After that day, I buried myself in work so completely that going home became a rare occurrence. It didn’t take long for Damian to sense that something was off.
Then, out of nowhere, his mother called.
She had always looked at me as nothing more than filth that had crawled into their pristine world.
“Emilia,” she snapped the moment I answered, “Damian already told me everything. You embarrassed us at the royal charity banquet, and now you’re pretending to be the victim? Even though you grew up poor with no proper guidance, the least you could do is refrain from dragging my son down to your level!”
Her words cut like blade after blade.
“You’re carrying the future heir of our family empire,” she continued coldly. “So stop your nonsense. People are already whispering about trouble between you and Damian. I’ve arranged a dinner tonight with his closest circle. You will arrive with him. And you will behave.”
The line went dead before I could speak.
For the first time in a long while, I actually wanted to see every single face that had betrayed me—just once—before I left for the capital for good. So I hailed a taxi and headed straight for her mansion.
When I entered the grand dining hall, Damian’s mother was already seated at the head of the table. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. His friends exchanged glances, some openly rolling their eyes.
“Auntie, why did you invite her?” one of the women scoffed. “She’s only going to ruin the atmosphere.”
“Here comes the witch again, trying to wedge herself between the golden pair,” another voice added deliberately loud.
“Emilia, sit here.” My mother-in-law pointed to a seat near her.
I ignored her and took the farthest chair at the end of the table instead.
Nathaniel—Damian’s closest friend—tilted his head with a cruel grin. “Remind me again, Emilia… what’s your last name? Oh—right. My mistake. You don’t have one since you don’t even have a father.”
I lifted my gaze slowly. “And you are… who, exactly?” I asked flatly, as if he were nothing more than background noise.
His smile vanished. So did the amusement on everyone else’s faces.
Not long after, Damian arrived—with Adriana walking right beside him.
When he noticed I had already taken my seat and caught my steady gaze shifting between him and her, he quickly stepped away from Adriana. I saw her discreetly remove the pendant around her neck before following my mother-in-law toward the kitchen.
Damian hurried to sit beside me. With practiced tenderness, he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and fastened the diamond pendant around my neck—putting on a performance of devotion for everyone watching.
“This is your first time wearing diamonds, right?” he said softly. “Don’t worry. Next time, I’ll get you sapphires like you really love.”
Then, lying without the slightest guilt, he added in a lower voice, “I lost it at the estate yesterday. After our call, I rushed back to search for it.”
The diamond felt like it was choking me.
Without saying a word, I unhooked it and placed it on the table.
Damian stiffened. “Emilia, what do you think you’re doing?”
“So greedy,” someone whispered mockingly. “No wonder Auntie despises her.”
My mother-in-law shot me a sharp glare. “Why did you take it off?”
“It’s too tight,” I replied calmly and said nothing else.
They didn’t understand.
In their world, diamonds were never symbols of love. Long ago, a single diamond used to be handed to those cast out of elite families—a final payout before banishment.
And I wasn’t being cast out.
I was choosing to leave.
From the kitchen, laughter drifted out. Adriana clung sweetly to my mother-in-law’s arm. “Auntie, you work far too hard. If I had been here all these years, I never would’ve allowed it.”
“That silly child,” my mother-in-law laughed fondly. “If it were you, everything would be different.”
Then, with full intention for me to hear, she added, “Adriana, don’t trouble yourself with chores. Let Emilia help the staff. You’ve never lifted a finger in your life, and your hands are too delicate for such work. Emilia is used to scrubbing floors and washing dishes anyway. Ever since she entered Damian’s house, he dismissed the maids. Hard labor suits her.”
My teeth dug into my lip as I listened to my own husband agree with his mother in quiet approval.
A moment later, they returned to the dining room—Adriana seated proudly between Damian and my mother-in-law, exactly where I once sat.
“Auntie, I missed you terribly these past years,” Adriana said sweetly. “And not a single day passed where I didn’t think of Damian.”
No one at the table found anything inappropriate about her longing for another woman’s husband.
“If things had turned out differently,” my mother-in-law teased, shooting me a sideways glance, “you would have been my daughter-in-law by now.”
She tugged Adriana closer. Damian kept silent—still sulking over the rejected pendant.
Then my mother-in-law turned to me with fake gentleness. “Oh my, forgive me. Old age makes me talk too much. Emilia, this is Adriana—my goddaughter. She and Damian grew up together.”
Her tone sharpened. “I heard you’ve been throwing tantrums at home over her presence. Don’t be ridiculous. Adriana is like a sister to Damian. Don’t let jealousy make you lose your dignity.”
“They’ve always been inseparable,” she went on. “So trust your husband and stop monitoring his every move.”
Colin smirked and jumped in. “Auntie is right. Adriana was only helping you, Emilia. You’re far too controlling. Do you really think we’d damage Damian’s life?”
He leaned back lazily. “If Damian ever wanted to leave you, he wouldn’t have waited this long. And besides—he already promised Adriana to merge two major corporations soon. It’s better if you learn to accept her. That’s the least you can do as his wife.”
My breath hitched.
Merge companies?
As Damian’s legal spouse, I had heard nothing about any such deal.
Realizing he’d let too much slip, Colin abruptly shut his mouth. The room fell into a tense, uneasy silence as everyone exchanged nervous glances.
And in that moment, I understood just how far I had been pushed outside my own marriage.
