I asked firmly, “Why did you lie to me?”

“There’s no need for so many questions. Tabitha said her leg hurt.”

His voice came through the receiver, its coldness nearly freezing my ears.

“If it weren’t for you.”

Before he could finish, I hung up, too furious to speak for a long while.

“Valerie, don’t be sad. I don’t need the doctor anymore.”

Xavier outside the door seemed to have been listening for a long time. I pulled myself together, offered him a smile and soothed him softly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely bring Dr. Rodriguez back for you.”

I drove to Stephen’s office, only to be told by his new secretary that he was on vacation.

“You really don’t know where he is?”

I pressed again. Since Tabitha’s miscarriage, Stephen had moved out of the villa and never returned. I hadn’t seen him for a while.

The secretary’s expression was odd, tinged with a pity I couldn’t quite decipher. He hesitated, then finally spoke, “You... you should go to the estate Mr. Stein newly purchased.”

An estate? My heart sank. Hesitantly, I drove toward that familiar place etched in my memory.

Winton Manor was the first stop on my honeymoon with Stephen. I once dreamed of owning it. Back then, Stephen promised that once we were wealthy, he’d buy it for me as our third-anniversary gift.

Now we were indeed wealthy enough. The estate was even more beautiful than when I first saw it, the air itself heavy with floral fragrance. None of this was for me.

Hidden in a corner, I heard romantic music and saw a sea of blooming flowers.

Amidst the blossoms, Stephen knelt on one knee. The diamond ring on Tabitha’s finger sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.

The ring on my ring finger, now a dull, lifeless band, stung fiercely. I looked down to find it had long since lost its lustre.

The pain was unbearable. I yanked the ring off.

Only as I tossed it into the trash did I realize today was the third anniversary of my marriage to Stephen.

Stephen’s emotional voice carried over and said, “Tabitha, this estate will be your home from now on!”

I snorted derisively, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag and deliberately flicked it onto the pile of expensive decorations.

The spring breeze blew gently, making the cigarette butt’s ember glow brighter. By the time everyone noticed, the entire stage was engulfed in flames.

The raging inferno engulfed Tabitha’s skirt. A piercing scream split the sky, throwing the entire estate into chaos.

Seizing this opportunity, I rushed into the manor’s interior and finally found Dr. Rodriguez, who had been imprisoned.

His clothes were disheveled, limbs stiff. He’d clearly been bound for hours. It was far from the state Stephen claimed he was in while treating Tabitha.

I hurried to help the doctor up, only to collide head-on with Stephen. Both looked utterly dishevelled—their elegant gowns scorched with gaping holes, faces caked in soot.

Tabitha snapped, “What are you doing here? Did you ruin my proposal?”

“Proposal?” I narrowed my eyes, sizing up their attire before letting out a derisive snort.

“My wife is standing right here. What proposal are you talking about?”

Stephen met my gaze, his eyes holding no trace of guilt, only fury at his ruined proposal.

“I couldn’t marry her, so I’m giving her a proper proposal ceremony. Got a problem with that?”

“Whatever. You could make up a hundred of them. It’s none of my business.”

Faced with Stephen’s favouritism toward Tabitha, I displayed indifference for the first time. Stephen seemed surprised, but I ignored him and continued walking forward with the doctor.

Behind me, Tabitha wouldn’t let it go, blocking my path. “You’re not leaving! You must have started the fire!”

I replied, “Don’t make baseless accusations without evidence.”

Stephen pulled the crying Tabitha into his arms, yet his gaze lingered on me.

“We’ll investigate. Once we find out who ruined our proposal, I’ll make her regret ever being born!”

“So you want to make me regret ever being alive?”

Staring at the investigation results Stephen flung before me, I felt no remorse—only the thrill of revenge accomplished.

Stephen could no longer maintain his gentlemanly facade. “What did Tabitha do to make you hate her so much?”

“You used to be so generous and optimistic. Now you’re like some unreasonable, resentful woman?”

His disappointment was written all over his face. “Valerie, how did you become like this?”

“What right do you have to question me?”

I swept the evidence off the table with a wave of my hand, glaring at him as I fired back.

“Let me tell you that I’m not just a bitter woman. I can become a shrew!”

I immediately contacted my lawyer and reclaimed the estate from Tabitha under the grounds of marital property.

Another lawsuit followed, charging her with unlawful entry into a residence and landing her in police custody.

“Who are you? What right do you have to arrest me?”

As the police shoved Tabitha into the patrol car, she still carried herself like a wealthy socialite, her face mask still plastered on.

“Save your energy for talking later, Miss Gamelin. You’ll be locked up for a long time.”

“You bitch, Valerie! I won’t let you off! I’ll kill you!”

Even after the patrol car had driven far away, Tabitha’s curses and her defences crumbling, still echoed through the hall.

I directed the servants to gather all items used by Stephen and Tabitha and burn them. The entire estate was shrouded in smoke, obscuring even human figures.

“Sweetheart, what mischief are you up to now?”

Stephen wrapped his arms around me from behind, his tone light and brimming with affection. I turned to him with a faint, ambiguous smile.

“Why is it you?”

He pushed me away abruptly. His gentle expression turned to repulsion as he scanned the room.

“Where’s Tabitha?”

“You mean her?”

I casually tossed a garment into the flames, kindly adding.

“She is illegally trespassing in a residence. Probably being interrogated by the police right now.”

Stephen said nothing, then turned and walked away. His urgent silhouette overlapped with memories of the past.

“Did he still remember that Christmas Eve two years ago, when we got separated and he searched frantically for me in the crowd? When he shouted my name, was his urgency the same as it was now?”

Back in reality, the estate before me no longer held its former beauty.

“Sell it.”

“Hold on, what did you say?” The waiting butler was confused.

“Sell the estate. I don’t want it anymore.”

Within half a day, Stephen bailed Tabitha out and sought me out to reconcile.

“If she kneels and apologizes to me, admitting she’s the mistress, I’ll reconcile.”

Hearing this, Tabitha immediately teared up and looked at Stephen.

“How dare you humiliate my woman?”

Stephen shielded the woman behind him, acting like a deeply devoted “husband.” He narrowed his eyes and threatened me, his nominal wife, fiercely.

“I’ll ask one last time. Are you certain you won’t reconcile?”

“Yes, certain!”

“Fine!” Stephen waved to the bodyguards outside. “Bring him in!”

My heart suddenly pounded violently. A man was dragged in, covered in blood, his legs dangling limp beneath him like noodles.

“How disgraceful, like a dog.”

The guard kicked him angrily, lifting his face, beaten beyond recognition.

“Xavier!” I lunged forward but was surrounded by other bodyguards.

“Get out of my way!” I gritted my teeth, raising the gun and aiming it at one of their heads.

“Your gun can only kill one person at a time.”

Stephen challenged me with his gaze. “But I have five bodyguards. Can your brother afford to wait?”

“Let’s go, Valerie. Let’s go...”

Xavier’s voice was so faint it seemed the wind could scatter it. I lowered my head, hiding my unwillingness, forced to drop the gun.

“What do you want?”

Stephen smiled with satisfaction, pulling the woman forward behind him.

“Tabitha, what do you want to do?”

Tabitha narrowed her eyes at me, malice nearly spilling over. “Kneel and apologize to me. Admit you’re the mistress.”

“It’s simple, just like what you made me do when you demanded reconciliation.”

“Too bad I have an even simpler solution!”

I snatched the gun back, pulled Tabitha forward and pressed the barrel against her temple. “Release my brother.”

“You bitch! How dare you treat me like this?”

Tabitha cursed viciously, then instantly switched to a pitiful expression as she looked at Stephen.

“Stephen, save me!”

“Don’t move!”

I slammed the gun butt hard against her skull. “Release him! Or I’ll kill her!”

Seeing Stephen about to grab Xavier as a hostage, I took decisive action—firing a shot straight into Tabitha’s abdomen.

She collapsed like a pile of rotten mud. The splattering blood even landed in my eyes. I didn’t need to guess how horrifying I must feel.

“Will you release her or not?”

Stephen finally relented. His eyes bloodshot, he rushed forward and scooped Tabitha into his arms.

“Valerie, this is a fight to the death!”

To the death? What an unfamiliar phrase. From husband and wife to sworn enemies and it only took three years.

“Oke, fine! I’ll see it through to the end!”

Once Stephen and his men left, I immediately ordered my men to take Xavier abroad.

“I won’t go. What will you do without me?”

“Don’t be afraid. As long as you leave, they can’t use you to threaten me.”

Just as I’d anticipated, a week later, dozens of venomous snakes were released into Xavier’s hospital room. When Stephen brought Tabitha to witness the outcome, the final snake met its end beneath my blade.

Both of them wore expressions of disgust.

“Why? Why are you still here?”

Tabitha’s emotions were overwhelming, forcing Stephen to press her head against his chest and whisper soothingly.

“There, there. Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”

She shouted, “Stephen, please kill her!”

“No!” Stephen refused instantly.

Disappointment washed over Tabitha, but she broke into a smile at his following words.

“She’s a shareholder in the company. It’ll be hard to explain if she dies, so let’s make her worthless first.”

Stephen’s revenge began. He brought Tabitha onto a talk show. Through his narrative, everything that had happened between him and me was pinned onto Tabitha.

He claimed Tabitha was the first person he’d ever fallen for at first sight. He spoke of past Christmases, of that year’s proposal.

As for me, I became the scapegoat, branded as the mistress everyone despised, all while wearing Tabitha’s persona.

When public outrage reached its peak, he targeted the subsidiary company registered in my name. He accused me of substandard materials, employee exploitation and gender discrimination.

My attempts to clarify were repeatedly suppressed, while the number of employees claiming to have been mistreated by me kept growing.

Within three days, the bank froze my assets, dragging the parent company’s stock price to rock bottom.

Stephen convened an emergency shareholders’ meeting overnight, demanding I sell my shares at a fire-sale price.

“I refuse.”

“Refuse?” Stephen’s index finger slid across the keyboard, pulling up multiple transaction records.

“Then what about your parents’ reputation?”

My parents were journalists. They died after exposing a child trafficking ring, killed in retaliation by the traffickers.

But in Stephen’s transactions, they were slandered as accomplices to the traffickers, responsible for the deaths of countless children.

“You don’t want them to be reviled even after death, do you?”

I snapped my head up to stare at him. The victim in that trafficking case had been Stephen himself.

As a child, he’d knelt before his parents’ graves and sworn to become an upright person. Why had he become this?

“As long as you hand over the shares, I’ll forgive and forget.”

“Don’t you remember them?”

“Who? Your parents?” He scoffed dismissively.

“Two small-time reporters who only exposed celebrity scandals? What’s there for me to care about?”

A violent buzzing echoed in my mind, the world before my eyes shattering like glass. What was there left to hold onto?

I asked myself, “What was there left to hold onto?”

“I’ll sign.”

The pen pierced the white paper, tearing apart everything between us.

“We’re done.”

“Done?” Stephen’s expression was a mocking smile.

“I told you before that you’re mine! Unless I’m dead, you won’t be free.”

“His property?”

Carrying my suitcase, I smiled contemptuously at the memories, then turned and boarded the flight abroad.

“I’m sorry, I belong only to myself.”