I eagerly replied, "Because I like you, Sasha."

I offered my heart to her on a silver plate.

She went silent for a while and frowned.

"You want to be my boyfriend, but I've only just started out on my career. We can only afford to date in secret. Won't you feel upset about it?

"You're a really good person, Arthur, but I really can't give you anything else…"

My love for her was pure and ardent, and I wasn't afraid of any hardships then. I said, "I don't mind. I'm willing to go through any hardship as long as I can be with you.

"I will help you with your dreams, Sasha. I'll also wait for you to slowly fall in love with me. Can't you just please give me a chance?"

The sunset that day was tinged red, and Sasha stood on tiptoe to gently kiss me on the cheek.

"Okay."

That was the story of how we began dating.

I secretly used my family's resources and networking to pave the way for her in the business industry. She quickly rose to fame with a successful business investment, becoming a hot, up-and-coming, rising star in the business world.

At first, even though her feelings for me didn't run deep, she was still respectful, caring, and understanding toward me. I also always stayed by her side throughout her career struggles.

I even protected her at business social engagements and parties where the other businesspeople would try to make her drink excessively by drinking all of the alcohol meant for her instead, causing me to throw up uncontrollably in the streets late at night.

Once, I suffered from a serious stomach hemorrhage and had to be rushed to the hospital.

That time, she held my hand and spoke in a tender voice tinged with heartache.

"Let's get married, Arthur. I will definitely achieve great success, and even if I can never fall in love with you, I promise that I will never hurt you."

Now, 12 years had passed. We began seeing each other at home less and less. Eventually, she had no more feelings left for me other than disgust.

She often spoke harshly to me, and her hurtful words would pierce into my heart like a sharp knife every single time.

Sasha's pregnancy report was the final nail in the coffin—the final knife that plunged straight through my heart, the very one that had loved her for years but was now riddled with holes.

I smiled with tears in my eyes and replied to her text message.

"Let's get a divorce, Sasha Ramirez."

…

Sasha still never responded to my text the next morning, and I highly suspected that she didn't even bother reading my messages after all.

Meanwhile, Gavin uploaded new photos onto his Instagram stories.

His hair was meticulously styled, revealing his sharp, chiseled jawline, and he wore a bespoke black suit. The emerald watch on his wrist gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

I knew that watch all too well. It was the only keepsake that my mother, Donna Bryant, had left for me after her passing. It was very precious and irreplaceable in my heart.

I felt my heart sinking as I ran over to the safe and opened it. As expected, the emerald watch was missing.

A chill instantly spread all throughout my body. Nobody else knew the combination to that safe aside from Sasha and me.

I grabbed my car keys and immediately sped toward the venue where the business event was being held tonight.

When I reached, I saw Sasha chatting happily with a group of business tycoons, completely unaware of my arrival.

Gavin, however, spotted me immediately.

He strode over to me and purposely waved the watch in front of my face.

"Oh? What brings you here looking like this, Arthur? This is really beneath you."

His words were full of contempt as he continued, "You only became her husband because you coincidentally got to know her just a few years earlier than I did. But now, you're nothing but an old man weathered away by time.

"How dare you show your tired old face in such a high-class event like this? You'd better get out of here, lest you become the laughingstock of the century!"

I was furious when I saw him treating Mom's belongings in such a clumsy, casual manner. Anger surged within me. I then raised my arm and punched him right in the face.

"Give me back my watch!"

"Ah!" Gavin yelled, clutching his face and feigning a stumble backward.

Sasha quickly pushed through the crowd and caught sight of the injured Gavin at once. She rushed over and shielded him from me. Then, she glared at me with icy eyes.

"Athur Fleming! Are you out of your mind? Who gave you permission to lay a hand on him?"

I looked back at her and said coldly, "He was the one who provoked me first, so he brought this on himself. Sasha Ramirez, why is he wearing the emerald watch that my mom left for me?"

Gavin then pretended to act innocent with me.

"It's all my fault. I wasn't able to find any jewelry that would go with this suit, and I heard that Sasha had an emerald watch that would go beautifully with it. She also told me that it would suit me very well, so I took it without her permission…"

I stared at Sasha in huge shock and disbelief. My heart ached so much that I nearly felt like I was suffocating.

"You mean you took my mother's heirloom to curry favor with him, Sasha Ramirez?"

Even though I knew that she had cheated on me last night and was even sleeping with another man behind my back, I never expected her to treat me like this.

Back then, Grandma had especially warned me not to reveal my family background that easily, but I ignored her warning and came clean with Sasha, saying that Mom had sacrificed herself to protect me, and this was the only memento I had to remind me of her.

How could Sasha have given away something she knew was so precious to me?

Sasha still shielded Gavin behind her, feeling absolutely sorry for him, and questioned me angrily, "What's the big deal? Is this watch really that precious to you? Since we're both married, that means the watch belongs to me too!

"And I can give that watch to anyone, whoever I please! Are you saying that I still need your permission to do that?

"Arthur Fleming, don't you know that everything about you—from your food, your clothes, and even your daily necessities—is all paid for by me? Who gave you the audacity to question me like this?"

Before she could finish, I raised my hand again and slapped her this time, on the cheek, as forcefully as I could.

She didn't duck, and the slap hit her squarely on the face.

Gavin yelled and immediately shielded her behind him this time.

"Are you out of your mind? How could you hit her just because of a stupid watch? Don't you know that she's one of the top businesswomen in the country! Do you even know how prestigious her status is?"

"That's enough! Stop embarrassing yourself and all of us here!" Sasha practically screamed in my face.

She then ripped off the emerald watch from Gavin's wrist and flung it in my face.

"Here, take your stupid mother's wretched watch back! I would never even have touched it if Gavin never wanted it in the first place!"

"Take your damn watch and get the hell out of this place!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The emerald watch was flung to the floor, and the watch broke into a thousand tiny pieces, sending precious emerald stones scattering everywhere.

I looked at the broken watch and felt that it was just like our relationship—broken and beyond repair.

I finally lost it. Heartbroken and disillusioned, I grabbed a wine bottle from a nearby table and flung it at her.

"You've really disappointed me this time, Sasha Ramirez!"

The security guards rushed up to me to stop me. Meanwhile, Sasha was fully enraged now.

"I'm warning you, Arthur Fleming! I am the one with power and authority now, and yet, I'm still willing to keep you around as my husband! Don't you dare push your luck!"

How hilarious and ironic. Did she not know that everything she was today was only thanks to all that I'd done for her in the past?

I glared at her and made myself very clear.

"I don't need your pity, Sasha Ramirez. I am divorcing you, and I will make sure you understand what it means to lose everything you ever worked for!"