I knew that Mason was trying to deny it and escape facing the music. However, I wasn't going to let him do it. I had to burst his bubble for him.

"You are the one who's bullshitting me," I exclaimed. "I am your wife! And yet, you had sex with Amy and called her your soulmate! Sure, you may think that she's just your soulmate, but you've already fallen in love with her, haven't you?"

Mason frowned deeply, suddenly at a loss for words to say.

I walked closer to him and raised my voice again, tearing down his facade.

"You loved her, which is why you slept with her. You hate me, so you've always refused to even lay a finger on me!"

I then lowered my head helplessly and chuckled self-deprecatingly. "After five years of marriage, I still ended up losing to her."

I felt exhausted all of a sudden. I took a few steps back and took a deep breath after pointing out his wrongdoings.

"Actually, you could have just told me the truth. You could have also divorced me. Why did you have to betray me and sleep with her behind my back instead? And why did you also tell me that I was to pretend I didn't know anything about it?"

Mason looked at me darkly and denied everything.

"You're overthinking again. I love you. I could never bear to divorce you."

I shook my head, not believing him anymore.

"You're lying to me."

Mason frowned. He looked very displeased. "You've been acting erratically lately. We won't discuss this any further. We will only resume after you have calmed down."

Then, he left.

However, I no longer wanted to suppress my emotions or pretend none of this had happened. I rushed toward the door and blocked his path, my feelings more inflamed than ever.

"If you could only pick one person between me and her, Mason Longbright, would you choose me? Or her?"

Mason glared at me angrily, his eyes reflecting that his patience was at its limits.

"Get out of my way!"

I refused and challenged him head-on. "I need to know your answer."

He refused to answer and tried to walk past me, but I grabbed his arm.

Suddenly, Mason's face twisted into a wild expression, his eyes turning cold and sharp. In an instant, his hand closed around my neck, his grip tightening as if he meant to kill me.

His sudden change sent me into shock, but I glared back and struck his arm. He wouldn't let go. His bloodshot eyes blazed with fury, his chest heaving with rage.

He continued tightening his grip around my throat. I couldn't breathe anymore, and my face also turned as red as a tomato.

Mason's condition was all too familiar yet terrifying. He was having another manic episode.

Just as I thought I was about to die from suffocation, the maid standing next to me, Daisy Fletcher, realized that something was wrong and rushed up to me to shove me away from him.

I fell to the floor and began coughing and gasping for air.

When Mason saw that Daisy had helped me, he kicked at her in a rage and even grabbed a nearby vase before smashing it against her head.

Daisy couldn't avoid it in time, and she immediately passed out on the floor.

Still, Mason wouldn't stop. He grabbed everything within his reach and continued smashing everything against her body as if he was venting out all of his anger on her. His expression was horrendous and vengeful.

I watched him coldly as he continued with his manic episode. This time, however, I didn't rush up to him to hug him and try to calm him down anymore.

In the past, I had always been worried that he would hurt himself during one of his rage fits, so every time it happened, I would still throw myself at him and try to calm him down even though that meant I would get beaten black and blue.

Eventually, every time his condition acted up again, he would always need me by his side. I would just have to hug him, and he would eventually calm down after throwing a fit or two.

Just then, Amy, who had been shocked to her core, suddenly shuddered and yelled at me, saying, "Leave now! He's acting up again. I need to calm him down."

I laughed coldly and asked her in return, "How are you planning to calm him down?"

Amy narrowed her eyes at me, a sly, calculating look gleaming in her eyes.

Then, she looked at me confidently and said, "Let me show you who he actually needs."

Just as I thought Amy was going to give Mason a sedative, I saw her throwing herself at him, caging him between her arms, kissing him deeply.

He stopped lashing out at once, freezing in place. Even the anger and twisted expression on his face quickly melted away, replaced with calmness and quietness.

Mason dropped all the things he was holding and hugged her back, deepening the kiss even more.

They looked like lovers with the way they got lost in the kiss.

I felt my heart shuddering hard as I balled my hands into fists.

The scene cut deep into my heart, dragging out every ounce of pain and bitterness I carried. It crawled across my skin, gnawed at my chest, and struck so hard I could almost hear my soul shattering into pieces.

When I comforted Mason, I had to endure getting beaten black and blue. However, when Amy comforted him, she only needed to give him a kiss.

She used her actions to prove that Mason never needed me. He had always needed her instead.

For five years, I had managed every detail of his life, freeing him to focus on work without a single worry about the household.

When he lay paralyzed in bed, I devoted myself to him, waiting on him hand and foot. I even took care of his excrement by myself.

When his condition flared, I endured it all, gritting my teeth even when it meant getting hurt.

I never asked for his love in return. However, I had hoped that he would remember my sincerity and everything I'd done for him.

But now, Mason has crushed my heart beneath his foot.

The five years I'd given him were nothing but a joke.

I'd lost completely to Amy.

They were made for each other, just like how God must have meant for them to be.

They could only finally be together once I was out of the picture. Maybe, that way, Mason's mania would finally be cured.

I laughed bitterly. Eventually, I began crying in spite of myself.

Initially, I had thought of giving Mason another chance to try to salvage our marriage. But he had already fallen in love with somebody else and forgotten me long ago.

Even if he still held me in his heart, he had betrayed me.

If that was the case, should I really still continue trying to salvage this marriage he had already betrayed?

I didn't think so.

He wasn't worthy of my love anymore. I was going to give up on him and stop forcing him to love me back.

I numbly turned around and went back into my room, giving them space.

After managing to calm myself down, I called my lawyer, Philip Lawson, and got him to settle the divorce paperwork for me.

Then, I bought a flight ticket, planning to leave this city for good. I wasn't going to return for the rest of my life.

The next day, Mason walked into my room and sighed heavily.

"Sweetie, I need to discuss something with you."

I look at him curiously.

He hesitated for a while. Finally, he said, "Moving forward, you will be my wife, and Amy will be my mistress. The two of you should get along together to take care of me. Okay?"

I looked like he'd just told me the joke of the century.

How could he even say such vile words to me?

I laughed coldly and couldn't stop myself from asking him, "It's been five years, Mason. Do you still love me?"

Mason nodded at once without hesitation.

I smiled bitterly at him. "But you've also fallen in love with her, haven't you?"

Mason looked away from me and glanced at the scenery outside my window instead. His eyes turned dark, and I didn't know what was going on in his head.

I lowered my gaze with unexpected calm and said, "I’d be honest—my gratitude was a big reason I agreed to marry you. But love is a two-way connection, and marriage is a lifelong vow. We were only together for five years when things changed. Or perhaps we both had already changed."

I had put in a lot of effort so that Mason would fall in love with me. When he finally agreed to marry me, I thought that he would love me for the rest of our lives.

Even though he had never once touched me with desire, I still looked forward to the day when we would finally be joined as one.

But now, it was evident that everything had simply been wishful thinking.

He'd changed. His love for me was gone.

So I no longer wanted him either. I refused to give him any more chances to hurt me and break my heart again.

His footsteps drew closer to me until he stood before me, gazing down at the crown of my head.

I could see from the shadows that he had lifted his hand as if to pat me on the head, but he suddenly stopped mid-air.

A long while later, he finally spoke.

"You should be more gracious with her. As long as you agree to get along with Amy, this family is still an unbroken one. I will still treat you like I did in the past. We just need to continue living like this."

I couldn't stop myself from chuckling coldly.

I finally saw his true colors and his hidden intention now. He was greedy and wanted to continue basking in both my attention and Amy's.

He knew that doing so would be cheating on me, but he still did it anyway.

He was also telling me now, using my love for him and my reluctance to leave him as a leverage so that I wouldn't kick up a fuss and that I would cave and accept Amy into our lives.

How could he be such a selfish person?

I suddenly realized that I didn't know who Mason was anymore. I felt as though I had never known him in the first place.

I looked up at him in disappointment. Just as I was about to say something, someone knocked on the door, and Amy's crying voice could be heard.

"Hubs, I just had a nightmare. I got such a fright. Can't you please stay with me?"

I was shocked to hear Amy calling Mason "Hubs". However, I let it go just a split second later.

Mason was slightly stunned. He glanced at the door.

I could see the hesitance in his eyes. However, his legs were already moving, ready to take him to her.

A few seconds later, he walked toward the door, opened it, and walked away with Amy.

I smiled bitterly.

How could he still hope that I would get along well with Amy? That was impossible! I simply couldn't see myself fighting with another woman for his attention.

Even though my heart was hurting, it was becoming numb.

I decided to leave as early as I could and end all things with Mason. I didn't want to let myself continue getting tortured by him anymore.

After Mason came clean with me, he grew bolder, flaunting his intimacy with Amy right under my nose.

However, it was obvious that she didn't like sharing him with me. She deliberately challenged me over the most minute of things, and somehow always managed to make Mason give her whatever I liked or had set my eyes on.

When Mason attended charity events, Amy would put on my dresses and attend the events with him. This was akin to declaring their relationship to the world.

Their affair sent shockwaves through the industry, and soon people began to treat me as a joke. But I no longer cared. I didn't waste my anger on anyone; I had already decided to leave him anyway.

When the time finally came, I walked away without a single suitcase.

No one even noticed my absence as I boarded the flight that carried me out of the city.

Mason noticed nothing amiss in the first three days after I left. It wasn't until a week had passed that he finally realized I was gone.

He searched everywhere, but there was no trace of me.

He tried calling me on my phone, but his calls never went through. He sent my text messages too, and that was when it finally hit him that I had blocked his number.

A bad feeling rose inside of him, though he dared not admit it aloud.

At that very moment, the divorce agreement I'd prepared was delivered into Mason's hands by the postman.

Mason's face turned white when he received the divorce agreement. He froze in place, yet the hand clutching the document trembled uncontrollably.

He held a hand to his heart and felt his heartbeat racing wildly. He also felt a pang of hurt spreading in his chest.

Suddenly, it dawned on him.

Panic flickered across his face as he snatched his phone and dialed my number again and again, like a madman.

But every call failed to connect.

Amy drew out the letter I had mailed to him and read aloud.

"Let's get divorced, Mason Longbright.

"I've loved you for five years, but everything in the past five years passed just like a game, and now, it's time to end things.

"You've changed, and I'm exhausted. You asked me to get along with Amy and stay with you, but I'm unable to do it. I'm a jealous person, and I cannot accept the fact that my husband has accepted another woman into his heart.

"Since you've fallen in love with Amy, I won't continue pestering you anymore. You already have her, and she can treat your mania and bipolar disorder. I'll just step out of the picture and wish you both the best instead.

"I'm stepping out of your life for good. See you, never."

Mason's expression fell as Amy finished reading my letter aloud. The despair in his eyes shifted into a hollow confusion, as though he no longer knew what to do.

A few seconds later, he snapped back to his senses, snatching the letter from Amy's hands and ripping it into shreds. In a fit of rage, he overturned the table and roared, "How dare you leave me, Michelle Armstrong? How dare you abandon everything?"

Amy was shocked. She hugged him instinctively and said, "Don't get mad. I'm still here with you."

However, Mason shoved her off and yelled in her face, "Don't touch me!"

Amy was dazed. She trembled and curled up like she was a frightened little kitten.

Mason's chest heaved as blood rushed to his head. A sudden wave of dizziness struck, and he collapsed to the ground.

He struggled back to his feet, only for his legs to give way again moments later. He looked as though he had been dealt a devastating blow.

His lips wouldn't stop trembling. He was in utter disbelief.

"She left… She doesn't want me anymore! This can't be real!"