Aurora chased after me and blocked my path.

"Rowan, do you even know what you’re saying?"

I let out a short scoff and laid out my terms bluntly. "The house goes to you. The car goes to me. The law firm shares are split fifty-fifty.

"Draft the divorce agreement according to what I said. Then we’ll go to the civil affairs office today and finalize the paperwork."

Aurora’s eyes widened in disbelief.

I thought she would explode in anger, but instead her attitude softened. She opened a drawer and took out cotton swabs and gauze.

"I know you feel wronged in this situation, but it’s only temporary. Once Elara wakes up, we’ll naturally separate. Rowan, can’t you try to understand my position? Please stop making a scene."

The moment the cotton swab dipped in disinfectant moved toward my wound, I turned my head away.

"I don’t have time to watch you put on this fake act. Hurry up and draft the agreement. Don’t delay my second marriage."

Aurora’s hand froze, and a flash of irritation crossed her eyes.

At that moment, Kieran suddenly dropped to his knees in front of me. "Rowan, this is all my fault. Aurora loves you. Please stop saying things that upset her."

Then he bowed toward Aurora. "Aurora, thank you for all the guidance you’ve given me these past years. From now on, you and Rowan should live your lives together. Let’s cut ties completely."

He stood up and turned to leave, his face filled with determination.

Aurora immediately panicked. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Kieran’s waist, her voice trembling.

"Kieran, I can’t live without you. I won’t let you go!"

After saying that, she turned back to me, her face deathly cold. There was no warmth left in her eyes.

"If you insist on threatening me with divorce, then you can leave with nothing. Rowan, you’re nothing more than a freeloading drunk. Yet you still dare to covet my property. What kind of ridiculous dream are you having?"

The disgust in her eyes was unmistakable. She looked at me in the same way someone might look at a pile of rotting garbage.

A freeloading drunk.

What a cruelly ironic phrase.

She had forgotten that back then, I sold the house my parents left me so she could have her first startup capital.

She had also forgotten that she won her very first case because I drank until my stomach bled at a business gala to secure the client for her.

Eight years together. Countless days and nights spent caring for her with everything I had. All of it meant nothing compared to Kieran’s single line: "cut ties completely."

If that was the case, this was the end of the line.

After taking a deep breath, I spoke to her calmly, "Aurora, in that case, I’ll see you in court. Falling in love with you was my mistake, but I'll take back everything that belongs to me."

After saying that, I walked away without looking back, leaving Aurora’s furious shouting behind me.

I returned home to pack my things.

The moment I pushed open the bedroom door, I saw our bed still tangled with the aftermath of sex.

When my eyes landed on the wedding portrait hanging above the headboard, it felt as though shattered glass was grinding through my heart. The pain was so intense I could barely breathe.

I forced myself to hold it together and finished packing my belongings.

Just as I zipped up the bag, Kieran walked in with Aurora wrapped in his arms.

Kieran stepped forward and snatched the bag from my hand. He unzipped it and dumped everything inside onto the floor.

"Aurora told you to leave empty-handed. Did you not understand?

"The fact that she didn’t make you strip off the clothes you’re wearing is already kindness. And you still think you can take things from this house? Believe it or not, I can call the police right now and have you arrested!"

Faced with his humiliation, I clenched my fists.

Aurora immediately looped her arm around Kieran’s and let out a coy laugh. "Kieran, you really get me. I didn’t even say a word, and you already knew how to discipline my dog for me. As a reward, tonight I’ll satisfy all your requests. Any position you want."

As she said it, her gaze fell straight on my face, as if waiting for me to react the way I used to—jealous and furious.

I bent down and calmly picked up the scattered belongings from the floor.

"Who you sleep with, and what positions you prefer, has nothing to do with me anymore. And these are all mine. If you have the nerve, call the police. I’d like to see who ends up getting arrested."

Just as I picked up the final item, Kieran suddenly rushed forward. He snatched the box from my hands and took out the heirloom bracelet inside.

"And you still say you’re not a thief? A bracelet made of sapphires like this… Is that something a poor loser like you could afford?"

Then he turned to Aurora with a spoiled tone. "Aurora, I like this bracelet. Will you give it to me?"

Without even waiting for her answer, he slipped it onto his wrist.

Seeing the only relic my mother left behind about to be tainted by this man, I rushed forward.

"Let go! That’s something my mother left me. Give it back!"

Amidst the struggle…

Clink.

The bracelet fell heavily to the floor and shattered instantly into several pieces.

I knelt and gathered the fragments, gripping them tightly in my palm. Bright red blood dripped between my fingers as I lifted my head, my eyes burning.

Kieran instinctively took a step back.

"You broke it yourself. Don’t tell me you’re going to blame that on me. Aurora, look at him. He’s the one who messed up, and now he wants to pin it on me. Is he trying to run some kind of scam?"

My whole body trembled with rage. I raised my fist and swung it straight toward his face.

Just as my punch was about to land, a dull, crushing pain exploded at the back of my head.

I turned around.

Aurora was standing there holding a steel pipe, glaring at me viciously. "Rowan! As long as I’m around, don't you dare bully Kieran!"

Blood streamed down the back of my head as I staggered backward.

Kieran seized the chance to grab the steel pipe from her hands. Again and again, he slammed it down onto my body.

The sound of bones cracking exploded in my ears.

Aurora stood nearby the entire time, watching coldly without saying a single word.

After Kieran finished venting his anger, he spat directly onto my face. "Trash belongs in the trash heap. Stop coming out here and embarrassing yourself."

Then he wrapped an arm around Aurora, and the two of them walked away laughing.

I lay on the floor like a broken punching bag. My heart had gone completely cold.

To force me to surrender, Aurora issued a blacklist against me across the entire legal industry. No lawyer dared take my divorce case or handle the division of property between us.

She proudly came to my hospital bed to gloat.

"Rowan, I’ll give you one last chance. As long as you promise not to make things difficult for Kieran, you can still remain my husband. Otherwise, not only will you walk away with nothing, but I’ll make sure you end up behind bars."

Her eyes were filled with the arrogance of someone in power.

I let out a cold laugh, picked up the divorce agreement I had already prepared, and flung it straight at her face.

"Aurora, I'm telling you, this divorce is happening. No matter how capable you think you are, when the time comes, you'll be the one walking away with nothing."

Seeing that I refused to back down, Aurora completely lost her temper. "Rowan, remember this. You forced my hand. When the day comes that your reputation is ruined, even if you kneel in front of me, I won’t show you any mercy."

One month later, our divorce case was finally brought before the court.

Behind Aurora stood a lineup of elite lawyers from the legal world.

In contrast, there was no one behind me.

After both sides submitted their evidence, she shot me a contemptuous sneer.

"If you kneel and beg for mercy now, it might not be too late. Maybe I’ll soften up for the sake of our marriage."

Kieran immediately chimed in with a mocking tone, "Aurora said the house happens to need a maid. If you kneel down right now and bark like a dog three times, I might let you keep that job. After all, once you lose this case, you’ll really be a penniless nobody."

The courtroom instantly erupted with laughter, as if everyone were already eager to see me lose.

My face remained calm. Not a ripple stirred in my heart.

Seeing that I wasn’t panicking at all, Aurora let out a cold snort. She took out a flash drive and requested that it be examined as evidence on the spot.

When the screen lit up, the footage showed me completely naked, my eyes bloodshot, as I thrust frantically against a motionless woman.

My heart began pounding violently.

Aurora and Kieran had installed a camera in that room. They had recorded everything that happened that night after I was drugged.

In an instant, waves of disgusting whispers flooded the courtroom.

"This guy has no shame at all. Drugging someone and then doing that?"

"Exactly. That woman didn’t react at all the whole time. That’s a crime."

"Scum like this still has the nerve to file a divorce lawsuit and demand a share of his wife’s property? He should rot in prison."

My face turned deathly pale as I stood frozen in place.

Even the judge shot me a look of contempt, as if wishing he could send me straight to prison on the spot.

Seeing this, Kieran burst out laughing triumphantly. "If you don’t want your reputation destroyed, kneel down and bark like a dog a hundred times right now. Maybe Aurora will forgive you."

Aurora pinched his cheek affectionately, then curled her lips in a smug smile at me. "If you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in prison, kneel down, apologize, admit defeat, and come back to my side as a housekeeper. Otherwise, you know what I’m capable of."

I looked at their smug faces and pulled a cold smile.

"Have you ever heard the saying that joy often turns into disaster? If you want to use secretly recorded footage to convict me, shouldn’t you first ask whether my wife agrees?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, a graceful figure slowly walked in from the courtroom entrance.

The moment Aurora and Kieran saw who it was, they froze on the spot.

"Why are you here?!"