Ariel met Lucas' gaze. He was watching her with a faint smile, as if waiting for her to squirm.

She clenched her fists, letting go of the last shred of hope she'd been holding onto.

Meeting his gaze head-on, she said exactly what he wanted to hear. "Sure, family. Nice to meet you, Wendy."

Wendy's smile deepened. She clung to Lucas' waist, nuzzling into him.

Lucas paused for a moment. His eyes flickered toward Ariel before he lowered his head and pulled Wendy closer, leading her into the living room.

"Who are you trying to impress?" Lori walked up with a sneer. "Lucas wouldn't look twice at a married woman like you now.

"And that Ms. Stanton Mr. Larkin threw a birthday celebration for last night? She's a highly sought-after aerospace engineering PhD in the corporate world. What do you have to compete with that?

"You're just some housewife whose only skills are cooking and keeping a bed warm. What's wrong? Afraid of getting kicked to the curb, so now you're suddenly trying to cozy up to us?"

Everyone was just waiting for her miserable marriage to fall apart.

Ariel's chest tightened, but she simply set down the gift bag in her hand. "Don't worry. However my life turns out, it won't have anything to do with the Sandersons. After all, my last name is Walker."

Without looking back, she turned and left.

Staying would only be miserable for everyone here.

"She left?"

Morgan stepped out from the side hall just in time to see Ariel's retreating figure. His face darkened.

Lori snapped out of her daze and huffed, "Dad, did you see that attitude? She doesn't care about this family, and she sure as hell doesn't care about you. I'm sure Mr. Larkin's going to dump her sooner or later."

After three years, Morgan could tell that Ariel had never managed to win Jayson's heart.

The only time he'd gained anything from the Larkin name through Ariel was right after the wedding.

After that, no matter how many times he tried to use the connection for business deals, he was met with indifference. Jayson never once gave him the slightest consideration as his father-in-law.

And whose fault was that?

If Ariel had even the slightest ability to keep Jayson in line, things wouldn't have turned out this way. To Morgan, she was just a useless pawn.

Morgan's expression darkened. He glanced at Lori. "You're not a kid anymore. Ariel's useless. I can get you some face time with Mr. Larkin."

Lori immediately understood his implication.

Her face stiffened, and out of reflex, her gaze drifted toward Lucas. He was smirking playfully as he held a grape between his teeth, feeding it to Wendy.

She bit her lip, a flicker of resentment flashing in her eyes.

…

Ariel rented a two-bedroom apartment, fully furnished and ready to move in. She signed a one-year lease. The location was perfect. It was just a mile from the hospital she frequented.

By the time she got back from Sanderson Manor, her head was throbbing. But she didn't forget to block Jayson on WhatsApp.

She kept his number in case he needed to contact her about finalizing the divorce at the courthouse.

Now, all she had to do was get through the 30-day cooling-off period.

Setting her phone aside, she took a shower and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

…

Meanwhile, Jayson returned to the villa and found that the foyer was dark.

No matter how late it was, Ariel always left a lamp on. She'd greet him with a gentle smile, take his coat, and set out his fresh clothes for the night.

He rarely came home, but on certain nights every month, he returned to fulfill his "duties".

Out of habit, he reached to hand off his coat, but his hand met empty air. Frowning, he glanced around.

Was Ariel throwing a tantrum?

He headed upstairs and pushed open the master bedroom door. He'd expected her to be curled up in bed, silently protesting by pretending to be asleep. But the bed was empty.

The whole house was dark and quiet.

Ariel hadn't come home.

Earlier, Colton had reported Ariel's stance on the Nancy situation. She had even gone so far as to defy him, ready to take it to court.

And now…

Jayson loosened his tie, a faint smirk playing at his lips.

She'd learned to run away from home?

But he didn't think it was a big deal. Maybe a little time alone would help her think straight.

The next morning, the Larkins' housekeeper, Lily Hill, arrived with Jayson's younger sister, Renee Larkin.

The 17-year-old had a striking figure and a sharp attitude. The moment she walked in, she tossed her bag onto the couch.

"Where's Ariel Walker?" She blinked up at Jayson.

Jayson finished adjusting his tie and shot her a look. "Don't be so disrespectful."

Renee pouted. "You don't even like her. Why should I respect her?"

Her mother, Evelyn Cavell, always said Ariel had married above her station. She should be grateful to them and serve them without question. What was the term again? A glorified maid?

Jayson saw right through her. "Alright, what do you want this time?" His voice was cold.

Renee's eyes darted mischievously. "Jay, you're busy today, right?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Mom's at a fashion show, Dad's overseas, and Grandma isn't well. No one can make it to my parent-teacher meeting.

"Can you ask Ariel to go? She spends your money and doesn't do anything anyway. Might as well put her to use," Renee said coyly while swinging her legs.

Jayson hesitated. "Ask her yourself."

Renee scoffed. "Please. She's always trying to get on your good side. She dotes on me like crazy, just like those scheming women in online novels. Just tell her she has to go."

Lately, she'd been obsessed with Nancy's aerospace lectures overseas, and her grades had taken a hit.

She didn't want her family at the meeting. Ariel, on the other hand, didn't matter to Renee. She didn't mind Ariel taking the teacher's scolding.

And to please Renee, Ariel definitely wouldn't rat her out to Jayson or Evelyn.

Jayson thought for a moment, then shrugged on his coat. "Fine. I'll give her a day off."

…

Ariel woke up with a pounding headache and a low-grade fever. Her immune system had been unreliable for a while now, so her body could break down at any moment.

She'd already taken sick leave the day before. She could go to the hospital today to confirm her treatment plan.

By the time she reached the hospital lobby, her legs had gone weak. She barely took a few steps before the world tilted.

"Ari!"

Ariel heard a woman's startled cry. Then, everything went black.

When she woke up, she saw her best friend, Janice Swanson, sitting by the hospital bed.

The moment she opened her eyes, Janice let out a relieved breath, then immediately started scolding, "What the hell did that bastard Jayson do to you? The doctor said you collapsed from exhaustion! You just barely broke your fever!"

Ariel tensed instinctively, worried that her illness had been discovered.

"What's wrong? Did the fever fry your brain?" Janice gasped in shock. "Doctor! She—"

"Don't shout. I'm fine," Ariel said. Her head throbbed from all the fuss. She quickly stopped Janice.

Luckily, Janice didn't know. Otherwise, with her loud nature, news of Ariel's cancer would spread across Eldoria in less than a day.

By then, Katie and Leonard would find out as well.

"What are you even doing at the hospital?" Ariel asked.

Janice shrugged. "My idiot brother drank himself into alcohol poisoning. I came to check if he was dead or not. Anyway, you look awful. Is it because of Jayson and his mistress?"

Janice had seen the live stream.

Hardly anyone knew Jayson was married, so people were obsessively rooting for his so-called perfect love story with Nancy.

That shameless couple disgusted Janice.

Ariel felt a brief moment of daze, but no anger stirred in her. "We're getting a divorce soon."

Once the 30-day cooling-off period was up, this whole ridiculous chapter of her life would finally be over.

Janice froze. Then her eyes widened in fury. She misunderstood. "He's making that bitch his wife?"

When Ariel married Jayson, she gave up her dreams and career entirely. She even turned down her lecturer's rare recommendation to join the aerospace research institute.

Instead, she devoted herself to being the perfect wife, taking care of Jayson's every need.

She loved that scumbag to the point of obsession.

To outsiders, there was no way Ariel would have been the one to ask for a divorce. It had to be Jayson who dumped her.

But Ariel shook her head. "I filed for it."

Janice stared at her, speechless for a full two minutes. Then, suddenly, she clapped her hands together.

"Finally! That's what I'm talking about! A badass, talented woman like you should be focusing on your career. Ditch Bluum Corp and join Faye Tech. How about taking an equity stake with your expertise?"

Faye Technologies specialized in cutting-edge drone technology, and Janice was one of the major shareholders.

She had no idea about the technical side of things. After all, she'd been a terrible student all her life.

But she knew one fundamental truth—money talked, and she was willing to spend a lot of it.

At the mention of Faye Technologies, something in Ariel's pale face finally lit up.

If Ariel had stayed on the path she originally wanted, she would have ended up in aerospace engineering.

Drones were among the most important technological advancements of the era. They were used in military operations, civilian industries, and agriculture.

The only reason she had gotten a glowing recommendation to the research institute back then was because of her own achievements.

She designed and oversaw the development of U.N, a reconnaissance and strike drone that featured long-range capabilities, heavy payload capacity, high speed, and automated operation.

Ariel's breakthroughs had overcome key technological barriers, and the drone was now actively deployed in military operations.

In the aerospace field, it was considered top-tier.

But marriage had cost Ariel everything. Now, she was physically and mentally wrecked, staring down a cancer diagnosis at a young age, with no idea how much time she had left.

Yet, if nothing else, she had learned one thing. One should always put oneself first and live for oneself.

Even if she couldn't be cured, Ariel refused to spend what little time she had left in regret.

She wanted to return to her field and focus on nurturing her dreams.

Janice didn't understand the tech side of things, but Faye Technologies had a real heavyweight running the show, Chad Hockney.

Janice provided the funding, while Chad and a team handled the research. In just a few years, Faye Technologies had skyrocketed to prominence, becoming a dark horse in Eldoria's tech scene.

But…

"You know how it is. When I got married, Chad cut me off completely. He's the one running Faye Tech now. I doubt he'd even let me through the door," Ariel said.

The lecturer who had once written her recommendation letter was Chad's father. The father and son had trusted Ariel and went out of their way to support her. They truly believed she was destined for greatness, perhaps even something that would make their country proud.

But after she got married, she let them down.

Janice scratched her head. "Chad's all talk. You know how he is—stubborn as hell but a softie deep down. Let me set something up and get you two to talk it out. He actually misses you, you know."

Ariel smiled bitterly.

If Morgan hadn't schemed to get Ariel into Jayson's bed and forced her to give up everything she loved, her life might have turned out very differently.

Just then, her phone buzzed. Renee was calling.

Ariel frowned and declined the call.

She and Jayson were about to get divorced. She had no reason to entertain Renee anymore.

But Renee was relentless. There was an unmistakable arrogance to it.

By the fifth call, Ariel pressed her lips and finally picked up.

"God, you're so annoying! Can't you see my name on your screen?" Renee shouted.

"What do you want?"

"My school has a parent-teacher meeting at 10:00 am. You'll go in Jay's place. If anyone asks, just say you're our maid. Got it?"

Jayson had just gone public with Nancy. The last thing Renee wanted was for people to misunderstand Nancy.

Ariel replied calmly, "I'm not your mother, and I'm not your sister-in-law anymore. Find your legal guardian. And one more thing. You're old enough to understand what basic respect means."

Then, she hung up.

She felt exhausted.

Renee had never liked her. Young people were perceptive. They picked up on the way adults treated people.

She had grown up thinking Ariel was some desperate gold digger who had forced her way into marrying Jayson. And for the past three years, every time she had a school break, she had made Ariel's life hell.

She demanded food and made Ariel do her laundry. She always found new ways to push her buttons.

And when things between Jayson and Nancy had started heating up, Renee had deliberately kept Ariel busy to make sure she couldn't interfere with their dates.

She was 17. She should know better.

Ariel had no obligation to put up with Renee anymore.

Seeing that Ariel was truly standing her ground, Janice was finally convinced of her determination to divorce. Without wasting any time, she left for Faye Technologies to try to talk Chad into meeting with Ariel.

Ariel waited for her IV drip to finish.

By 5:00 pm, her phone rang again. It was Evelyn.

After some hesitation, she answered it.

"Where did Renee go? Didn't she ask you to attend the parent meeting? The teacher said you didn't show up, and Renee took the day off too. Now, no one can find her!" Evelyn's tone was sharp, and her impatience was evident.

Ariel frowned. She hadn't expected this.

Evelyn had never liked her. She practically despised her. If Ariel hadn't "forced" Jayson into marriage back then, he would've married someone of proper status.

"I don't know," Ariel replied.

"You bailed on her first! Now you're trying to wash your hands of this? Not that it's surprising. You couldn't even have a kid in three years. Why would you have any sense of responsibility toward someone else's?"

"Alright, calm down. You know how Ari is," came a weak voice from the other end. It was Jayson's grandmother, Betty Stewart. "Renee's not a child anymore. And she's not Ari's responsibility."

Betty was the only person in the Larkin family who had ever treated Ariel with kindness.

For three years, she had protected Ariel as best she could. Jayson had only agreed to marry her in the first place because Betty's health was fragile, and she couldn't handle stress.

And their families had history. Ariel's grandfather had once fought alongside Jayson's. Betty had always liked her. That was why she agreed to the marriage.

Hearing Betty get dragged into this mess, Ariel weighed her options and finally said, "I'll try to get in touch with Renee."

She had let Renee get away with too much in the past. Today, she had drawn a line, and it had embarrassed Renee.

Renee was at an age where rebellion was second nature. A young woman wandering around alone wasn't exactly safe. Not to mention, Ariel had been the one who had shut her down earlier.

After pulling out her IV, Ariel swayed slightly as she forced herself upright.

She called Renee several times, but each call went unanswered or was quickly ended, as if Renee were deliberately toying with her.

But three years in public relations had taught Ariel a thing or two. She was skilled at paying attention to details. She carefully searched through Renee's social media posts.

Eventually, she pinpointed the location of a pool club.

When she finally got there, she spotted several familiar faces in one of the private rooms. And at the center of it all were Jayson and Nancy.

Renee was practically glued to Nancy, bombarding her with questions about Ashford University.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Ariel. Immediately, she latched onto Nancy's arm.

"Jay loves you so much. So I guess I can stop calling you Ms. Stanton now. How about just Nancy? I'm already treating you like my sister-in-law."