When Michelle spoke those words, she had already braced herself for the consequences—even if it meant paying the penalty for breaking the contract, she was determined to walk away.

But just at that critical moment, a staff member rushed over, inserting herself between them.

“Ma’am, do you need any help? Why don’t I take you to get this taken care of first?”

Her resolve, so fierce a second ago, faltered. Letting out a soundless sigh, Michelle turned and followed the staff away.

As they tended to her, she stared at her reddened arm, covered in marks and bruises—remnants left behind by Stuart.

And when her mind replayed the image of him earlier, shielding Janet with such nervous protectiveness, the sense of contrast cut Michelle even deeper. Everything felt different now, and she could only laugh at herself for being so pitiful.

By the time she returned to the lounge, her boarding time had already passed.

She thought perhaps that spared her from following any further. Yet Leo, Stuart’s assistant, sent a message. It was a reminder that, in no uncertain terms, she had to go.

Reading the implicit threat between the lines, Michelle closed her eyes. Her fingernails dug deep into her palms before finally loosening in helpless surrender.

After a long round of delays and setbacks, she finally made it.

That night, weighed down by unspoken worries, with her arm throbbing and her head heavy, she finally felt a trace of drowsiness. But just as sleep was about to claim her, a message from Janet popped up.

[Go buy emergency contraceptives. Bring them to my room immediately.]

It started again. This was always how Janet liked to assert her dominance—her claim over Stuart.

‘But really, who am I to threaten her? After all, as everyone said, I’m nothing more than a glorified assistant, nanny, and housekeeper.’

Thinking that, Michelle drew in a deep breath.

“Half a month. That’s all that’s left. Just ten-odd days. Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.”

When she returned with the pills, Stuart and Janet still weren’t finished.

The message she sent to inform them went unanswered. She stood quietly outside their room, unbothered by the ambiguous sounds drifting out from within. Her gaze, instead, fixed on the items she had carefully prepared for Stuart—tossed carelessly outside the door.

For years, Stuart had battled severe insomnia, and Michelle had become his so-called “human sleeping pill.”

But she had no miraculous ability. It was simply her genuine devotion—her painstaking effort in tending to every small detail.

The soft glow of the bedside lamp… The cedar-scented candle he favored… Even the sleep-aid essential oils she had searched tirelessly to find.

Now, with Janet back at his side and their broken relationship seemingly mended, those things no longer held any value in his eyes.

Lowering her gaze, Michelle was about to leave the pills outside and quietly slip away when the door suddenly swung open.

Before she could react, Janet slapped her hard across the face. Stuart leaned lazily against the bed, watching.

“What are you doing standing out here? Eavesdropping on us?” Janet sneered.

Without waiting for an answer, she yanked Michelle into the room, snatched the pills from her hands, and turned the situation around with a feigned look of shock.

“Contraceptives? Stuart, see? I told you this woman had ulterior motives—she can’t stand to see us happy!”

Michelle merely looked at her calmly, her expression unreadable. Out of old habits, her mind almost slipped into clinical assessment.

‘Is Janet suffering from anxious attachment? Jealous delusions? Or perhaps, like Stuart, a paranoid personality?’

Her thoughts were cut short when Stuart finally spoke.

“Apologize to her.”

Michelle froze, staring at him in disbelief. But there he was, his arm wrapped tenderly around Janet, his voice soft as he soothed her.

When Michelle remained silent, his eyes hardened with impatience, his tone turning cold as he repeated, “I told you to apologize to her.”

Seeing the smug triumph on Janet’s face, Michelle couldn’t stop herself from whispering a rebuttal.

“She was the one who sent me here. She asked me to buy the contraceptive. Why should I apologize?”

The only answer she received was the heavy object Stuart hurled at her.

The ashtray struck her squarely on the forehead. The force sent her sprawling to the floor as her skull rang with a deafening buzz.

“Get out,” Stuart’s voice came sharp and low. “Don’t be an eyesore here.”

Blood trickled down, blurring her vision, yet she could still make out Stuart’s figure—holding Janet close, speaking to her in gentle reassurance after the loud crash had startled her. His concern, his tenderness, was all directed solely at her.

Not once did he look at Michelle.

Her heart clenched painfully, as if someone were squeezing the very breath out of her chest.

But in the end, she forced herself to rise, and without a single glance back, she left the room.

That night, Michelle boarded a flight back to Maryland.

The moment she landed, she contacted the institution that backed her and reported that Stuart wanted to terminate the contract ahead of schedule.

Since Stuart had already told her several times to “get lost,” of course, she had no choice but to accept it.

However, the response from her liaison left her with a nagging sense that things weren’t as straightforward as she imagined.

When she arrived at the institution, that uneasy feeling only grew stronger. Her colleagues were all looking at her with strange expressions. Even Alfred Afrin—her mentor, who was usually kind and gentle with her—had a stiff expression.

His face was drawn tight as he said seriously, “Dr. Burnell. Come with me to the office.”

Her chest tightened with unease. Her instincts told her this had to be connected to Stuart and Janet.

Sure enough, once Michelle and Alfred were behind closed doors, he asked bluntly, “What exactly is your relationship with Mr. Huggett?”

“I’m his contracted therapist,” Michelle answered truthfully.

But her mentor’s face fell, laced with disappointment.

“Still refusing to be honest? Take a look at this yourself!”

Her mentor opened an email that had been blasted out to the entire staff. The instant she read the subject line, her heart seized.

[McMullen Medical Scandal: Dr. Michelle Burnell Exposed as a Mistress, See Exclusive Footage of the Affair!]

When she clicked play, the video showed the scene from the hotel last night—Janet striking her, her being hit with an object—captured secretly without audio.

But combined with that damning headline, the implication was clear.

‘No wonder everyone at the institution has been whispering about me. It has to be Janet’s doing!’

“Dr. Afrin, this isn’t what it looks like, I—” Michelle began to explain.

But her mentor cut her off.

“Dr. Burnell, whether I believe you or not doesn’t matter anymore. This email has already been maliciously sent to everyone. The entire institution has seen it. Who knows how long before someone leaks it further? To control the risk, I have no choice but to suspend all your work. I hope you understand.”

Michelle wanted to argue but forced them back down.

She knew how serious this matter was. A psychologist entangled with a patient—worse yet, accused of being a third party in someone’s relationship—was enough to destroy her career if it spread. If this stigma stuck, everything she had worked for would be over.

Still, how could she not feel bitter?

She spent decades studying, nearly ten years of hard work to finally establish herself here.

Now, thanks to Janet’s false accusations, all her years of effort were on the verge of being wiped out.

Why?

There was no reason, and no one to tell her otherwise

When she walked out of the institution, colleagues she once got along with avoided her as if she carried a plague.

And then, out of all people, Stuart sent her a message—asking her to come back.

Perfect timing. She had been wanting to confront them anyway.

When she stepped into Stuart’s home again, sure enough, Janet was right there with him.

Projected across the living room screen was the very same video Michelle had seen that morning at the institution.

The moment she appeared, Janet sneered and was the first to speak.

“Well, look who dared to show her face. The homewrecker herself.”

This time, Michelle didn’t hold back. She fired back coldly, “I never interfered in your relationship. If anything, Miss Janet, it seems you’ve had far too much time on your hands lately.”

Janet’s face twisted with rage. She raised her hand to strike, but Michelle sidestepped neatly.

Corner a rabbit and it would bite. How much more so when the career she’d built, the one thing she treasured above all, was on the brink of destruction thanks to them?

“Enough,” Stuart interjected suddenly. “Arguing over this useless matter—what’s the point?”

What’s the point?

Of course, it was meaningless to them. To people like Stuart and Janet, what she valued was nothing at all.

But at least, right now, he should be more desperate than she was.

After all, even though he had a privileged background, he was still an illegitimate son, always at a disadvantage among his peers.

If word got out that his mental state was unstable—that he had needed five years of continuous therapy—the blow to him would be far more devastating than what she faced.

As expected, the very next moment, Stuart coaxed Janet softly, “Let me handle this, okay? I need a word with her alone.”

Without waiting, Michelle stepped into the consultation room where she had spent years giving him therapy.

Stuart followed soon after, just like he always had in the past.

But this time, to her shock, he came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her.

“Don’t move,” he murmured. “You haven’t been around lately. I haven’t been able to sleep. Let me hold you for a while first.”

In an instant, Michelle felt a wave of nausea rise in her throat and wrenched herself out of his grasp.

‘What does this guy take me for—some plaything? Or is this just another one of his shameless ploys?’

The thought made her sick to her core. She had once grown softhearted because of this very man—let her heart falter, let herself lose control. Now, she wanted nothing more than to slap herself awake.

Forcing her emotions back under control, she deliberately widened the distance between them. Her tone carried a new coldness.

“Mr. Stuart, you’re already engaged. Even if you won’t think of me, at the very least, you should consider appearances.”

His expression instantly darkened. After five years by his side, Michelle could read him too well—he was angry.

But so what? He was no longer the boy he once was, and she owed him nothing anymore.

“It’s only because I can sleep better with you nearby. Dr. Burnell, don’t flatter yourself too much.”

She let his barbed words fall without response. Instead, she smoothly shifted the conversation to business.

“Mr. Stuart, we both signed a confidentiality agreement. I can keep my silence, but I expect you to keep your own people under control. Don’t let this turn into an ugly spectacle.”

Stuart’s gaze locked on her, sharp as a nail hammered into wood.

After a long, heavy silence, he finally ground out his reply.

“My people are my responsibility. But Dr. Burnell, you’d better keep that mouth of yours shut. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

At that, Michelle nearly laughed bitterly. ‘Regret? Oh, I’ve been regretting it for years.’

She regretted softening toward him five years ago over a shred of supposed kindness.

She regretted letting herself be swayed a year ago by his false plea to stay.

But in the end, she said nothing. Instead, she turned briskly on her heel and left without a single word of farewell.

Outside the door, Janet was waiting. As Michelle brushed past her, she caught the woman’s hissed words.

“This isn’t over.”

And Janet made good on that threat almost immediately.

Michelle’s projects were all suspended. On Stuart’s side, with Janet constantly present, she no longer had any obligations left to suffer through.

For the first time in a long while, she found herself with nothing to do. Yet the sudden emptiness felt foreign. After some thought, she decided to go home to see her parents.

But the moment she pushed open the door, her mother greeted her with a storm of curses, her father demanded she kneel and apologize without even asking what had happened, and there on the living room couch sat Janet—smug and gloating.

“She seduced my husband. You two really ought to discipline your daughter. Oh, and I heard your son is interning at my company. With a sister like her, I can’t help but wonder if his character will turn out rotten too.”

Her words had barely fallen when Jamie, Michelle’s father, snatched up a broom and swung it at her.

Meanwhile, Ada, her mother, was already holding Janet’s hands, begging not for her daughter’s sake but for her son’s.

“Oh, Ma’am, please don’t be upset. This wretched woman brought it all on herself! We cut ties with her long ago! Our boy is nothing like her. He’s perfect! I swear! You can trust me on that!”

Watching this humiliating display, Michelle could only laugh at the absurdity.

She had always known her parents had a favorite child. She had never expected much from them. But she hadn’t thought they would go this far—for an outsider and for the sake of their precious son.

Seeing her mother abase herself, Michelle suddenly surged to her feet. She strode forward, pulling her mother upright, her voice ringing with fury.

“I did not seduce her husband! Can’t you stop listening to just one side of the story?!”

At that, Janet seemed satisfied with the chaos she had stirred. Rising leisurely, she tossed out one last remark.

“Since she refuses to admit her mistakes, I’ll leave it at that. But whether your son stays or not—that depends on you.”

With that, she swept out, shutting the door behind her.

The sound had hardly faded when Jamie’s hand cracked across Michelle’s cheek, sending her sprawling to the floor.

“No one gives a damn about what affair you’ve made for yourself! Do you even know how much we sacrificed—how many connections, how much money—just to secure your brother’s place in that company?”

Ada, equally furious, yanked her by the arm and spat, “Shameless slut! Go after that woman right now and apologize!”

And so, once again, Michelle was thrown out of her parents’ house—just as she had been at seventeen.

Just like before? The storm raged outside.

After everything crashed down on her, one blow after another, she no longer had the strength to fight back. She simply stood there, motionless and soaked to the bone.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before a figure appeared, walking toward her beneath the shelter of an umbrella.

The scene was hauntingly familiar. So was the man.

At that moment, Stuart’s silhouette overlapped with the memory of the boy she once knew, and all the emotions she had fought to bury broke loose.

“Why? Tell me why!” Her voice cracked, trembling with rage and sorrow. “Back then, you were the one who came to me first. You begged me, clung to me, pleaded with me to stay! And now? Stuart, what gives you the right to treat me like this?! How dare you let others humiliate me?!”

By the time her questions ran out, her voice was already shaking.

Stuart said nothing. Instead, he suddenly stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.

But in the very next second, Michelle understood—he hadn’t changed at all. He was still the same Stuart as ever, a guy who thought only of himself.