The next morning, Aster and Carina still went to the office at different times as usual.

Carina caught sight of Aster helping Stella down from the same car just as she arrived at the office.

He was the kind who would over-explain his actions with Carina at the office, reiterating that they were nothing more than colleagues. However, he never refrained from acting intimately with Stella.

In his words, he and Stella had nothing to hide because they had absolutely nothing to do with each other. With Carina, however, their relationship was kept under wraps because it was like a dirty little secret.

When Stella caught sight of Carina, she jogged over and handed her a breakfast burrito, neatly wrapped up in a paper bag.

"What a coincidence, Carina! This breakfast burrito is for you. Think of it as a form of gratitude for liking my story yesterday."

Aster had been right behind Stella when he heard her say that. He was curious. "Liking what story?"

Stella took out her phone and showed him last night's post.

Aster's pupils narrowed at once. He seemingly recalled the lie he'd told Carina last night and anxiously turned to look at her.

However, he sighed in relief when he saw Carina taking the burrito from Stella with a calm look on her face. He told himself that Carina probably never put two and two together after all.

Carina took the breakfast burrito from Stella and thanked her with a smile. Then, she turned and went into the elevator with the other employees.

Aster frowned slightly as he watched Carina leave. He thought that something was amiss about her, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

When he got into his office, he summoned people from the finance department to ask about Carina's situation at work.

"I saw Ms. Sherwood going to Chastain Solicitors last night. Maybe something happened in her family, and that's why she needed some legal advice."

That was enough to send Aster's heart to his throat. He was Carina's family, so he knew that there was nothing going on at home that would require her seeking legal advice.

He started getting suspicious.

He recalled the address Carina gave her last night. It happened to be close to the lawyer's office.

Just as he was about to summon Carina to ask her about it, Carina knocked on his office door and said, "Mr. Ducant, here's the documentation for last month's payday. I need you to sign some papers."

She then took out a black file folder from her bag and handed it to Aster. She had put a mark on every signature line.

"The pages that you need to sign are right here…"

"I know. Let me go through them first."

Carina didn't know what went wrong. Aster rarely ever paid much attention to the documents he was signing, but he was carefully scrutinizing every line this time.

"I heard that you went to the lawyer's office last night," he suddenly said, catching Carina off guard. She panicked internally.

Would Aster still sign the documents if he knew that it was a divorce agreement?

Carina didn't dare to risk it. She wanted to leave him as quickly as possible.

"You know that we're preparing for a massive upcoming project. I just went there to have the lawyers go through the contract and make sure there weren't any loopholes."

Carina's calm attitude quickly got rid of Aster's suspicion. He flipped to the end of the documents and suddenly frowned again.

"What contract is this? Why is there only the final page included?"

There wasn't much information on the sheet of paper, just a whole bunch of disclaimers in legal jargon. However, Carina was prepared.

She remained calm even though she sounded like she was in a hurry. "I just realized that there was a mistake in the contract this morning, so I took it back to have it changed. But you need to sign it first because it's rather urgent."

Aster looked up at Carina. He believed that Carina wouldn't lie to him. However, he still thought that something didn't add up.

Carina felt herself panicking again when she realized that Aster was hesitating. There wasn't much on the paper, but if he looked a little more closely, he would notice the tiny words that said "Divorce Agreement" in the top left corner.

"Aster, I think Stella tripped and fell outside," Carina suddenly said, using Stella to divert Aster's attention.

True enough, there was a muffled thud outside his door, and Aster suddenly got anxious and flustered. He didn't scrutinize the final page before signing his name on the signature line in a hurry.

Finally, Carina sighed in relief and left the office feeling victorious. Just before she left, however, she saw Aster carefully checking Stella's body to see if she was hurt anywhere.

Stella had actually only dropped her mug, but he looked at her like she'd gotten hurt as well.

This time, Carina was utterly calm as she watched them.

She'd already gotten over Aster the moment she decided to divorce him.

Carina contacted Leo first thing in the afternoon.

"There's nothing much to do after both parties have signed the agreement. However, there's a waiting period of 30 days for the divorce to be finalized, and the divorce can be annulled and further discussed if either party changes their mind."

Of course, Carina had long known about the divorce laws in her state.

She went back to the mansion and started packing. She was planning to hide the divorce from him.

Come to think of it, she had been living in this mansion for five years, and it seemed to be filled with traces of her in every corner. But when she gathered all her belongings, she realized that she didn't own a lot of things after all.

That was further proof that Aster had basically been forced into marriage with her back then. Otherwise, their five-year-long marriage wouldn't have been unhappy and full of frustrations.

When Aster came home, Carina was in the midst of putting away her towel in the suitcase with a bitter smile on her face.

He frowned and asked, "Carina? Why are you packing? Where are you planning to go?"

Carina didn't expect Aster to come home so early today. Still, she steadied herself and continued packing casually.

"I'm not going anywhere. It's just that some of my clothes have gotten old and moldy, and I was planning to donate them."

"Donate them? Why?"

Carina smiled and looked up at Aster. "Have I never told you before? From a young age, I grew up in a—"

She couldn't finish her sentence because Aster interrupted her. That was because his phone just started ringing then, and he was immediately too distracted to continue listening to Carina.

Carina caught sight of the caller ID on Aster's phone screen just as he lifted the phone to his ear. The contact was saved as "Kitty".

Wow, such a specific, intimate, and cute little nickname for Stella.

Meanwhile, she was only saved as "Carina Sherwood" in his contacts list—her full name.

"I've already reached home. Wait at your place, okay? I'll be there at once."

Aster hung up after that with a smile on his face. He then looked up and realized that Carina had heard everything he said on the phone.

"Was that Stella looking for you?" Carina asked.

Aster immediately began explaining himself. "Don't get the wrong idea, Carina. It's just that the electricity went out in Stella's apartment again. It's not safe for her to be alone at home. Also, it's very dark, and she's scared of the dark, so—"

Carina quickly interrupted Aster's babbling with a smile and a nod. "I understand."

However, her response made Aster feel uneasy and insecure.

Carina had been acting weirdly lately, and he felt more and more perplexed about it.

It felt as though there was a thin sheet of paper right in front of him. The paper would tear easily if he poked through it, but for some reason, he just couldn't reach it. He couldn't find the answers to his questions.

He watched as Carina packed up everything into her suitcase. Then, he took a look around the mansion and saw that everything was still how it looked before. Nothing seemed to have changed.

His work shirts were all steamed and neatly hung up in the closet as usual. Even his vests, suits, and ties were all arranged neatly and laid out on the side.

Aster couldn't find the answer he was looking for. He began suspecting that he was simply too busy with work lately, that he was starting to hallucinate and make things up about Carina.

"What were you saying just now, Carina? Shall we head over to Stella's place together?"

Carina went silent for a few seconds.

She had meant to tell Aster that she'd grown up in an orphanage, and the few times she left the mansion were when she returned to the orphanage to visit the director and the other kids there.

But now, it didn't seem necessary for her to tell him about it anymore.

As for the invitation to Stella's apartment, Carina rejected it immediately. She smacked the suitcase full of her stuff and said, "I won't be coming with you. I still need to find a place that will take these donations."

Aster didn't manage to find anything wrong with Carina's excuse. However, he didn't let up this time.

"Then let me come with you instead. It's more convenient for us to take the car."

He gave Carina a deep look, as if he was trying to see right through her. This time, however, Carina kept her head down and didn't reject his offer.

She knew Aster like the back of her hand. She knew that he was getting suspicious of her.

She had 30 days left to wait, and she really didn't want any of her previous efforts to go to waste. So, she got into his car with him.

Just as Carina was trying to come up with a way to escape from Aster, Stella sent him a text message, and suddenly, Aster had to excuse himself.

He looked at Carina apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, Carina, but I can't come with you to donate the clothes after all. Something came up at the office and I need to deal with it now."

Carina nodded and agreed. After all, Aster still thought that he'd successfully hidden everything from her.

While getting out of the car, Carina suddenly asked Aster, "You wouldn't have married me if I had never saved your mother six years ago, would you?"

Her question didn't seem to get much of a response from Aster. He was already thoroughly distracted by Stella and probably wanted nothing more than to teleport to her side at once.

"Of course I still would have done that! We got married because I love you."

"Really? It's that simple?"

"It's that simple!"

Carina suddenly laughed and decided to give up on Aster, who wasn't paying her much attention anymore anyway.

She was going to give up on the man who couldn't even be bothered to focus while having a conversation with her.

Tears fell from Carina's reddened eyes when Aster's car finally disappeared into the dark of the night.

"Liar."

Carina and Aster only got to know each other due to a series of coincidences.

Back then, when Carina first arrived in Halowich, she ended up renting a room in Selena's house after going through plenty of listings. On the day she moved in, however, Selena suddenly collapsed from an illness and fainted on the ground.

Luckily, Carina found her in time and quickly sent her to the hospital.

Selena's surgery was successful. But she was still sick, and she needed a long-term caretaker to take care of her at home.

Coincidentally, Carina still hadn't managed to find herself a job because she'd only just arrived there. So, with some convincing on Selena's and Aster's part, she finally agreed to be Selena's caretaker.

Unfortunately, Selena's illness worsened, and she passed away a year later.

Aster fulfilled his mother's dying wish and married Carina. And just like that, five years passed in the blink of an eye.

Carina had been warm, enthusiastic, and passionate back then, thinking that she would eventually break through the layers of ice surrounding Aster's heart.

However, five years later, Carina was exhausted. She didn't want to continue like this anymore.

Carina slowly wheeled her suitcase out of the mansion and placed a call on her phone.

"Del? Help me find a place to rent. It doesn't need to be too big, just enough for one person. It would be even better if I could move in a month from now."

Delphine Foster sounded confused. "A place to rent? Carina, don't you have a bunch of properties for sale in your hands? Why would you think of finding a place to rent instead?"

She was the property agent who first introduced Carina to Selena back then. The properties that Carina bought over the years were also all handled by her.

In some way, Delphine could be considered one of Carina's few friends whom she could talk to in Halowich.

"If you have no place to stay and just want a change of scenery, then what about Mrs. Ducant Senior's old house back then? It's calm, quiet, and not too far from your workplace…"

Of course, Carina would never agree to Delphine's suggestion. She wanted to steer clear of Aster as much as possible, after all. There was no way she would choose to continue staying anywhere linked to him.

"Please help me find another place, Del," Carina said, calmly but determinedly.

Delphine seemed to finally get the hint. She sighed and didn't press any further.

Just then, Aster's voice suddenly appeared right behind her.

"Who are you talking to, Carina?"

Carina shuddered. She hurriedly said goodbye to Delphine and ended the call. Then, she turned to look at Aster, still as calm as ever, and said, "I hadn't talked to Del in a long time, and I was just inviting her to go shopping this weekend."

There was some truth in Carina's words, but it still put a frown on Aster's face.

He knew that Delphine was one of the few friends Carina had, and that they would keep in contact every once in a while.

However, Carina was usually the stoic type who never enjoyed shopping. He could count on one hand the number of times she actually went shopping over the past five years.

"Why did you suddenly think of going shopping?"

Aster took off his coat and looked at Carina, who was sitting on the couch without moving a muscle. The frown on his face deepened a little more.

In the past, Carina would always come up to greet him as soon as he got home, take his coat from him, and hang it on the coat hanger. However, he realized that he wasn't getting such treatment anymore.

This time, he was actually starting to panic.

"I thought that you never liked going shopping."

Carina kept her head down as she scrolled on her phone. "I'd just donated a pile of my stuff, and the seasons are starting to change. I need to get a few more shirts. I also thought of catching up with Del at the same time."

Aster stared at Carina, trying to pick apart her words. He knew that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what, and this feeling of losing control was making him feel more and more anxious.

"I should have some free time this weekend. Why don't I come with you instead? I haven't gone shopping with you for a long time either."

Carina finally looked up at Aster, some wariness reflecting in her eyes.

A few seconds later, she said in a miffed tone, "You're too busy at work. Forget about it. After all, everyone at the company is depending on you for their livelihood."

This was the line Aster used the most on her every time he rejected her. But now that the words were coming out of Carina's mouth, Aster sighed in relief and slung an arm over her shoulders.

"Are you still mad at me? I know that I have been quite busy lately and accidentally sidelined you. I promise that I'll spend time with you properly this weekend."

Aster never caught the hint of disappointment flashing in Carina's eyes.

She was mumbling to herself.

Soon.

She could finally leave Aster very, very soon.