"Darling, my business trip got extended. I'll be home the day after tomorrow. Miss you."

After Samuel sent the text message, he set his phone aside. Then, he turned around and took Tiffany's hand in his as they walked together toward the amusement park that he had booked out.

Tiffany pulled Samuel by his neck toward her, putting on a cartoon headband for him coquettishly. He accepted her gesture with tender affection and gave her a peck on her hand.

Escorted by staff members, both of them went off to enjoy the simple, innocent childlike joy.

I was on my way home when I happened to witness this blissful scene. As I looked away expressionlessly, I managed to get a good look at the heirloom bracelet passed down to the daughter-in-laws in the Copeland family. Tiffany had it around her wrist.

When I failed to find it while organizing my things a few days ago, Samuel told me not to worry about it, as he could just get another one of greater value for me.

As it turned out, he had gifted the heirloom bracelet to Tiffany instead.

Well, whatever. These would be hers eventually, anyway. My abortion procedure was scheduled to be three days later. After that, I would no longer have anything to do with Samuel or the Copelands.

After arriving home, I started to clear out everything that was mine. I packed only some essential clothing and necessities. As for the other items, I planned to arrange to have them donated.

There were also the tokens of all kinds between Samuel and me.

The diamond necklace was something Samuel bought for me with his first salary payout during his college days. There were also the photos we took for our third dating anniversary, the portrait Samuel drew for me during our engagement, the card with our wedding vows…

I couldn't believe that there was a box full of these things.

"Ms. Lindsay Winters, you are the love of my life. I will love and protect you with my life forever…"

I stared blankly at the words on the vow card, feeling as if I were transported back to the most romantic day we shared.

I could still vividly remember every inflection in Samuel's voice. Yet, he broke his promise.

A drop of tear fell on the yellowing card. After wiping it off, I headed straight upstairs.

The next morning, rustling came from the front door. Samuel was rather shocked to see the packed boxes when he came through the door.

I explained that they were to be donated to charity.

He scanned the room for a moment before asking, "Why is our photograph gone, too?"

I kept my composure and answered calmly, "I took it to get a new, customized frame made."

Suddenly, someone peered from behind the door. "Am I interrupting you both?"

Tiffany showed up, cautiously carrying some freshly-baked cookies. "I'm here to meet my new neighbors. Nice to meet you, Ms. Winters."

When Samuel saw Tiffany, the confused expression on his face was replaced by gentleness.

He studied the look on my face. Once he ascertained that I appeared indifferent, he said, "We just bumped into each other this morning. Ms. Finch is married, and her husband is also a friend of mine. They are a good match for one another.

"Linds, the past is in the past. We're neighbors now, so don't be too bothered by it."

Perhaps Samuel hadn't even noticed it himself. He still had a cartoon hair tie around his wrist, one that was identical to the one Tiffany used to tie her hair together.

I put on a faint smile and accepted the cookies from Tiffany. "Welcome. Feel free to come over more often moving forward."

After three days, no one would bother either of them anymore.

Frankly speaking, Samuel didn't have to go through all that trouble to purchase the villa next to ours. He could have just brought her home openly. I wouldn't have anything to say about that.

Maybe they enjoyed the thrill of putting on an act before me, just like they were now.

Samuel gave Tiffany a reassuring look. "I knew that you're the most understanding one of all, Linds. Ms. Finch's husband and I are friends, and Ms. Finch is expecting. We should take extra care of her moving forward…"

I wasn't in the mood to continue playing along with them. I nodded perfunctorily, wanting to head upstairs.

When I turned around, I heard Tiffany mumble, "Doesn't Ms. Winters like the cookies I made? Why didn't she try any of them?"

Samuel grabbed me immediately to stop me from leaving. "Ms. Finch made these herself. Try some."

I didn't like desserts. After becoming pregnant, the smell of sweet treats made my stomach churn.

Despite being aware of my preferences, Samuel picked up a cookie and fed it to me. "Do as I say."

As I held back the disgust within me, I took a bite. The sweetness on my palate made me gag out of reflex.

Tiffany looked thoroughly wronged, and Samuel's face fell. "Lindsay, what's wrong with you? How could you trample on someone else's kindness like that? Finish it and apologize to Ms. Finch!"

I was just about to speak when the nausea intensified. So, I had no choice but to rush into the toilet to retch.

Tiffany ran out crying. Samuel hesitated for a moment before deciding to run after her.

He only returned when it was almost evening. He put his arms around me and spoke softly. "Linds, I shouldn't have yelled at you this morning. Don't be mad at me, okay?"

His facial features were sharp, and he was charming and handsome, just like when he was young. Yet, I felt like he had become a totally different person.

I gave Samuel an indifferent nod. He beamed, seizing my hand.

"Ms. Finch and her husband want to have a wedding celebration, which they didn't get to have previously. But they don't have any married friends around them. Would you be able to give them a hand, Linds?"

When Samuel saw that I wasn't opposed to the idea, he became more and more excited as he spoke. "Even though we had some misunderstandings with Tiffany previously, I managed to get to the bottom of it. She was set up, which was why those ridiculous things happened to us.

"Right now, her husband is a good friend of mine. This happens to be a good opportunity for us to bury the hatchet…"

My head was buzzing, making it almost impossible to hear what Samuel said. I simply nodded repeatedly just so he would shut up.

Seeing that, Samuel was even more delighted, eager to rush out. I caught him before he could leave and took out the few documents that I had prepared.

"Your secretary brought these over during the day, saying that they're urgent. You should sign them first."

Samuel grumbled about why his secretary didn't bring those documents to him directly, then scanned the documents listlessly before signing them.

My heart was in the back of my throat, worried that he'd actually see what the last document was. Just as he was about to be done with affixing his signature, I prompted, "Samuel, your phone's ringing."

Samuel reacted speedily. He turned his phone off and signed the rest of the documents promptly without taking a closer look at the last few documents.

"It's a work call," he explained.

I listened to his explanation, pretending not to have noticed the caller ID on his phone that read, "Tiff".

I pulled the last document out to double-check it. That was our divorce agreement.

Samuel, our love across both lifetimes had come to an end.

Tiffany hung out at our villa almost every day. She said that she wanted to see me to discuss the wedding specifics. She even wanted to borrow Samuel to run through the wedding plans she had in mind.

I indulged her antics patiently for two days.

But today, I felt really weak after getting my abortion. Even after having painkillers administered, the pain was still unbearable.

According to the doctor, this was just a physiological characteristic of mine. I had no energy to dwell on it, and I simply turned down Tiffany's invitation to customize her wedding gown.

Unexpectedly, she refused to give up while she was downstairs. She even led the tailor and designer to my bedroom upstairs.

"Linds, I know that you're feeling unwell, but you have better taste than I do. I don't feel at ease unless you look at it for me."

Following that, she prompted the designer to show me each of the wedding gown designs that were drafted for her. It made my head spin, and my headache was killing me.

All color had drained from my face. When I drank some water, I dropped the glass and broke it accidentally.

Instantly, silence filled the room as everyone turned their eyes toward me.

Tiffany choked up instantly. She came forward to pick up the shards of glass. "I'm sorry. You were the one who first promised to help me out with these things. It's fine if you don't want to do so. Why did you have to break the glass?"

Coincidentally, Samuel saw Tiffany sobbing while cleaning up the mess by my bed when he got home. He blew his top instantly. Through gritted teeth, he rebuked, "Lindsay, Tiffany is a guest. Is this how you, as my wife, should act?"

I furrowed my brows. Just as I was about to speak up, I saw him pulling Tiffany gently to her feet.

He roared, "Get out of bed on your own, clean up the floor, and apologize to Tiffany!"

I was utterly weak, and my lower abdomen was throbbing with pain. I struggled to even speak, let alone get out of bed to sweep the floor.

Finally, Samuel realized something was amiss with me. He came up and felt my forehead, asking if I felt unwell.

I shook my head emotionlessly. "It's just a stomach flu."

The look on his face eased up as he prompted me to go to bed earlier.

Meanwhile, Tiffany, with tears in her eyes, blamed herself. She disregarded Samuel's dissuasion and insisted on pouring me another glass of water as an apology.

But before I could get a good hold of the glass, she let go, sending the glass to the floor, where it smashed into pieces. The crisp sound of shattering glass and water that splattered everywhere made the sour expression on Samuel's face intensify.

"Lindsay, enough is enough! How could you cause trouble for no reason just because you're unwell? Our guest has already gone to such lengths. How could you be so ungrateful? Get out of bed right now and apologize to Tiffany!"

As for Tiffany, who was being shielded firmly behind Samuel, she peered out from behind his arm with her teary eyes. Then, she flashed a triumphant smile at me.

I smiled back.

Tiffany took every step with caution, staking everything on Samuel consistently standing on her side.

She won. I found out what the outcome was in my previous life. That was why I wasn't interested in fighting with or scheming against anyone.

I just wanted to free myself from this and stay alive.

Under Samuel's intimidation and Tiffany's watchful eyes, I got out of bed laboriously. Even the slightest movement was met with an intense surge of pain.

A shard of glass sliced my weak fingers, leaving drops of scarlet red blood forming on my pale hand.

Samuel wanted to come over and support me physically, albeit hesitantly. Nevertheless, the sobbing Tiffany next to him wrapped her arms around his arm, saying that her stomach hurt.

Immediately, she drew his attention away completely.

I looked toward Tiffany and uttered slowly, "I'm so—"

Before I could finish my sentence, my vision went dark as I passed out.

By the time I regained full consciousness, it was already 4:00 am.

Samuel wasn't around. He had probably gone to be with Tiffany. He was very good at cheering people up and would be able to make anyone happy as long as he wanted to do so.

After I bumped into him accompanying Tiffany on her pregnancy checkup in my previous life, he sent Tiffany away and spent a good deal of time focusing on me. He was so attentive that he was just a step away from giving me the moon.

Those were also the happiest days of my life.

As such, when I found out that he was still in contact with Tiffany, I fell from heaven to the depths of hell. That was why I became distracted and ended up in a traffic accident.

I was sure that he would be able to cheer Tiffany up again.

There was no need for me to stay, either, and I certainly didn't need to be chased out. In fact, I'd make space for them right away.

I booked a morning flight. Then, I left the Copeland residence with my luggage, never once glancing behind me.

…

Third-person POV:

After Tiffany dragged Samuel off, he couldn't get his mind off Lindsay's pale face. Even though he sent a message to the housekeeper at home to keep an eye, he couldn't quite feel at ease.

Nonetheless, Tiffany had been extremely clingy and unreasonable as of late. He couldn't be sure if it was because of her pregnancy hormones, but she would burst into tears if he just told her off a little.

Days like these stressed Samuel out a little.

He waited until past eight o'clock before coming up with an excuse to head home. The closer he got to home, the more his heart raced.

It wasn't because he was excited but because he was somewhat afraid. He had a bad feeling, so much so that he almost tripped and fell when he walked up the stairs.

He straightened his shirt and took a deep breath, preparing himself to coax Lindsay.

"Darling, I'm home," he announced, pushing the door to the room open.

Yet, all that welcomed him was an empty room and two documents on the table, which were the divorce agreement and a confirmation of the termination of pregnancy.