Chapter 2

2

Every piece of furniture in that master bedroom had been chosen by us together. Our wedding photo still hung on the wall.

In that photo, he smiled so gently, promising that I would be his princess forever.

Now, he wanted me to hand it all over and serve his mistress with my own hands.

I didn't say a word. I just looked at him quietly.

Ten years of devotion and seven years of marriage shattered completely in that single moment.

During his early startup days, I sold the jewelry my mother left me.

Those were heirlooms passed down from my grandmother, things my mother cherished, but I sold them to raise the two million dollars he needed for his seed funding.

When his company faced a crisis and was being bullied by competitors, it nearly went bankrupt.

It was me, running across the city with a fever of 103 degrees, begging my father's old friends for help. My knees were bruised from literally kneeling for favors until I secured the investment that pulled him back from the brink.

When his mother was dying of late-stage lung cancer, I stayed at the hospital for three months without even changing my clothes. I washed her, fed her, and handled her waste until I was skin and bones.

Before she passed away peacefully, she held my hand and said Silas would always treat me well.

I thought my sacrifices would buy his heart. I was wrong. I was devastatingly wrong.

Seeing my silence, Silas frowned, his voice dripping with annoyance.

"What? Did you not hear me? Or are you refusing?"

I remained silent and turned toward the foyer.

There, my suitcase sat, already packed and ready to go.

Half a month ago, I saw his texts with Lyra Thorne on his unlocked phone.

Those explicit words and the plans for the future had no place for me.

"Once I settle the old hag at home, I'll divorce her and marry you. I'll make sure you and the baby enter this family with all the glory you deserve."

That sentence was a poison needle in my heart. It woke me up completely.

From that moment, I knew this marriage had to end.