Chapter 1

It was our eighth wedding anniversary.

I was stuck in the hospital when his gift arrived.

It was a plastic rose and a cheap trophy that read 'Best Wife'.

I glanced at the crummy black plastic bag holding these pathetic items.

Without hesitation, I hit send on the divorce papers I'd been keeping on my phone for so long.

A second later, my phone rang.

It was the secretary of my husband, Cole.

"Mrs. Miller, I'm so sorry. I picked out the gifts myself. I thought it was the thought that counted. Please, don't be mad."

Suddenly, I heard Cole's impatient voice on the other end.

"Why are you explaining anything to her? She's just being dramatic as usual. Ignore her. Hang up, we have real work to do."

The woman giggled, and then the line went dead.

But this time, I was completely serious.

...

I was huddled on the hospital bed, clutching myself in pain, when I received Cole's anniversary gift.

He had left for a business trip with his secretary early this morning.

So, he had someone else deliver the gift.

I opened the cheap black bag.

Inside was a plastic rose and a trophy that read 'Best Wife'.

The plastic rose was rough, with jagged, unfinished edges.

The trophy even had a corner chipped off.

I don't know why I started laughing when I was in such agony.

But as I laughed, the tears started flowing.

With the physical pain radiating through my body, my heart turned cold once again.

The person who delivered the gift must have been an employee at Cole's company.

The young man saw the gifts in the black bag and froze.

He looked like a child who had done something wrong, constantly apologizing.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Miller. Maybe I grabbed the wrong one. This might be a prop from the company's annual party..."

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked at the young man.

Suddenly, I remembered Cole eight years ago, kneeling on one knee, proposing to me.

He had been so sincere back then.

Our love had been intense and passionate.

I don't know how it ended up rotting into this mess.

I wiped the cold sweat of pain from my brow.

I forced myself to comfort the trembling young man.

I told him he could go.

Then, I pulled up the divorce papers I had saved on my phone.

I found Cole's chat window and hit send without a moment of hesitation.

I thought this time would be like all the others.

Every time Cole went on a business trip with his secretary, my messages would sink without a trace.

But to my surprise, my phone rang the next second with the custom ringtone I'd set for Cole.

I looked up at the white hospital ceiling, holding back my tears, and answered the phone.

But it wasn't Cole on the other end. It was his secretary, Amber.

"Mrs. Miller, Cole is just too busy, so I picked the gifts for him. I thought that even if they weren't expensive, it was the thought that mattered. I figured since you and Cole had lived through hard times together, you wouldn't care about superficial things. Please don't be mad..."

Young women are certainly good at playing the victim.

She was smart, too.

In just a few sentences, she made herself sound wronged.

Even worse, she painted me as a greedy, terrible woman who only cared about money.

I didn't want to play along with her act anymore.

I didn't want to be the 'dignified' Mrs. Miller that Cole kept talking about.

So, I hung up before she could finish.

The phone didn't ring again.

But immediately, I received a text from Cole.

"You're the one who wants a divorce. This time, don't regret it."

Through the screen, I could almost see the man who thought he could manipulate me, even from a thousand miles away.

I knew his confidence was a bitter fruit I had grown myself.