Thalia was wearing the wedding dress she had just tried on. Her hair had not yet been styled, making her look like an innocent young girl.

I said calmly, “This is not your first wedding. Shouldn’t you have experience already? Why come to ask me?”

Thalia froze at once. Her face drained of all color.

Her lips moved, but not a single word came out.

Fabian appeared at the corner of the corridor at some point, his gaze cold as ice.

“Yvette, you are a woman too. Why must you use her past to provoke her?”

“It was Thalia who wanted to improve your relationship. That is why she came to ask you.”

Thalia had clearly come to show off, yet Fabian could not see it.

In Fabian’s eyes, there was only ever Thalia.

I stood at the doorway, looking down at her.

“Wear whatever necklace you like.”

“I have answered you. You can leave now.”

Thalia’s eyes reddened. She took two steps back and leaned weakly into Fabian’s arms, looking helpless and fragile.

Fabian frowned, his tone low and hard, like a warning.

“Yvette, I can make sure your family company never has a chance to recover.”

I looked at Fabian’s face, bitterness flooding my heart.

The corners of my lips stiffened. I suddenly laughed until tears came out.

Fabian, you already signed the divorce agreement.

Fabian let out a cold laugh. “If the wedding were not so close, I would go get the divorce certificate with you right now.”

Cruel words had always come easily to him. He never held back.

I leaned against the doorframe and watched them leave in silence.

Thalia held Fabian’s arm obediently, happiness impossible to hide on her face.

The crystal chandeliers in the corridor cast soft light on their profiles.

They truly looked like a perfect match.

I took a deep breath, steadied myself, then said to the servant beside me, “Prepare the car. I am going to the civil affairs office tomorrow.”

Back in my room, I took the divorce agreement out of the drawer, signed my name, and pressed my fingerprint.

The movements were swift, without the slightest hesitation.

With both signatures complete, the procedures were finished quickly.

Now that the Yvette family had fallen, it was only reasonable for Fabian to want to sever ties with me.

The staff at the civil affairs office did not ask a single unnecessary question.

I also transferred my household registration back to my parents’ family.

By the time I finished everything and returned to the villa, it was nearly noon.

Tomorrow was the wedding. The entire villa was bustling with activity.

No one had the energy to pay me any attention anymore.

I returned to my room and organized the things I would take with me.

Two suitcases were packed quickly. I had someone send them out of the villa first, then sent a message to my parents.

The flight was early tomorrow morning.

The room was cleaned spotless, as if no one had ever lived there.

That evening, Fabian’s assistant delivered a set of formal attire.

With his head lowered, the assistant said, “This was sent by President Shen. He personally selected the fabric two months ago.”

“He said Madam could wear it to the wedding tomorrow.”

The custom silk shimmered softly under the warm yellow light.

The servant took the outfit, but the assistant remained standing at the doorway.

“President Shen asked me to pass on a message,” he added. “What he said yesterday was spoken in anger. He hopes you will not take it to heart.”

The words Fabian spoke were like water already poured out.

And my wounds were still aching faintly.

I was silent for a moment, then simply nodded to show that I had heard him.

The assistant raised his head cautiously and asked in a low voice, “Madam, is there anything you would like me to pass on to President Shen?”

The night wind was cold, stinging my eyes.

I spoke slowly. “No. You should head back and report.”

He responded softly and left quickly.

That night, I barely slept at all.

On the day of the wedding, I woke up very early.

As dawn broke, I changed into a simple, understated dress, put on my sunglasses, and went out.

The butler still recognized me and casually asked, “Miss Jiang, where are you going? The wedding will start in about an hour.”

Thalia was about to become Mrs Shen.

As for Fabian and me, our marriage had already come to an end, the dust fully settled.

To draw a clear distinction, Fabian now deliberately addressed me by my full name.

I smiled faintly. “To the airport. I am picking up my parents. No need to tell Fabian.”

The butler nodded. “Understood.”

I got into the car, which headed toward the airport.

All the guests attending the wedding were heading to the Shen family villa, moving in the opposite direction from me.

I lowered the sun visor and stared blankly at the tip of my shoes.

Three years ago, I married Fabian and lived through a period of mutual courtesy and restraint.

Back then, I had been far too naive.

I believed Thalia had already married someone else. Since Fabian chose me, I thought the marriage could remain stable.

I believed that sincerity would always be met with sincerity.

Until a year ago, when Thalia suddenly reconnected with Fabian.

After marrying me, Fabian led the Shen Group through continuous growth, its market value multiplying several times over.

I loved Fabian, and my father spared no effort in supporting him.

With his career thriving and his future bright, Fabian was even more high spirited than when he first succeeded in business.

Yet Fabian’s white moonlight had not lived well.

After marriage, Thalia’s husband kept a lover on the side. She lived every day in pain and torment.

At only twenty five, Thalia was already mentally exhausted, growing thinner by the day.

In the end, she could no longer bear it and confided in her childhood sweetheart.

Message after message filled with affection, call after call choked with tears, slowly drew two hearts that had once been apart back together.

Fate was cruelly ironic. Thalia had always been meant to be Fabian’s wife.

They should have gone from school uniforms to wedding gowns together.

Because of his guilt toward Thalia, Fabian redirected his resentment onto me.

From that moment on, he secretly supported Thalia while gradually distancing himself from me.

Any realization that came now was already too late.

An hour later, I boarded the flight overseas.

My parents knew that I had divorced Fabian.

They only sighed, regretting that they had misjudged him back then and let me endure so much pain.

I pressed my lips together, not daring to say a word.

It was my own foolishness.

One mistake after another.

After more than ten hours in the air, we finally arrived at my parents’ residence abroad.

I had worried that I might not adapt to the new environment.

Yet aside from falling ill for a few days due to jet lag, I adjusted quickly.

My mother filled the yard with flowers and plants and even planted several fruit trees.

The climate here was mild, everything growing freely and unrestrained.

My father’s position had been marginalized, and most of his previous savings were frozen.

But here, I felt lighter and more at ease.

I could eat fruits rarely seen back home and see landscapes I had never encountered before.

With sunshine and sea breeze filling each day, my heart gradually opened.

I began to love this life.

Those past memories were quietly smoothed away by time.

Every detail of my life with Fabian gradually blurred.

The occasional tenderness. Brief moments of warmth.

Long and silent nights. Waiting without an answer.

Everything drifted away with the wind, as if from another lifetime.

After returning from the wedding of my father’s friend’s son, my mother suddenly grabbed my hand, frowned slightly, and asked, “I noticed you were spacing out just now. Were you thinking about Fabian again?”

I froze for a moment, then answered honestly, “I was thinking about how the steamed fish at the banquet was made. It tasted different from yours.”

My mother could not help but laugh. “Tomorrow I will have your father ask about it.”

I wrapped my arm around hers and leaned in, rubbing against her like a spoiled child.

The house was warm and peaceful.

Before the wedding began.

Fabian stood outside Yvette’s room for a long time.

He wanted to explain that this wedding was only meant to make up for the regrets of his youth with Thalia.

Just compensation. Nothing more.

The divorce he mentioned that day had been spoken in the heat of the moment. It had never been his true intention.

Fabian only wanted Yvette to understand that at that moment, she could rely only on him.

At some point, he had begun using the sharpest words to hurt her again and again.

Now, regret surged over him like a tide.

He regretted the cruel words that slipped out so easily, regretted pushing Yvette farther away each time.

There was no response from inside the room. Fabian turned to the butler and asked, “Where is Madam?”

The butler thought he was referring to Thalia and replied, “Madam is getting her makeup done.”

Fabian answered, “Alright.”

Yesterday, Fabian had asked someone to deliver a set of formal attire to Yvette.

It was custom made two months earlier.

Whenever he saw something delicate and beautiful, Fabian would instinctively want to buy it for Yvette.

The pale pink color suited her well.

He could even picture her wearing it, the corners of his mouth lifting unconsciously.

But until the wedding began, Yvette never appeared.

Fabian’s heart jolted. He asked again, “Where is Madam?”

The butler lowered his head, his voice trembling. “Madam went to the airport early this morning to see Chairman Jiang off.”

The wedding time arrived.

Fabian no longer cared about Thalia behind him. He turned and rushed into the guest room of the villa, pushed the door open, and went inside.

The room was so neat it made his heart panic, as if no one had ever lived there.

Only the pale pink dress lay quietly in place, untouched and brand new.

Fabian’s heart plunged into an abyss. A tearing pain spread through his chest.

Yvette was truly leaving.

Fabian rushed into the garage, grabbed a sports car at random, and sped away in full view of the stunned guests.

Thalia stumbled after him, her wedding dress dragging along the ground, tears blurring her makeup.

“Fabian, please do not go…”

Fabian was the groom, the protagonist of this wedding.

How could the protagonist be absent from his own ceremony.

This wedding was something Fabian had longed for over so many years.

Yet Thalia could only watch as the car disappeared from sight.

Her body gave way, and she collapsed onto the steps.

Separated by thousands of miles, perhaps she would never see her again.

Fabian covered his face with both hands. Tears slipped through his fingers, the suppressed sobs breaking the heart.

Chaos erupted around him.

The assistant rushed over. “President Shen, what happened?”

Fabian could not say a single word.

Above the villa, fireworks prepared a day in advance bloomed across the clear blue sky.