After moving out, I deliberately kept my new address secret from everyone, but Courtney still managed to contact me every day, each time from a new number.

The closer the repayment deadline became, the more she sought me out. But I ignored her every time.

What I didn't expect was just how far she'd go to force my hand.

When we had first gotten together, we'd adopted a stray cat—Patches. I hadn't found a new place yet when I first moved out, so I didn't take Patches with me.

The day before our divorce hearing, I suddenly got an alert from the pet monitor back at the apartment. When I opened the feed, I was horrified to see Patches tangled in the ceiling lights, her once-glossy fur now dirty and streaked.

Travis stood beside her, a thin whip in hand. When he noticed the camera swivel, he immediately flipped it the finger and even mouthed the word "trash".

Without a second's thought, I rushed back to the apartment. By the time I arrived, Patches was barely hanging on, while Courtney just stood to the side, watching.

My chest tightened. Hoarse with rage, I roared, "Are you heartless, Courtney? Regardless of everything, Patches has lived with you for five whole years! How could you even do this to her?"

Courtney, however, didn't feel guilty at all. Instead, she glared at me furiously.

"Even a filthy animal can make you this upset, but I'm your wife, and you treat me so cruelly? Who's the one who's truly heartless here?"

I gritted my teeth. "Oh, now you remember you're my wife? Why didn't you seem to remember that when you were screwing around with Travis? Alright, enough bullshit. Just tell me—what will it take for you to give Patches back to me?"

She sneered. "You just need to sign this contract, and I'll return the animal to you."

She tossed a folder to me. I opened it and saw that it was a contract to sell my patents.

"You want me to sell my patents? Absolutely not."

Courtney didn't say anything, only shooting Travis a glance. The next second, he snapped the whip again. The poor cat didn't even have the strength to cry out.

"Stop it! I'll sign!"

My hand shook as I grabbed a pen and scrawled my signature on the contract.

"Now, can you let her go?"

Seeing the signature, Courtney nodded, satisfied. Travis tossed the whip aside and lowered Patches down.

I had barely exhaled in relief when he suddenly grabbed her and threw her out the window.

"Patches!" I screamed, sprinting over to the window.

We were a few floors up, so I couldn't quite see where Patches landed. I spun around, glaring at them with bloodshot eyes.

"You killed her!"

Courtney's face was pale. She clearly hadn't expected Travis to just throw Patches out of the window.

Travis took her hand, smirking as he looked at me. "We only said we'd return the animal to you. We never said whether she'd be alive or dead. She's just downstairs anyway. You can just go pick her up."

With that, he pulled Courtney out of the apartment.

As I watched the two of them walk out, hatred burned through me.

…

The next day, our divorce hearing went ahead as scheduled. Courtney agreed to the divorce without hesitation because to her, I was worthless now. In fact, I was merely an obstacle between her and Travis at this point.

When the ruling came down, she hooked her arm through his and walked past me triumphantly. But before they could leave the courthouse, several police officers stepped in front of them.

"Courtney Clarked, you're under suspicion of illegal patent trading and embezzlement of company funds. Travis Foster, you're under suspicion of participating in group drug use, gambling, and usury. You're both coming with us."