I turned to him and said evenly, “Nothing, just that my ID card is about to expire, so…”

“Didn’t you just get your ID card two years ago? How could it expire so soon?”

I froze for a moment, not expecting him to remember going with me to get it two years ago. That was also the day he met Anya.

Henry walked over and snatched my phone. After unlocking it, he saw no recent calls in my history and his frown eased.

Then he accused me. “Can’t you just give me some peace? Do you think I actually care about you? You’re trying to threaten me like this? I’m telling you, your tricks only make me sick. You’re not even one-tenth of Anya.”

Before I could respond, he turned and left. From the doorway, Anya’s playful voice floated in. “Henry, why are you coming out empty-handed? My underwear is still in your bedroom.”

“There’s something dirty in there. I’ll take you to buy new ones.” His voice faded away. I sat on the floor, drained and dejected.

I quickly pulled out my phone and opened another system interface. A message from Zion, sent a minute earlier, appeared.

[Kate, welcome back. I look forward to you creating another legend.]

I replied with a simple “OK” and turned off my phone.

Two days later, early in the morning, I went to a specialty goods shop. I showed the staff the severed finger and stated my request.

At the same time, I applied online to cancel my identity information.

While waiting, I received a taunting message from Anya.

It was a photo of Henry in the hospital, wearing a stethoscope and looking serious.

Anya wrote: [Henry said he couldn’t help himself because he wanted to hear the newborn’s heartbeat. I wonder if he treated you like this when you were pregnant?]

I gripped my phone tightly. Anger burned inside me, but I forced myself to stay calm. I had only seven days left before I left them.

I still remember Henry’s expression when I was pregnant.

He wasn’t happy or excited about the child’s arrival.

His first words were, “Finally, you’re pregnant! I don’t have to eat those things anymore.”

Although Henry had been in pain at that time, he never refused me.

I told him I had a hidden illness and convinced him to join me in recuperating. I also said that once I became pregnant, I would no longer force him into anything.

But what Henry didn’t know was that the one with the illness wasn’t me, it was him.

Henry had been a gangster, often smoking and drinking. He also had asthenospermia, which made conceiving difficult and no one wanted to marry him. That was when Sophie came to me, offering me the favor of saving my life in exchange for staying with Henry and giving the Taylor Family a child.

For the first three years, I cared for Henry and nursed him back to health. In the fourth year, I finally became pregnant, but the baby almost miscarried. Sophie was terrified, knowing the doctor had already said Henry could never be a father.

I looked at the man in the photo, a sarcastic smile tugging at my lips.

Henry, you weren’t fit to be a husband, let alone a father.

I pushed open the door and saw Henry feeding Anya at the dining table. She was being spoiled, throwing a tantrum and refusing to eat properly.

When he saw me, Henry frowned. “The kindergarten teacher just called and said you didn’t send Andrew to school. What’s wrong with you as a mother?”

“Andrew is still young and naïve, but you’re an adult. Don’t you know how to behave? He has no manners and no upbringing and that’s all because of you!”

I gave a cold smile. “Henry, I said we’re getting a divorce. I’ll leave the house, but the child will stay with me.”

I didn’t want Andrew’s last bit of peace to be disturbed.

Anya suddenly spoke, looking confused. “But Andrew is the heir of the Taylor Family. If you take him away, wouldn’t that be…”

Henry looked embarrassed. “Kate, you’re really scheming. It was one thing to plot against me back then, but now you’re even scheming against a five-year-old. Is this fun for you? You’ve treated Andrew like some wild child.”

“Kate, I’ll give you one million, but Andrew must be mine.”

“Henry, Andrew is already dead. Can’t you just let him rest in peace?” I said coldly.

Anya’s face showed a flicker of unease, but Henry sneered. “Kate, do you think I don’t know? You deliberately encouraged Andrew to play pranks with you. Just to get a bit of money, you even made up a curse about his death. I really underestimated you. Add another million and Andrew must be mine.”

I was about to answer, but Anya quickly changed the subject. “Henry, I suddenly feel pain in my stomach. Is the baby kicking me?”

She pretended to blush and lowered her head.

Henry turned to her, his eyes gentle and doting. “The baby isn’t even formed yet. How could it be so naughty so soon?”

Watching them, I suddenly remembered when I nearly miscarried during my first pregnancy five years ago because Henry didn’t hold me steady. He had said carelessly, “Is such a small thing worth making a fuss over? It’s still unfinished, isn’t it? It’s not that easy to die.”

That night, I had just stepped out of the shower when I saw Henry sitting on the bed.

“Kate, you’re really clever. Not only did you trick Andrew into deceiving me, but you even joined forces with my sister to do this to me?”

Wrapped in a bath towel, I looked at him cautiously. “What are you talking about?”

The wariness in my eyes seemed to sting him. He rushed over, pushed me onto the bed and pressed his weight against me.

The next moment, he covered me with kisses. The scent of gardenia perfume, the one unique to Anya, burned in my nose.

My stomach turned. I tried to push him away, but I couldn’t.

“Henry, let me go!”

A chill spread across my chest, my heart pounding. Humiliation surged through me and tears rolled down my face.

“Why are you crying?” Henry looked up, his eyes dark and impatient.

When I stayed silent, he stood, grabbed the coat beside him and said coldly, “Isn’t this what you wanted? Why pretend to be some chaste heroine? I’ve seen every part of you, especially that ugly scar on your stomach. It disgusts me every time, just like you do.”

With that, Henry slammed the door and left.

I climbed out of bed, took the broken finger necklace from the drawer and pressed it against my heart, looking at it with tenderness and longing.

Andrew, don’t be afraid. Mommy will take you away.

Henry hadn’t come home for two days, while Anya’s taunting messages kept coming.

The one that stood out most was when she bragged, “In three days, Henry is throwing me a party for our two-year anniversary.”

My hands shook and I froze on the spot.

My mind went back to the anniversary of my first time with Henry. I had begged him for so long before he finally agreed to take me to the amusement park. But that day, he was distracted the whole time. When I asked him about it later, he scoffed, “I don’t see the point of you women celebrating these things all the time. Do you really think an anniversary can keep anything?”

My thoughts were cut short by the sound of my phone ringing. It was Henry calling.

I instinctively answered the call and the soft, breathless sounds of a man and woman tangled together came through.

Anya’s voice panted softly. “Henry, I want to wear a wedding dress on our second anniversary. Let me pretend to marry you, okay?”

Henry’s voice was breathless. “Sure. I’ll fuck you in your wedding dress, it’ll be something special.”

Anya giggled. “Hate it, Henry! Aren’t you afraid she will get jealous and make a scene?”

“If she gets upset, I’ll lock her in the basement, her son Andrew, too. Then no one will bother us.”

The disgusting voices made my stomach churn. I swallowed my nausea and hung up.

I stood, walked to Henry’s study and went to his computer. I typed in Anya’s birthday.

The screen unlocked.

I sneered. “Henry is really the same as before.”

In the three years when Henry and I loved each other most, he went from knowing nothing about love to becoming gentle and caring under my guidance. I taught him everything, even how to set phone screensavers and computer passwords.

Before he met Anya, Henry had been involved with other women, but those flings were nothing serious. I didn’t care, even when he used their birthdays as passwords.

But after meeting Anya, Henry changed completely.

I pushed my thoughts aside, drafted a divorce agreement and printed it in the study.

Suddenly, the paper in my hand slipped to the floor. When I bent to pick it up, I saw a broken piece of the table corner resting on a keepsake pouch.

I recognized it instantly; it was the blessing bag I had earned by climbing nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, kneeling to Henry with each step.

Now it lay tossed in a corner, treated like a piece of trash.

My heart trembled. My sincerity had been trampled without a thought. Eight years of feelings ended in that moment.