My heart was being carved open. I broke down in that hospital room, sobbing until I couldn't breathe. I clawed at myself, screamed, did everything I could to make Justin look at me. Just one look. That was all I wanted. He wouldn't even give me that.

Because.

Justin said.

"When you lost the baby, Odette blamed herself. She wanted to break up with me."

"I thought."

"I could let her go."

"But," his voice hardened, "I can't."

"I can't lose Odette. The same way I couldn't lose you back then."

His words ripped through me. Tears flooded down my face, and my chest split open like something had torn it apart with bare hands. Every organ ached. I couldn't breathe. I grabbed whatever I could reach and hurled it at him, watching blood bloom across his skin, watching him refuse to dodge. Then my legs gave out. I collapsed to my knees in front of him, fists knotted in his shirt, choking on my own voice.

"Why!"

"Why, Justin!"

"Tell me why!"

Why did you choose me.

Why did you fall in love with me.

Why did you throw away everything to build me a home, only to burn it down with your own hands.

Why did you hold the umbrella over my head, then shred it to pieces.

Why!

He didn't answer. He didn't hold me the way he used to. When I lunged forward and tried to kiss him, he turned his face away. He wouldn't even look at me.

"Odette said."

"If she can still smell you on me."

"She won't let me touch her."

Ice swallowed me whole. Every nerve in my body went dead, as if I'd been nailed to the floor. Even my tears stopped. I stared at the man in front of me, watched him pick up his coat, walk to the door.

"Louisa."

"Think it over."

Think it over.

I laughed.

I laughed until the laughter cracked into sobs, and the sobs cracked into screaming, and the screaming echoed through the empty apartment until it became the only sound left in my life.

Then Odette's message came through. A wedding design mockup. And her words underneath.

"Louisa, see this?"

"Everything you begged for and never got? I get it handed to me."

"Justin told me, you know. When he left the Simmons family for you, you two started from nothing. You didn't even have a real wedding. That's just... so sad."

She sent a laughing voice message.

"What a shame."

"You spent seven years by his side, built everything from the ground up, turned him into the great Mr. Simmons. And now that life is finally good..."

"It's all about to be mine."

"Hahaha."

Then she sent a video.

In the video.

Justin was down on one knee, stars pooling in his eyes, his face written over with devotion.

"Odie."

"You said you wanted a rock."

"But I figured even the biggest diamond wouldn't be good enough for you."

"So," he opened the jewelry box, and the pink diamond caught the light so fiercely I felt my heart clench, "I won this ring at auction. I'm hoping you'll say yes."

The proposal setup was gorgeous. Romantic.

Every friend we'd made together over the years was there, cheering, clapping, calling out for Odette to say yes.

But Odette was in no rush. She looked down at him.

"What about Louisa?"

She tilted her head.

"Did Louisa ever get this kind of treatment?"

"You know me," she said, gazing down at Justin from above. "I don't do secondhand."

"Not even the sentiment."

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

Justin hadn't even opened his mouth yet.

Someone was already answering for him.

"Babe, what are you even worried about?"

"Back then, Justin and that woman didn't even throw a reception. They just had dinner at home. She cooked it herself, bought the groceries herself, said she didn't want to waste money, said they needed to save. We laughed about it behind her back for months."

"Some nobody from nowhere doesn't deserve our boy Justin. You and Justin are the real deal, the perfect match."

Just like that, I went from "Mrs. Simmons" to "that woman" in the mouths of Justin's friends.

And Odette went from "homewrecker" and "side piece" to the new "Mrs. Simmons."

I found it laughable. So laughable I actually laughed out loud. But I kept watching as Odette ignored everyone else's jeering at me, her eyes locked stubbornly on Justin.

And Justin, right on cue, gave her exactly what she wanted.

"Louisa doesn't deserve any of this."

"After all, a girl from the countryside was never going to get the best."

"Only you."

"Everything I have is for you."

"All of me."

I thought of the ring Justin had saved up half a year's salary to buy me, the one with the tiny diamond chips, still sitting on my ring finger.

I remembered standing in front of that billboard, staring at the pink diamond for the longest time, unable to look away.

Justin had wrapped his arms around me and pointed up at the screen, making a promise.

"Once the company's stable, babe."

"I'll get it for you. Soon."

"My wife deserves the best. My whole heart, only for you."

It was me.

It was me.

I felt sorry for Justin.

I understood how hard the road had been for him to get where he was.

I couldn't bring myself to let him spend on luxury goods and expensive jewelry for me.

It was me.

I believed love could conquer anything.

I believed that as long as we had each other, we could live on nothing.

Turns out, those were just things I believed.

Turns out, reality's first lesson hit harder than I ever imagined.

Then I heard Odette's voice.

"Louisa."

"Whether you sign those papers or not, whether you give up that title, whether I ever get that marriage certificate."

"None of it matters."

Odette couldn't wait to show off. She sent me photos of the mansion Justin bought her, the luxury cars, an entire room overflowing with designer goods and jewelry, every item tagged with its price, just to rub it in.

"You dried-up old hag."

"You deserve to be the clueless little nobody you are."

"Let me open your eyes for you. See all this?"

"The things you wouldn't even dare dream of?"

"All I have to do is crook my finger."

"And it's mine."

Right after Odette's messages, Justin sent me a voice note. He said:

"Louisa."

"Just agree to the divorce."

"If you ever run into trouble down the road, I can still help you out."

"But you had to push things this far."

Something like old affection flickered through his tone, a rare moment of patience with me.

"Why make this harder than it has to be?"

"After all these years, you know what I've turned you into. Don't pretend you don't."

I listened to his voice while staring at the wedding dress I'd already shredded to pieces, the portrait he'd painted of me, the love letters he'd written, all of it garbage now, stuffed into cardboard boxes. I smiled, pressed the record button, and asked him right back.

"Turned me into what, exactly?"

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Why don't you," I watched the movers carry out the last of it, the apartment already half-empty, "spell it out for me, Mr. Simmons?"

I stopped paying attention to Justin and Odette. I watched the movers haul out the final box. A diary slipped from it and hit the floor.

The mover picked it up and turned to me.

"Ms. Payne?"

"You want to toss this too?"

The pages had yellowed.

On the cover was a Polaroid of me and Justin from seven years ago, taken at a bubble tea shop. Our smiles were so sweet.

Now.

That sweetness tasted bitter.

"Throw it away."

I took one last look at what used to be our home, pulled the door shut, got in the car, and called my lawyer.

"The documents."

"I've sent you everything."

"Now, I want to file for preservation of all joint marital assets and recover every single thing Justin transferred to Odette during the course of our marriage."

The lawyer agreed without hesitation.

Efficient. Just the way I needed it.

I watched the scenery blur past the window and smiled.

So they wanted a wedding.

So they wanted to flaunt their wealth.

Then I'd give them exactly what they asked for.