Nina swore she really wanted to believe Lucas.

But how could she believe him? He still smelled of that woman's perfume, which hadn't washed off even after his shower, and there were faint kiss marks visible beneath his collar...

Lucas, please tell me, what do I need to do to believe you?

Nina looked at Lucas with furrowed brows, her eyes filled with sorrow.

But Lucas just smiled. He playfully tapped the tip of Nina's nose, then slipped the blue diamond ring onto her finger. "You little troublemaker, you accuse me wrongly and then you're the one who gets upset?"

He reached out to wipe away her tears. "There, no more crying."

"I'm giving you the ring now, but you'll have to wait until tonight's fireworks show for the necklace and bracelet."

Looking at Lucas with his eyes full of tenderness, Nina suddenly felt that exposing him seemed pointless.

She had already broken down, her eyes red from crying, yet he maintained his composure perfectly, with no flaws in his words or behavior.

...She had already lost, lost completely.

They say the one who falls in love first usually loses first, but how had she, who fell in love second, ended up losing so thoroughly?

For the rest of the time, Lucas diligently played the role of "world's best husband." He attentively cared for Nina's every need. When she felt thirsty, he immediately handed her water. He even speared fruit with a fork and carefully fed it to her to keep her hands clean. When the sun became too harsh, he proactively held a UV umbrella over her, tilting it almost entirely to her side...

Nina enjoyed his attentions, but her heart felt incredibly bleak.

She couldn't help asking him, "Why are you so good to me?"

If you don't love me anymore, why not just tell me and get divorced?

If you still love me deeply, how can you bear to hurt me like this?

"You're my wife. If I'm not good to you, who should I be good to?" Lucas replied. "And I promise you, I won't just be good to you now—I'll be good to you in the future, and better and better. When you become a little old lady, I'll still spoil you into being the happiest little old lady in the world."

Nina said nothing more. In her heart, she thought: Lucas, we don't have a future anymore.

Her phone suddenly vibrated. Nina picked it up and saw a message from her lawyer, "Ms. Jackson, I've prepared the divorce papers for you. I can have them delivered to you now. Are you home at the moment?"

At the same time, Lucas's phone also vibrated.

Whatever he saw made his throat bob and his eyes darken.

Nina recognized this expression well—it was the look he got when he was aroused.

She couldn't help glancing at Lucas's phone and saw a pair of beautiful legs in black stockings on the screen.

Another message popped up: "Third stall in the castle bathroom. You only have five minutes. Don't be late!"

Lucas's breathing noticeably deepened. He quickly turned off his phone screen and said with uneven breath, "Nina, I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back."

With that, he hurried away.

His mind was so preoccupied with Melody's stockinged legs that he didn't even notice Nina had been looking at his phone for quite some time...

Go take a look, Nina thought.

Let me completely give up hope.

Seeing is believing. She would no longer trust any of his lies or pretend not to see his actions.

With this thought, Nina followed him.

Then she saw that before even entering the bathroom, Lucas impatiently embraced Melody, who was still dressed as the princess.

They kissed passionately at the bathroom entrance. Under Melody's lifted princess dress, sexy black stockings were visible.

"You're actually wearing black stockings under a princess dress?" Lucas laughed, pinching Melody's face teasingly. "You naughty little girl, you've dirtied this pure fairy tale."

Melody looked at him seductively. "What, don't you like it?"

"I love it," Lucas said, bending down to kiss Melody again. "...Come on, let's go inside. I'll make you even dirtier."

It felt as if she had suddenly fallen into an ice cellar. So cold—despite the height of summer, Nina was shivering uncontrollably.

She thought she was strong enough. She thought she could accept all this. But when she saw it with her own eyes, she couldn't help feeling physically sick.

She rushed out of the bathroom and vomited repeatedly.

From the bathroom behind her came intense sounds of movement and muffled breathing. Since Lucas had rented the entire park today, there were no other visitors, so he was letting loose without restraint.

Nina felt she couldn't stay in this place for even one more second. After finishing, she turned and left immediately.

She took a taxi home and replied to her lawyer's message on the way: "I'm at home. Please have the divorce papers delivered right away."

An hour later, the lawyer personally delivered the divorce papers.

Just then, Lucas also came racing home in his car.

"Nina, why did you leave without saying anything?" His handsome face was filled with concern. "Did I do something wrong to upset you?"

Nina looked up, staring at Lucas for a moment before saying, "I waited for you for a long time but didn't see you return. I thought you might have gone to meet Melody in private, so I just came home by myself."

Lucas's expression froze for an instant but quickly returned to normal.

"My little queen, are you determined to wrongfully accuse me?" Lucas's tone was exasperated yet indulgent. "I swear to you, I invited Melody only because I discovered her in your music playlist, and she just happened to..."

At this point, Lucas suddenly stopped. He looked hesitant, as if considering whether to tell Nina the rest.

Nina's dark eyes deepened. "She just happened to what?"

"Ah!" Lucas let out a long sigh. "I didn't want to betray my friend, but my wife is much more important. Since my wife suspects me, I have no choice but to sell out my buddy."

With that, Lucas opened the car door. "Get in. I'll tell you the truth!"

What game is he playing now? Nina frowned slightly but didn't say anything. She just took the divorce papers and got into the car.

"What's this?" Lucas glanced at the envelope in Nina's hand, asking with slight curiosity.

Nina lowered her eyes and replied flatly, "I'll show you tonight."

Soon, the car stopped in front of a private club. Lucas led Nina inside.

In the club's VIP room, Lucas's good friend Henry was embracing a sexy woman. When he saw Lucas bringing Nina in, he looked up with drunk, hazy eyes and said, "Hey, Lucas, perfect timing! I was just about to look for you!"

"Didn't we agree that my Melody would dress up as that cartoon princess and sing for your wife to celebrate her birthday? But Melody just came back by herself. She told me your wife was angry... I don't get it. Why would she be upset? Doesn't my Melody sing well?"

Nina suddenly realized that the woman cuddling with Henry was none other than Melody, who had changed out of her costume.

"Nina, I know you have a thing about cleanliness, so I didn't want to bring these messy affairs to your attention. But if I don't, I'll be wrongfully accused like some modern-day martyr," Lucas said helplessly. "So I'll just tell you the truth—Melody is actually Henry's mistress. I invited her to sing for you only as a favor to him."

Nina sometimes couldn't help thinking that perhaps all married men were natural-born actors. Otherwise, how could Lucas and Henry act so convincingly?

"Hehe, Nina, don't be angry. I just wanted my little sweetheart to earn some extra cash," Henry acted as if it were completely real. "Since Lucas was going to spend money to make you happy anyway, better for my Melody to earn it than some stranger."

"Get lost!" Lucas kicked Henry as soon as he approached. "Let me tell you, my Nina is upset with me today because of you! You keep a mistress, and I almost took the blame for it!"

They were such convincing actors! Nina silently applauded these two married men in her mind. If she hadn't personally witnessed Lucas passionately embracing Melody at the bathroom entrance just hours ago, she might have actually believed them.

"What? Nina actually suspected you of having a mistress?" Henry widened his eyes, displaying a look of disbelief. “Nina, you must be joking! Everyone in our circle knows Lucas is crazy about you. Since he met you, he's either busy working or revolving around you all day... He doesn't even hang out with his old friends anymore!"

"Every time we organize a get-together and invite him, he never comes. On the rare occasion he does show up, he doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and certainly doesn't flirt with women. He's like a monk who's taken vows. We don't even bother inviting him anymore... such a killjoy!"

Nina thought, Is this what all men do? Cover for each other with their buddies?

When a wife discovers something, they push the mistress onto a friend, claiming she belongs to the friend, not themselves.

When Henry's wife comes to catch him cheating, would Lucas also embrace Henry's mistress and righteously tell Henry's wife, "My dear, you're overthinking this. You know Henry's character, don't you? Even if he had bad thoughts, he wouldn't dare act on them! Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on him. If he dares to mess around, you won't need to step in—I'll break his legs for you!"

“Nina, you still don't believe us?" Seeing that Nina remained silent, Henry grew anxious and decided to go all in. "Fine! Since you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you. I'm going to take this little flirt right here, right now, in front of you and Lucas! Then you'll have to believe me, right?"

With that, he threw Melody onto the sofa and pressed himself over her, pretending to force himself on her.

Lucas visibly panicked. His body shifted, clearly wanting to intervene.

But he quickly regained his composure and didn't step forward, only warning verbally, "Henry! What are you doing? This is indecent!"

Then he put his arm around Nina and pulled her toward the door. "Let's go, let's go. They're disgusting. Nina shouldn't watch this—it'll taint your eyes."

He was clever, knowing that at this moment he shouldn't pull Henry away but should remove Nina from the scene instead.

After all, once Nina was gone, Henry would stop the act.

The two left the club. Nina guessed that after dropping her home, Lucas would immediately find an excuse to leave so he could return and comfort Melody.

Sure enough, as soon as the car stopped, Lucas's phone rang right on cue. He answered and launched into his usual work excuse, "What? There's a problem with the North City project? You guys are really something!"

Nina closed her eyes wearily, no longer wanting to hear his lies.

"Go ahead," she said, getting out of the car before he could even hang up. "Remember to come home tonight. I... have some documents for you to sign."

Tonight, let's sign the divorce papers.

From then on, they would part ways, owing each other nothing.