Inside the car, it was so quiet that only the faint sound of the air conditioning could be heard.

Calvin didn't immediately start driving. Instead, he cocked his head to the side to level me with an intent look.

"My dear 'bestie', I certainly won't allow myself to be used as your shield for nothing. Are you really sure about this?"

There was a teasing note to his voice, along with a barely perceptible hint of concern.

I bowed my head, my fingers idly brushing against the bracelet on my wrist. It had been the only thing Mom left for me, and when it pressed against my skin, it was almost like she was right there by my side, silently comforting me.

"I suffered a horrible defeat and lost everything in my previous life," I murmured. "In this life, I intend to take back everything that belongs to me, and not a single thing less."

Hearing that, Calvin didn't press further and drove me back to his place to rest. 20 years of friendship had given him a deeper understanding of my stubbornness and pain than even I had of myself.

The next day, instead of heading for my studio first thing in the morning, I returned to the villa that was supposed to be my marital home with Timothy. There were certain items that I needed to personally take back myself.

The motion-sensor light in the foyer turned on automatically, and I detected the faint scent of a woman's perfume lingering in the air. Besides that, a woman's coat that wasn't mine had been tossed casually over the living room couch, while a half-drunk glass of red wine sat atop the coffee table, a vibrant red lipstick stain on the rim.

I didn't allow my gaze to stray as I made a beeline straight for my small workshop on the second floor. My personal restoration tools, the design drafts Mom had left for me, and some personal items—all these were the reason I had to come back myself.

I had barely closed the last box when the master bedroom's door swung open.

Selina stepped out, dressed only in a loose white men's shirt that barely covered her backside. From the sizing, I could immediately tell that it was Timothy's.

Her demeanor was that of the mistress of the house, and when her eyes swept across my packed luggage, her lips curved into a victorious smile.

"Oh, Rose. Where are you going?"

She waved her hand, a small but intricately designed brooch clenched between her fingers.

That was the brooch I had designed and gifted to Timothy before we married to commemorate our first date. I used to think that it would bear witness to our eternal love.

"Tim said that this design is just too childish and doesn't suit his current status." Despite her gentle and soft tone, it was as though her every single word had been dipped in poison. "So, as his best female friend, he gave it to me and told me that I could toy around with the design if I wanted."

I simply stared at her, not feeling even a single stir of emotion.

She had been the same in my past life, using her "girl-bro" identity to hurt me time and again.

Walking forward, I reached a hand out toward her.

Selina, thinking that I wanted to snatch the brooch from her, instinctively clutched it tighter and put on an aggrieved look.

"Rose, don't be like that. I know that you can't bear to part—"

"Give it to me," I interrupted her calmly.

When she noticed my reaction, she assumed that she had achieved her intended goal and placed the brooch in my palm.

Once I had it, I gripped it with both hands, exerted force, and as she watched, the brooch snapped with a soft crack.

I then said impassively, "Trash belongs in the trash bin."

Immediately, all the color drained from Selina's face.

I picked up my luggage and moved to walk past her, stopping right as I was beside her. Twisting my head to face Selina, I then uttered in a volume that only the two of us could hear, "Timothy gave you this perfume you're wearing, didn't he? You might not know this, but this perfume is called 'First Meeting' and was my favorite scent when I was 18."

From our proximity, I could clearly see her pupils contract sharply.

I quirked my lips into a smirk and added, "So tell me, what do you think he's treating you as?"

I didn't wait to see her reaction. I turned and walked away, not even bothering to look back when the sound of something crashing to the floor and shattering echoed behind me.

####CHAPTER-NAME:

I had only just stepped out the front door when my phone rang with a call from Emma Kinsley, my mother-in-law.

I answered my phone, but before I could say anything, Emma's shrill voice was already screaming over the line.

"Rosalie Quinton, you sure have some nerve! How dare you cause a scene at your wedding anniversary party! You've thoroughly humiliated the Yance family!

"I'm warning you, you'd better immediately apologize to Selina, then get the hell back here and admit your mistakes to Tim! The Yance family refuses to acknowledge a shameless, promiscuous woman like you as our daughter-in-law!"

I couldn't help but feel rather amused at how self-righteously she was lecturing me.

Once she had exhausted herself from scolding me and paused to catch her breath, I finally spoke, my tone indifferent.

"Are you done? Timothy and I are no longer together."

Emma was momentarily shocked into silence, but then she exploded into even louder shrieking.

"You dare? Rosalie Quinton, who do you think you are? You're nothing without the Yance family! Where will you find any clients for that lousy studio of yours? I'll ensure that you'll never be able to continue working in the industry!"

Instead of giving her the chance to yell at me, I simply hung up.

However, the Yance family's revenge came a lot quicker than I had expected.

In just a few hours, all of my studio's business collaborators called to terminate their contracts. Even some prospective clients with whom negotiations had been progressing well suddenly cut off all contact with us.

Shortly after that, rumors started to circulate within the industry about how I had faked my craftsmanship, that the jewelry I restored just looked good on the surface but was actually poorly repaired underneath.

Everyone loved kicking someone who was already down, and rumors were a terrifying thing.

My phone practically rang non-stop, with everyone calling to demand an explanation or to cancel their order.

At that moment, a chime sounded, indicating that I had received a message.

It was from Timothy. "If you come back now and beg me on your knees, I can pretend that nothing happened."

The words dripped with that same arrogant tone he loved to use, as though he were doing me a great favor.

I stared at the message for a moment, then deleted it without any change in my expression. After that, I opened a password-protected file on my laptop.

Inside it was all the evidence I had gathered thus far.

The original record of Selina stealing my unpublished design draft to enter a competition, the internal inspection report proving that Yance Corporation's jewelry manufacturing line had used low-grade gold plating to cut costs, and many more.

All of these were more than enough to really hurt Yance Corporation.

"Timothy, do you and your family genuinely think I'm still the same pushover as I was before?" I thought.

The first thing I did was secure enough money.

I dug out the rare gems I had kept hidden away before my marriage and sent them to an international auction house anonymously. At the same time, I listed the anniversary gift I had originally bought for Timothy on a secondhand luxury marketplace.

Within a day, all the money had been deposited into my bank account.

Once I had settled that matter, I made an international call to an old friend in the International Jewelry Appraisers Association.

"I would like to submit an anonymous report about a rising designer whose award-winning pieces are extremely similar in design to the late master jewelry designer, Yvonne Quinton."

Around this time in my past life, Selina was enjoying great success, as she had used a series of jewelry named "Moon Goddess" to win the Starlight Design Award, the most prestigious award in the nation for designers. Because of this, the media had labelled her as a genius designer.

However, I was the only one who knew that her so-called Moon Goddess series was nothing but plagiarism. It was actually a copy of "Moonlight", the final work of my mother, Yvonne Quinton.

Back then, I had expressed my suspicions, but Timothy had used all the resources and connections at the Yance family's disposal to silence every suspicious voice. He then turned right around to berate me for being so malicious out of jealousy for Selina's talent.

Eventually, Yance Corporation achieved great success because of the Moon Goddess series, causing their share prices to skyrocket. This also became the solid foundation upon which Timothy and Selina later built their business empire.

My late mother's blood, sweat, and tears ended up being just another stepping stone for Selina's rise to glory, becoming the most glamorous jewelry series in Yance Corporation's portfolio.

This time around, I would return everything to its rightful owner.

After ending the call, I returned to the villa Mom used to stay in and made my way to her study. Everything in there had been preserved and looked the same as when she was still alive.

I went to the safe and carefully took out the original drafts for Moonlight, the yellowed papers bearing my mother's lively strokes.

In my past life, I had been so overwhelmed by my grief and despair that I hadn't taken the time to carefully look through these drafts.

However, ever since I got a second chance at life, I have spent my nights recalling every detail I can of my first life, hoping to find something that could allow me to turn the tables. It was during one such night that I recalled Mom once telling me that she had a secret habit she had never told anyone about.

I ran my fingers over the stack of design drafts. There, tucked within the thickest layer of the drafts, was a sheet of letter paper.

It was a handwritten letter, the words written in her distinctively elegant yet strong style.

"The Moonlight series is a seven-piece set of jewelry. To guard against theft, I used a micro-engraving technique to engrave the initials 'YQ' on the hidden inner side of each piece. This shall serve as my proprietary signature mark."

When I finished reading it, my hands, still clutching the letter, shook uncontrollably.

Wiping away my tears, I took a photo of the letter, then sent it anonymously to one of Mom's close friends before her death—Madam Langdon, the foremost authority in the international jewelry appraisal world.

…

Three days later, Yance Corporation was holding its annual charity auction dinner at the International Jewelry Exhibition Center. It was a high-profile affair, attended by elites from across the city.

The highlight of the night was the final auction piece—the entire jewelry set of Moon Goddess, independently designed and personally crafted by genius designer, Selina Sunther.

The starting bid was one million dollars.

I didn't enter the hall, instead staying in the backstage break room as I watched the livestream.

On the screen, Selina was clad in a custom evening gown. She stood on the stage, tearfully explaining her "creative inspiration". According to her, her inspiration came from her longing for love.

Timothy sat in the first row beneath the stage, gazing up at her passionately.

As the camera cut to a close-up of them, the livestream comments section was filled with all sorts of praise, like how they were soulmates or the perfect couple.

What a perfectly staged drama.

The moment the auction began, the price kept climbing until it reached a whopping 2.8 million dollars.

"2.8 million dollars, going once! 2.8 million dollars, going twice!"

The auctioneer raised his wooden gavel, and as the crowd buzzed at the climax, right as he was about to bring the gavel down…

"Hold it!"

A clear, steady voice called out from beneath the stage.