“Scarlet, I’ll give you one hundred and fifty million dollars if you just stay, all right?” pleaded Gideon, the head of the Gardner Family.

I shook my head, my voice steady.

“You told me to get close to Jason only to break his relationship with Yuna apart. But it’s been seven years now. We even have a child and you can see it yourself, Father. They’re still in love. Maybe real love just can’t be broken. It’s time for me to go.”

I pushed the check back across the table and turned to walk away, only to end up in a sudden car accident that left me critically injured. On the brink of death, I couldn’t reach my husband or my son no matter how many times I called.

I called again and again, but no one ever picked up.

A kind stranger had been the one to rush me to the hospital. As I regained consciousness, I heard laughter outside my room. It was Jason’s laughter, mixed with Yuna’s.

“Why don’t you go check on your wife? What if she’s upset?”

Jason scoffed. “She doesn’t look that hurt to me. Most likely it’s the same old act. Trust me, she will drop it less than three days.”

Even my own son joined in, mocking me. “Yeah, Mommy’s always pretending to be sick. Yuna, you’re way better than Mommy and you’re so pretty. Can you be my mommy instead, Yuna?”

If Jason had already chosen Yuna and even my son saw her as his real mother, then maybe the only thing left for me to do was let them have what they wanted.

I picked up my phone and dialed a number.

“One week from now, come pick me up. And make sure they all pay.”

***

Lying in the hospital bed, I watched the three of them walking out of the hospital hand in hand. I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Even when I was just a few steps away, neither my husband nor my son bothered to come inside to see me.

Then, a swarm of reporters appeared out of nowhere. “Mr. Gardner, we heard your wife was in a serious car accident. Is that true?”

“Your wife barely survived, yet here you are laughing with another woman. Are you planning on ending your marriage?”

Microphones were nearly shoved into Jason’s face. His expression was filled with irritation, as though he wanted to smash a camera into their faces.

He said nothing. Instead, Yuna slipped her arm around his and said sweetly, “My sister-in-law only has a few scrapes. It’s really nothing serious. Please don’t worry.”

My son nodded along and added eagerly, “Mommy is just being dramatic again.”

Their smiles were calm and graceful, but every word carried hidden meaning, suggesting to the reporters that I was faking my injuries just to gain sympathy from the Gardner Family.

After saying that, Yuna glanced deliberately toward my ward.

The reporters rushed in at once, their eyes sharp with suspicion. “Mrs. Gardner, your family says your injuries aren’t that serious.”

“Are you exaggerating the accident to get your husband’s attention and keep your position in the Gardner Family?”

The room filled with their polished questions and camera flashes grew so bright I could barely keep my eyes open.

From a distance, Yuna smirked at me in triumph. Jason and my son walked away hand in hand with her, not even glancing back.

I pushed away the microphones crowding around me and simply rolled up the sleeve of my hospital gown.

The cameras instantly captured the thick, ugly stitches across my skin. Gasps filled the room in an instant.

“Is this real enough for you?” I asked coldly.

The ward fell silent. Only the faint sound of camera shutters clicking remained.

Reporters kept showing up every few days, so I quietly signed the discharge papers and went home.

As I prepared to take my medication, my son ran over with a cup of water, smiling sweetly. “Mommy, here’s your medicine.”

A small warmth bloomed in my chest as I took the cup. After all, he was still my son. Maybe he truly did care.

I poured the pills into my mouth without looking, but pain shot through my teeth with a sharp crack. Blood filled my mouth.

Panicked, I spat the pills out. To my horror, they weren’t pills at all, just small stones. The real medicine lay crushed into powder in the trash bin.

Seeing my reaction, my son pointed at me and burst into laughter, rolling on the floor.

Exhaustion and anger surged inside me. I grabbed him and gave him a light smack. “How could you do that? Those were my medicine!”

He started crying at once, shouting through his tears, “So what? You’re always pretending anyway!”

Then he bit my hand hard. I raised my hand to discipline him properly this time, but before I could, Yuna rushed in and pulled him away.

“He’s just being playful! How could you hit him like that?” she cried, holding my son tightly as tears streamed down her face. She screamed for Jason, who quickly ran in.

“Jason, look! Your wife is hurting your child! Timmy is her own son and she still has the heart to abuse him!”

I had only given him one light smack. How did that turn into child abuse?

Unfortunately, Jason didn’t even care. He struck me across the face. Twice.

Holding those cold little stones in my hand, I looked at my son’s tear-streaked face. The pain from my wounds was nothing compared to the cold spreading through my heart.

I said nothing. I simply turned away, went back to my room, opened the drawer and took out the divorce papers.

On our wedding night, Jason came home drunk.

The moment he stepped through the door, he threw a signed divorce agreement at me and said coldly, “I can never love you. When you finally want to leave, just sign it and get out.”

I had kept that divorce agreement all these years. Now, it finally had a purpose.

With steady hands, I signed my name at the bottom. Once the paperwork was complete, I would leave immediately and never look back.

Just as I put the pen down, Jason walked into the room. I quickly hid the agreement.

He didn’t seem to notice. Without saying a word, he walked to the bed, picked up his pajamas and a pillow.

“Tonight I’m sleeping with Timmy. You should take a good look at yourself.”

I only nodded in silence.

As he turned to leave, his gaze landed on my shoulder, catching sight of the seven stitches there. For the first time, he realized the car accident I had mentioned was real.

For a brief second, a flicker of guilt crossed his face. He reached out and brushed his fingers over the blood-stained bandage on my shoulder.

I slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me. Your hands are dirty.”

His face instantly darkened with anger. “Scarlet Blaine, don’t push your luck!”

I just ignored him and lay down on the bed. Jason stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Days of exhaustion had worn me down and that night, I slept deeper than I had in a long time.

When I woke up, something sharp scraped across my cheek—a piece of paper. I winced at the sting.

“Jason, what the hell are you doing?” I snapped.

He stood before me, his face twisted in fury. “Look at what you’ve done!”

“Because of that slap, our son is now depressed. This is the doctor’s report!”

I bent down and picked it up. The words “mild depression” hit me like a punch to the chest. How could this be? Had I really scared Timothy that badly last night? That couldn’t be true.

Yuna stood behind Jason, holding my son in her arms. He buried his face into her shoulder, refusing to even glance my way.

Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed. “It’s all my fault… If only I’d come out earlier to protect Timmy, none of this would have happened…”

Jason immediately pulled both of them into his arms, comforting them. “Don’t blame yourself. You’ve done more than enough.”

“The one who should apologize is the person who caused all this.”

Then his eyes turned cold as he looked at me, saying, “From today on, you’re not allowed to go near our son.”

“The doctor said he needs a calm and loving environment.”

“You’ll also give up the master bedroom. Starting tonight, Yuna and I will stay there with Timmy. It'll be easier to care for him that way and it'll help him feel safe.”

At his words, a faint, almost invisible smile tugged at Yuna’s lips. I understood immediately. This was all her doing, from beginning to end.

“You really went to great lengths to stage this performance,” I sneered. “Don’t bother kicking me out. I’ll leave myself.”

Without another word, I packed my things and walked out of the house. The moment I stepped outside, I sent a message to my commander, requesting to return to active duty.

I had been an elite international operative since I was eighteen. Every mission I took ended in success. My comrades used to joke and call me “the Queen of Death.”

If it weren’t for the Gardner Family’s financial support and my promise to repay them by marrying Jason Gardner, I would’ve been leading my own unit by now.

But my debt to the Gardner Family was finally repaid. All I wanted now was to take back my life, the one that truly belonged to me.

The moment I hit submit, my application was instantly approved.

A message appeared on the screen: [Welcome back, Crimson Hawk.]

Not long after, my squad’s private communicator buzzed and a familiar voice came through. “Crimson Hawk, are you really coming back?”

It was Silver Wolf, one of my old comrades.

“You were always the most talented among us. Quitting back then just to get married was such a waste. When the commander saw your return request, he actually jumped out of his chair. Everyone’s thrilled you’re coming back.”

Hearing that, a faint warmth stirred inside me. “Yes, but when you come pick me up in a few days, I’ll need a small favor.”

Silver Wolf sounded confused but agreed right away. “What about your husband and kid?”

I smiled slightly as I answered, “I’m leaving them, of course.”

Right at that moment, my husband and son had just walked to the doorway and heard every word.

My son hesitated, asking, “Daddy... will Mommy really leave us?”

Jason sneered. “She’s just bluffing. She wouldn’t have the heart.”

Realizing them standing behind me, I quickly hung up the phone.

“Scarlet Blaine, if you kneel and beg for forgiveness now, I might be generous enough to let you stay in the storage room.”

I didn’t even look at him. I just grabbed my suitcase and walked out and the front door slammed shut behind me with a sharp clang.

No sooner had I stepped outside than a black Rolls-Royce pulled up quietly beside me. The window rolled down, revealing Gideon’s worried face.

“Scarlet, dear, get in. I’ll drive you home.”

I shook my head politely. “I’ll be leaving soon anyway, Father. I don’t want to trouble you.”

He hurried out of the car and blocked my path, his tone soft and pleading. “For the sake of this old man’s face… can you give my son one more chance?”

I looked past him. Seven years of disappointment had already drained everything from my heart. When I didn’t answer, tears filled his eyes.

“My seventieth birthday is in three days. Please, stay and celebrate with me one last time.”

He had always treated me like his own daughter and stood up for me many times. Thinking of this, my resolve gradually faltered. In the end, I quietly nodded.

The night of the banquet, the hotel ballroom sparkled with lights and high society faces. Jason Gardner stood among the guests, Yuna by his side, their arms linked, with Timothy holding her hand.

“Oh, Mr. Gardner. Mrs. Gardner looks stunning tonight. And your son—he’s such a bright boy. What a perfect family.”

Jason stiffened. That was the seventy-eighth person to mistake their relationship today. When he glanced toward me, sitting alone in the corner, a rare flicker of guilt crossed his face.

He quickly corrected them. “Yuna is just my… sister. My wife is over there.”

The guest was immediately flustered and he hurried to apologize to me. I waved it off casually, as if it didn’t matter.

They weren’t really wrong anyway. Soon enough, Yuna would be the wife of Jason Gardner.

Soon after the guests drifted away, Jason walked over to me. “I’ve already shown you enough respect tonight. I won’t mention what happened before, so don’t embarrass yourself. Get off that high horse.”

His tone dripped with arrogance, as if I should be grateful for his so-called generosity.

As soon as he finished speaking, the birthday gifts began to be presented.

Ignoring him, I stepped toward the center of the ballroom, keeping a deliberate distance between us. Jason’s face darkened for a second, but he quickly covered it.

When it was Yuna’s turn, she offered an elegant sandalwood bracelet that must have cost a fortune. Gideon simply gave her a faint nod, nothing like the warm reaction she had clearly hoped for. Her smile faltered and she stomped away in frustration.

Then, every gaze in the room shifted toward me. I picked up a simple bowl of clear broth with plain noodles and carried it to the head table.

“Father, I made this myself. May it bring you warmth and long life.”

The bowl looked humble, with only one poached egg floating on top.

Yuna let out a mocking laugh. “Scarlet, my dear sister-in-law, what a cheap gift.”

Jason’s expression instantly soured, his voice turning sharp. “Take that away. You’re embarrassing the entire Gardner Family.”

A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd, low and mocking.