Burton shook his head, like a man who'd run out of patience.

"Laurel, stop being difficult. Our son is young. He can't grow up without a father. I won't divorce you."

"Can't we just go on living together, the way we should?"

I stared at his face and let out a laugh born of pure fury.

"Fine. You want to live with us? Then you cut Gabriella off."

"Every cent you spent on her and that girl, I'm hiring a lawyer to claw it back."

"This house — they've been in it, and it makes my skin crawl. We sell it and buy a new one."

"I'm not sharing my husband with a mistress. So you choose. Us, or—"

I didn't get to finish. Something slammed hard into the back of my knee.

The next second my balance was gone, and I went down hard onto the floor.

My vision blurred, and the dull pain shooting through my leg nearly knocked me out.

Noah jumped, startled, and threw everything he had into trying to pull me up.

The little girl skipped to one side and stuck her tongue out at me, smug.

"You're not allowed to bully my mommy! Bad woman, I hope you fall and die!"

Burton shot to his feet, something tender flickering across his anxious face as he reached out to help me.

Gabriella flashed her a quick look, and the little girl suddenly burst into tears and grabbed Burton's coat.

"Daddy, my heart hurts so much, I can't breathe!"

Gabriella's eyes went red in an instant.

"Burton, we have to get Felicia to the hospital, now!"

Burton lost his head completely, snatched up the little girl, and spun toward the door.

Noah ran after them, sobbing, and wrapped his arms around Burton's leg.

"Daddy, Mommy's hurt, don't leave us!"

The little girl wailed harder, her shrill voice nearly splitting eardrums.

Burton glanced back at me once, then pried Noah off with all his strength.

"You take care of your mom first. I'll be back soon!"

And with that, the three of them hurried out.

Noah watched their backs disappear, wiped his tears away in silence, and went to get the nanny to help lift me.

They settled me on the couch, my face white with pain.

Two years ago, while out on a food delivery, I'd been in a car accident and shattered both legs.

The treatment cost a fortune, and after they put plates in my legs I couldn't manage anything strenuous, so Noah started coming along on deliveries with me to make the work a little easier.

Now he stood in front of me, eyes swollen and red, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead, aching for me.

I forced a thread of a smile up at him.

"It doesn't hurt, Mommy's fine. Really."

The nanny called an ambulance and got me to the hospital, where the doctor put my leg back in a cast.

I'd barely settled when my phone lit up with a friend request labeled 【This is Gabriella Fox】.

The moment I accepted, a string of transfer records and spending records came through.

Gabriella's tone was unhurried.

【Laurel, did you know? To get my ex to divorce me, Burton wired him ten million.】

【After you made that big scene all those years ago, Burton didn't cut me off either. He sent me abroad to carry the pregnancy in peace.】

【The fake-bankruptcy idea was mine. For me and our daughter, there's nothing Burton won't do.】

【Where a man spends his money is where his heart is. You can't tell me you don't understand that.】

【I'm not even interested in taking your place. But keep provoking me, and I won't go easy on you again.】

In the screenshots, the figures were staggering, one after another.

While Noah and I were sick with worry over money, Burton had been throwing sums at them we wouldn't dare even imagine.

I clenched my fists hard, saved every screenshot one by one, packaged them up, and forwarded them to my lawyer.

It wasn't until early the next morning that Burton showed up in the hospital room.

Faint shadows ringed his eyes, and there was something worn out in his face.

"Babe, Felicia's been examined and watched overnight. Nothing serious."

"I asked the doctor. Your leg isn't badly hurt. Rest and it'll heal on its own."

When he finished, Burton reached out to ruffle our son's hair, the way he always had.

But the boy slipped quietly out from under his palm, putting distance between them without a single word.

Burton froze, and something between embarrassment and anger flickered across his face.

I held his gaze and repeated it, cold and even.

"Burton, we built that company together. Part of it is mine."

"The house and the car, we split down the middle, fifty-fifty."

"Everything you bought for Gabriella and her daughter gets converted to cash. I want—"

His expression went darker and darker, until he couldn't stand it and slammed his fist down on the foot of the bed.

"Money! Money! Money! Laurel, is there anything in your eyes besides money?"

"What right do you have to talk to me about divorce? Without me, you're nothing."

"Gabriella's gentler than you, more reasonable than you. She never forces me to do things I don't want to do. And you? Have you ever once thought about how I feel?"

"Laurel, I won't divorce you. And as for money, beyond enough to live on, don't expect a single cent."

Burton's sudden outburst startled our son, who shrank back and burrowed into my arms.

I looked at this man I'd loved for over a decade, and all of a sudden it struck me as absurd.

When he loved me, he was willing to give me everything he had.

When he didn't, cruel words and fighting over money became the everyday.

I nodded calmly.

"Fine. You said it yourself."

Burton stormed out of the room, seething, without sparing us so much as a glance.

I held my son tighter, my face setting harder.

That evening, a news story shot to the top of the trending list.

When the alert came through, Burton was having dinner with Gabriella and her daughter.

His phone buzzed wildly, and he assumed it was a message from me, asking to make peace. A faint flicker of pleasure crossed his mind.

But once he saw what it actually said, Burton's eyes went wide with shock and his face drained of color.