It wasn't long after Silas and I got together that the Spencers went bankrupt and my father jumped off a building, ending up in a coma.

My mother, afraid the Gill Family wouldn't help us, drugged both Silas and me. Later, she tried her best to make a big fuss about the incident and force the Gills to take responsibility.

That night was the beginning of all my humiliation.

It also completely ended the relationship between Silas and me when we were young.

Silas was forced to marry me and on the wedding night, he brought a woman home to humiliate me.

He did everything right in front of me. Even the condom wrapper, I was the one who tore it open and handed it to him.

I was the one who squatted on the floor, cleaning up the entire mess bit by bit.

I lived such a humble life for ten years.

Now, I couldn't live like this anymore.

"I'll take it off."

Before anyone could react, I had already unbuttoned my shawl.

It was a deep winter, but the venue was well-heated.

However, I stood near the entrance. The icy wind clawed at my skirt, raising goosebumps along my bare arms and shoulders.

I reached out to unbutton the buckle at the back of my dress and the thin dress collar slipped off.

Most of my shoulders and the curve of my breasts were revealed.

"Heavens!"

A few timid people in the crowd covered their eyes, unable to watch any longer.

However, the men looked on with great interest.

Only Silas' expression darkened. His lips pressed into a thin line, the only sign of his anger the slight tremor in his fingers as he held his cigarette.

The dress slipped off and I was almost standing in front of everyone naked.

The cigarette in Silas' hand burned his fingertips. He dropped it, swiftly removed his suit jacket and draped it over me.

"Juliette, you've got a death wish!"

"Everyone, close your eyes! If a single word about what you saw tonight gets out, I'll ensure you don't see the sun tomorrow!"

"Get lost, all of you!"

Silas rarely lost his temper, especially in this kind of setting.

Everyone present was an old acquaintance, so they naturally understood and began to leave.

Even the nine girls Silas had brought back earlier went upstairs one after another. Only Sue remained standing there.

"Silas, are you satisfied now? Can you let me go?"

I tilted my head back, stubbornly looking at Silas.

Even though tears welled up in my eyes, I didn't let them fall.

I had cried too many times for Silas. I didn't want to cry for him anymore.

"Juliette, don't play these little tricks of playing hard to get in front of me. I feel sick when I see them."

Silas still didn't believe it and warned me not to embarrass the Gills.

I took a deep breath, then said, "Silas, this time I really want a divorce."

For a second, he looked like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. Then, his hand clamped around my neck, forcing me into a bow.

"Do you dare to divorce me? Can you afford a single day of your father's hospital bills? Can you afford your mother's daily shopping sprees?"

"Juliette, your mother would be the first one to kneel in front of me, begging me not to divorce you!"

His hatred for me and my mother was beyond hiding.

He resented her for drugging him. He resented me for letting it happen.

"Even if your mother hadn't used drugs back then, I would have married you, I would have helped you. But you two had to use the methods I despise the most!"

"Juliette, you personally destroyed the feelings between us!"

No matter how many times I explained, Silas would never believe me.

Seeing that I didn't speak, Silas frowned even more.

He lifted me and pressed me to kneel in front of the girl, pressing my neck to let me put shoes on her.

"Put the shoes on her. You have been doing these things for ten years. You should be able to do it well!"

In these ten years, I not only had to take care of Silas but also had to serve those nine girls.

I did too many things that I despised myself, whether I should do it or not, whether I was forced or willing.

Now, I just want to end it all quickly.

So, I once again obediently put on the shoes for the little girl.

Maybe I was too obedient, which made Silas lose his fun.

He dragged me into his room angrily and stripped Sue naked in front of me.

I'd seen scenes like this countless times. Sometimes, Silas would even make me guide them.

Like before, I tore open a condom and handed it over.

But this time, Silas pushed it away.

"We won't need this time."

My hand trembled and I withdrew it.

Silas's hands didn't stop, but he surprisingly glanced up at me.

I didn't look at him, nor did I care to anymore.

Silas got angry again and locked me in the bathroom.

There was a lot of noise outside that evening, along with strong winds and snow. I sat there and listened all night.

In a daze, I was jolted awake by a frantic phone ringing.

"Is this Miss Spencer? Your mother has been in a car accident and is currently being rescued. Please come to the Public Hospital immediately."

My heart lurched.

"Silas!"

I slammed my palms against the door, trying to drown out the sounds outside.

Silas opened the door, wrapped in a bathrobe. His loose collar revealed hickeys and the woman in his arms clung to him.

"What's wrong?"

"My mom … she was in a car accident. Can you please take me to the hospital?"

I knelt on the ground and begged him, tears welling up in my eyes, afraid he wouldn't take me because he was upset.

"Juliette, you didn't even bother making up a good lie. It's 3 a.m. in a blizzard. Normal people stay home. Did a car crash into your mother's house?"

Sue sneered, pointing at the dark sky and the heavy snow outside.

Silas chuckled along, not even bothering to look at me. "Juliette, you're even resorting to lies like this?"

"What? Can't stand the sounds we were making?"

Silas locked the door again.

The more I shouted, the louder the noises outside became.

Completely desperate, I grabbed the stool beside me and smashed the window, climbing out.

The sharp glass cut my legs and blood instantly flowed.

I couldn't get a taxi because it was so late and snowing.

I could only run forward like a zombie, leaving shocking trails of bright red blood in the snow.

A black Cayenne stopped beside me after honking twice.

"Get in."

The man in the driver's seat never looked back at me inside the dim and cramped car.

I thanked him repeatedly, but he didn't say another word.

Just as I was about to leave the car, I finally heard him say.

"Juliette, you have options besides Silas."

"If you figure things out, remember to look for me."

A gold-embossed business card was handed over. I took it with both hands, thanking him profusely.

At that moment, my whole heart was focused on my mother, so I didn't look closely and just put it in my pocket.

I stumbled into the hospital emergency room. Before I could even ask, I saw nurses pushing a body covered with a white sheet out of the operating room.

"Is Sarah Ziegler's family still not here?"

"Unbelievable. Her daughter didn't even show up before she died."

Two nurses were talking amongst themselves, their words easily piercing my heart.

I rushed over and lifted the white cloth. My mother's delicate face in the past was full of scars, while her body was covered in wounds of every size.

For ten years, I had resented her because of Silas.

I had even viciously wished for the whole family to die together, but now that she was truly dead in front of me, all I felt was heartache.

Since there were no more relatives left at home, there was no need to hold a funeral.

I stayed by my father's bedside for a while, telling him about my mother and myself.

I talked intermittently until the early morning. Before leaving, I looked at my father, who had been motionless for ten years and said with a crying voice.

"Dad, I'm tired."

The next morning, my mother was cremated. Then, I put the urn into a box and took it home.

Along with it, I also brought back the divorce agreement I had asked someone to draft.

As soon as I entered, I bumped into Silas and the girls sitting at the dining table, talking and laughing.

"Sign it."

My voice was cold as ice as I slammed the divorce agreement onto the table.

"So, you ran away overnight just to get this divorce agreement, huh?"

"Juliette, you've really gone too far!"

I hugged the urn tightly as my head lowered.

"Silas, let's just let each other go."

"I don't love you anymore."

In the past, I would still argue with Silas, sometimes even fight with him when things got heated.

I would point my finger at his nose and question him, asking if the love he swore to me back then was just a joke.

Most of the time, I still held onto a glimmer of hope, hoping he would forgive me, hoping we could make our marriage work.

So, when he said he liked wild women, I learned to please him in bed.

When he liked innocent ones, I would wear his favorite clothes to make him happy.

But then, one woman after another moved in and my heart grew colder bit by bit.

Those tricks I used to please him became my shame and also became his way to humiliate me.

"Juliette, what's this you dropped ..."

"Lester Fox?"

Sue picked up the business card I had dropped on the floor and read the name aloud.

So, it was Lester.

Silas' lifelong nemesis, that nemesis across the ocean whom he had never met

Silas' face immediately darkened and he slapped me hard.

"So, you said you don't love me anymore because you found someone else outside?"

"Do you even know who Lester is?"

My ears were ringing and I couldn't even stand steady. The urn in my hand cracked with a sound.

Watching the ashes scattered in the air, I froze, unable to react.

I dropped to my knees instinctively, trying to gather the ashes back into the urn.

No matter how I tried, it was useless.

Sue even picked up the milk on the side and poured it on the ground. The others later followed suit.

The fine ashes instantly turned into sticky clumps.

"Ah!"

At that moment, my nerves snapped. I went crazy and raised a stool, smashing it towards Sue.

Silas didn't even have time to react before Sue fell to the ground, clutching her head.

"Silas."

"I'm in so much pain."

Someone called an ambulance. Silas dragged me along and forced me to stay at the hospital.

"If anything happens to her, you're going to die with her!"

That day, I was forced to give blood transfusions to Sue again and again until the doctor felt that no more transfusions were allowed.

Silas let me go, saying that it was my own fault.

I hid in my father's ward for those days and never went out.

"Here you are! Thanks to your blow, Silas is so good to me now."

"Is this your father? Why isn't he moving?"

Sue Larson, basking in Silas' favor, walked with a new arrogance.

She kept fiddling with my father's oxygen tube, asking me curiously what it was.

"Don't touch that!"

I pushed her away and she stumbled back a few steps, clutching her head.

The next second, she rushed forward and unplugged my father's oxygen tube. She laughed as she held it in her hands and played with it.