The two of them took Ella and Mia to the amusement park.
They posed for a family photo.
They strolled through the streets beneath a golden sunset.
They did everything I had once longed to do—but never got the chance.
Ella and Mia, who used to be fussy eaters, now praised the reheated microwave meals prepared by Sophie.
Ethan, once obsessive about cleanliness, wore the wrinkled shirt she had ironed and went to work without complaint.
They never criticized her.
Instead, they’d say, “Why are you doing these chores? Just wait for Lily to come back and take care of it.”
But what they didn’t know was—
I was never coming back.
On the day I was discharged from the hospital, I booked a one-way flight to New Zealand.
Just as I was about to get in the car, Ethan stopped me.
“Lily,” he said, “I’ve thought it over. I don’t want a divorce.”
“Ella and Mia are still young. They need you.
And the Summers and Howard families are still doing business together.
If word gets out, it’ll affect the company’s stock price.”
He had many reasons to stay married—
Reputation, children, business interests.
But none of them included love.
And I no longer wanted to be Ethan’s second choice.
I didn’t want to be the fallback, the obligation.
I wanted a life of my own.
When I insisted, Ethan’s face darkened.
“Do you understand the cost of divorce?” he warned.
“The Summers family won’t take back a divorced daughter.”
His cold gaze carried the confidence of a man who thought I would back down.
But I smiled faintly and replied, “I don’t care.”
“You, perfection, the Summers family’s approval—I don’t care anymore.”
I handed him a slip of paper.
“If you refuse to divorce, I’ll have to take more serious steps.”
Ethan accepted it with a scoff—until he opened it.
Then he froze.
He stared at the note, eyes flickering between disbelief and confusion.
For a moment, his composure cracked.
Finally, he relented.
“I’ll ask a lawyer to send you the divorce papers,” he said stiffly.
“But if you change your mind—”
I didn’t let him finish.
I turned and got into the taxi.
At the airport, my phone rang again and again.
It was my mother.
Her voice was frantic, shrill.
“Lily, what did you do? Why did Ethan suddenly agree to divorce you?”
“Because of a sentence.”
“What sentence?”
