When she looked at the empty house, Ella lost all desire to stay there and decided to simply move to the research institute.

One day, when she went home to get her things, she found Danny waiting at the door.

For a moment, she froze. Then, pretending not to see him, she opened the door.

Danny's voice echoed behind her. “I’ve been looking for you these past few days, but you never seem to be home. Where have you been?”

After hesitating for a moment, Ella decided to tell the truth. "I went back to Professor Hamilton's laboratory. I …."

But Danny did not listen to her at all. Instead, he scanned the empty room and demanded, “Why are there some things missing from the house?"

Ella clenched her fists and her breathing quickened. Then she took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Danny, let's get a divorce."

“Knock knock.” The sudden knocking interrupted her words.

She followed his gaze and found that it was Sarah. She was holding a scarf in her hand.

"Danny, you forgot to put on your scarf. It's windy outside, you might have a headache."

For a second, Danny's face turned completely blank and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Sarah walked up to him and wrapped it around his neck on tiptoe.

From Ella's angle, the two of them seemed to be kissing.

Even though her fingers dug deep into her palms, she did not feel any pain at all.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, Sarah lost her balance and fell to the side. Danny immediately caught her waist.

She pressed her hands against his chest and lowered her head shyly. "I'm sorry. I just twisted my ankle."

They were so close. Only now did Danny realize how close they were. He frantically released his grip and glanced toward Ella. But she was nowhere to be seen.

Watching him search for her, a shadow flickered in Sarah’s eyes. So, she said, “Danny, I'll wait for you downstairs."

When she heard this, Ella stopped packing.

At this moment, Danny walked in. He said with a tense voice, "I brought her because we have to attend the seminar later. Nothing else. Ella, I …."

Ella zipped up her bag before lifting her head to meet his gaze. “Alright, I believe you.”

But her answer did not calm him down. She is way too calm. She should not react like this. He thought.

He grabbed Ella's wrist. His face was grim. "If you're angry, just let it out. Why do you talk like this?"

“You're hurting me.” Ella struggled desperately to pull her hand away, but he only tightened his grip.

Finally, she broke down and shouted, “I'm not angry! I know you're just colleagues! You're close to her because you share more common ground—you're fellow disciples and she can help you more with your research...”

Every word she said now was the same one Danny had once said to her and now she was throwing them back at him.

While he stood there frozen, she pushed him away and ran out.

Downstairs, she caught sight of Danny's car. Inside it, Sarah, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was applying lipstick.

This reminded her of the first time she'd found lipstick and confronted him. Back then, Danny had only responded impatiently, "Why are you making such a big deal over a lipstick? Sarah and I are just dedicated to researching. Why must you turn us into adulterers? You clearly haven't read enough books. Your head's filled with nothing but trash."

She tore her gaze away and climbed into her professor's car.

Today, she was attending an academic seminar with her mentor. Their lab’s recent research breakthrough had drawn a lot of attention and as one of the main project leaders, she couldn’t decline the invitation.

What she had not anticipated was that Danny and Sarah also appeared there.

The moment he appeared, he captured everyone's attention, drawing one person after another to have a conversation with him.

Sarah stood beside him and anyone watching would have to admit they made a perfect match.

Ella did not plan to get closer to eavesdrop, but the crowd pushed her forward.

“It seems that I have never seen Dr. Sinclair's wife. It seems only Professor Palmer has always been by your side. You can bring your wife over for us to meet next time."

Ella heard someone ask him.

Someone nearby chimed in, “Yes, Dr. Sinclair, you're so accomplished, your wife must be extraordinary too. What field does she research in?”

Danny paused for a moment, then smiled faintly. “My wife is rather uncultured and unsophisticated. She's not quite suited for occasions like this.”

Each of his words pierced her heart like needles, stirring up a dense, stinging pain. She swayed slightly, wanting to leave. After she walked away, someone asked why Danny had come that day.

He pondered for a moment and said, “I came today mainly to meet the person in charge of the Lily of the Valley project. I think she's very talented and should be a leader in our field.”

“Yes, but she’s a bit of a mystery,” someone said. “Her name hasn’t been made public yet. I bet she’s a big figure in the industry. Ordinary people couldn’t pull off research that advanced.”

***

Originally, Ella wanted to find a quieter place, but Sarah found her.

"Why are you here, Ella?"

Ella refused to talk and turned to leave.

“Did you beg someone to bring you here? Can you really understand the content of the presentation later?”

Sarah's mockery made Ella stop in her tracks. When she was about to throw the Lily of the Valley research book that she pulled from her bag at Sarah's face, gasps erupted from the surrounding crowd.

She followed their gaze, looked up and saw that the overhead light had fallen.

At that critical moment, Danny rushed over and pulled Sarah into his arms to protect her.

Ella was not so lucky. Though she darted aside the moment she noticed, shards of glass were still embedded in her leg.

A searing pain shot through her calf. Before she lost consciousness, all she saw was blood spreading across the floor.

When Ella opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was the pristine white ceiling of the hospital room. The moment her eyes fluttered open, a sharp pain shot through her calf.

Frowning, she propped herself up and forced herself to sit.

The door was pushed open and the nurse walked in, then she poured a glass of water for her.

Ella lowered her head and took a sip of water. She heard the nurse say, "Did you not tell your parents about the accident? I don't think anyone has come to visit you in the past few days. Where's your husband? I didn't see him either. Don't you know that the female patient's husband next door visits her every day...”

A touch of bitterness flashed in Ella's eyes. “My husband and I are divorced ...”

The nurse, who was changing her IV needle, paused her movement and asked in surprise, "At your age, you're getting a divorce? Don't you consider your child's feelings?”

“I don't...” she murmured.

Once the nurse finished changing the needle and left, Ella picked up her phone to order some food. Only then, she noticed Danny had sent her a message and the last one was two days prior. After that, nothing.

Her grip on the phone tightened as a wave of indescribable bitterness rose in her throat.

Just as she was about to place her order, Danny messaged her again.

[Just because I didn’t let you move into the new house, you decide to disappear?]

[Ella, that disappearing act doesn’t work on me. I already explained why there’s no room for you in the new place. I’m not wasting my time repeating myself.]

[I remember that you know how to make bone broth. Make a pot today and bring it to Room 3511 at Wellness Hospital. It would be best to deliver it before one o'clock in the afternoon.]

Ella stared blankly at the message Danny had sent to her until the ward number caught her attention. She then froze for a moment.

She was in Room 3512, the last room on this floor. That meant the only room next to hers was 3511. So, the person the nurse mentioned visiting daily must be ...

The thought that she had been lying here for two days, while Danny hadn't come even once to see her but visited the patient next door, Sarah, every single day, sent waves of sharp pain rippling through her heart.

When she didn’t reply, Danny called.

He hadn't made a single call when he couldn't reach her days ago, yet now he was frantic about Sarah not getting her soup.

Enough was enough.

She immediately got out of bed and headed for the door.

In the ward net door, as Sarah looked at Danny peeling an apple for her, a plan began to form in her mind.

"Danny … my hand … it still hurts. Could you feed me?"

Danny paused and nodded.

Sarah immediately became happy and opened her mouth expectantly.

This was exactly the scene Ella witnessed when she entered the room. She clenched her palms fiercely and told herself to calm down.

Seeing her, Danny immediately withdrew his hand.

"Why are you here so fast? Is the soup ready?"

Hearing him mention bone broth, Ella sneered and limped toward him.

Only then did Danny notice the large bandage on her left calf. Instantly, he heard her voice hiss in his ear. “Danny Sinclair, how dare you accuse me of deliberately disappearing? For two whole days, I was lying in the next hospital room! And you? Did you even come to see me once?”

After taking several deep breaths, Ella composed herself and said calmly, “You didn't.”

Danny staggered slightly and clenched his fists unconsciously, “I...”

“If you’d cared even a little,” she continued, “And asked a few more questions ... you’d have known that the other person hit by the falling light that day… was me.”

He swayed slightly and a flicker of shock flashed in his eyes.

"Ella, let me explain. I... I didn't know. I didn't know you followed me to that seminar. If I had known ...”

“What difference would it have made?” Ella sneered. “Would you have stayed by my side? When trouble struck, you'd still rush to protect your precious junior sister, wouldn't you?”

His face darkened. “Don't talk nonsense! We, Sarah and I, are not what you think!"

A flash of mockery flickered in Ella's eyes and a disbelief look appeared on her face.

Danny wanted to say something, but the phone rang suddenly and he had to go out and answer the phone first.

“I'll explain everything to you later.” With those words, he hurriedly left the hospital room.

The moment the door closed, the air in the room went cold.

Ella turned to leave, but Sarah’s voice cut through the air behind her. “I’m dying to know... when exactly do you plan to divorce him, Ella?"

Her bluntness caught Ella off guard.

Sarah kept provoking her.  “He doesn’t love you anymore. Your marriage is nothing but an empty shell now. It’ll shatter completely soon.”

Ella turned and glared at her coldly. “So what? Even if it's an empty shell, I'm still his legal wife. Who do you think you are to talk back to me?”

Ella did not pay any attention to her, but the moment she turned around, she heard her say, It's just a hollow title. As long as his love remains with me, this position will be mine someday. Care to bet on it?”

Ella was taken aback for a moment and frowned slightly.

Before she could react, a thud sounded behind her. Sarah had deliberately rolled out the bed.

At that moment, Danny pushed open the door and walked in.

Realizing what Sarah had done, Ella's heart clenched. Her voice was tense. “It wasn’t me, I...”

But before she could finish, he shoved her violently aside. The torn wound instantly stained the gauze red and cold sweat broke out on her forehead from the pain.

Behind her, she could hear Danny’s accusatory voice, "When did you become so unreasonable, Ella?”

Her fingers dug deep into the palms of her hands, yet Ella felt no pain at all. Every word Danny spoke pierced her heart like needles, stirring waves of relentless agony.

“Believe it or not, I didn’t push her.”

Danny had just lifted Sarah and laid her on the bed when he heard these words. He was about to turn and ask, "If not you, who else could have done it?" when the blood-soaked bandage on Ella's calf caught his eye.

He was taken aback for a moment; only then did he realize that he was the one who pushed her.

"Ella... I ...." But before he could say anything, Ella had already turned and left without looking back.

Watching her retreating figure, a wave of intense unease washed over him and he instinctively wanted to chase after her.

But, before he could, his wrist was grabbed. When he looked down, he saw Sarah's red, tear-streaked eyes. She pleaded, "Please, can you get me a doctor? My hand hurt again."

When he didn’t move, Sarah bit her lip and added softly, “It’s not that I can’t handle the pain, but the experiment needs to keep going and if my hand doesn’t heal properly, I'm afraid I won’t be able to cooperate with you. If that delays the Lily of the Valley Project and the person in charge gets upset…”

Hearing that, Danny hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll go get the doctor.”

After confirming with the doctor that Sarah was fine, he went to the ward next door.

Inside the ward, after Ella tossed her takeout box into the trash. She immediately called her lawyer.

“Yes, the day after tomorrow. I can come to the law firm for a consultation.”

She was about to say more when the ward door opened behind her, followed by Danny's voice. “What lawyer?”

Ella ended the phone; her expression stayed calm. "It's nothing, you heard it wrong.”

She then lay down on the bed, clearly not wanting to talk further.

Danny walked to the side of the bed and when he saw the takeaway box in the trash can, his hands, that previously hung by his side, curled up.

“You’re just… eating takeout?” he asked in a low voice.

But Ella did not even look at him. She simply turned her back to him.

His breathing quickened, chest rising and falling with frustration. "Ella, never thought you’d show up at the seminar, so I certainly couldn't have known the other person hit by the object was you. You followed me without telling me—I haven't even blamed you for that. But that still doesn’t justify you hurting Sarah!"

But she didn't even move, still turning her back to him.

“What do you want me to do?" he demanded. "I've been incredibly busy lately. I visited Sarah only because we have an experiment requiring both of us to complete it. I was worried her hand might affect the experiment—that's all. You're the one jumping to all sorts of conclusions. Not only are you not helping me, you're making things worse!”

Just when he wanted to say something, Ella turned and sat up.

Her eyes were as still as stagnant water when she looked at him. “Are you done? If so, leave. I want to rest.”

The glimmer of hope that had just flickered in his eyes instantly dimmed.

Watching her cold, indifferent back, Danny felt a growing sense of unease in his heart, as if something was slowly slipping beyond his grasp.

But he quickly reassured himself that they had been married for so many years, so it was impossible for Ella to leave him. She was only like this now because she was still angry; as long as he coaxed her, everything would definitely be fine.

With this thought, he calmed a bit. “Then have a good rest. I'll come see you again tomorrow.”

A flash of sarcasm flickered in Ella's eyes at his words and she curled her lips in disdain.

What she hadn’t expected was that he actually brought her a bowl of soup the next day at noon. She frowned, but he urged her, “Drink up. I simmered it for ages.”

Hearing his words, Ella raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise crossing her mind.

Since their marriage, Danny had scarcely set foot in the kitchen. Yet this time, he’d personally make the soup.

Half-doubting, half-believing, Ella lifted the lid. The moment her eyes met the contents, she froze in place.

At that moment, her phone chimed. She looked down and saw a message from Sarah. [My favorite carrot and bone broth soup! I made him stew it himself last night. Do you think it's delicious?]

Boom!

The word hit her like a bolt from the blue. Ella's hand, which was holding the bowl, shook uncontrollably.

Seeing something was wrong with her, Danny asked, "What's wrong with you, Ella?"

With reddened eyes, she choked out a question, “You know... I'm allergic to carrots, right?”

Danny's face instantly drained of color. He grabbed her hand. “I'm sorry, Ella. I...”

Ella pulled her hand and smiled bitterly. "You don't have to say anything. We're getting …"

A frantic ringing interrupted her words. She could only wait for Danny to finish his call.

But his expression turned grim. He looked at her gravely. "Ella, John fainted."