her breath, her phone vibrated violently again. The name flashing on the screen made her fingers pause for a long moment before she finally answered.

“Mary,” Shen Yuheng’s voice came through, slightly hoarse and slurred from drink, carrying a suppressed, stubborn edge. “Am I always just going to be your secret lover?”

Mary lowered her gaze, looking at the pale lines on her palm from clenching too hard. After a few seconds of silence, her reply was clear and firm:

“I’m making it official. One month from now. Meet me at City Hall.”

Before the other side could react, Mary hung up.

Kevin had only caught the part about her giving up the Northgate Project; the rest had been static. He ordered Mary released, then raced desperately toward Shirley. As the car’s engine roared and sped away, the last shred of reluctance in Mary’s heart crumbled to dust.

She didn’t return to the family home that day. Instead, she wandered the streets for hours before finally trudging back to her father’s house.

Seeing his daughter’s haggard appearance, Albert’s heart ached. He pulled her into a tight hug.

“Mary, whatever it is, tell your father. I’ll make it right. Did that Kevin boy bully you again?”

Mary forced a light laugh, nuzzling against his shoulder like she used to as a girl. “For the last time, Dad. I’m divorcing him. We’ll get the papers in a month.”

Albert stiffened. After a long moment, he pinched her cheek gently. “Should’ve done it sooner. Good riddance to bad rubbish. You deserve better.”

After a few more comforting words, he made her a cup of warm milk and sent her off to bed early.

That night, sleep never came.

It was the sound of muffled sobs from downstairs that finally pulled her from her thoughts.

Mary dressed and went down. A woman dripping with jewels was kneeling dramatically on the doorstep of the family villa.

Seeing Mary, the woman immediately prostrated herself, her voice a pitiful whine. “Mary, please… please come home. Don’t be stubborn with Kevin like this. There’s really nothing between me and him, I swear…”

Mary’s gaze swept over her, icy, then abruptly fixed on the ring necklace hanging from her throat. It was the first birthday gift Mary had ever given Kevin. He’d never worn it. Not once. And now it was here, on another woman.

She strode forward, yanked the necklace free with a sharp tug, then brushed her hands together as if she’d touched something filthy.

“What you and Kevin have or don’t have is none of my business. But this necklace? I paid for it. Five million. On you—it’s just a waste of something precious.”

“Mary!”

Shirley’s hands clenched, nails digging deep into her palms, her face contorting with fury. She let out a sharp, grating laugh, shoulders shaking violently as if she’d heard the world’s greatest joke. “A waste? Mary, do you really think a five-million chain could ever hold Kevin? Today he chose me over you. Tomorrow, he’ll hand me everything you’ve ever owned as a bonus! You’re just an old toy he can discard anytime. How dare you stand there and talk to me about what’s ‘worthy’?”

She took a step closer, eyes venomous, voice a low, mocking hiss. “Just wait. It won’t be long. This necklace, the title of Mrs. Kevin, everything you have… it will all be mine. A fool like you, who only knows how to throw money around, is no match for me.”

Shirley’s twisted expression and relentless advance filled Mary with disgust. She couldn’t take it anymore. Summoning all her strength, she shoved Shirley away.

A sly glint flashed in Shirley’s eyes. She let herself fall dramatically to the ground with a jarring thud.

“Shirley!!!”

A frantic voice rang out from behind. Kevin rushed forward, his presence suddenly filling the entryway with a palpable, threatening energy. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m… I’m fine, Kevin. But the baby…” A fragile, heartbreaking smile. “The baby isn’t. It’s so unfair. I wanted to tell you… but I suppose some women just aren’t meant to be mothers. Your mothers. Please, don’t be angry with Mary. This is my fault. I never should have come back.”

With every word Shirley uttered, the hatred in Kevin’s eyes as he looked at Mary intensified. Trembling, he gathered Shirley into his arms. The panic in his eyes was something Mary had never seen before. His voice shook as he yelled toward the door, “Someone! Get a doctor! Get a doctor now!”

He was trembling. He was… afraid. So, Kevin had a weakness after all. So… he could feel fear, too.

After years of his indifferent gaze, seeing the raw love and fear in his eyes for someone else was a blinding, physical pain.

The metal of the necklace bit into her palm as she clenched her fist. Watching Kevin’s frantic retreat, she drew her arm back and hurled it with all her strength into the pond outside. Kevin was tainted. The necklace was tainted.

She didn’t like dirty things.

Mary had assumed Kevin would be glued to Shirley’s side, but that very night, he took the initiative to ask her out to talk.

He chose the hotel where they’d first met—and first slept together. Even the room number was the same.

If they were going to end this, Mary wanted a clean break. Some things needed to be said, so she didn’t refuse. She even dressed up for the occasion.

When she pushed the door open, Kevin was already waiting. He handed her a glass of red wine, his voice tinged with nostalgia. “Mary, do you remember the first time we met? Back then, I never imagined you’d become my wife.”

She was momentarily stunned. She hadn’t expected him to remember. Taking a small sip, she offered a relaxed smile.

“Yes. It was my eighteenth birthday party. Someone drugged me, and I stumbled into your room by accident. I accidentally slept with you. I said I’d take responsibility. I never thought… I’d become your burden.”

The smile on her lips slowly froze. Her head felt suddenly foggy.

Kevin stepped forward to steady her, pulling her into his embrace. He pressed a careful kiss to her hair, his voice gentle, intoxicating. “Back then, I hadn’t fallen in love with Shirley yet. I even thought marrying you might be a happy thing. But later, I fell for her—helplessly. Then our families arranged our marriage. It forced me apart from her. I tried so hard to forget her, but Mary… I truly couldn’t.”

His voice grew increasingly sorrowful, then twisted suddenly. “Finally, Shirley came back. Finally, she was pregnant with my child. I thought I could keep her at last. But Mary! Because of you! Because of your viciousness, our child is gone!”

His hand clamped painfully around her jaw, his face contorting into a grotesque smile. “Hahaha… Mary, you should pay for your stupidity. You owe Shirley a baby. You're going to give her one.”

The wine had been drugged. As his accusations washed over her, Mary dug her nails into her own thighs until she broke the skin, but she felt no pain. Tears welled in her eyes. “Kevin! You’re insane!”

He didn’t answer. Helpless, she watched as several men crowded into the room. And the man she had loved for over a decade personally closed the door behind them.

Their hands groped her frantically. A wave of crushing shame washed over her. Mary felt she was going mad. No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t stop them.

“Kevin, you bastard! I swear I'll haunt you until the day you die!”

She screamed the words at the door, then broke into choked, sobbing cries.

Only at the last possible moment did Kevin, his eyes bloodshot, finally re-enter the room. His fists were clenched, his face dark. “Castrate them!” he roared at the men. “Feed them to the dogs!”

His bodyguards swarmed in and dragged them away. He looked at the disheveled woman before him, raw desire blazing in his eyes. He seemed to have no resistance where she was concerned.

Without a word, Kevin moved toward her and roughly pinned her beneath him. Without even a hint of foreplay, he freed himself.

She felt the blunt pressure against her thigh, and the humiliation crashed over her again, hot and suffocating. With a final, desperate resolve, Mary fumbled in her bag, pulled out the small fruit knife she always carried, and drove it hard toward his chest.

A muffled grunt escaped him. He stared down at her in disbelief. A long moment passed before he managed to speak, his voice strained. “Mary… You meant to kill me?”

Shoving him off, Mary walked toward the door without a backward glance. “When you’re dealing with a rabid dog, you have to be more vicious to survive. You left me no choice, Kevin.”