Michael Purnell and I had been together for nine years. In that time, we had gotten divorced ten times. The eleventh time, I followed him to a jewelry store where he helped his lover, Regina White, choose a diamond ring.

“She’s pregnant. Just pretend this is temporary,” Michael said calmly.

Without any hint of guilt, he continued as he said, “We’ll get married again in eight months.”

“Until then, move out. I’ll have your meals delivered to you every day.”

“Oh, and go sign the divorce papers. Regina is in a very delicate condition right now. She can’t handle taking care of a baby by herself.”

I took the divorce papers from him and nodded quietly. As I turned to leave, I heard laughter behind me. It was his group of friends.

“Michael is something else,” one of them said, laughing.

“He turned his ex-wife into a servant.”

Michael chuckled and said proudly, “This is nothing. Evelyn is cheap. Even if I don’t marry her again, she’ll still take care of my child like a mistress.”

I didn’t respond. I just looked down at my phone and sent a message to the man I had been speaking with.

[Evelyn Cooke: I have the divorce certificate now. When are we getting married?]

——

He replied almost immediately.

[M P: Tomorrow. I’m taking the earliest flight home.]

A moment later, I received a notification. My bank account had been credited with 52 million dollars. The message attached said something.

[Gift for our engagement]

I smiled and put my phone back into my pocket.

Michael saw my smile and frowned.

“Evelyn, what are you smiling about?” he asked coldly.

“Are you so heartbroken you’ve gone crazy?”

In theory, I should have been heartbroken. I remembered the first time Michael asked for a divorce because of Regina. It felt like my world had ended.

I cried for three days and three nights. I begged him not to leave me. I even got down on my knees in front of all our family and friends.

When he still walked away, I cut my wrists in despair. He didn’t come back. But this time was different. I looked at him without any emotion.

“Congratulations,” I said.

“You’re finally going to be a father.”

Michael nodded. His tone was cold and careless.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get married again after the baby is born,” he said.

“As long as you behave, I’ll tell the child to call you ‘Mom’ in front of others.”

I had heard words like that too many times over the past nine years.

The first time Michael met Regina, she was just a new intern. He gave her a million-dollar gift, but she refused to become his mistress. So, he divorced me immediately to chase after her.

After sleeping with her, Michael proudly showed me a photo of them in bed.

“She’s different,” he told me with a smirk.

“So young and pure.”

From then on, Michael was completely obsessed with her. Once, he accidentally came inside Regina in a wooden cabin up in the snowy mountains. I had to walk for miles in the freezing cold just to bring him contraceptive pills.

Another time, Regina was in a bad mood. She asked me to kneel and bark like a dog to entertain her. I did it. If anything made Regina even slightly unhappy, Michael would divorce me just to make her smile.

After that, Michael would secretly remarry me to keep the connection between our families. After repeating this cycle for nine years, I had stopped feeling anything. I had become numb.

I left the house without saying a word, my face blank.

Then, I heard Regina’s sharp voice from behind me.

“I don’t like any of these rings. I want the one Evelyn is wearing!”

“Okay, okay. Don’t be angry, baby,” Michael said softly.

“I’ll get it for you right now.”

He grabbed my hand without warning and pulled the ring off my finger. The diamond scraped my skin, cutting it. Blood dripped onto the ten-carat yellow sapphire.

Regina frowned when she saw it.

“It’s unlucky,” she said and tossed it aside without a second thought.

Michael didn’t get angry. Instead, he gently comforted Regina again and again until she finally smiled. He even promised to give her the ruby ring that had been passed down in the Purnell Family. That was the ring Michael had once said would be my wedding ring forever.

I bit my lip to hold back my tears and knelt down to pick up the yellow sapphire ring, which was my mother’s only keepsake. My hands were shaking. My heart was aching.

But in that moment, I made a silent promise to myself.

This would be the last time I ever cried for Michael.

Michael suddenly raised his foot and stepped hard on my hand. It really hurt my hand. Still, I couldn’t help but grit my teeth as I tried to stop myself from screaming.

"Evelyn, Regina is upset because of you. If you can’t make her happy, don’t even think about returning to the Purnell Family for the rest of your life!"

I froze, my body shaking without meaning to.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t leave Michael. I had stopped loving him a long time ago. But I knew him too well. I knew how cruel he could be.

Once, I refused to wash Regina’s underwear. I told him I couldn’t do it anymore. I had some pride left, even if just a little. Regina got angry and refused to speak to Michael. He was so frustrated that he snapped.

That night, Michael dragged me out, stripped me completely and locked me on the balcony in the middle of winter. I shivered out there all night until I passed out from a high fever.

When I woke up, he didn’t take me to the hospital. He didn’t even ask if I was okay. He forced me to clean up the bedroom, as if nothing had happened. As if I had done something wrong.

Remembering that, I lowered my head.

I bent at the waist, almost to the ground.

"I’m sorry. It’s all my fault."

But before I could finish my sentence, someone kicked me from behind.

I stumbled forward and hit the counter. A sharp pain hit my forehead and everything spun. I reached up and felt the swelling start to rise.

Tears blurred my vision, but I bit my lip to stop them from falling. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.

The only thing I could do was to lie there while my body was shaking. Michael gave me another kick, this time with the back of his foot.

"Hey, I barely touched you. Why are you pretending to be so weak?"

Then, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Forget it. I don’t want to waste time on you. Come to the family mansion with me tomorrow and say you want the ring back. But listen carefully, don’t say anything stupid. One word out of place and I’ll make you regret it."

With that, he turned and walked off with Regina, as if nothing had happened.

It took me a long time to sit up. My hands were bleeding. Little pieces of glass and gravel were stuck in my skin. I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore.

I dragged myself to the side of the road and tried to call for a taxi. I just wanted to get to the hospital and treat my wounds. After that, I heard the sound of a car speeding up.

Regina’s car came straight toward me. Before I could react, everything went black with a loud crash. When I regained a bit of awareness, I heard voices.

It was Michael and the doctor.

"Did Evelyn have a miscarriage?"

There was a short silence.

"Forget it," Michael said coldly.

"As long as the baby in Regina’s belly is fine, don’t worry about Evelyn. Move all the doctors and nurses to take care of Regina. I’ll handle Evelyn myself."

Not long after that, the door opened and Michael walked in. When our eyes met, he looked a little awkward. For a second, his usual arrogance faded.

"I didn’t know you were pregnant," he said as if it was nothing important.

"But a miscarriage isn’t a big deal. It’s not the first time, right?"

He chuckled like it was some kind of joke.

"Now that you’ve lost it, you can take care of Regina’s baby without distractions."

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. I just stared at him and thought of the first baby I lost. Back then, Regina had just appeared in our lives. She cried and made a big scene, saying she didn’t want to ruin someone else’s marriage.

Michael, desperate to keep her, made me take abortion pills.

"Don’t think you can tie me down by getting pregnant," he said coldly.

"I hate kids. Especially ones from you."

I had to go through a painful, irregular abortion. The doctor said I might never have children again.

Right after the operation, I got a photo from Regina. She and Michael were lying in bed together.

While I was still bleeding, almost dying, they were celebrating in our wedding room. They stayed in bed for three days. Dozens of condoms filled the trash bin. One leg of the antique bed I brought as part of my dowry broke from how much they used it.

Michael took the handkerchief stained with Regina’s first blood and framed it. He even hung it on the wall where our wedding photo used to be. Since that day, I knew there was nothing left between us. I stayed in the marriage only because of the business between our families. I had nothing else.

I lowered my head again and didn’t say a word.

Michael handed me a bowl.

"I made chicken soup for you. Drink it while it’s hot."

I raised my arm, but a sharp pain shot through it. I gasped and looked at my bandages.

Michael turned his face away, guilt flashing across his expression for a second.

"Regina was hurt in the car accident. She’s afraid of scars ... so I had the doctor take skin from your arm. Just a small patch. You won’t even notice it."

I stared at him, not sure whether to laugh or cry. Even when I was hurt, even when I lost our baby, he still used my body to protect another woman. And he thought he was doing me a favor.

"What?" I was shocked.

Michael got angry out of nowhere.

"Don’t act like you’re the victim. If you hadn’t run into the street and scared Regina, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt! This is all your fault. You need to take responsibility!"

His voice was loud and sharp. He hit the table by accident and knocked over the chicken soup. The hot liquid spilled all over my thigh, burning it badly.

I gasped in pain, trying hard not to cry. My hand reached for the emergency bell, but Michael grabbed my wrist again.

"Regina doesn’t feel well after the surgery. She needs the doctor to stay with her. You’re used to pain, right? Just deal with it. Stop acting weak."

My arm started bleeding again. Before I could say anything, a doctor rushed in.

"Miss White is showing signs of a strong rejection. She needs another operation immediately."

Michael turned to me and grabbed my arm tightly.

"Come with me," he said, dragging me into the hallway.

When we entered the room, I saw Regina lying on the hospital bed. Her eyes were full of tears and her lips trembled slightly. Michael’s heart softened at the sight. I could see the pain in his eyes, but none of it was for me.

"Regina, don’t worry. Evelyn still has plenty of skin. If one surgery isn't enough, we’ll try again."

The doctor quickly stopped him and said grimly, "Mr. Purnell, that’s not possible. Doing another transplant could damage your wife’s arm permanently. She might never be able to use it normally again, let alone play the piano."

But Michael didn’t even hesitate. He pushed me forward.

"It’s fine if she can’t play anymore. Regina can take her place as the lead musician in the orchestra. Evelyn can just stay at home to wash clothes, cook and live comfortably. I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life."

I couldn’t speak. My whole body was shaking.

To make sure the surgery would be successful, Michael told the doctors not to use anesthesia on me. I felt every slice of the scalpel, every pull of the skin. The pain was so intense I nearly passed out.

As I was lying there sweating and in agony, Michael patted my shoulder like he was doing me a favor.

"I owe you for this. When everything calms down, I’ll come home more often to keep you company."

From behind him, Regina snorted unhappily.

Michael immediately turned around and hugged her tightly. He promised her a vacation to the Maldives, bought her new jewelry and transferred money into her account. All while I was still on the surgery bed, bleeding.

They acted like I wasn’t even there.

After that, my phone rang.

The sound cut through the cold silence in my heart. I saw the name on the screen and, for a brief second, the pain in my body seemed a little easier to bear.

I answered quickly, just to say I was safe. I didn't want anyone to worry.

But when I looked up, Michael was staring at me with suspicion.

"Who was that?"

"Someone from the Purnell Family."

Michael didn’t look surprised.

"Don’t tell them anything. I mean it."

He didn’t ask anything else after that. In his mind, I had no friends, no one who could help me. After we got married, Michael made me cut off all my social connections. No parties, no work, no friends. My world became smaller and smaller, until only he and his family remained in it.

I didn’t want to stay and watch the two of them flirt anymore. I picked up my phone and tried to leave the room. But as soon as I stood up, I felt dizzy. My vision blurred and before I could fall, Michael caught me from behind.

He looked down at me and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something close to concern.

"When you’re better, come with us to the Maldives. You need to relax."

"No need to," I said quietly.

He frowned, confused.

Some time ago, Michael had also promised me a honeymoon. But when we arrived, I learned Regina had come too. She didn’t like the food there, so I was forced to cook and clean for them. I was treated like a maid.

When I refused, Michael got angry and took away my phone and passport. He left me alone, in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language. I had no money and no way to get home.

A stranger almost tricked me into going with him. If I hadn’t escaped, I might never have made it back. That trip left a scar in my heart that never healed.

This time, I would not be fooled again.

Michael noticed my cold expression and looked annoyed. He opened his mouth, probably wanting to scold me. But when he saw how pale I was, he held back.

He looked away and said, almost gently, "You should rest, Evelyn. I’ll bring you a gift when I return."

I didn’t reply. Instead, I watched as he walked back to Regina’s side and kissed her forehead. She smiled sweetly, like she had already won.

As I stood there, alone and hurting, I realized something very clearly.

Michael never loved me. I was just a body, something he could use when needed. And now, even my skin belonged to someone else.

Nevertheless, the phone call I had received might have meant something more. It seemed that I wasn’t as alone as he wanted me to believe. And perhaps … my time as a silent victim was finally coming to an end.