Victoria hadn’t expected Amelia to react so calmly. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. Slowly, she began to believe that maybe Amelia truly no longer had feelings for Damien.

Her hostility faded slightly and she took Amelia’s arm affectionately, pretending to be naive.

"Amelia, you don’t know how much I rely on my brother … "

Her voice was soft, but there was an unmistakable sense of pride in it.

"This time, my brother helped me handle my divorce. My ex-husband’s family caused trouble and even blocked the entrance of my hotel."

"But my brother hired a lawyer and had them driven away overnight. When it came to the property settlement, he used the Charleston Family’s connections to ensure I got the best deal. Even my most difficult mother-in-law didn’t dare challenge him."

Victoria’s eyes shone with admiration.

Then, she lowered her voice shyly, "To be honest ... I never married my ex-husband for love. I had no choice. But now that I think about it, fate really works in mysterious ways ... My brother and I aren’t biologically related, nor are we legally siblings … "

Her meaning was obvious.

Victoria had only married someone else because of family ethics and now that nothing stood in the way, she and Damien could be together.

Amelia swirled the champagne in her glass and asked lightly, "So, what you’re saying is … you like your brother?"

Victoria’s face flushed instantly.

She lowered her head and whispered, "I … I don’t know. I’ve just always depended on him."

Her voice took on a nostalgic tone as she continued, "When I was sick as a child, my brother stayed by my bedside all night. When I was bullied at school, he personally went to confront my classmates’ families. Even when I got my first period, my brother ran out to buy me some tamponss ..."

Amelia listened, feeling an emptiness grow inside her. She suddenly realized that even though she and Damien had grown up together, she could never compare to the "familial bond" that he and Victoria shared.

The Damien who had always been distant, cold and professional with her … had been endlessly loving and indulgent toward Victoria. Amelia had been blind to it for too long. Only after getting hurt over and over again had she finally learned to let go.

Victoria suddenly raised her head, her gaze cautious.

"Amelia … do you think the way I look at my brother is… strange?"

Amelia remained silent, studying her.

Victoria’s possessiveness over Damien was so blatant, her schemes so shallow, that she had even dared to say this to Damien’s wife.

But instead of reacting, Amelia simply smiled as she calmly responded, "It’s not strange. I think … your brother likes you very much."

Victoria’s voice dropped to a whisper as she said, "Then, Amelia ... will you give my brother to me?"

Amelia met her expectant gaze and answered lightly, "Maybe."

She didn’t say outright that she was ready for a divorce. There was no need to hand Victoria a victory so easily.

Still, Victoria seemed satisfied with the ambiguous answer. A triumphant smile spread across her face, as if Damien was already hers. On the way home, Victoria dozed off in the back seat.

Damien glanced at Amelia through the rearview mirror and spoke in a low voice.

"Baby, next time … I promise I’ll make our relationship public."

Amelia smiled gently as she said calmly, "It’s okay. Our marriage was just an agreement. I understand."

Her calm response made Damien uneasy.

He hurriedly reassured her, "At the earliest, in a week, I’ll-"

"We’re here," Amelia cut him off, looking out the window.

The car had already stopped at her door.

One day became a week. A week became a month. A month became a year.

Amelia had learned not to wait for promises that would never be kept. Five years of marriage. She would treat it as nothing more than a dream. And now, after waking from that dream, it was time to pack up and move on.

The city lights flickered outside, just like the hope she had clung to for the past five years, always igniting, only to be extinguished again and again. Now, she had finally learned. There was no point chasing a light that would never shine on her.

It was dark when Damien hugged Amelia from behind, his warm breath brushing against her ear.

"Baby, I’ll accompany you home to see your parents in a few days, okay?"

Amelia stiffened at his words, confusion clouding her expression and asked, "Why do you want to go home suddenly?"

Damien’s fingers gently traced the curve of her shoulder as he answered, "You’ve seemed down lately. I thought maybe going home would lift your spirits."

Amelia’s thoughts drifted to the villa area in her hometown, St. Paul, a place filled with memories of her and Damien. Every blade of grass, every tree, held fragments of their shared past.

Lost in these memories, she heard Damien then added, "By the way, I heard your father isn’t feeling well. It’s a good time to go check on him."

"Dad is sick?" Amelia sat up abruptly.

"Why didn’t I know?"

Damien quickly reassured her.

"Don’t worry, I overheard the maid mentioning it. It’s nothing serious, just a small thing."

He pulled her back into his arms and asked her gently, "So, will you go back and visit him?"

Amelia was still unsettled, but Damien’s surprising tenderness that night made her hesitate to overthink it. She nodded. Although she wasn’t sure about Damien’s sudden kindness, it was strange. Tonight, he was just … holding her, nothing more.

Amelia clutched the corner of the blanket, reminding herself not to jump to conclusions. She had once heard that when a man suddenly seems distant, it means he had found something … or someone else.

The next morning, for the first time in a long while, it was just the two of them traveling together.

As the car drove through the familiar villa area, Damien pointed out a sycamore tree along the side of the road, smiling.

"Remember this? You used to love picking up fallen leaves here to use as bookmarks."

Amelia’s eyes followed the direction he indicated, her nerves slowly loosening.

Damien continued, "And you always followed me home after school. One time, I checked to see if you were really following me and you got lost. You cried so hard, I felt bad."

Amelia’s gaze wandered with his words and memories of their childhood came flooding back. It was strange how easily they all came to mind, how vivid the images were despite the years that had passed.

Damien smiled nostalgically, but then his voice faltered, as if he’d just remembered something. "And the fountain ... When Victoria came for the first time, she insisted on eating skewers, despite the unhealthy food. She wore a white dress, a bow tie and ... acted like a spoiled child."

Amelia’s heart clenched at the mention of Victoria.

Damien had effortlessly tied every memory to her, while the same moments, once shared between him and Amelia, were now forgotten or overshadowed by Victoria’s presence. It felt like every corner of their history had been claimed by her. Amelia felt like a joke.

It was said that a man who had a childhood sweetheart could never forget her, but here she was, Amelia, the childhood companion, cast aside.

As soon as the car stopped, the sharp ringtone of Damien’s phone shattered the quiet.

"What? Victoria had a car accident?" Damien’s face turned pale.

"I’ll be there soon!"

He didn’t even bother entering the Heartford Family’s gate. He was already in motion.

"Baby, I’ll make it up to you next time," he called over his shoulder, rushing off.

Amelia glanced at the calendar on her phone. Today was the day Victoria’s divorce was official.

"There won’t be a next time, Damien," she whispered to herself, gathering the supplements and walking towards the villa alone.

Her parents had been waiting by the door.

After the usual greetings, her mother hesitated.

"Did Damien go to park the car?"

"He went to find his sister," Amelia answered, her voice calm despite the chaos she felt inside.

Her mother’s brow furrowed.

"That girl ... is already … ?"

"Yes, she’s no longer a member of the Charleston Family," Amelia said simply, telling her the truth about the marriage agreement.

The mention of Victoria caused her father to explode with anger. He fainted on the spot.

Amelia’s heart raced as she dialed Damien’s number. Her husband couldn’t have gone far and getting him to the hospital would be faster than waiting for an ambulance.

Beep … beep … ! The phone rang, but no one answered. Frustration boiled in her chest. Ameia then helped her father up and drove him to the hospital herself. Thankfully, her father was fine.

While waiting for the test results, Amelia scrolled through her phone and stumbled across a new post from Victoria.

In the video, Damien was carefully disinfecting a small scratch on her knee. The caption read something that hurt her even more.

[Thank you, brother, for coming so quickly. Thankfully, it’s just a scratch from the electric car!]

Amelia stared at the insignificant injury and, to her own surprise, laughed out loud.

But as the laughter died in her throat, tears began to fall.

Finally, Amelia understood. Damien had made it clear that Victoria’s problems were always urgent, while anything involving Amelia could wait.

Damien, if he knew she came home to tell her parents about their separation, would he regret it? Would he even care? But she no longer expected an answer.

Just then, her phone rang. It was Julian. Their relationship had grown stronger since her divorce.

Amelia answered and Julian’s voice was lighter than before as he spoke, "All the procedures are complete. You just have to wait another week and you’ll be completely free."

He paused for a moment before suggesting, "How about we go out for a meal? We can celebrate your escape from the sea of suffering."

Amelia smiled faintly as she told him from the other end, "Let’s wait until the divorce is fully finalized."

After that, Amelia hung up the phone and returned to the ward.

Mr. Heartford had woken up. His face was still a little pale, but his eyes were particularly firm.

He held Amelia's hand and, in a hoarse but powerful voice, said, "Divorce, you must divorce Damien."

Amelia gently held her father's hand back and whispered, "Dad, I'm already divorcing him. You don’t need to worry about it."

In the last week before the divorce, Damien had been accompanying Victoria to clean up their new house, thinking that he would make up for things with Amelia once everything was settled.

Meanwhile, Amelia spent her time with her parents. Looking at the white hair on her father's temples and the fine lines around her mother's eyes, she suddenly realized something. And that realization slapped her hard even more.

Amelia had been the eldest daughter of the Heartford Family, living a life of luxury since childhood. But for a man, she had given up the family business and had been willing to assist him, handling the smallest tasks, all while enduring his neglect. Indeed, she was an idiot.

Since she already made a firm decision, Amelia didn’t return to the place she had shared with Damien but instead moved back to the Heartford Family home. She packed up all the photos, gifts and even the small items Damien had given her and sent them to his home.

Then, Amelia carefully wrote a farewell letter, just like she had done in high school. She thought that if the love letter she had written back then had not been responded to, this farewell letter probably wouldn't get a reply either. But it didn’t matter.

After all, she was just giving an explanation to her younger self.

Amelia submitted her resignation at Damien's company, said goodbye to her parents and boarded a plane to go abroad.

Julian called again, but Amelia didn’t answer. She simply sent a message:[Amelia Heartford: Mr. Weston, now I am only thinking about finding a son-in-law for the Heartford Family. You can't do it.]

Damien finally remembered to go home after settling Victoria in her new place. Along the way, he was still thinking about how he should apologize to Amelia if she was angry. He wasn’t too worried. After all, whenever he stood her up or broke a promise, Amelia would just get a little upset and things would be fine in a few days.

But this time, as soon as he entered the house, he noticed something was wrong. The house was too quiet. He looked around and found that all of Amelia’s things were gone. Her slippers, her cup were ... all gone.

Damien's heart sank suddenly and he immediately took out his phone to call Amelia.

"The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable … "

His heart sank even more and he sent a voice message:

"Baby, stop making trouble. Are you still playing the game of running away from home?"

A red exclamation mark appeared next to the message. Damien then realized that he had been blocked. His face turned completely black. This was the first time Amelia had been so upset to him.

He scratched his hair irritably and was about to go upstairs when he saw the maid coming over with a box.

She said carefully, "Sir, this is from Miss Heartford."

Damien hadn’t noticed the change in the maid’s address yet. He took the box and eagerly opened it. On the top was a letter.

Immediately, Damien picked it up and unfolded it. Amelia’s beautiful handwriting appeared before him. He quickly read it.

[Damien, do you still remember the first time you helped me drive away the boy who bullied me in junior high school? That day you stood in front of me, not much taller than me, but you said fiercely, “I'm protecting her.”

From that day on, I fell in love with you.

In high school, you got injured playing basketball and I secretly put ointment in your desk. You thought it was sent by someone else and you asked around who it was. I didn’t dare admit it, so I just listened to you and your sister discussing, blushing, 'Which girl who has a crush on you is so careful.'

When you were in school, you inherited the company and faced setbacks. You got drunk and I sat with you on the rooftop all night.

You said, “Amelia, why are you so stupid to waste time with me.”

“Yes, I am really stupid.”

I thought that love would grow over time. I thought that as long as I loved you enough, you would always see me. But it turns out that some people are destined not to wait. On this fifth anniversary, I will give you two gifts. They are at the bottom of the box.

Goodbye, Damien.

The rest of your life, may each of you be well.]

Damien’s hand trembled slightly as he held the letter. He never knew that Amelia had liked him for so long. He thought that she would only fall in love with him as she grew up.

Yes, he always knew Amelia loved him, but he never returned that love.

Damien felt a pain in his chest and continued to look through the box, finding two documents at the bottom. One document was a familiar divorce agreement that he recognized from a month ago. But he didn’t expect the other document.

The other document was a B-ultrasound report from the hospital.

It clearly stated something that really shook Damien to his core.

[6 weeks of pregnancy, needs to be aborted.]

There was also a note on the report, written in beautiful handwriting of Amelia’s.

[Damien, when you were with the person you loved, our child chose to leave us. This may also be her way of telling me that I should live for myself for the rest of my life.]

Damien's ears suddenly buzzed and his vision went dark. He tightly grasped the ultrasound report as his fingers shaking uncontrollably. He had never thought about it.

How could this be possible? When had Amelia gotten pregnant? Why hadn’t he known about it?

He quickly grabbed the divorce agreement and saw that the date was from a month ago. How could he have signed such a document?

A memory suddenly flashed back to that afternoon a month ago."Mr. Charleston, I just negotiated a new deal. This is the contract. You need to sign here."

Amelia had handed him the document.

He signed it without even looking at it and said with a smile, "Another deal? Amelia, you're impressive."

In an instant, countless overlooked details came to his mind.

Damien remembered taking Victoria home in the middle of the night and running into the famous divorce lawyer, Mr. Weston, with Amelia. He also clearly recalled that Felicia's husband didn’t have a first love and didn’t get a divorce, yet Amelia had said she was helping people with divorces.

And in the past month, Amelia’s things had gradually disappeared from the house, replaced by Victoria’s things.

Then, Damien remembered the day at the nursing home. Amelia’s pale face and the maid’s hesitant expression. Damien grabbed the car keys and rushed out, frantically dialing Amelia's number.

The call was not connected. Instead, a cold automatic voice informed him that the number was no longer in service!