In hindsight, everything screamed irony.

Benjamin and I had been together for six years, yet we still hadn't gotten married. At first, he said marriage would hurt his career prospects, that we needed to focus on building his business first.

To help him succeed, I gave up my stable, high-paying job without hesitation and followed him to the city to start a company from scratch.

I drank myself sick at endless business dinners and networking events, and in the end, I helped him secure a comfortable position as CEO.

However, once his career stabilized, he suddenly claimed he needed to "test my sincerity". He said he would only agree to marry me if I passed all 50 premarital tests Chelsea had set up.

So, under the excuse of testing me, Chelsea made me collect 9,999 handwritten blessings from strangers. When I arrived at the office, she would deliberately dump ice water over my head.

She even put laxatives in my drink, so I ended up having explosive diarrhea during business meetings and humiliating myself in public.

That wasn't all.

Whenever Benjamin and I went on dates, she would constantly find excuses to pull him away, claiming it was another test for me. For his sake, I endured it all.

Then, yesterday, right after I finished a design proposal I had spent an entire year working on, Chelsea demanded that I hand it over to her, saying it was the final test.

When I hesitated, she immediately twisted it into proof that I didn't truly love Benjamin. In the end, I gave it to her. Only then did he finally agree to register our marriage.

I was so excited that night that I couldn't sleep at all. Early the next morning, I rushed to the city hall.

Our marriage certificate was practically within reach. Then, Chelsea suddenly appeared and registered the marriage with Benjamin instead.

I had only questioned them with a few words, but he immediately defended her and accused me of having a filthy mind, saying I saw something dirty in everything.

But if he truly had no feelings for Chelsea, why didn't he help the other single parents in the company? Why was she the only one who received preferential treatment?

It took me a while, but I finally understood it. Benjamin's heart had long since drifted away from me. All those so-called tests were nothing more than excuses. He never wanted to marry me in the first place.

My stomach twisted with emptiness, and only then did I remember I hadn't eaten all day. I had skipped breakfast just to get to the city hall earlier and line up for our marriage registration, only to end up doing it for someone else.

What a joke.

I found a restaurant and had a meal. Right after I finished eating, I saw Benjamin post a photo of his marriage certificate with Chelsea on social media.

Our coworkers flooded the comments with congratulations and wishes. Of course, they didn't forget to mock me, too.

"So what if Giselle was the CEO's girlfriend? Look who became Mrs. West in the end."

"She's an old hag. Don't even compare her to a young beauty like Chelsea."

…

I knew Benjamin posted that just to provoke me, but this time, I only gave it a cold laugh and hit like.

Soon, my parents saw the post and called me. "Sweetheart, what's going on with Benjamin's post? Did he actually marry another woman?"

They had always worried about our marriage. All they wanted to see was Benjamin and I settled down.

Just as I was about to answer them, a message from Benjamin popped up.

"I made sure not to hide the post from your parents this time. They must be panicking by now, huh? If you apologize to Chelsea, I can explain to them that it was all a misunderstanding. Otherwise, deal with the consequences yourself."

There was a time when Benjamin respected all my decisions and never forced me to do anything.

Once, when we were having dinner at his parents' place, his mother insisted I eat eggs even though I was allergic to them. Benjamin got so furious that he flipped the table on the spot.

Now, to force me into apologizing to Chelsea, he was willing to use my parents against me. At one point, I had to accept that the man who once loved me more than anything was dead.

I ignored Benjamin. Instead, I replied to my parents, "Mom, Dad… Benjamin and I are over. I'll take your advice this time and come home for blind dates."

Mom and Dad had never approved of Benjamin in the first place, but I had insisted on staying with him, even leaving my hometown behind for him. Now, it seemed they had been right all along.

"Good! We'll start arranging blind dates for you right away!"

After hanging up, I bought a bus ticket for the next day, then took a cab home to pack my things. The moment I reached the door, I heard bursts of laughter coming from inside.

I pushed the door open and saw three pairs of shoes by the entrance—matching family shoes. Immediately, I recognized one pair as Benjamin's.

Chelsea had given them to him as a birthday present, though they were probably cheap street-stall sneakers that cost less than ten bucks.

The workmanship was terrible, and the material looked flimsy and cheap. Yet, Benjamin treasured them like gold. Meanwhile, the custom leather shoes I had bought him—worth thousands—had been left untouched until they gathered dust.

He had even criticized my taste, saying the shoes were embarrassing and impossible to wear outside. Back then, I had genuinely believed there was something wrong with my sense of style.

Foolish as I had been, I had even humbly asked Chelsea for advice on improving my taste. Looking back, I realized Benjamin simply hated anything I gave him.

I kicked the three pairs of shoes aside and walked into the house. The moment I looked up, I saw Chelsea lounging lazily on the couch in my nightgown, watching TV like she owned the place.

Her daughter, Sadie Miller, was running barefoot all over my white carpet.

Mom had stayed up night after night making that carpet for me, her eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. Now, it was covered in dirty black footprints from Sadie's feet.

What made my blood boil was seeing my carefully collected figurines scattered all over the floor. Several of them had their arms and legs snapped off.

Furious, I snatched one of the figurines back from Sadie's hands and questioned, "What are you people doing in my house?"

She lifted her chin stubbornly. "Daddy said we could!"

The next second, Benjamin came out of the kitchen after hearing the commotion. He never cooked, yet he was standing there holding a spatula, making dinner for Chelsea and Sadie.

"Sadie, what is it?" he called out lovingly. "Why are you calling for Daddy?"

He was just about to pull Sadie into his arms to comfort her when he finally noticed me and froze.

"Wow. I didn't know you're a dad now, Benjamin," I said.

Benjamin only froze for a split second before shrugging it off like it was nothing. "Sadie's never had a father's love growing up. Letting her call me 'Daddy' isn't going to kill anyone. Besides, why are you suddenly back?"

I almost laughed. "This is my home. Do I need a reason to be back? And more importantly, who gave you permission to bring them here?"

He looked justified in his actions. "Chelsea's place is too far from Sadie's kindergarten. The daily commute is just exhausting, and eventually, it'll affect her studies.

"Our place happens to be close to the kindergarten, so I brought them over. The place is big enough anyway. They can stay here until they find somewhere suitable."

"And what if they never find it?" I asked.

He looked at them with obvious affection in his eyes. "Then, they'll stay here. It's just cooking two more portions of food every day."

Previously, when I wanted my parents to stay with us for a while, Benjamin had flatly refused. He said he wasn't used to having outsiders in the house and that he was a light sleeper, emphasizing he didn't want to be disturbed.

Yet, he personally invited Chelsea and Sadie over to stay. It appeared that only my parents were the outsiders.

At that thought, my voice turned cold. "I don't agree to them staying here."

Benjamin's expression darkened instantly.

"Giselle, you really don't have a shred of empathy, do you?" Benjamin said.

I sneered. "Oh, I'm definitely not as empathetic as you, going as far as marrying your assistant and then bringing her and her child into your girlfriend's home!"

Just then, Chelsea, who had been silent, finally chimed in. Her eyes were red as she slowly took off my nightgown, looking fragile and pitiful.

"Giselle, Benny, please stop fighting because of me. If she doesn't want us here, I'll take Sadie and leave right now, even if it means she'll have a harder time going to school…

"I mean, you've already done more than enough, Benny. The fact that you gave Sadie a chance at education makes me so grateful that I can't possibly ask for anything more…"

As she spoke, she exchanged a glance with Sadie. In the next second, Sadie rushed at me and sank her teeth hard into my calf. Pain shot through me instantly as blood welled up.

She didn't stop there. She clenched her fists and started hitting me wildly. "You bad woman! Why are you kicking Mommy and me out? This is my home! You're the one who should leave!"

Only after Sadie had hit me until my skin was red did Chelsea finally step in and pull her away. "She's just a child, Giselle. Please don't take it to heart."

Before I could even speak, Benjamin cut in first. "Chelsea, just stay here with Sadie and settle in."

He turned to me. "Chelsea already feels bad about taking your marriage registration spot. She even bought you a gift to apologize, and yet you're still making a fuss over it. Honestly, the one who acts like a child is you."

I looked over, and it was a half-eaten souffle. I said coldly, "I'm allergic to eggs. I can't eat that. And I'm not a trash bin who takes leftovers."

Tears brimmed in Chelsea's eyes. "Benny, I know Giselle thinks my gift is cheap, but… this is already the best I can afford. If she doesn't like it, she can just say so. Why does she have to be all sarcastic?"

Benjamin's expression turned stormy. Without warning, he grabbed the dessert and shoved it straight into my mouth.

"She went out of her way to give you something, and you still look down on it? At least give a better excuse than an egg allergy! You know what? Let me see how your so-called egg allergy works!"

I couldn't dodge in time. The dessert was forced into my mouth, the eggy smell instantly hitting my senses. I gagged hard and barely managed to spit it out after a while.

By the time I finally caught my breath, my skin was already breaking out in angry red hives.

It was only then that Benjamin seemed to remember I was seriously allergic to eggs. A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes. "Giselle, I…"

I couldn't be bothered to listen and walked straight into the room.

He followed me in, his tone softening. "Giselle, I was just too angry and forgot about your allergy. I'm sorry."

I was just wondering why he suddenly sounded so friendly when he finally revealed his real intention.

"Still, can you let Chelsea and Sadie stay here for a while? Once they find a place, I promise they'll move out. After that, I'll marry you to make it up to you. Alright?"

So, it was still all for Chelsea.

I brushed his hand away. "There's no need for that. I'll move out and make room for your little family of three."

Without another word, I lowered my head and started packing my luggage.

That made Benjamin snap again. "Look, I've already compromised. What more do you want? If you keep this up, I'm going to break up with you!"

A cold smile tugged at my lips. "Sure. I was just about to say that. Let's break up."

He froze. He had clearly expected that threatening to break up with me would make me back down like before, but I surprisingly agreed this time.

"Do you even hear yourself, Giselle?"

I nodded.