After the cab dropped me home, I started clearing out everything Charles had given me over the years.

A ring made from a soda-can tab, a crown woven from wild grass, love letters he'd handwritten and printed…

Less than an hour of sorting, and it all fit into two boxes. Almost nothing in them was worth a cent.

Even this cramped, run-down apartment was something I'd only been able to rent by working five or six jobs at once, and I was still three months behind on the rent.

I looked at those two boxes of cheap little things, and they looked back like a mirror of my marriage—cheap, and stripped of any dignity.

Because it was worthless, it was never worth cherishing.

Something gnawed at my chest like a million termites, a thick, crawling ache, until my eyes reddened and my vision blurred.

I carried the two boxes downstairs and, piece by piece, began to burn them.

As if I were saying goodbye to the person I used to be.

Then a startled voice cut in: "Ahem… what's wrong with you, you little maid? Still out here burning things to make offerings to the dead? How unlucky can you get!"

I turned. It was Prudence Pruitt, dressed head to toe in wealth.

The girl my parents had once sponsored. Later she became my adoptive sister.

When Prudence saw me, there was no surprise in her eyes—only a haughty, gloating triumph and a taunt she couldn't wait to throw.

"Well, if it isn't Prudence Pruitt—oh, wait, that's not right. I heard you changed your name. What is it now, Louise Mason? You took your dead mother's surname. Doesn't the bad luck bother you?"

My gaze darkened. I warned her, "Prudence. Watch your mouth."

She covered her lips and laughed softly, saying it on purpose. "Your mom's been dead, what, twelve years now? And you still can't let her go? Figures. Trash raises trash."

Fury boiled up from somewhere deep, and I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

She didn't flinch. Instead, something calculating flickered in her eyes, and behind it, the pleasure of getting exactly what she wanted.

The next second, my left cheek exploded with pain, and I hit the ground with no chance to catch myself.

I looked up and saw Charles frantically helping Prudence up, his eyes full of concern for her. "Are you okay? It looks swollen. Let me get you some ice first."

"Actually, let's just go straight to the hospital. Don't worry, I'm here. Nothing bad is going to happen."

With that, Charles scooped Prudence up in his arms, turned, and walked off.

From beginning to end, he never once looked at me.

I watched his retreating back, and all at once I remembered a time when some thugs had harassed me at one of my jobs, and Charles had said the very same thing.

He'd said, "Don't worry, I'm here. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Later I asked him, "Have you ever said that to other girls too?"

He answered without a shred of hesitation, "Never. If a day like that ever came, it would only mean I'd fallen for someone else."

Now those words were his to give to Prudence.

Every word of explanation I wanted to give jammed in my throat, and not a single one would come out.

Grievance is meant for the ears of someone who cares. Explanations are meant for someone who'll judge you fairly.

Just as I was about to leave, five or six bodyguards suddenly barged in. Two of them stepped forward, pinned down my shoulders, and forced me to my knees.

My knees slammed hard against the concrete floor, the pain wrenching my brows together.

Someone was fiddling with a phone in front of me, seemingly recording a livestream or a video.

Someone else stood over me, slapping me across the face, one blow after another.

I lost count of how many times. My vision burst with stars, my cheeks swollen so badly I couldn't even close my mouth, blood mixing with saliva as it ran down my chin.

Then, all at once, I felt them stop. Everything around me fell silent.

I heard Charles's voice clearly on the other end of the phone.

"Prudence, did that make you feel better? If it's not enough, let's make it another hundred, how about that…"

I couldn't take in another word after that. My vision went black, and I passed out cold.

When I woke again, Charles was sitting at the edge of the bed, holding a bowl of porridge and blowing on it to cool it.

"You're awake. Eat something first." Charles pushed the seafood porridge toward me.

I turned my head away to avoid it.

Charles's brows drew together slightly. "Are you angry? Yesterday, that business with you hitting Prudence upset the Pruitts. They wanted me to give them an explanation."

"I admit I went too far there. But I've already transferred two villas into your name. Consider it compensation. Stop making a scene and hurry up and eat."

"I'm allergic to seafood." I frowned in disgust and shrank back, keeping clear of that bowl of seafood porridge.

Charles froze at that, his hand suspended in midair. It was a long moment before he spoke. "Sorry. I saw it on the way and just grabbed it."

I turned my face aside and ignored him.

Charles was quiet for a moment. "That…"

A phone rang, cutting him off.

The instant he answered, Prudence's syrupy little voice came through. "Charlie~ where are you? I feel so awful…"

"I'm out buying food. I'll be right back."

Charles stood as he spoke, picking up the fancy takeout box from the small table beside him and leaving. Not once did he spare me another glance.

Back when Charles and I were madly in love, the slightest thing wrong with me and he'd be beside himself with worry.

Even if I only scraped my skin, he'd insist on checking me into the hospital for observation.

Back then, we'd just failed at our first business venture and were hundreds of thousands in debt. Whatever money he had, he spent every cent of it on me.

He'd said, "You're my wife. If I'm not good to you, who would I be good to? Be good. I'll give you the luxury cars and the mansion someday. That's no empty promise."

I thought I'd met the love of my life.

But in the end it was nothing more than a dreamlike swindle dressed up as love.

The buzz of my phone pulled me back from my thoughts. I lowered my eyes to look. It was a message from Charles.

【The divorce will be finalized in six days. Don't stir up trouble in the meantime. Once I've secured the Pruitts' core technology, I'll remarry you.】

Remarry, again.

I set the phone down, too listless even to reply.

In Charles's mind, I was the lover he could never drive away, and more than that, the wife who slaved without complaint and served him willingly.

Too bad he'd forgotten.

I too had once said, "If the day comes that you betray me, I'll turn around and leave without a second's hesitation. I'll never give you another chance."

On my second day in the hospital, I was taking a midday nap when the shut door was kicked open.

Charles was at the front, fury on his face, staring at me. "Where did you hide Prudence's wedding ring?"

My eyes went blank. "What wedding ring?"

"It's the wedding ring Charlie had custom-made just for me. There's only one of its kind in the world. Yesterday he said he'd bring it to cheer me up, but who'd have thought the box would be empty…"

Prudence stepped out from behind Charles, feigning grievance as she asked, "Excuse me, have you seen that ring? It's the one we're going to use for our wedding. It means a great deal to me."

"If you really love the ring so much, I—I can have Charlie buy you another style. Please, I'm begging you, give that ring back to me."

My mind went blank. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have anything you're looking for. Get out!"

Charles ignored me completely and turned to his bodyguards. "Search the place. Whoever finds it first gets double the bonus."

Several of them barged in and began ransacking the room, rifling through every corner.

With a clear conscience, I rounded on Charles. "We've known each other for ten years. Have you really lost even that most basic trust in me? Do you honestly think I'm the kind of person who would—"

Before I could finish, one of the bodyguards ran out of the bathroom, holding up an exquisite diamond ring. "Found it! Mr. Sanchez, Miss Pruitt, take a look. Is this the one?"

Prudence's eyes lit up. "Yes! That's it!"

Charles fixed me with a piercing stare. "Louise, I never imagined you were this kind of person. You've truly disappointed me."

The disappointment in his eyes flickered and was gone. A dull ache pressed hard against my heart, and I wanted to explain that I hadn't taken it at all.

But then my gaze caught the look Prudence traded with the bodyguard, and the words stuck in my throat.

It was useless.

No matter how I explained, Charles would never believe me.

"Hmph. If you can't keep your hands to yourself, then we'll break them."

The instant the words left Charles's mouth, a bodyguard stepped forward and pinned my arm down, then drove his heel into it. The sound of bone shattering rang out at once.

I didn't even have time to beg before my right hand was bent into a grotesque shape.

The pain in my body wasn't a fraction of the pain in my heart.

I drew in a deep breath, my voice muffled, carrying a fragility that bordered on despair. "Charles, you know perfectly well my right hand… is meant to teach those children piano. Why would you ruin it too?"

Charles held Prudence's slender waist, his face expressionless. "You took what Prudence cares about most, so naturally I'll destroy what you care about most."

"From now on, don't stoop to petty thieving. It's beneath you."

"Charlie, don't be angry. Maybe she's just never seen a ring like this and wanted to admire it. After all, she crawled out of some slum, so of course she's never laid eyes on anything nice."

Prudence covered her mouth and laughed softly, the mockery in her eyes all but spilling over.

I watched the two of them walk away, Charles's words still echoing in my ears.

The dull ache in my heart twisted into a sharp knife, churning until I couldn't breathe.

Once the cast was set, I grabbed the doctor's arm and pleaded, "Could you check the surveillance footage? I want to prove my innocence. I really never stole anything."

During the treatment, the doctor had already rolled his eyes at me no fewer than twenty times.

He shook my hand off, his face taking on an amused look. "Ma'am, mind your manners."

"You can have the footage. Add me as a contact first, and I'll send it to you in a bit."

I'd noticed earlier that there was a camera directly across from my door, angled to catch the footage.

Maybe it was the only thing that could prove my innocence. Even if Charles would never believe it, I wanted to try.

After adding him, I waited anxiously, the minutes slipping away one by one, and still no video came from the doctor.

Instead, what came was Charles storming in, seething with rage.

He held down his fury and demanded, "Louise, have you really sunk this low? You and I are only divorced for the time being, and you've fallen so far you'd sell your own body?"

His words rooted me to the spot. "What do you mean?"

"Charlie, don't be angry. Maybe she was just lonely and wanted to find a man to pass the time, or maybe she just wanted to rile you up so you'd come coax her. Oh, a girl's little schemes never amount to much." Prudence had caught up by now, hooking her arm through Charles's, her voice all smiles.

"If you're going to say something, you'd better have proof!" I said sharply.