Harper Clay POV:

I strode out of the bedroom and locked myself in the study. Once the adrenaline faded, only an endless emptiness remained.

I slid down the door panel, my legs going weak. I looked up at the wedding photo on the wall. In the picture, Sterling was looking at me as if I were his entire universe. But now, that gaze felt like a thousand steel needles piercing my eyes. My ten years of youth had been crushed into bloody shards of glass.

With violently trembling hands, I pulled out my phone and dialed the number of the person who should unconditionally protect me. The phone rang for a long time. The background noise was filled with the clatter of country club ladies playing Mahjong and their shrill laughter.

"I'm telling you, my Megan is finally back. Sterling just bought her a diamond tennis bracelet yesterday. Oh, Harper? She's perfectly happy being a housewife..." My mother, Carol, was loudly bragging to her wealthy Mahjong friends.

"Mom!" I choked out, a desperate sob tearing through my throat. "Sterling is cheating on me. With Megan. I caught them right in my own bed!"

The laughter on the other end abruptly stopped. In the chilling dead silence, there was only the sound of my mother slowly shuffling the tiles.

"Mom?"

"I already knew." Carol's voice dripped with extreme impatience. "Don't make a scene like a hysterical, bitter woman. What's the big deal?"

The blood in my entire body completely froze. "You... you already knew?"

"Your sister brought him home back when she was in college. If Megan hadn't gone to pursue her own career, how could a superstar like Sterling ever look your way?" she said casually. "Your brother's tech company and your father's factory are entirely sustained by Sterling's investments. You haven't worked a single day in ten years; he's the one providing for you. Don't you dare ruin our family's cash tree over your ridiculous jealousy. Give him back to your sister, and just pretend nothing happened between you two for these ten years."

I drew in a breath of biting cold air. So they all knew, and I was the only one in the dark... Then what did my ten years of sacrifice amount to?

I quietly hung up the phone. All the weakness and grief were completely drained out of me at this moment, leaving behind only a heart tempered into steel, as cold and hard as iron.

I stood up, opened the safe, and took out the heavy parchment marriage certificate.

I walked downstairs. The living room was as cold as a tomb. Sterling was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. He had washed off the cake that covered him and changed into a bespoke suit.

Smack! I viciously slammed the marriage certificate onto the glass coffee table. "I can divorce you, Sterling. But you must compensate me for every single penny of loss I am owed. I want half of your assets."

Sterling froze for a moment, then burst into a dark, mocking sneer. "Half? Harper, is your brain flooded with water? You're just a housewife. You eat my food, you live in my penthouse. What exactly have you contributed to this family?"

"What have I contributed?" My voice was terrifyingly quiet, slicing open his arrogance as precisely as a scalpel. "Sterling, you have extremely severe, even crippling OCD and pre-game anxiety! You absolutely refuse to let the team's medical staff touch you!"

I closed in on him, my eyes nailed dead onto his face. "For these ten years, I was your sports nutritionist, your advanced physical therapist, your deep sanitation manager, and your fucking psychological crisis counselor! When you were throwing up uncontrollably in the locker room from panic attacks, who was kneeling on the floor like a dog cleaning you up, pulling your shattered sanity back? It was me who allowed you to be a god on the ice for these ten years! The private medical fees I saved you amount to far more than just a few million!"

The mockery on Sterling's face deepened. "So what? You're my wife, that was your job. Did I not give you the halo of the 'Captain's Wife'?" He leaned down, his eyes full of icy ridicule. "But let me remind you of reality. We signed an ironclad prenup. You roll out of here with exactly what you brought through this door: absolutely nothing. Now, pack your trash and get the hell out, or I'll have security throw you out."

Harper Clay POV:

"An ironclad prenup?" I frowned, my voice trembling slightly despite my best efforts to keep it steady. "When did I ever sign a prenuptial agreement with you?"

Sterling shrugged, a casual, almost pitying smile on his face. "Ten years ago, right before the wedding, when I had my lawyers set up our life insurance policies. Didn't you read the fine print in that stack of documents?"

A freezing, bone-piercing chill instantly shot from the soles of my feet to my scalp, making my teeth chatter. Ten years ago... So, at the very beginning of that supposedly sweet, fairy-tale marriage, when he was just a rookie, he was already calculating this exact day! He had been guarding his wealth against me since day one!

A massive wave of despair swallowed me whole like a black tide. My heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible hand, hurting so much I couldn't breathe. I looked at the handsome face I had been obsessed with for a decade. Now, all that remained was a deep, bone-deep hatred. A furious fire ignited from the darkest depths of my soul.

"Heh..." I suddenly let out a low, dark laugh. I raised my eyes, meeting Sterling's icy glare head-on. "Sterling, maybe you're right. Maybe I can't touch your millions. But what if tomorrow, I walk right into Megan's elite figure skating club? What if I stand in front of all her glamorous sponsors and high-society friends, and tell them the touching story of how my dear sister loves my sloppy seconds and shares a husband with me?"

"Harper!" Sterling's face instantly darkened like a thundercloud. He took a menacing step forward. "Don't you dare!"

"Watch me!" I didn't back down an inch, my voice spiking with raw aggression. "I have nothing left! My husband, my sister, my family... they're all gone! What the hell do I have to lose? A person with nothing fears nothing! Try me, Sterling. Let's see if your sponsors love a scandal!"

Sterling stared dead into my eyes, his chest heaving. Megan's pristine reputation... that was her lifeblood, her capital, and the very thing she needed to stand proudly by his side as the new 'Captain's Wife'. He couldn't afford to gamble.

Sterling narrowed his eyes, his voice low and dangerous. "What do you want?"

My fingernails dug into my palms. I enunciated every single word with absolute clarity. "I want the small apartment downtown on 5th Avenue. Transfer the deed to my name. Immediately. And $20,000,000 in cash to get me settled."

That apartment was the most insignificant piece of real estate in his massive portfolio. But right now, I needed a safe place to land.

Sterling's brow smoothed out. The apartment and the cash were a drop in the bucket for his $80 million net worth. Using this insignificant price to buy Megan's reputation and silence a desperate woman... it was a bargain.

"Fine." Sterling's eyes were venomous. "Take what you want and stay the hell away from Megan. Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens next."

I felt like I had heard a joke, but I couldn't laugh.

"Seven days. Bring your ID to the lawyer's office to sign the divorce papers." Sterling dropped his final sentence and strode out of the living room without looking back.

The massive, cold living room was instantly empty. The adrenaline that had kept me standing abruptly vanished. My strength was completely drained. My legs gave out, and I collapsed heavily onto the cold leather sofa.

With violently trembling hands, I pulled out my phone. The screen light illuminated my face, which was as pale as a sheet of paper. I dialed my best friend, Chloe Foster. She answered on the first ring.

"Hey, Harp? What's up?" Chloe's energetic voice came through.

"Chloe..." The moment I opened my mouth, the choked sobs I had been suppressing could no longer be contained. A broken, shattered voice leaked out. "... Come get me... please... take me away..."

Chloe's tone instantly shifted to sheer panic. "What happened?! Where are you? I'm on my way!"

Forty minutes later, Chloe's flashy red Porsche screeched to a halt in the driveway. She stormed into the house like a hurricane. At a glance, she saw me curled up in the corner of the sofa, looking like a ghost, and the ruined anniversary cake box sitting mockingly on the coffee table.

"Harper!" Chloe rushed over, wrapping her arms tightly around my freezing body. "What the hell happened? You and Sterling were perfect! Did you guys have a fight?"

Feeling the genuine warmth of my best friend's embrace, the last string of my tightly wound nerves completely snapped. The humiliation, fury, and despair I had suppressed all day burst forth like a broken dam.