I forced the words out slowly, one by one, through gritted teeth, "Why is this pendant with you?"

Jason was visibly startled. Once he collected himself, a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He knocked my hand away, then removed the pendant and turned it over in his fingers.

He asked, "You actually care that much about this piece of junk? How about this? If you agree to my terms, I'll give it back. What do you say?"

I panted as the memory of that night with Vivian surfaced in my mind.

I had told her, "Viv, this pendant is what my grandma left me before she passed away. She said she wanted her future granddaughter-in-law to have it someday."

Back then, Vivian had sworn to me with red-rimmed eyes that she would never lose it.

Now, I practically shouted at Jason, "Give it back to me!"

At that moment, the bedroom door was pushed open.

Jason's expression shifted instantly. With a mocking sneer, he tossed the pendant aside and fell backward. The pendant hit the floor and shattered into pieces.

Vivian's voice was cold. "Noah, how far are you going to take this?"

She moved in front of Jason and checked on him with visible concern.

My gaze never left the shattered pendant. I slowly crouched beside it and gathered the fragments piece by piece.

Before I could finish, Vivian stood up and drove her foot hard into my shoulder. Caught off guard, I fell to the ground. The fragments sliced across my face, and warm blood ran down my skin.

A flicker of concern flashed in Vivian's eyes before she masked it. "I thought that after all these years, you'd at least learned how to be a decent partner. But now, it seems you've been rotten to the core all along."

She crouched and closed her hand around my throat. "You said that you wanted to stand by my side forever, but look at yourself. How could someone like you ever be worthy of being the Grayson family's son-in-law?

"I put in so much effort teaching you how to carry yourself, and this is what you learned? Get on your knees and apologize to Jason. Otherwise, don't ever think about standing next to me again."

I laughed and shoved her hand away. "No need. You have plenty of people around you, so there's no reason for me to squeeze in."

With alcohol in her system, the push sent her stumbling, and she nearly fell to the floor. She stared at me in disbelief, as if it had never occurred to her that I would defy her.

Her voice was full of anger, yet there was a slight tremor. "Noah, I told you to get on your knees and apologize to Jason. If you walk out that door today, don't ever come back."

I paused as I reached the door. "I already told you. We're done."

I slammed the door shut, ending this failed relationship for good.

Before I boarded the plane, Jason sent me a nude photo of Vivian along with a voice message.

He laughed and said, "I really have to thank you. I've never seen such a wild side of her before. Though I have to say, when things got intense, she was still calling out your name."

I felt nothing. I tossed my phone into the trash can beside me without a second thought and boarded my flight to the other side of the ocean.

…

Early the next morning, Vivian rubbed her head and sat up. She reached over to her side out of habit, but the thermos of warm water that was always there was gone.

She frowned slightly. "Noah, get me some warm water. Noah!"

She called my name several times, her voice shifting from irritation to panic. In the end, her whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.