“Your life?” Wallace scoffed. “Jacqueline, have you forgotten? Every single thing you've eaten, worn, and used for the past three years came from me. Even the computer you wrote your scripts on, I paid for that.”
“Besides, Addie needs this script more than you do.”
He looked down at me like I was a beggar throwing a tantrum over nothing.
Adeline peeked out from behind him, a vicious smile spreading across her face.
She reached for the cup of freshly brewed hot coffee on the table, and her hand slipped.
Scalding coffee splashed across the back of my hand.
“Ah!” I screamed and the script fell from my fingers.
Adeline gasped：“Oh no, Jacqueline, I didn't mean to! I was only trying to pour you a cup of coffee.”
Wallace didn't even glance at my scalded, blistering hand.
He shoved me aside and grabbed Adeline's hands, turning them over and over：“Did it burn you? How could you be so careless?”
Watching the two of them fawning over each other, I felt sick.
Adeline glanced down at the script on the floor and pressed the pointed toe of her heel into the cover.
“Oh no, the script got dirty.” She blinked, all innocence. “Jacqueline, why don't you wipe it clean for me? Once it's clean, I'll give it back.”
She wasn't even trying to hide it. This was humiliation, plain and open.
I stared at the smug triumph on Adeline's face, then looked at Wallace standing there, unmoved.
The blisters on the back of my hand had already burst, the pain piercing and raw.
But I laughed.
I crouched down slowly and reached out, not to wipe the script clean, but to grip it by the edge.
“Riiip!”
I tore the script in half. Three years of my life, ripped down the middle.
“What are you doing!” Wallace's voice cracked like a whip.
I didn't stop. I shredded it to pieces, then flung the scraps into the air.
Paper fragments drifted down over both of them like snow.
“If it's dirty, then no one gets it.” I dusted off my hands and stood. My voice was so calm it frightened even me.
No more hysteria. No more begging through tears.
Because I finally understood: a heart that's already dead can't feel pain.
Wallace stared at the shredded paper covering the floor, and something like panic flickered through his eyes.
He was used to me making scenes like a resentful wife. He'd never seen this—this dead stillness in my gaze.
“Jacqueline, don't forget who you owe everything to.” He ground the words out through clenched teeth.
“I'll sign the divorce papers. I'll have a lawyer send them over tomorrow.” I turned and walked out without sparing him another look.
Adeline watched me go, something venomous flashing behind her eyes.
That afternoon, I received a text from Adeline.
【If you want your mother's jade bracelet back, come to the hospital rooftop.】
That jade bracelet was the only thing my mother left me. A few days ago, Rachel had taken it by force, claiming Adeline needed it to settle her nerves.
I went to the rooftop without a second thought.
The wind was fierce. Adeline stood near the edge in a thin maternity dress.
She was turning the jade bracelet over in her fingers, smiling like a snake.
“Jacqueline, you really think you can just sign some papers and walk away?”
I looked at her coldly：“Give me the bracelet.”
“Give it back?” Adeline laughed softly and opened her hand.
“Crack!”
The jade bracelet hit the concrete and shattered into pieces.
My heart shattered with it. I threw myself to the ground, scrambling to gather the fragments.
That was when the rooftop door slammed open.
Wallace came charging through, out of breath.
The instant Adeline saw him, her face twisted into terror. She screamed and stumbled backward.
“Jacqueline, stay away from me! The baby is innocent!”
