“Never mind. I’ll get myself home.”

Morton looked at her, his brows drawing together.

In that single second, I already knew the answer.

He said, “I’ll drop her at the corner. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded.

“Go.”

He froze for a beat.

I didn’t wait for him to come back. As I stepped out of the old family estate, Jean called me.

“Why do you sound like that?”

I said, “Jean, do you think Morton loves me?”

The line went quiet for two seconds.

Then she said, “I always knew this day would come sooner or later.”

I stood at the curb, the wind stinging my eyes.

So the humiliation I thought I’d hidden so well, everyone else had seen a long time ago.

On the third day, Morton offered to take me to the company himself.

“There’s an internal celebration today. I’ll introduce you properly.”

I looked at him.

“Properly to what degree?”

He said, “In front of all the executives.”

I asked, “Is Sabina going?”

Morton paused.

“She’s the brand consultant. She might come.”

I smiled.

“Then I understand.”

He said, “Mavis, don’t pin everything on her.”

I said nothing more.

At three in the afternoon, I arrived downstairs at the Delgado building.

The receptionist saw Morton and shot to her feet.

“Mr. Delgado.”

Morton took my hand.

“This is my wife, Mavis.”

The receptionist blinked, then quickly nodded.

“Hello, Mrs. Delgado.”

It was the first time. And before I could feel even a flicker of anything, the turnstile buzzed.

Red light. My badge wouldn’t let me through.

The receptionist checked for a long while, her face growing more and more awkward.

“Mr. Delgado, the family contact bound in the system is Miss Sabina Pruitt.”

Morton’s face darkened in an instant.

“Who entered that?”

The administrative manager hurried down.

“Mr. Delgado, Mrs. Delgado arranged it before. She said Miss Pruitt came to the office often, so it would be convenient for her to get in and out.”

I looked at that turnstile. Sabina could walk through without registering.

Me, the actual Mrs. Delgado, was blocked at the door.

Morton tightened his grip on my hand.

“Change it right now.”

The administrative manager opened the back end and asked carefully, “Mr. Delgado, do you want me to delete Miss Pruitt’s access?”

“Add Mavis first.”

I lifted my head to look at him.

“Why not delete hers?”

He said in a low voice, “She still has projects to come and go for.”

I pulled my hand free.

“Then don’t bother adding mine.”

Morton frowned.

“Mavis.”

I said, “I don’t want to be tacked on after her.”

Inside the conference room, the executives were already seated.

When I walked in, Sabina was standing in front of the big screen, presenting the brand campaign.

On the cover of the proposal was her name. I stopped.

That proposal was the one I’d stayed up three nights to help Morton revise.

From the user profiles to the crisis-response plan, from the post-IPO brand pivot to the entry point into the female consumer market, all of it was my work.

Morton saw it too, and his expression shifted.

When Sabina finished, applause filled the room.

Someone said with a smile, “Consultant Pruitt truly is the person closest to Mr. Delgado who understands the brand best.”

Sabina glanced at Morton.

“Actually, Morton gave me his input on a lot of the details.”

I gave a small smile.

Morton stood up.

“Mavis was involved in this proposal too.”

Too.

One word, and my three sleepless nights became a casual favor.

Sabina spoke up at once. “Right, Mavis looked over a few typos for me.”

Someone in the room laughed.

“Mrs. Delgado is very meticulous too.”

I looked at Morton. His brows were pulled tight.

"Sabina, explain yourself."

Sabina's face went white.

"I thought Mavis was just helping polish it. Morton, you never told me—"

There she went again.

One "I didn't know," and every fault got shoved back onto someone else.

The conference room froze.

Morton dismissed the executives.

Once they'd all gone, I opened my laptop.

"The original file. Edit history. Timestamps on when it was sent. It's all right here."

Morton stared at the screen, his face darkening bit by bit.

Sabina's eyes reddened.

"Mavis, I really didn't do it on purpose. Auntie said you don't like being in the spotlight, so I put my name on it."

I laughed.

"I don't like the spotlight?"

"Or is it that you all don't like me being seen?"

Morton looked at Sabina.

"Who told you to do this?"

Sabina bit her lip.

"Auntie said the investors know me better, that putting my name on the campaign would be safer."

Morton closed his eyes. I watched him.

"So you thought it was safer too."

He said, "I didn't know."

Those three words. I'd heard them too many times.

I shut the laptop.

"Use the campaign. Go ahead."

Morton caught my arm.

"Mavis, I'll credit you."

"No need."

"Why?"

I looked at him.

"Something that's been stolen and handed back is already dirty."

That night, the Delgado brand campaign blew up online.

Some blogger dug up how parts of it lined up almost word for word with a public talk I'd given before.

The comments filled with people calling Sabina a plagiarist.

My mother-in-law called.

Her first words weren't to ask if I'd been wronged.

They were, "Mavis, put out a statement. Say you authorized Sabina to use the campaign."

I thought I'd misheard.

"What did you say?"

"Morton just went public. There can't be any bad press. Sabina still has to make her way in this industry. Give her a hand."

I gripped the phone.

"And what about me?"

My mother-in-law's patience thinned.

"You're a Delgado. What's wrong with family taking a little hardship?"

Morton called soon after, his voice worn out.

"Mavis, put out the statement first. I'll make it up to you later."

I asked him.

"Make up what?"

"Credit, a bonus, a public thank-you—whatever you want."

"Then why can't we just tell the truth now?"

He was silent.

"Because Sabina's connected to the resources behind a new project. Nothing can go wrong right now."

I laughed.

"So you're choosing her again."

Morton's voice dropped a little.

"I'm not choosing her. I'm choosing what's best for everyone."

I hung up.

That night, I contacted Lawyer Hughes.

【Can the divorce agreement be drawn up tonight?】

He answered fast.

【Yes. The more complete the evidence, the better.】

I opened my laptop and sorted through three years of it, one piece at a time—transfer records, chat logs, campaign source files, press-release screenshots, screenshots of my social media privacy groups.

At two in the morning, Morton came home.

He stood in the study doorway.

"Still up?"

I didn't turn around.

"Almost done."

"About the statement—"

"I won't be putting it out."

Morton walked in.

"Mavis, can you not pick a fight with me right now, of all times?"

I looked up at him.

"Morton, do you know what the most laughable part is?"

He frowned.

"What?"

"When you all needed me invisible, you said I was family."

"When you all needed me to take the blame, you said I was family too."

His face lost a little color.

"But I'm not a trash can."

Friday night, Morton said he was going back to the old family estate.

"I'll set things straight with my mother. You'll get your credit back on the campaign."

I looked at him.

"She agreed to that?"

"I'll make her agree."

I nodded.

"Fine."

The lights in the old estate's living room were blazing.

My mother-in-law sat on the sofa, Sabina beside her, eyes swollen and red.

A draft statement lay on the coffee table.

The moment Sylvia saw me, she shoved the paper across.

"Sign it."

I picked it up and read.

【I, Mavis Winfield, voluntarily authorize Ms. Sabina Pruitt to use the relevant brand content, and there is no plagiarism dispute.】

I laughed.

"Whoever wrote this has done it before."

Sylvia frowned.

"Mavis, don't be so petty. Sabina's being torn apart out there. Can you really stand by and watch?"

I looked at Morton.

"So this is what you meant by getting my credit back?"

His face darkened.

"Mom, that's not what I meant."

Sylvia gave a cold laugh.

"Then what did you mean? You'd ruin Sabina for her sake? Ruin the company's new project?"

Sabina said through her tears, "Forget it, ma'am. I'll pull out of the project. Don't put Morton in a hard spot."

Sylvia's heart went out to her at once.

"Pull out of what? You've run yourself ragged for the Delgado Group. Why should you be the one they drag through the mud?"

I set the statement back on the table.

"Because she took something that wasn't hers."

Sylvia shot to her feet.

"Mavis!"

Morton stepped in front of me.

"Mom, enough."

Sylvia froze.

"You're raising your voice at me?"

Morton lowered his voice.

"Sabina was in the wrong on this."

The color drained from Sabina's face.

Sylvia couldn't believe it.

"Morton, have you lost your mind? Sabina's stood by you all these years. Everything she does is for you."

I looked at Morton.

"Did you hear that?"

"She's stood by you all these years."

"And me?"

Morton turned back.

"Mavis, you're my wife."

I gave a small laugh.

"You only ever say that when there's no one around to hear it."

The living room went quiet.

I took a folder out of my bag and laid it on the coffee table.

"Since everyone's here today, let's all take a look together."

Morton looked down.

The divorce agreement.

His face went rigid.

Sylvia recovered first.

"Who do you think you're scaring with that?"

"It's not to scare anyone."

I set down another document.

"This is a lawyer's letter."

The third.

"And this is my notice withdrawing the personal loan guarantee I gave the Delgado Group in its early days."

Morton's head came up.

"What did you say?"

I looked at him.

"Back when your startup needed cash flow, I used my premarital savings to guarantee two loans for you."

"Now that I want a divorce, I want the accounts settled too."

His breath caught for an instant.

Sylvia's expression shifted.

"Mavis, are you trying to destroy Morton?"

"I'm only taking back what's mine."

Morton picked up the agreement and flipped through a few pages.

Asset list, transfer records, campaign source files, press-release screenshots, family-access logs, screenshots of the social media privacy group.

One item after another.

Like every day of these three years I'd been kept hidden, laid out in front of him all at once.

His voice went hoarse.

"When did you put all this together?"

"From the day I found out you'd put me in a special group on your messenger."

Sabina said quietly, "Mavis, do you really have to take it this far?"

I looked at her.

"I'm not taking it anywhere. I'm ending it."

Sylvia was shaking with fury.

"Leave Morton, and what do you think you'll have left?"

I gave a faint smile.

"At least I won't have to prove I'm his wife anymore."

I turned to leave, and Morton came after me.

"Mavis."

The wind in the courtyard was cold, and he still had that agreement clutched in his hand.

"Come home with me first. We'll talk it through, slowly."

"I'm not going back."

He froze.

"What do you mean?"

"I moved my things out this afternoon."

He stood there, rooted to the spot.

That was when his phone rang.

He glanced down. It was the company's finance office.

He picked up, and the voice on the other end was frantic.

"Mr. Delgado, the bank received a lawyer's letter from Ms. Winfield demanding the release of her pledge and confirming she won't renew the guarantee. The credit line triggered a review. The bank is asking us to submit additional credit-enhancement documents."

Morton looked up at me, and for the first time his eyes filled with panic.