Shortly after Sophia and Elijah's marriage, Sophia suffers a miscarriage and the treatment of Sophia by Elijah and his family deteriorates. Sophia meets Elijah at his office and his ex-girlfriend Serena, with whom he has an intimate relationship. The neglect of her husband, the abuse of her husband’s mom, the provocation of her rival, and the marriage born out of children rather than love all make Sophia feel suffocated and repressed. She couldn't stand it anymore. She was going to divorce him.

After the divorce, Sophia goes abroad to study art, and on the way, she discovers that she is pregnant. Daniel, the senior she is studying with, takes good care of her, but at that moment she discovers that Elijah has followed her abroad.

Sophia’s POV

Two years of marriage, and I'd never set foot in my husband Elijah's office until now.

After all this time, why was I suddenly entrusted to deliver these important documents? Could it be possible that they’re finally learning to accept me?

Taking a deep breath, I gently placed my hand on my stomach. The emptiness from losing my baby lingered, even though it had been a long time since that accident. I still felt lost and fragile, wishing for solace that never came.

I missed my husband's presence, longing for a comforting word or touch. But he and his family remained distant and uninvolved, leaving me to recover on my own.

Now, I was about to step into Elijah’s world — his beloved company.

My heart skipped a beat as I entered Elijah's large, elegant office. The room was tastefully decorated, with rich mahogany furniture and a large sign that said Sinclair Realty Group.

But what made me stop in my tracks was the sight of my husband huddled with an attractive blonde over some papers. Their shoulders were touching, their cheeks almost brushing against each other.

What the hell is going on? I thought in alarm.

Suddenly, the woman whispered something in Elijah’s ear while she gently laid her perfectly manicured hands on his arm.

My heart jumped. I heard a loud thud on the floor and realized I’d dropped the folder I was holding.

They both looked up, startled.

And that’s when my gaze locked with that of the woman. I felt a shudder creeping through my skin.

Serena Foster!

She used to be a classmate of ours at Fairview University. She also happened to be Elijah’s ex-girlfriend.

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. So this is why my evil mother-in-law asked me to deliver this document! Morgana had probably known that Serena was here now.

My husband rose from his chair, abruptly pulling away from Serena who was throwing me daggers with her eyes. “You remember Serena, right? She works here now.”

I nodded, my heart leaping into my throat and my thoughts raging in a storm.

They’re just colleagues, nothing else, I thought, but not with full conviction. Elijah wouldn’t cheat on me, would he?

All this time, I’d remained hopeful that he could still fall in love with me. But now, with Serena in the picture, time might just be running out for us.

“So why are you here?” Elijah asked, a frown creasing his brow.

“Your mom asked me to deliver this,” I explained, hastily picking up the folder and handing it to him. Then narrowing my eyes at Serena, I waited for him to explain why they were working closely, or to at least introduce me as his wife.

But much to my dismay, he didn’t.

It felt as though my heart was being squeezed tightly, as it dawned on me that he’d never really introduced me to anyone as his wife. Ever.

“Sophia, you look shaken up. Didn’t you know Elijah hired me to work here?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Apparently, we make a great team. Funny, I don’t recall seeing you here before.”

She was purposely rubbing it in my face, and I wanted to slap that smile away from her face.

She then added, “Oh, right, you don’t know anything about business. You might just mess things up.”

“I take care of our home,” I said bitterly, looking down on the floor for a bit. I felt belittled, and my husband couldn’t even defend me.

Serena looked at me with disbelief and laughed. Just then, Elijah said, “Next time, Sophia, just contact me and I’ll have my assistant come over.”

"Fine," I murmured, my voice barely audible, wishing the ground would swallow me up. The weight of hurt and embarrassment pressed down on me, crushing my spirit. My heart thudded in my chest as I blinked back tears. He doesn't want me here.

Suddenly, Elijah’s secretary came in.

“Alice, please prepare coffee for the ladies,” he instructed. “Just black for Serena. No sugar.”

Serena’s eyes lit up. “Hey, you remembered!” she exclaimed, obviously delighted.

Elijah nodded at her. “Of course.”

I watched the exchange with a sinking feeling in my chest. Serena gave me a smug look as if she was reveling in some secret victory.

I couldn’t help but feel more depressed. Here was my husband, effortlessly remembering Serena's coffee preferences, yet he couldn't recall something as simple as my allergy to caffeine.

“Join us, Sophia,” Serena invited with a devilish grin. “Just like how we used to hang out together in college.”

I struggled to contain my emotions, not wanting to break down in front of them. “I have to go,” I managed to say, my voice slightly cracking. “I’ll see you at home.”

Elijah’s expression remained unchanged, and my heart felt heavy with the realization of how little I meant to him.

The way he treated me had only gotten worse after losing my baby.

What did you expect? a small voice hissed in my head. He only married you because he got you pregnant. You’re the one who keeps hoping he’ll eventually fall for you.

As his assistant Connor Hayes drove me home, I thought about how my husband’s mother Morgana had begun ignoring me after I lost the baby. Then one day, she started talking to me again, only to treat me like a housemaid.

I fought back tears as the heaviness in my chest escalated. My marriage was falling apart so fast that I couldn’t seem to catch up.

When we pulled up the spacious driveway of the Sinclair mansion, a feeling of dread and loneliness engulfed me. I’m back in this prison. Trapped. Helpless.

I want to escape this prison! I screamed in my head, glad that Morgana was nowhere to be found. Yet.

Running to my room and throwing myself on my bed, sobs wracked my body. And as I cried my eyes out, I felt something with my hand that made me sit up.

A small portion of a brown envelope was peeking from under the pillow. My chest tightened, and more tears filled my eyes.

I knew exactly what it contained — the papers I’d prepared before. I pulled them out and stared at the title that blurred before my teary eyes.

It read: Divorce Agreement.

Sophia’s POV

The divorce agreement was written after I accidentally lost my baby. During that time, I couldn’t even look at Elijah’s face without thinking about our baby. The pain was unbearable, so I believed divorce was my salvation. Looking back, preparing the divorce agreement was not a mistake, now that leaving was my only option.

My hands shook as I held the papers in my hand. I could hear Morgana’s voice outside. “Sophia!” she called in a sharp tone. She probably heard me come in and was now wondering where I was.

Quickly, I hid the divorce agreement and washed my face in the bathroom. That’s when the door swung open. I dried my face with a towel and looked at my mother-in-law.

She responded with a cold gaze. She immediately instructed me to do the housework, her tone full of disdain.

As I began my chores, she stood there taunting me. “Elijah told me not to ask you to deliver things in the future,” she said with a scoff. “You can’t even be relied on for such a simple task.”

Her words cut deep. “When you first came to our house pregnant, it was okay that you couldn't do anything,” she continued. “Then you had lost your baby and you had to spend months recovering and regaining your health. Now you can't even deliver a document, so what's the meaning for Elijah of having you as a wife?"

Her words were like daggers, each one piercing my heart. And then, in a cruel twist, she added, “My son would be better off with Serena. She's prettier, smarter, and she even managed to land a job at his company! Unlike you... You can't even perform simple housework that well.”

Sure enough, she already knew that Serena worked at Elijah's company. She asked me to deliver the papers today just to make a fool of me.

The room felt suffocating, the burden of her words pressing down on me. I felt utterly alone, realizing that no one had ever been on my side.

I clenched my fists, struggling against the wave of tears threatening to spill. Sweeping the floor became a mechanical task, a facade to hide my turmoil. The repeated humiliations and frustrations drained me of the energy to fight back or explain myself yet again.

I don’t deserve this, I thought sourly. It’s time for me to escape, to save myself.

With bitter tears streaming down my cheeks, I rushed to my room and grabbed the papers I’d hidden. Staring at me from the front page were the words: Divorce Agreement.

I’ve had enough. Flashbacks of how Elijah and Morgana had been treating me filled my mind. Despite my efforts to be the dutiful wife and daughter-in-law, I’d always seemed invisible to them.

I’ve been obedient, helpful, and hardworking… But no one cares. Not even my own husband.

I’m nothing to him. He doesn’t love me and he never learned to. That’s the most painful of all.

My heart tightened. His indifference cut deeper than any overt cruelty could. And now, with Serena back in the picture, their attention gravitated toward her. I felt more isolated than ever.

This is the last straw! I must get out of here, or I’ll lose my sanity!

That evening, I hadn’t realized I’d already fallen asleep when I heard the bedroom door open. Something made a loud, clattering noise. I quickly sat up and saw Elijah staggering toward me. He mumbled something about a dinner party as he plopped on the bed and started sliding his fingers down my bare arm.

I hastily moved backward, giving him a look of disbelief. He reeked of alcohol and was obviously drunk. If he wasn’t, he would have just ignored me and gone straight to bed.

“Hey, playing hard to get, aren’t you?” he said in a slurred manner, his bloodshot eyes becoming more intense. Then without warning, he leaned forward and kissed me on the lips.

I didn’t have time to react, though, because he suddenly started unbuttoning my oversized nightshirt.

“When did Serena start working at your company?” I asked him coldly.

He shrugged, but didn’t stop what he was doing. “Not sure. Probably recruited by HR.” His lips traveled down my neck, accompanied by his tongue, as he went to unbutton the last one on my shirt.

“Serena is such a talented addition to our team,” he remarked with admiration.

Jealousy and pain gripped my chest. I couldn’t believe he was saying all this while undressing me! I knew then that he still had feelings for her.

“You know,” he said, oblivious to my disappointment, “she's even outperforming many of the senior colleagues who've been with the company for years.”

Even as we locked eyes, there was something in his gaze—a kind of infatuation—that he never seemed to exhibit when it came to me.

He’s probably picturing me as her! I thought with disgust. I was so disappointed in him, and didn’t want him anywhere near me.

But when I pulled away, he threw me an irritated look. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, taken aback that I was saying no to his advances unlike before.

I didn’t answer. He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’ve been down in the dumps for months now! I thought you’d snap out of it, but you’ve only gotten worse. It’s depressing to even see you.”

I cringed at his words, the searing pain crushing my heart. He couldn’t even see how my spirit was being shattered because of him.

“Maybe it’s because of the baby we lost…” he mused. Sliding his fingers down the surface of my cheek and then my neck, he added in a drunken slur, “Why don’t we just make another baby?”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew that whenever he was drunk, he spoke without inhibitions. He was often brutally honest in this state. Hence, he meant every word and that only showed how much he didn’t understand me or the problem we had in this marriage.

My whole body was shaking as the misery and fury I’ve been keeping inside rose to the surface. He doesn’t get it. Or maybe he just doesn’t give a damn.

I was totally pissed off. And that’s when I blurted it out.

“I want to divorce you.”

Sophia’s POV

I could sense his mind reeling from the unexpected news. He opened his mouth as if to say something.

I expected him to respond, to react, to ask questions. Anything at all! But he never said anything.

My heart thumped hard against my chest as we gazed at one another — strangers who’d been forced to live together. I had tried so hard to make this marriage work even after we had lost the baby.

But it takes two to succeed at this, I realized.

“I want a divorce,” I repeated, keeping my voice steady. “I’m serious.”

Slowly he nodded. “Yes, sure,” he answered before getting up and disappearing into the bathroom.

My chest felt like it was about to explode. I pulled my open shirt around me, desperately covering myself up, as I coiled into a fetal position with my head throbbing. A tear dropped down my cheek, and I quickly brushed it away.

This is it. I’m going to be free.

And yet somehow, I didn’t feel that ecstatic. His reaction only confirmed my worst suspicions. Now I know the truth — he never loved me at all. He’s not even upset about the divorce!

I sighed. It’s time for me to move on.

The next day, after eating breakfast on my own, I mustered up all my courage and called Elijah to the study. “We should sign this,” I said without any emotion, showing him the divorce papers.

He sat on the sofa across from me, looking at me quietly. His gaze always made me feel a little nervous, but today was different. I signed the papers and urged him to do the same.

“Elijah, please,” I whispered, making sure my voice wouldn’t break. “Let's end this.”

His face contorted in a horrible expression as he ruthlessly grabbed the agreement from me. But he didn’t sign immediately. He took a long time going over each page while I waited impatiently.

Then his phone suddenly rang. I saw it light up with Serena’s name, making my chest tighten. I can’t believe this woman’s timing!

But Elijah only glanced at it before returning to reviewing the papers. Perhaps he didn’t want to answer it because I was in the room with him.

A myriad of emotions threatened to engulf me. I stood up and positioned myself in front of him with my arms crossed against my chest. “Why don’t you just hurry up and sign those so you can get going? Someone might be waiting for you in the office.”

He glanced at me warily, then took out his pen and signed everything. With an angry grunt, he threw the papers down on the sofa and stormed out of the room.

Watching him go, I was filled with overwhelming feelings — relief, frustration, anger, sadness.

“I’m finally free,” I murmured to myself incredulously.

While I was packing my bags in the bedroom, Morgana suddenly charged inside. In her usual bossy voice, she said, “The morning’s almost over, Sophia! Go do the laundry now.”

With a sarcastic huff, I turned around to face her. “Sorry, but Elijah and I just signed a divorce agreement. I will no longer do any housework for you.”

Her face reddened in anger. I could almost see steam coming out of her ears as she crossed her arms on her chest and scolded me angrily. "You married into our family for two years, no children, and now you want a divorce," she spat out bitterly.

I scoffed, not bothering to respond. It doesn’t matter anymore. I can finally ignore her completely!

But then, almost as quickly as her anger had surfaced, her mood changed. “You know what? It's actually quite nice,” she said, her tone almost mocking. “Elijah can finally marry someone better, like Serina. Every single day that I see you hanging your head in despair, it just makes my blood boil. Anyone would make a better wife than you!”

Her words infuriated me. I wanted to slap away that haughty look on her face, but it would just be a waste of energy. I’m done here. I’m done with all this.

Suddenly, memories flooded back of a time when Morgana had shown kindness, especially during my pregnancy with her grandchild. She had been caring and considerate. However, after I lost my baby, her demeanor changed drastically. She began treating me like a mere servant rather than a member of the family. I could never understand why she became so hostile all of a sudden. Sometimes I wondered if it had more to do with herself than with me.

That afternoon, I went home to where I grew up. As I settled in, I felt relieved that at least I had a place I could call my own. “Luckily I hadn’t sold it,” I muttered, looking around the living room and remembering my adoptive father. This house is the only connection I have left with him.

Night swept in quickly. I was worn out and exhausted. Climbing onto my old bed, I was ready to relax when I received a message from my best friend Kayla.

It showed a secretly taken photo of Elijah and Serena in a club, sitting intimately close and laughing together. A chill ran down my spine as I read the angry message from Kayla:

Damn that Elijah! You have no idea what I saw! Elijah was out partying and flirting with that bitch, which he never did with you! Major Asshole!

My heart sank, anger and sadness clouded my mind as I realized he was indeed getting back together with Serena and flaunting her around.

Forcing back my tears, I told Kayla:

It’s over between me and Elijah. We were divorced.