No one knew that three days ago, the aloof CEO in the boardroom, Sophia Monroe, had been tangled up with me in her executive office, going at it for eight intense rounds.

I thought Sophia had finally agreed to what I had been asking for. But then she pulled her dress back on, turned around, and disappeared without a trace.

She was gone for an entire month.

I stayed by Mom's grave for what felt like forever. Suddenly, my phone buzzed with the latest trending news. It was about Sophia's wedding of the century, but I was not the groom.

At that moment, I was grateful Mom had not lived long enough to see Sophia's true colors.

Before shutting off my phone, I sent her a message.

[Monday. Courthouse. Divorce.]

To my surprise, Sophia Monroe replied instantly. [I'll meet you there.]

At that moment, everything became clear. A marriage as unequal as ours was never meant to last.

Besides, Sophia's heart has always belonged to another man, and I had only been a walking blood bank for that man.

Back then, I had simply been blinded by love.

At the time, she suddenly looked at me with unusual seriousness and asked, "Lucas Anderson, if you were the only person in the world who could save me, would you do anything to save me?"

I kissed her on the forehead and said, "Of course. You're the woman I love, so I'd be willing to do anything for you."

She pressed further. "What about my brother? Would you save him too?"

I replied, "Your brother is basically my brother. Since we're family, of course I would save him."

She immediately sat upright. "If my brother needs your bone marrow, will you help him?"

For a brief moment, I froze when she said that.

When she saw my hesitation, tears suddenly slid down her face. "But didn't you just say I'm the love of your life and that you'd be willing to do anything for me? So you were lying to me all along! Men can't be trusted, not even a single word!"

With that, she twisted out of my embrace and climbed out of bed, not forgetting to hurl a pillow at me. "You're only with me for my money and my body! You're nothing but a shallow, opportunistic liar!"

Seeing her cry so pitifully made my heart ache, so I gritted my teeth and agreed. "Fine. For you, I'm willing."

After cleaning Mom's grave, I left the cemetery. However, at the entrance, I ran into the two people I least wanted to see.

My soon-to-be ex-wife, Sophia, and Nathan Hayes.

Nathan was the childhood neighbor she had grown up with, basically her childhood sweetheart. At first, she had introduced him as someone whom she treated just like a brother, and I had never questioned that relationship.

It was only later, through things their friends said, that I learned the truth. He was not just a childhood friend, but the kind of "brother" who was actually a lover.

"Sophia, you're so busy, yet you still made time to help me pick Potato's burial plot. I really appreciate it."

That familiar voice yanked me back to reality, and I looked up.

The Potato Nathan mentioned was the name of a tabby cat. It had been a stray with a broken leg that I once found near a patch of bushes by the sidewalk.

After nursing its leg back to health, I named it Lucky, hoping it would live a happy life after.

Lucky was so sweet that I adopted him. But then one day, Nathan came over to our place, saw Lucky, and broke down crying while holding him.

That was when I learned Lucky looked exactly like a cat named Potato. It had been a cat that Sophia and Nathan raised together when they were kids.

One day, I came home from work and could not find Lucky, only to discover that Sophia had given him to Nathan as a replacement for Potato. I had fought about it, but it was futile.

Sophia promised that Nathan would take good care of Lucky.

Later on, when I saw with my own eyes that the two of them were indeed treating Lucky well, I believed her.

Sophia said, "Don't mention it. Your health still hasn't fully recovered, yet you insisted on coming all the way to the cemetery yourself. Potato will definitely appreciate this."

Nathan sighed. "It's my fault. If my health had been better and I had spent more time with him, he wouldn't have run outside and gotten hit by a car."

The two of them stood there smiling. In a place like a cemetery, it felt especially blinding to look at.

When Sophia and I locked eyes, the smile on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a disgusted look.

She scowled. "Lucas, you followed me here again?"

Hearing how delusional she was, I let out a cold laugh. The moment was so absurd that laughter was the only sane response.

I glanced at her with an icy expression. "I'm not that pathetic."

Sophia's face showed nothing but contempt as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't follow me? Lucas, this isn't the first time you've pulled something like this. Do you really think I wouldn't know you? What reason could you possibly have for being at a cemetery? Or did you come early to pick out a burial plot for your mom?

"Let me guess, you're trying to get my attention with this stunt again, right? Last month I already had a specialist look at her, and they said if she'd just cooperated with treatment, she could be completely cured!"

I did not even bother giving her another glance as I turned to leave. "If that's what you want to think, then there's nothing I can do."

My sudden cold indifference made Sophia feel uneasy. Anger flashed across her face as she grabbed my arm, and her voice turned icy.

"I heard you even bought some kind of critical illness insurance for your mom before. Then, you kept using her condition to manipulate me with all your sob stories. Lucas, if she dies, you'd get a nice payout, wouldn't you? That's why you're letting her refuse treatment! You know damn well what you're up to!"

I jerked my arm free from Sophia's grip, and the momentum caused her to stumble back several steps.

Nathan quickly caught her and cursed at me. "Lucas, what kind of man are you? How could you hit your own wife? How low can you possibly go?"

In the past, I would have just laughed off Sophia's belittling and attacks. But now, I would not allow anyone to slander Mom.

I growled, "Sophia, I have had enough of you. My tolerance toward you was never permission for you to insult my mother repeatedly. And you, Nathan. You knew exactly what you were doing and still chose to play the third party.

"The only reason you are still alive is that I donated blood to you. You should be on your knees and thanking me for saving your miserable life and letting you keep breathing! All you know how to do is hide behind Sophia and talk shit. Nathan, what kind of man does that make you?"

My words were like a fuse to a keg of gunpowder, instantly setting Sophia off. She had not expected me to actually talk back to her, and the look in her eyes went from shock to murderous in an instant. She rushed at me to slap my face, but I grabbed her arm and shoved it away.

Seeing that I dared to fight back, she immediately called out to the bodyguards nearby.

"Guards! Hold him down and make him beg for Nathan's forgiveness!"

The guards rushed forward at her command.

However, Nathan stepped in front of them first. He turned to Sophia and said gently, "Sophia, forget it. It is not worth it to get angry over an ungrateful jerk like him."

Sure enough, Nathan's words worked like a calming drug, and Sophia instantly calmed down.

"Lucas, this is the last time. If there's a next time, I won't help your mother anymore!"

After Sophia said that, she took Nathan's arm and walked away without looking back.

I stood with my back to them as the setting sun cast their silhouettes in the fading light. It looked almost like a silent announcement of their victory.

"Sophia, we're getting divorced on Monday! These five years were nothing but me being blind!"

I ignored Sophia's rage and left the cemetery quickly.

Along the way, memories from the past five years came flooding back like a tidal wave.

I remembered the day we first met.

That night, I was working the late shift at a convenience store just off campus. A storm was raging outside, and I thought to myself how nice it was to have such a quiet shift.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, a figure pushed through the door, and the automatic welcome chime rang out. Then a young woman, soaked by the rain, walked in.

She ordered a cup of hot soup from the deli counter and sat in the small dining area. Not long after, I heard quiet sobbing coming from her table.

It was the middle of the night, and she was crying inside my store. If someone else saw this, they might think I had done something to that poor girl. So, I grabbed a pack of tissues and walked over.

"Here, wipe your tears."

After taking the tissues and drying her face, she choked back a sob and said, "My family kicked me out."

My heart skipped a beat when I heard that.

Even though Sophia's face was streaked with tears, it still could not hide how beautiful she was.

I assumed she was one of those girls who had gotten into college, but her family refused to pay the tuition and instead wanted to marry her off for money.

Later on, I realized my guess had not actually been far from the truth. I wanted to take her to the police station, but she refused.

"No, I'm not going to the police! They'll just drag me back home!"

I scratched my head, unsure of what to do.

Later that night, she talked to me for hours. When the rain stopped in the early morning, she left the convenience store.

Before leaving, she asked if she could come back to talk to me again.

I looked into her bright eyes and found myself nodding almost involuntarily, bewitched by her allure. After that, she came to the convenience store often to chat with me, and we grew closer and closer.

It was inevitable that I fell for her gentle charm.

With bright eyes, a radiant smile, and skin as pale as snow, she was like a brilliant moonlight shining through the night. She lit up my otherwise dull and ordinary life.

Until one day, she pointed at the bank card where I kept my scholarship money and said, "Lucas, would you believe me if I told you my family actually owns this bank?"

"Of course, my princess. Whatever you say, I believe you."

She huffed. "That tone clearly means you don't believe me. You're just brushing me off! Look!"

She pointed at a financial news alert that had just appeared on her phone, and the photo in the article looked exactly like her.

I had to look several times before I could gradually accept the truth.

She said, "My dad wants me to marry someone for a business alliance, but I don't want to spend my whole life with someone I don't love. I was really lucky to have met you that day. Lucas, thank you for comforting me so much, but…"

Sophia, who had been holding me just moments ago, suddenly let go with a dejected look.

She raised her head with tears glistening in her eyes and continued, "But I need to get married, that way my dad won't force me into that arranged marriage!"

I frowned as various dramatic scenarios from wealthy family dramas flooded my mind. "Do you… have someone suitable in mind?"

Seeing my expression, she shyly poked my chest. "Lucas, you big idiot! That person is you!"

Back then, I was just a lovesick kid with his head in the clouds, so I agreed without a second thought.

After that, we met each other's parents and moved into a luxury penthouse her family had bought for her. However, we never got around to actually registering our marriage.

I could feel it in my bones that her family did not like a poor kid with nothing to his name like me. I was terrified and constantly tearing myself apart inside.

I was afraid that one day Sophia would leave me, that one day her family would forcibly tear us apart.

In the end, I packed my bags and went back to my hometown to take some time and rethink our relationship.

But within a couple of days, I ran into her downstairs. My first instinct was to run away out of fear, but she still caught up to me.

"Why did you leave me? The moment I realized you weren't home, I came looking for you right away. Thank goodness I found you!"

This place was incredibly far from her city, and there were no direct flights. So, she had to take a connecting flight and then drive the rest of the way.

I never imagined Sophia would go through all that trouble and travel over 2000 miles just to find me.

To say I was not happy would be a lie, but I still had a shred of clarity left in my mind.

I said quietly, "Our lives are too different. I was just scared. I am sorry… being with me will only embarrass you. I think we should…"

Before I could finish, she grabbed the back of my neck and kissed me forcefully.