Avery's POV

The ninety-ninth time Stanley Haynes’s little secretary accidentally booked us for a divorce registration instead of a marriage license, I stormed into his office.

“Stanley, this is what you call the ‘value’ of a graduate from a top university? If she can’t even handle this, just fire her already!”

Stanley finally lifted his head from the pile of documents, glanced at the screen on my phone, and said flatly, “I told you from the start, she’s too highly educated for this kind of menial work. If you’ve got time to argue with me, you might as well go and make the appointment yourself. It’d be faster that way.”

He didn’t even bother looking at me as he said it.

So I just kept my mouth shut, walked straight out, and texted my dad.

[Dad, I don’t want Stanley anymore.]

What Stanley didn’t know was that the only reason he’d been chosen as heir to his family was because of our engagement. If that arrangement fell apart, there were plenty of others ready to take his place.

——

On the other end of the line, my father sighed. He only told me to think it through before making a decision. But I already knew that there was no going back between me and Stanley.

I stared at my phone, showing the “divorce registration” notifications for the 99th time.

“She made a mistake, that’s all. Tell her to be more careful next time.”

“She’s got a lot on her plate. It’s normal to mess up sometimes.”

“Don’t pick on a young girl. I’ve already reminded her about it.”

Those were what he always told me. But every single one of those mistakes came with an excuse, and every excuse was Stanley covering for his secretary, Darlene Perkins.

My eyes burned, and my chest ached like needles were stabbing me.

Just as I put my phone away, Stanley stormed out of his office.

“All this fuss over something so trivial, and you even dragged our parents into it?” His brows furrowed as he glared at me. “Avery, when are you going to grow out of this spoiled princess act?”

His words were sharp and full of accusation.

I was about to snap back when I suddenly felt a tug on my arm. Turning around, I saw it was his secretary, Darlene.

“Avery, I really didn’t mean it. That page kept jumping around. I swear I clicked on ‘marriage license.’ Let me book it again for you and Mr. Haynes. This time, I promise I won’t mess up.”

Her voice trembled with grievance, her face downcast as she sniffled. She pulled out her phone and began tapping on it while sobbing pitifully.

I could see the sympathy welling up in Stanley’s eyes, ready to overflow.

Soon, she shoved the screen in front of me. “See? Here’s the page.”

“I don’t need you to book it,” I said coldly, trying to push the phone away.

But her hand slipped, the screen flickered to another tab, and in that brief instant, I caught sight of a close, intimate selfie of her and Stanley.

My hand shot out and grabbed hers. Startled, she let go, causing the phone to clatter to the floor and shatter into pieces.

The entire office turned to look, but no one dared say a word, except Darlene.

She burst into louder sobs, crying out dramatically, “Mr. Haynes! My mom’s last voice messages are in there. Those were the only things she left for me before she died. What do I do now? What do I do? My phone’s broken!”

Stanley’s expression softened immediately. He pulled her into his arms, his voice gentle as he tried to comfort her.

My fists clenched tight as that picture was already burned into my mind.

He hated cameras, so we didn't have a single photo together. He’d refused even to take wedding portraits, yet with another woman, he had a whole collection of intimate selfies.

I swallowed down the fire in my chest and turned, ready to walk away.

But Stanley blocked me. “You think you can just break her phone and leave? Didn’t you hear what she said? Those were her last memories of her mother.”

“Avery, even if you don’t mean it, at least pretend to apologize.”

Avery's POV

The tenderness in Stanley’s eyes was gone. All that was left was disgust.

“Apologize? To her?” I sneered. “You really think she deserves it?”

I lifted my chin stubbornly, but inside, my heart was shattering into pieces.

His expression grew darker as his words turned colder than ice. “If you don’t apologize today, then forget about the marriage.”

The office collectively gasped. Heads poked out from behind cubicle walls, everyone eager to witness the drama.

It wasn’t the first time Stanley had said something like this. He always said it for Darlene’s sake. And every time, I gave in.

We’d been together for ten years. Stanley was the one I’d chosen since childhood. I’d spent half my life dreaming about marrying him.

But now that dream was in pieces, and I couldn’t ignore it any longer.

“Fine,” I said evenly. “Then let’s not.”

His hand froze mid-air, surprise flickering in his dark eyes.

Before he could say anything else, I turned and walked out of the office.

Behind me, I heard Darlene’s soft, pitiful voice, urging, “Mr. Haynes, you should go after her, comfort her. I’ll be fine…”

But then his reply was careless and dismissive. “There’s nothing to comfort. She’ll regret it in less than three days.”

I drew in a sharp breath, forcing the tears back down.

What he didn't know was that this time, I wouldn’t regret it.

In fact, I was already ready to change grooms.

Wasn't it just getting married? Whoever I married, it would still be a marriage.

That very night, Darlene’s post with a caption, [Guess who just graduated and already found the best boss ever?] blew up.

The post also came with photos of their dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant, a brand-new luxury phone, a screenshot of a bank transfer amounting to a hundred and eighty grand, and Stanley himself, smiling as he offered her a perfectly cut slice of steak.

As I stared at those pictures over and over, my stomach twisted tighter each time.

Ten years together, and he had never bought me a single gift. Not even a small transfer of money.

His excuse was always: “What’s mine is yours. No need to keep transferring back and forth.”

Yet now, with her, his generosity flowed without hesitation, spending hundreds of thousands just like that.

Whenever we ate out, he’d sit back like a king, waiting for me to handle everything before he’d even lift a fork.

He’d also never agreed to take a picture with me. Not even for our wedding portraits.

But Darlene had all of it effortlessly. Everything I’d wanted, everything I’d begged for, she had without lifting a finger.

My vision blurred, and the tears finally spilled over.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

When I opened it, a deliveryman stood there.

“Hello, Ma'am! I’m here to deliver the wedding portraits.”

Confused, I frowned. “I never took wedding portraits.”

“Impossible. This is Mr. Stanley’s residence, right?”

I nodded. He double-checked, then insisted he hadn’t made a mistake. Soon, several large boxes were carried inside.

When he left, I opened one with trembling hands.

Inside were wedding photos of Stanley and Darlene.

They were wearing eight full outfits in eight different settings. And in every one, he was smiling at her in ways he’d never smiled at me.

Each photo pierced me like a needle.

And just as I lifted my gaze, there they were, standing in the doorway.

Stanley had his arm wrapped around her as he ordered, “Give me a hand. She’s drunk.”

He ordered me around as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if our fight earlier had never happened.

So I didn’t move. Instead, I pointed at the stack of boxes behind me.

“You’ve got five minutes to clear out this trash,” I said coldly. “Including her.”

Darlene, her face flushed from alcohol, clung to his chest with a wounded look.

“There’s no need to be so harsh,” Stanley scolded. “Those portraits were for her mother. Before she passed away, her only wish was to see her daughter get married.”

Avery's POV

“It was just to make her mother happy? Then why take it so seriously?” I snapped.

Darlene’s eyes were red as she nodded pitifully. “I only wanted my mom to leave this world feeling at peace. I remember listing my home address on it, but somehow the photos ended up being delivered here, to Mr. Haynes’s house instead. Please don’t be angry. It wasn’t his fault…”

Her voice trembled, weak and tearful, dripping with grievance. Standing across from her, I looked like the unreasonable one, like I was just picking a fight.

I snapped. “You graduated from a top university, and you can’t even write down your own address correctly? What’s in your head, nothing but water? Fine. If neither of you can bear to deal with this, I will.”

I spun around, grabbed a pair of scissors, and slashed through the wedding posters and albums. One by one, I smashed the framed photos and displays against the floor, cutting the images to shreds.

“No! Avery, please! I can take these with me!”

Barehanded, Darlene tried to shield the photos, but my scissors caught her hand, leaving a long cut across her palm.

Her sharp cry sliced through the air, snapping Stanley out of his drunken haze.

He rushed forward, fury burning in his eyes, and shoved me aside. As a result, I lost my balance and fell back, and my hand landed in shards of broken glass.

“Avery! Enough!” he shouted. “You're always throwing things, smashing things, and hurting someone! Do you even know how to act like a woman?”

Then came the dagger.

“Darlene’s mother just passed away. You’ve lost your mother, too. Can’t you show her a little compassion?”

His words pierced straight through me.

My mother’s death was the greatest regret of my life.

Back then, Stanley and I were still studying overseas. Travel restrictions meant we couldn’t make it home in time, so I had to say goodbye to her through a screen only.

To this day, I still wake in the middle of the night, sobbing from dreams of her.

And Stanley knew that. Yet now he used her death against me, all for Darlene.

Without looking back, he carried her away in his arms.

I stared at the bloody cut in my palm, bitterness spreading through me like poison.

“Mom, the man you chose for me is rotten. I don’t want him anymore.”

The living room was silent. Of course, no one answered.

My mother had adored Stanley. She and his mother had been best friends, so when we were little, they had arranged our engagement. For me and Stanley, being together was always meant to be.

That was why, when it came time for his family to select their heir, my father gambled everything, his money, his influence, to help Stanley win.

At just twenty years old, Stanley stood on my family’s shoulders and secured a hundred million in financing.

When my mother passed, he had knelt in front of the camera during the funeral livestream and sworn, word by word, “Mrs. Bush, don’t worry. I’ll give Avery the happiest marriage.”

After we finished our studies abroad, we returned and found out that our wedding was already scheduled.

Until the beginning of this year, when Darlene joined the company as an intern.

That was when the story changed tracks entirely.

As his secretary, she called him late at night, messaged him at all hours. Once, even while we were in bed together, her call came through, and Stanley didn’t even pull his pants up before answering.

I grew suspicious, so I checked his phone. But there was nothing to see.

The first time I saw Darlene face-to-face was in Stanley’s passenger seat.

That day was supposed to be the day we got our marriage license. But before we even reached the county clerk's office, she called. And just like that, he drove off to find her.

I waited at the office until the doors closed, never knowing why he left me there.

When he finally came back to pick me up, she was in the car. The moment she saw me, she immediately slipped out of the passenger seat and into the back with all smiles and politeness.