This kind of double standard had long become routine ever since Sienna reappeared in my life.

Terrence bought her luxury bags and watches, yet he forgot my birthday.

Because she was harassed, he broke his own principles for the first time, even canceling a cooperation that had taken months to secure.

He even went so far as to declare war against a multinational company—just to defend her honor.

Meanwhile, I stumbled through my brother’s funeral like a walking corpse.

After scattering his ashes into the sea, just as he wished, I finally received Terrence’s so-called reply.

Seven full days had passed since the last time he hung up on me.

"Denise, don't worry. An overseas cancer specialist is already on the way. As for the medical resources that were diverted, I still have an urgent need for them right now. Just wait a little longer."

Listening to his solemn yet perfunctory tone, I laughed through my tears.

"Wasting an enormous amount of medical resources to save a damn animal—that's what you call urgent business?"

The line went silent except for the sound of his heavy breathing.

"Denise, don't say things like that. Denver is my brother too—how could I not be worried about him?"

Yes. In the past, when we were dirt-poor, Terrence would secretly fight in underground rings just to afford a single vial of medicine for my brother.

But when Denver truly needed him most, all he could say was to wait a little longer.

Just as he finished speaking, a bright female voice chimed in, "Terrence, the kittens opened their eyes! Come look!"

Footsteps echoed as he moved, probably searching for a quieter spot.

But I had already heard everything—both what I should and shouldn't have.

"You don't need to explain." I cut him off, unwilling to endure another word of his hypocritical excuses, and ended the call.

Back in my bedroom, I retrieved the locked divorce agreement.

When we married, in a show of devotion, Terrence had signed it and placed it in my hands.

"You will always have the right to leave me."

At the time, I laughed at his paranoia, believing it was a document that would never be used. But now, that very agreement became the courage I needed to walk away.

I signed my name with steady strokes.

Through special channels, the divorce certificate would be finalized within twenty days.

After submitting the papers, I found a spare moment to return to my old rental apartment.

Many of my brother's belongings were still there.

The dead deserve to leave behind something tangible for the living to remember them by.

What I hadn't expected was to see Terrence's exclusive Maybach parked outside.

I froze, about to step forward—until I noticed the car rocking.

Nausea surged up from my stomach.

When the door finally opened, I instinctively ducked into the alleyway like a guilty child.

Inside, I saw Sienna. Her clothes were disheveled, and she was whining about wanting to get out.

Terrence's cold voice barked at her to wait. Only after fastening the buttons across her exposed chest did he allow her to step down.

And to keep her shoes from touching the dirty water, he even took off his suit jacket and laid it on the ground for her.

Clinging to his arm, she pouted playfully. "Why did you bring me here of all places?"

He rubbed her head with indulgence. "Didn't you say you wanted to start your own business?"

"This is an urban village. Once it's redeveloped, the profit is guaranteed."

Excited, Sienna tiptoed to press a kiss to his lips.

But this so-called "urban village" was more than crumbling buildings to me. It held seven years of memories—my entire life with him. And yet, to please her, Terrence never even mentioned the redevelopment to me.

If I hadn't come today, I might never have been able to keep even my brother's belongings.

A sharp pain tore through my chest, as though the wind had ripped a gaping hole in my heart.

I turned to leave, desperate to escape—but my foot crushed a plastic bottle with a sharp crack.

The sound sliced through the alley, interrupting their embrace.

Terrence's cold gaze swept toward the source of the noise. When he saw me, his hand instantly dropped from Sienna's waist.

Almost guiltily, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and walked toward me.

"Why did you suddenly come back here?This place is full of shady people—why didn't you bring anyone with you?"

The concern in his words sounded no different from before. But after watching him hold Sienna so intimately, every gesture of his only filled me with disgust.

The hand that once always reached for me now hovered in the air.

"I just felt like coming back. What about you?"

My indifferent question cut off whatever reprimand he had been about to unleash.

He opened his mouth, but before he could answer, Sienna chimed in sweetly, "I just got back to the country. I asked Terrence to show me around. Surely you're not jealous over something so small, right?"

Seven years had passed. I was now the wife of a powerful CEO. Yet Sienna's gaze toward me was still the same—contempt wrapped in disdain.

Bolstered by her family background, she even stole what belonged to others with self-righteous ease.

"Denise, why aren't you saying anything?"

Pouting, she tugged at Terrence's sleeve. "Help me explain to her. I was young and foolish before, and I already apologized. Tell Denise not to be angry with me anymore..."

Her sickeningly coy words made my hands tremble. I finally cut her off. "Have you said enough?"

Delighted that she had gotten a reaction, Sienna burst into tears, throwing herself against Terrence's chest.

"I told you, I was just a silly girl back then. Besides, most of it wasn't even me—it was my friends! Why do you still hate me so much?"

Heart aching, Terrence brushed away her tears.

"Denise, that's enough. Don't go too far!"

The urge to argue burned in me, but his sharp rebuke smothered it to embers.

Even though I had already decided to leave, why did my chest still ache so violently?

Why—when he knew exactly how much I hated her—would he ask me to forgive, to erase the past as if it never happened?

Back in our senior year of high school, because Sienna's crush once spoke a few extra words to me, I became her target.

Every morning, my desk was filled with vile things: dead rats, bloody sanitary pads, even used condoms.

My homework mysteriously vanished after I handed it in.

Rumors spread that I was selling myself outside of school. Boys from other classes came to me, asking crudely how much I charged per night.

After school, her lackeys would drag me into the girls' bathroom by my hair.

They snapped humiliating photos, singed off my eyebrows with a lighter, pressed cigarette butts into my skin as if I were an ashtray.

The sound of sizzling flesh mixed with their laughter, scars were carved into my back—scars that would never fade.

When Terrence first saw them, the man who hadn’t shed a tear even when his own legs were broken trembled as he kissed each mark.

Hot tears fell onto my back, searing straight into my heart.

He whispered, “Denise... just give me a little more time. I'll hunt down everyone who ever hurt you and make them pay."

And he did as he promised.

The powerful, untouchable Terrence avenged me, except for one person.

The one who escaped was Sienna, conveniently studying abroad.

And it was on this last step that Terrence lost his way—because he fell in love with the very woman who once tormented me.

My silence stretched too long, and he mistook it for dissatisfaction.

His eyes lingered on me for a few seconds. The words of reproach circling his lips softened into a curt, "Get in the car."

Sienna wiped her fake tears and smiled sweetly, playing innocent. "I knew Denise was kind. She would definitely forgive me."

She reached toward me, her hands lacquered in the same blood-red polish I remembered all too well.

Instinctively, I stepped back.

But then, like the venomous creature she was, her fingers dug sharply into the soft flesh of my waist.

I gasped, raising my hand to shove her off.

She took the chance to stumble backward deliberately.

And in Terrence's eyes, the scene became something else entirely—not her cruelty, but my petty act of revenge.

Terrence immediately pulled Sienna into his arms, his voice dripping with concern.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

His gaze swept anxiously over her body before he carefully brushed away a smudge of dirt from her calf.

Sienna bit her lip, insisting she was fine, yet her timid eyes kept darting toward me.

After confirming several times that she was unharmed, Terrence finally turned to me, his brows furrowed.

"Denise, you've gone too far! Sienna already apologized. Why won't you let go of the past? Besides, those things back then were done by others—Sienna was at most just a bystander!"

Hearing his biased words, my fists clenched tight. My nails dug so deep into my palms that only the pain kept me from breaking down.

"A bystander?" I scoffed.

Of course Sienna never dirtied her own hands.

As the queen bee, she only needed a single glance, and countless classmates would rush to do her bidding.

Terrence knew the truth—every last detail of it. Yet with just a few words from her lips, he dismissed my years of suffering as if they were nothing.

"Come on, don't fight. It's all in the past."

Standing behind him, Sienna played the part of the peacemaker, her lips speaking persuasion but her face was clouded with mockery.

I swallowed my fury and knelt to gather the scattered belongings on the ground.

She pretended to help, then deliberately stepped on the model plane.

Crack.

The fragile toy shattered into pieces.

Staring at the broken remains, I couldn't hold back anymore.

My hand shot up, ready to slap her—but Terrence was faster. His foot slammed into my shin, sending me crashing into the pile of precious keepsakes I had just gathered.

Sharp plastic pierced my back, pain flaring hot and raw.

"Enough! Why do you keep targeting Sienna? What's the point?"

He didn't notice the blood seeping through my clothes. Didn't notice my lips turn pale, or my trembling frame.

"That was my brother's things!" My voice cracked. "And she destroyed them like that!"

For a moment, Terrence froze. But quickly, his expression hardened again. "It's just a model. I'll buy him a better, more expensive one."

I looked up at the man I had known for seven years—and felt as if I were staring at a stranger.

He had forgotten.

Forgotten that he was the one who gave my brother that model for his birthday. Forgotten that Denver's dream was to become a dashing airline pilot.

But my brother was gone.

A new model plane could never reach his hands again.

The will to argue drained from me. Silent, I turned to leave. But by then, Terrence was already behind the wheel.

Seeing me walk away, he quickly pulled the car in front of me to block my path.

"I told you, stop being stubborn. Look at you—so pale. You must've skipped breakfast again, didn't you? Come on, let's grab lunch together."

I pressed my lips shut. With the divorce certificate already being processed, I didn't bother fighting him.

Numbly, I slid into the backseat.

The passenger seat had long since become Sienna's throne.

Even the car's perfume had changed—sweet, cloying, nauseating.

Inside, only their voices filled the air, her silvery laughter like needles piercing my ears.

In truth, ever since Sienna returned to the country, I hadn't had a single night of peace.

To take my place, she came at me relentlessly. She bribed servants to slip allergens into my food. Sent packages of dead rats, drenched in blood, to our home to terrify me to divorce Terrence immediately.

She even went as far as drugging me unconscious, staged compromising photos, and spread them across social media. Even kidnapped my brother, forcing me to sign a divorce agreement.

Each time, Terrence swore he would make her pay. Each time, he promised me it would never happen again.

And yet, in the end, he climbed into bed with the woman I hated most.

Leaning back, I closed my eyes. The pain in my back made it impossible to focus.

Suddenly, a piercing screech of brakes tore through the air.

My eyes flew open—a massive truck was barreling straight at us from the side.