Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The day Silas and his obsession, Quinn, fulfilled their ten-year pact, I left the divorce papers on the table and walked away.

Before I left, I commented on the photo Silas posted on social media.

"Happy anniversary to the both of you. I'm finally making room for her."

A minute later, Silas called. "Jade, we're just honoring an old promise. Can't you stop being so damn selfish?"

I let out a cold laugh. "I don't care about you anymore. There's no need to explain."

He grew frantic, but I didn't give him a chance to speak.

……

The day Silas Sterling and Quinn Harlow fulfilled their ten-year pact, I left the divorce papers on the nightstand and walked out.

Before I shut the door, I left a comment under their cozy picture on his feed.

"Wishing you a lifetime of happiness. I'm stepping aside for the new bride."

Within sixty seconds, Silas was calling my phone.

"Jade Archer, it was just a promise from our youth. Why do you have to be so petty and selfish?"

I responded with a dry chuckle. "I'm done with you, Silas. You don't owe me explanations because I don't want them."

Silas went silent, but before he could muster a word, I hung up with a sharp click.

I knew exactly what he wanted to say. He'd accuse me of making a scene and insist Quinn was just an old friend he hadn't seen in years.

Yeah, right. An "old friend."

A friend he'd been sharing a bed with behind my back.

Silas never had much patience for me. Seeing that I had the nerve to hang up, he immediately sent a text with nothing but a question mark.

I slowly typed back, "Silas, find a time to sign the papers. Let's get this divorce over with so you can spend the rest of your life with Quinn."

I couldn't tell if he truly didn't want the divorce or if he was just pissed that I was the one who dumped him first.

He sent a long string of insults, ending with a claim that he'd never divorce me and that I should just give up on that dream.

If this were the old Jade, I would have been over the moon hearing him say he'd never leave me.

Now, it just made my skin crawl.

How could a man be like this? Refusing to let me go while sneaking around with his high school sweetheart.

Seven years. I thought I could melt his icy heart in seven years.

It turns out some people are just rotten to the core.

Silas and I were college sweethearts. We survived the "graduation breakup" curse and eventually walked down the aisle.

Looking back, seven years had vanished in a blink.

We built a life in this expensive city, starting from a cramped studio and subway rides to owning a house and a car.

For someone like me who didn't have massive ambitions, I thought this was the peak of happiness.

I just didn't realize that the joy I used to find so easily had been replaced by a hollow ache.

Back in college, neither of us had a dime.

We both came from modest backgrounds in the middle of nowhere.

If we wanted to buy something nice or pay for extra courses, we had to pinch every penny.

We survived on grit and cheap coffee.

I spent every spare second working part-time jobs and grinding for scholarships just to keep us afloat.

Silas had a younger brother at home, so his parents barely sent him enough to eat.

Whenever his meal card ran dry, I'd secretly top it off, terrified he'd go hungry.

Looking back, I was a world-class simp.

Right before graduation, Silas claimed he was deathly ill and cried, saying he didn't know what to do.

I gave him every cent of my savings without a second thought. But when I tried to take him to a specialist, he panicked and stopped me.

"Jade, this is a chronic thing from my childhood. There's an old holistic healer back in my hometown who knows the cure, but the herbs are incredibly expensive..."

I was a fool. I believed his obvious lies.

He told me he didn't want me to see him at his weakest, so he forbid me from visiting him while he "recovered."

After we got married, Silas kept playing the "poor health" card.

I told him to stay home and rest while I worked long hours to support us.

I didn't even let him do the chores.

I cooked, and he just had to show up to the table.

I earned the money, and every paycheck went straight into his account.

He didn't even have to try to charm me because I always felt like I owed him something. I felt like he was doing me a favor by being with a "plain" girl like me.

Over those seven years, my obsession with him only grew.

And Silas began to treat my sacrifices like they were his birthright.