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.

Avery's POV

“If it weren’t for Mr. Haynes, my mother wouldn’t have even been admitted into the hospital today. Avery, I’m sorry. I didn’t know today was your registration day. Next time, let me be the one to schedule it for you two!”

When I first heard about how she’d been taking care of her terminally ill mother all alone, my heart softened. My empathy got the better of me, and for a while, I stopped doubting her relationship with Stanley.

But mistake after mistake with our marriage registration forced me to see things differently. And the way Stanley kept defending her so openly, even embarrassing me in public, made it clear that day by day, in his pity for her, he’d also given her his love.

After hailing a cab to the hospital and getting my hand treated, I returned home. The moment I stepped inside, the smell of food hit me.

Stanley was in the kitchen. When he came out holding a bowl of hot oatmeal, he froze for a second at the sight of me before instructing, “Take this in and apologize. Once you do, this whole thing will be over.”

Before I could refuse, he shoved the steaming bowl into my hands. Only then did he notice the bandages on my palm. But his tone was laced with disdain as he said, “Don’t play the pitiful act. Avery, honestly, you’d be better off spending your time reading more, improving yourself. Compared to Darlene, you’re not even close.”

The pain and burn in my wound were nothing compared to the sting in my chest.

Right in front of him, I tipped the bowl over. The porcelain shattered with a sharp crack, and the oatmeal splattered across the floor.

I dusted my hands and said coldly, “Stanley, maybe you should get your brain and your eyesight checked. I don’t need to compare myself to her.”

His jaw tightened, anger flashing across his face.

“Avery, how could you?” Darlene’s voice chimed in from the doorway. “That oatmeal, Mr. Haynes made it himself!”

I turned and looked straight at her. “Want some?”

Before she could react, I yanked her forward.

“If Mr. Haynes cooked it himself, then it shouldn’t go to waste. Eat every last drop of it.”

I forced her face down into the mess of steaming oatmeal. She sputtered and thrashed, her muffled cries echoing as she pounded the floor.

Immediately, Stanley kicked me hard in the back and pulled me off, then wrapped her protectively in his arms.

“Avery, you’re insane!” he roared.

Yet I didn’t even bother answering. I turned, walked straight to my room, and slammed the door.

Blood seeped through the bandage on my palm. At last, I couldn’t hold back anymore. The tears I'd been holding back finally trickled down my cheeks.

Standing by the window, I dialed the number my father had given me.

“One o’clock tomorrow afternoon for the marriage license. Does that time work for you?”

The man on the other end sounded like he was still in a meeting, but he still calmly replied, “Yeah. I’ll have my assistant set it up.”

Not long after we hung up, the notification came through. Among the long string of divorce registration records, that single marriage license application stood out like a bright red flag.

So this was all it took. It was really that simple.

“Who were you calling so late at night?”

Stanley suddenly pushed open the door. His eyes then went straight to the blood-stained bandages on the floor.

“You really were hurt?” A flicker of guilt passed through his face. He stepped closer, gently turning my palm over in his hands.

“I didn’t know it was this bad. Why didn’t you say anything?”

He grabbed fresh bandages and carefully rewrapped the wound. His movements were soft, meticulous, so unlike the man I’d grown used to.

For so long, ever since our fights over Darlene began, there had been nothing between us but sharp words and cold silence.

But people crumbled when they were hurt and were suddenly shown kindness.

So in that moment, I broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

He, on the other hand, wrapped me around his arms, and his hand patted my back in quiet comfort.