The moment the words left Astrid's mouth, she raised her hand and struck her own face. The crisp sound of the slap reached Evan's ears, and he immediately scooped her up into his arms and glared at me. "Fiona, how dare you slap Astrid? She's a public figure! How can you be so vicious?"

Without giving me a single chance to defend myself, Evan had already pronounced me guilty based solely on Astrid's theatrical performance. "You've been hurt because of me, Astrid. I'll definitely make it up to you. I promise you, the lead role in that movie you wanted is yours."

Astrid flashed me a cocky smirk where Evan couldn't see. Then, she mouthed the words, "The position of the lady of the Beckett family is mine!"

Not a spark of emotion stirred within me. I didn't even want Evan anymore. Why on earth would I care about being the lady of the Beckett family?

Hence, I ignored her and kept myself firmly planted at the door. "Evan, sign the divorce agreement. Let's divorce!"

The air in the room grew suffocatingly tense once again.

Right then, the office door was violently flung open. My mother, Roxanne Miller, charged in, and the first thing she laid her eyes on wasn't me, but the divorce agreement in my hands. Without saying a word, she snatched it, tore it to shreds, and brought her hand back to slap me hard across the face.

"Have you lost your mind? Why are you so hellbent on getting a divorce when you have a perfectly good life?" Her hands were on her hips, and her tone was harsh. She pierced my heart with every sentence, as if she wanted everyone in the room to hear.

"Evan is the cream of the crop in appearance and status! Who else could you possibly land if you lose him? When a woman gets divorced at 30, she becomes secondhand property!

"Who would want you then? If it weren't for Evan, do you honestly think you could live this comfortably on the pocket change your research institute pays you? This is just a tiny hiccup, yet you're making a mountain out of a molehill!

"Listen here, only deadbeat losers stick to one woman their whole lives—and it's not because they don't want mistresses; it's because they don't have the means to get them!"

I pressed my tongue against the inside of my cheek where I had been struck. A profound sense of helplessness and sorrow washed over me.

Everyone thought my marriage was picture-perfect, but Mom knew just as well as I did how rotten it was to the core. Even so, she still wanted me to grit my teeth and bear with it. To that end, she had even slapped me in front of Evan and his side piece.

A self-deprecating smile touched my lips when I thought of that.

When I didn't refute, Mom thought my resolve had wavered. Her tone softened a bit, but her words still cut deep. "Fiona, all married couples fight. Look at your dad and me; we fought and bickered our entire lives. Listen to me and apologize to Evan. In the future—"

I lifted my gaze to meet hers. My tone was calm yet incredibly firm. "I won't be doing that. I'm going through with this divorce, and nothing will change my mind! I've spent my whole life bending to your will—in where I studied, where I worked, and whom I married.

"I lived for everyone but myself. That ends now. This time, I'm choosing myself!"

"You're simply impossible to reason with!" Beside herself with rage, Mom raised her hand to slap me again. Yet, the moment she met my resolute eyes, her hand froze in midair and ultimately didn't land on my face.

She could only grit her teeth and hiss, "Fine, divorce him then! But when you're bawling your eyes out with regret in the future, don't you dare come crawling back home to me!" With that, she stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

The deafening sound made the walls tremble slightly. Then, the office went dead silent.

Once again, I reached into my handbag and pulled out another copy of the divorce agreement. "Sign it!"

"I hope you won't regret this!" Evan was furious. He picked up his fountain pen and aggressively scrawled his name across the document. "We can get divorced, but you won't get a single dime of my family's money."

I carefully tucked the signed agreement into my bag. I didn't feel sad at all. If anything, it felt as though a crushing weight I had carried for years had finally been lifted from my chest.

I had fallen in love with Evan at first sight. Granted, I had been well aware of his reputation as a womanizer in Vaeloria, so it never crossed my mind that he would actually honor the agreement between our families and marry me. Plus, among his long list of stunning ex-girlfriends, I was literally just an ugly duckling.

Hence, when he'd actually dropped to one knee and proposed to me, it caught me completely off guard. I had been both overjoyed and deeply moved. At the time, I had naively believed that since Evan had asked for my hand in marriage, he must like me at least a little bit.

The consequence of my wishful thinking came on the third day after our wedding, when the media caught him checking into a hotel with a wealthy heiress. I had been consumed by jealousy and rage, yet I'd refused to let go.

I had genuinely believed that my unconditional, wholehearted love would eventually change him. Instead, it just led to me losing my mind and spiraling out of control time and time again. I went from being a genius prodigy whom everyone looked up to to a miserable, resentful trophy wife.

Truth be told, if I could've turned a blind eye to my husband's infidelity the way many wealthy wives did, my life really would have been incredibly comfortable. After all, for the five years we were married, aside from his philandering, Evan had been extremely generous to my family and me.

On our anniversaries and Valentine's Day, even though he wasn't physically there, Charles would always deliver fresh flowers and expensive jewelry to me right on time. When I ran a fever and fell ill, Evan would be out networking all night, but he'd hire an entire medical team to take care of me.

Consequently, to the rest of the world, including Mom, I was simply a woman who didn't know how good she had it.

However, day after day, after facing that massive, deserted mansion and the odd looks from my colleagues and friends, I honestly felt as though I was suffocating. I realized it was finally time to let go.

With that thought in mind, I looked up and met Evan's eyes. My gaze was completely clear and calm. There wasn't a trace of affection in my eyes. "Don't worry, I don't want a single cent of your money."

I had already decided to join the research team and relocate to Ymira indefinitely. So, no matter how much money I had, it would be utterly useless to me.

"You two were heading out for lunch, right? I won't keep you." Having said my piece, I walked around Evan and headed straight for the exit.

I came to a halt at the threshold. "Since you said the food I made tastes awful, I suppose there's no need for me to pass my recipes along to Maria anymore, right?"

Evan sneered at me. "Don't be so full of yourself! Do you honestly think I'll starve just because you're gone?"

Fair enough. I shouldn't have bothered asking.

"Enjoy your meal." With that, I left without a backward glance.

…

I went back to the Beckett residence to pack right after dropping the divorce papers off at my lawyer's. Five years of marriage, five years of unrequited devotion and bottled-up resentment—I was resetting it all to zero today.

More than half of the closet space belonged to Evan. My own clothes were few and far between, much like my insignificant presence in this marriage. I worked quickly, stuffing what little I owned into a suitcase.

Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the entryway. It was Evan, the man who was supposed to be having lunch with Astrid right now.

His profound gaze locked onto mine, burning with a furious rage I had never seen before. "You had a miscarriage?"

I stiffened. When I recalled the unborn child I had lost before it had even fully formed, a sharp pain twisted in my chest. "Yes, a year ago. At the time—"

Before I could finish, a large hand clamped violently around my throat. "Why did you hide it from me and get an abortion? Why?"

"I didn't." I shook my head. All the warmth drained from my eyes until only a dead, icy chill remained. "Evan, you simply never looked at me. You never cared enough to notice."

Evan was completely blinded by rage. He wouldn't listen to a single word of my explanation.

He snatched my suitcase away and hurled it to the floor. "You think you can walk away unscathed after killing my child? Dream on! Without my permission, you aren't going anywhere!" he bellowed, leaving no room for discussion.

A second later, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me upstairs to the guest bedroom, shoving me inside and locking the door. "You're going to atone for what you did to my child!"

The cold door shut out the light from the hallway and completely severed the last thread of my attachment to Evan. Leaning against the freezing wall, I let out a silent, derisive chuckle. I was laughing at my own stupidity, at how many years I had wasted on him.

A year ago, when I received my pregnancy test results, my heart raced with excitement. I went to find Evan to tell him the good news. However, I accidentally walked in on him and a famous starlet in the middle of an office tryst.

To make matters worse, I heard him trash-talking me with my own ears. "Had Grandpa not threatened me with the position of heir, there's no way in hell I would've married Fiona. Not only is she average-looking, but she's as lifeless as a dead fish in bed. When I'm with her, I picture your face, babe."

Mortified and sick to my stomach, I spun around and fled the scene. Blinded by rage, I missed a step and took a nasty spill down the stairs. Just like that, my baby was gone.

That was the first time I made up my mind to get a divorce. However, before I could confront Evan, my mother-in-law, Chloe Campbell, visited me.

At the time, Evan was at a critical juncture, preparing to officially take over Beckett Group. Afraid that this matter would reach the head of the Beckett family, Ethan Beckett, and jeopardize Evan's position, she used my parents to threaten me, forcing me to keep my miscarriage under wraps.

Well aware of just how vicious Chloe could be, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

I had no idea how Evan had suddenly found out about it, especially right when I was preparing to leave. All I knew was that I couldn't afford to waste any more time. There were less than three hours left before my research team's scheduled departure.

While I was pacing around the room, faint rustling sounds came from outside the door. I thought it was Evan, but when I peered through the crack, it was Astrid, holding a spare set of keys.

"I'll let you go," she said quickly before scanning the hallway. "I've already distracted the bodyguards at the entrance. Leave now, and never come back."

It took me only a few seconds to figure out her motive. She wasn't doing this out of the goodness of her heart; she just wanted to take the position of the lady of the Beckett family.

I didn't utter a word. I didn't even grab the suitcase I had packed. I only took my essential identification documents and left the house I'd lived in for five years. I left without a single shred of regret.

…

Before boarding the research team's plane, I tossed my phone into the trash. From then on, I erased myself completely from the city I had called home my entire life.