Elara's POV

When I woke up, my pillow was soaked with tears. I wiped my face, stepped out of the bedroom, and saw the whole family gathered around the table, each wearing a different expression.

One glance was enough. My mother-in-law’s eyes were red, and when she saw me, she quickly looked down in guilt. Briar, on the other hand, leaned against Callum with a bright, triumphant smile.

In that moment, everything became clear. They had confessed everything to his mother.

Even so, I pretended not to notice, quietly walked over, and made myself a cup of malted milk.

“Elara, come here a moment. I need to discuss something with you,” Callum said.

My hand trembled around the cup. Even though my heart had long gone cold, the bitterness still stung.

I answered softly and sat down.

“Elara,” he began, “I’m planning to sell our marital home. The place was assigned to you by the steel factory, so the sale needs your signature.”

My fingers tightened around the cup.

Still, Callum continued, as if nothing were wrong. “I’ve already found a place in Washington. Selling this apartment will be just enough to cover the down payment for that one.”

Briar chimed in too, voice overly sweet, “We picked that apartment after comparing so many! And the bathtub, I love it. It’s perfect for two peop— Ow! Callum, why’d you hit me? Fine, fine, I won’t say it.”

She shot him a teasing, intimate look, then smiled smugly at me. “But don’t worry, Elara. I’ve tested it for you. It’s very comfortable.”

Despite her provocation, I ignored her and kept my head down for a long moment before finally saying, “Alright. I’ll handle the sale tomorrow.”

Callum pressed his lips together like he wanted to say more, but before he could, I stood up, walked straight to the wall, and took down the photo we had taken at the studio the day we got engaged, the one he insisted we capture as a memory.

Without hesitation, I threw it into the trash can.

His pupils shrank as he rushed over to grab my arm. “What are you doing?! How can you throw away our engagement photo?”

I answered calmly, “If we’re selling the house, we should clear out everything inside, right?”

Pretending not to see his complicated expression, I picked up the little ornament he once made for me out of bullets and tossed that into the trash as well.

Piece by piece, I threw away everything tied to our memories until nothing was left.

Callum pressed his lips tight, then suddenly relaxed as if struck by a thought. “Well, you’re right. Once we get to Washington, we’ll have to hold another wedding anyway. And we’ll take new wedding photos. This old picture won’t matter. And these little trinkets are old anyway. Once we settle in, you can buy new decorations.”

Not replying to what he said, I simply murmured, “I’m going to the bedroom to pack. Mom, you should help the kids pack their things, too.”

After that, I closed the door behind me.

A few minutes later, my mother-in-law slipped inside. Her eyes were red as she grabbed my hands, guilt all over her face. “Elara, don’t blame Callum. He had no choice. He was just trying to repay a debt. I know you’re hurting. This is my fault. Mine and Callum’s.”

I gently pulled my hands out of hers. “Please stop. I don’t blame him.”

Her lips trembled as she tried to comfort me over and over. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my daughter-in-law. Always! I promise you, Callum will treat you well.”

I let out a small laugh and nodded vaguely. “Got it.”

After she left, I began sorting through my belongings and realized that there wasn’t much. Everything I owned fit into a single small suitcase.

Elara's POV

Inside the box was the white cotton coat Callum bought me for our wedding. I still remember how defeated he looked back then as he told me, “Elara, give me a few years. Once I save enough money, I’ll buy you a wedding dress like the one in the movies. I’ll make it up to you with a proper wedding.”

I took the coat out and tossed it onto the bed. It belonged to him, and I didn’t want it anymore.

The door swung open. Briar walked in, picked up the coat, and clicked her tongue with disdain. “You wore this for your wedding? Pathetic. Do you know what I wore on my wedding day? A custom-made gown. Callum said his biggest dream was to see the woman he loved wearing a movie-worthy wedding dress.”

My hands tightened as a dull ache spread through my chest.

When I didn’t respond, she kept talking on her own. “You didn’t really believe that story about me being his comrade’s widow, did you? That was just a lie for you. When he fell down the snowy mountain in the northwest, I was the one who took care of him until he was discharged. Whenever he felt like giving up, he said seeing me gave him the strength to stay alive. So, the moment he recovered, he confessed to me.”

“He said he only felt guilty because you were back home taking care of his mother. Otherwise, he would’ve divorced you ages ago. Oh wait, no, that’s not right. You two aren’t even married. I forgot. So, what does that make you? The mistress,” she smirked.

Laughing, she continued, “You didn't know yet, right? Well, let me be the one to tell you, he married me. He said he loved me too much not to give me security, so he filed the paperwork, and we got married in Washington.”

She lifted her chin proudly and announced, “And I’m pregnant. The moment he found out, he was over the moon.”

Then she leaned in, savoring every word, “You’re lucky I can tolerate a mistress like you. Honestly, you should be on your knees thanking me. Selling your apartment to pay for my home? That’s what should’ve happened from the beginning. Even your dowry and your bridal gifts were meant to be mine.”

With that, she snatched the gold bracelet from my hand. “A mistress like you doesn’t deserve something this nice.”

A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. “Give it back! That was my mother’s. It’s not Callum’s to give!”

“How would I know you’re not lying just to keep something that belongs to my husband?” she countered, eyebrow raising.

Briar shoved me again and again, her voice sharp and poisonous. “Raised without a mother, no wonder you don’t know shame. Clinging to someone else’s man like a parasite.”

My eyes burned, and I slapped her. “Shut up!”

But before my hand even reached her, a strong grip clamped around my wrist.

“Elara!” Callum roared and shoved me hard.

I stumbled, crashed onto the floor, and the back of my head slammed into the table leg. Pain shot through me, and for a moment everything went dark.

Briar burst into tears beside him. “I only came in to help her pack. I just said I envied her because my husband never left anything behind for me. I asked if I could take a look, and she started cursing me, telling me to get out, calling me a mistress, saying I seduced you.”

Callum’s face twisted with disappointment and anger as he yelled at me. “Elara! She only wanted to look at your things. How could you treat her like that? If she likes something of yours, you should happily give it to her. She saved my life! And instead of gratitude, all you can think about is your filthy suspicions, trying to smear what I have with Briar?”

Briar cried harder, gasping for breath, and Callum’s expression softened instantly. “Don’t cry. It’s my fault. I haven’t made it up to you all these years. No wonder you’d envy someone else’s life. If you want anything, just take it. Whatever else you want, I’ll get it for you.”

Elara's POV

Watching Callum dig through my box and hand over the last of my mother’s belongings to Briar, something inside me snapped.

I forced myself up from the floor and said with a shaking voice, “Callum, those are my mother’s keepsakes. Give her whatever you want, I don’t care. But don’t take those from me.”

The more I spoke, the harder it was to breathe. Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face as I begged, “I’m begging you, please.”

But Callum only looked at me with cold disdain. “All you care about is a few things left behind by the dead? You hit and insulted Briar, and you won’t even apologize? When did you become so selfish and vicious? Apologize to her!”

I knelt on the ground, bowing over and over until my forehead ached. My voice broke apart as I cried, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please, please give me my mother’s things back.”

Briar softly murmured, “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have envied her for having a husband who loves her and so many nice things.”

Hearing that, the pain in Callum’s eyes almost overflowed.

He pried my fingers off the box one by one, which desperately clung to the only things I had left from my mother.

“Elara,” he said coldly, “when you do something wrong, you make up for it. These things, I’ve decided, they’ll all go to Briar as your apology.”

Then his eyes suddenly widened as he noticed the blood dripping down my forehead. “You’re bleeding? Did I push you too hard?”

He took a step toward me, reaching out as if to help, but Briar immediately collapsed against him. “It hurts, Callum, my stomach. When she pushed me earlier, I think I hit the baby.”

Callum’s face drained of color. In an instant, he scooped her into his arms and rushed out.

Before leaving, he threw me one last sentence. “Elara, hold on for a bit. I’ll take Briar to the hospital and come right back to bandage your wound.”

I watched them disappear down the hallway.

Slowly, I wiped away my tears and the blood on my face.

Then I closed my suitcase, set the signed divorce papers neatly on the table, and picked up my travel documents. Without looking back, I walked toward the train station.

Before boarding the train, I returned the house keys to the steel factory director.

He handed me the transfer payment and patted my shoulder with deep respect. “Take care on your journey. We hope you’ll bring honor to our steel factory when you arrive in the Northwest.”

His words lit a faint spark in my heart, one that had gone cold from betrayal.

I nodded and smiled. “I will. I won’t fail you.”

I boarded the train with the others heading out to support the Northwest.

When I looked back, evening had already fallen. I wondered, just for a moment, whether Callum had rushed home to find me as he promised or if he stayed with Briar at the hospital.

But the thought barely formed before I scolded myself. What was the point of wondering about someone I’d already decided to let go?

The train whistle blew, long and sharp, and the world began to drift away.