Within the circle, everyone knew I had been Leo’s most devoted, submissive admirer.

For thirteen years, I chased him relentlessly, transforming myself from an uneducated, middle-school-dropout, illegitimate child of a wealthy family into an Ivy League economics master’s graduate.

Only then did his mother finally acknowledge me, and I became Mrs. Smith.

However, after the wedding, I no longer meddled in Leo’s company, cooked, or served him.

While he stayed up late planning strategies for his first love, I traveled the world with friends. He would accompany her to Paris fashion shows, and I celebrated my cat’s birthday at home.

I understood that a commercial marriage could never produce love. Everything I had poured my heart into was just my own foolish obsession.

In my past life, I handled his company’s internal conflicts for him. Yet, he frowned, scolding, “You’re reaching too far.”

I cooked soups for his stomach ailments, only to see him hand them off to his overworked first love, brushing it off, “She works harder than I do.”

Even on the day I had a car accident, he lit fireworks across the city just to see her smile.

I begged him, but he looked down at me from above. “Nicole, what we have is only a transaction.”

Then, I opened my eyes and found myself back at our engagement banquet, watching him leave midway to comfort his heartbroken first love.

This time, I did not chase after him. Instead, I picked up the microphone and said before all the guests.

“Sorry, everyone. My engagement with Leo is canceled.”

I gently placed the microphone back into its stand, and it let out a dull, heavy click.

The entire banquet hall fell into a deathly silence.

Hundreds of eyes fixed on me all at once. They were filled with shock, disbelief, and even a trace of gleeful anticipation, as if they were waiting to watch a spectacle unfold.

My father’s face instantly flushed a deep, livid red as he rushed onto the stage. Then, lowering his voice, he forced each word out through clenched teeth.

“Nicole, have you lost your mind?!”

Leo Smith’s mother, my future mother-in-law, and also the same woman who had found fault with me in every possible way in my previous life, now held a deathly grim expression on her face.

Her well-maintained features were filled with anger as she glared at me viciously, as though she wanted to slice me apart with her gaze alone.

Meanwhile, I calmly took in everything below the stage.

These faces, some familiar and some not, had in my previous life looked at me the same way countless times, watching me as a joke.

“Nicole! Get down here right now and apologize to everyone!”

My father was trembling with anger as he reached out, clearly intending to drag me down.

However, I turned slightly and avoided him, letting my gaze pass over him and settle on the entrance of the banquet hall.

At that moment, Leo had returned.

His tall figure appeared in the doorway, his suit jacket casually draped over his arm. His tie was loosened, and his expression still carried a trace of fatigue, as though he had just finished comforting someone.

When he saw the commotion on stage and the strange looks from the guests, that trace of fatigue was instantly replaced by a cold sharpness.

He strode toward me quickly, his gaze falling on me like a blade.

“Nicole, what are you playing at now?”

Although his voice wasn’t loud, it carried his usual impatience and questioning tone.

In my previous life, he would look at me like this whenever I showed even the slightest dissatisfaction about him and Sophie Miller.

It was as though I were the one being unreasonable.

This time, I looked at him without panic. I didn’t rush to explain, nor did I feel wronged and on the verge of tears.

Instead, I simply repeated myself, calm and composed.

“Leo, the engagement is off. We’re done.”

After saying that, I lifted the hem of my dress and walked straight off the stage from the other side, completely ignoring my father’s furious shouts and Mrs. Smith’s harsh curses.

My heels struck against the polished marble floor with crisp, echoing sounds.

With each step, it felt as though I were stepping on the past version of myself who had once been so weak and humiliated.

Leo remained standing where he was, momentarily stunned.

For the first time, a look of utter shock appeared on his handsome face.

I returned to the Morgans’ residence. Without sparing a glance at my father, who was raging and shouting in the living room, I went straight upstairs.

“Nicole! You ungrateful daughter! Stop right there!

“For this engagement, do you have any idea how much effort I put in? And now you cancel it with a single sentence. Are you trying to destroy the Morgans?!”

I turned a deaf ear and closed my bedroom door behind me, shutting his voice out completely.

After that, I dragged out the largest suitcase from the walk-in closet and began packing with a blank expression.

I threw away the plain dresses I had bought just to suit Leo’s preferences.

I also did the same for the jewelry his mother had given me, meant to display my status as the “future daughter-in-law of the Smiths”.

Everything I had painstakingly collected, everything related to him, was tossed out.

Meanwhile, my phone began vibrating frantically, and the name “Leo” kept flashing across the screen.

I casually silenced it and flung it onto the bed.

In my previous life, I had died in endless waiting and self-torment.

With just one phone call from him, I would fly back from the other side of the world.

A slight frown from him, and I would start reflecting on whether I had done something wrong.

Now, I didn’t want to wait anymore, nor did I want to keep second-guessing myself.

After packing two suitcases, I pulled them downstairs.

When my father saw me like this, he was so furious that he nearly fainted.

Pointing at me, he shouted, “You still want to leave? If you go, what about the Smiths? Go to them right now and apologize!”

I looked at him coldly. “From the day you brought me back after my mother died, in your eyes, I’ve always just been a tool. Now that I don’t want to play along anymore, you’re panicking?”

My father was left speechless. His face turned pale, then flushed, unable to say a word.

“Y-you…”

I ignored him and continued walking out, dragging my suitcases behind me.

At the entrance, however, a black Bentley blocked my path.

The car door opened, and Leo stepped out, his expression even worse than it had been at the banquet hall.

He grabbed my wrist in one swift motion, his grip so tight it felt like he wanted to crush my bones.

“Nicole, have you had enough?

“Come back with me. I’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”

His tone carried a sense of superiority, like he was offering me charity.

I forcefully shook off his hand, my gaze turning icy.

“Mr. Smith, I believe I made myself very clear.

“Also, keep your hands off me. I find it disgusting.”

Leo’s pupils shrank abruptly.

He had probably never imagined that the Nicole who used to obey his every word and ache even at the slightest frown from him would use the word “disgusting” to describe him.

He stared intently at me, as though trying to find some flaw in my expression.

“Is this just because I left for a while?” he let out a cold laugh, his tone dripping with mockery.

“Nicole, since when did you become so petty? Sophie was just heartbroken and in a bad mood. I comforted her as a friend. What’s wrong with that?”

Sophie again.

It was always Sophie.

In my previous life, he had missed our wedding anniversary just to comfort the “heartbroken” Sophie.

He had even left me alone on the highway just to take care of “sick” Sophie.

On the very day I died in a car accident, he had lit up the entire city with fireworks just to make Sophie smile.

Looking at him now, I suddenly found it all ridiculous.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I said calmly. “So now that I’m giving you to her, isn’t that exactly what you want?

“You should be thanking me.”

After saying that, I didn’t look at him again. I walked past the car, flagged down a cab, and left without looking back.

In the rearview mirror, Leo’s figure grew smaller and smaller. He stood there, still wearing that same expression of disbelief.

I checked into a hotel in the city center.

Not long after I finished showering, the room phone rang.

I picked it up, and on the other end came Mrs. Smith’s sharp, cutting voice.

“Nicole, you’ve really grown bold, haven’t you? How dare you embarrass my son at the engagement banquet! What do you think you are? You’re nothing but an illegitimate daughter who can’t even be brought into the light. If it weren’t for our Leo, you wouldn’t even be worthy of carrying shoes for the Smiths!

“Let me tell you this. If you don’t come over and kneel to apologize by tomorrow morning, then the Morgans can just wait to disappear from Sunnyvale!”

I listened quietly as she finished venting, and then I let out a soft, indifferent “Oh”.

“Mrs. Smith, are you done?

“If you’re done, I’m hanging up. I still need to put on a face mask.”

After saying that, I hung up without waiting for her response.

Listening to the busy tone on the line, I could easily imagine Mrs. Smith’s furious expression.

In my previous life, I had given up all my own preferences just to please her. I learned tea ceremonies, flower arranging, and even the traditional opera she liked, reshaping myself into exactly the kind of person she wanted.

However, she had never once looked at me properly.

In her eyes, no matter how high my education was or how capable I became, I could never wash away the label of being an “illegitimate daughter”.

The only reason she agreed to my marriage to Leo was because she valued my ability to help him manage the company. I was also “obedient” enough not to threaten her son.

With a face mask on, I picked up my phone and began sorting through all the assets that had been entangled between Leo and me over the years.

For the charity fund we co-founded, I didn’t hesitate to apply for liquidation and withdrawal.

As for the original shares of his company under my name, I listed them at the lowest possible price, preparing to sell them off.

After finishing all of that, I felt a sense of relief wash over my entire body.

Early the next morning, there was a knock on the door.

I thought it was room service, but when I opened it, I saw Sophie’s delicate, pitiful face instead.

She was wearing a white dress, her eyes red as if she had cried all night.

“Nicole…” The moment she spoke, her voice trembled with tears. “What exactly happened between you and Leo? He’s been going crazy looking for you all night yesterday.”

“Is it because of me? If it is, then I… I can go explain things to him. I won’t see him ever again!”

As she spoke, tears fell down her cheeks, as though she were willing to sacrifice herself for our sake.

With acting skills like hers, it would be a waste if she didn’t win an award.

In my previous life, she had used this exact expression in front of me for over a decade.

Every time something happened, she would take all the blame onto herself, making herself seem innocent and kind, while making me look like a jealous, unreasonable woman.

Leaning against the doorframe, I looked at her leisurely.

“It’s not because of you.”

Sophie froze for a moment, clearly not expecting that answer.

I smiled and continued, “I just suddenly figured it out that forced love never ends well. The one Leo loves is you. If I keep clinging on, there’s no point. I might as well let go and give you my blessing.

“Sophie, I wish you both happiness.”

My tone was sincere, and my gaze steady.

Sophie was completely stunned.

Not a single line she had prepared could be used.

She looked at me, her eyes filled with confusion and scrutiny, as if trying to determine whether I was speaking sarcastically.

“Nicole, you… shouldn’t say that. Leo and I are just friends—”

“Whether you’re just friends or not, you know that in your heart,” I cut her off. “Don’t come looking for me again. I don’t want anything to do with either of you.”

I closed the door, shutting her shocked expression outside.

Not long after, my phone received a new message from Leo.

“Nicole, what exactly are you trying to do? What nonsense did you tell Sophie?

“I’m warning you. Don’t drag her into this. What’s between us has nothing to do with her.”

Looking at the words “what’s between us”, I found it extremely ironic.

When had there ever been an “us”?

From the start, there had only ever been him and Sophie, the one he held closest to his heart.

So I blocked them both, and at last, my world was quiet.