Theodore sat at the bed while Brinley stood directly in front of him.
As their eyes met, the love that once filled her gaze was gone. A mocking smile curled her lips, still swollen and red from his kisses moments ago.
"You're the one who asked for a divorce, and I already agreed. Why do you still look unhappy? What more do you want from me?"
"Brinley!" Fury flared in Theodore's eyes.
From his reaction, it almost looked as though she were the one who had betrayed the marriage and demanded a divorce.
She said nothing else. She pulled her wrist from his grasp, walked straight into the bathroom, and shut the door hard behind her.
As soon as the door closed, she leaned weakly against it, her chest hurting so badly she could barely breathe.
From the other side, Theodore's phone started to ring.
"Alright. I'll come over right away."
His gentle and patient voice drifted through the door, followed by the sound of his footsteps leaving without another word to Brinley. Every sound felt like a knife driving deeper into her heart.
The bathroom featured a huge floor-to-ceiling mirror that she had specially installed to add excitement to their intimate life and please him. Now her reflection stood before her, covered in marks left behind by their passion. The sight was painfully ironic.
A long, ugly scar stretched across her lower abdomen, a reminder of how she had saved Theodore five years ago.
At the time, he had only recently woken from his coma and was cold toward her after learning they were married. Then an assassination attempt nearly took his life—she stepped in and took the knife for him. She told him she was just repaying the debt for saving her years ago, and that now they were even.
Yet while she lay in a pool of blood, barely alive, Theodore held her tightly and promised that if she survived, he would spend the rest of his life loving only her.
She survived. What started as a marriage of convenience slowly became real.
All this time, she truly believed she had earned his love.
Now she realized she never truly had it.
To Theodore, she was still the calculating woman who had forced her way into becoming his wife.
She let out a hollow laugh as warm water poured over her body. She scrubbed desperately at the marks on her skin until it turned red and raw.
Once she finished showering, she wrapped herself in a towel, dried her long hair, and slowly calmed herself down.
When she walked out of the bathroom, she sat at the edge of the bed and opened the second drawer of the nightstand. Inside was an invitation to the Horizon Design Competition.
It was the most prestigious design competition in the world, held only once every five years. Even more tempting, the top three winners would receive a fully funded exclusive fellowship overseas.
The deadline for applications was one month away.
It had once been Brinley's greatest dream. But the last time the competition was held, Theodore had just gotten into a car accident and fallen into a coma. In order to take care of him, she withdrew her application and gave up the opportunity to compete. This time, she would not give it up again. She was determined to win and take back her own life.
With that decision made, she opened her laptop and submitted her application.
The divorce process would still take some time, which gave her enough time to prepare everything properly.
She intended to completely cut Theodore out of her life. It would be better if they never saw each other again.
Right after she submitted the application, the phone on her desk vibrated.
She picked it up and saw a message from an unfamiliar number.
Attached was a photo taken outside what appeared to be a hospital. In the picture, a man was carefully shielding a woman beside him, as though protecting the most precious person in the world.
Even though their faces were blurry, Brinley recognized them immediately. It was Theodore and Elianna Watson.
Below the photo was a single sentence. "Theodore said he'll stay with me forever."
This wasn't the first time Brinley had received a provocative message like this.
In the past, she had trusted Theodore completely and firmly believed in his love for her. Because of that, she always ignored these messages and never mentioned them to him. She simply deleted them the moment they arrived.
Looking back now, she realized how foolish she had been.
She didn't respond to the message. Instead, she quietly took a screenshot.
As expected, Theodore never returned home that night.
Brinley slept poorly. Her dreams were filled with scattered memories of their years together. She remembered the joy she felt when he finally woke from his coma, the dangerous days after the assassination attempt, and the passionate promises he whispered during their first night together.
When she woke the next morning, her chest still ached with a heavy, suffocating pain. It felt as though an entire lifetime had passed overnight, and everything between them had already ended.
After a quick breakfast, she arrived at the courthouse right on time.
Ten minutes passed, but Theodore still hadn't appeared. This time, instead of quietly waiting like she always had, she called him directly.
A few seconds later, his cold and distant voice came through the phone. "Hello?"
She could hear papers rustling in the background. He was obviously already at the office.
She wasn't surprised. Theodore had always been obsessed with work. Whether it was an anniversary, a birthday, or a holiday, she was always the one left waiting for him.
But this time, she was done waiting.
"Theodore, I've already been waiting at the courthouse for ten minutes. Can you hurry up?"
Her voice had none of its usual gentleness or patience, none of the sadness or reluctance. She sounded like the one who wanted to end the marriage as quickly as possible.
