“Apollo just needs time to think it through. You all go ahead. I’ll talk to him properly, don’t worry about me.”

My father-in-law’s face showed a mix of frustration and pain for his daughter.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but when his eyes met Kaia’s tear-streaked face, he couldn’t bring himself to speak another word of blame.

He turned his head to me. “Apollo, I’m telling you, think this over carefully!”

“You’re an orphan with no parents. If you divorce my daughter, I’d like to see how you plan to live after that!”

With that, my father-in-law and mother-in-law left along with the rest of the relatives, not bothering to look back at me once.

Silence settled over the living room again.

I glanced at Kaia one last time, then turned and walked upstairs into the master bedroom.

The moment I entered, I locked the door and called my cousin, who was a lawyer.

“Cousin, how’s the matter I asked you to investigate coming along?”

After listening to her update, I finally felt a weight lift from my chest.

“Good. There might be a court hearing in a few days. I’ll need your help.”

When I returned home late from work the next evening, the sight that met my eyes left me frozen in place.

The dining table was set with neatly arranged dishes, and candles flickered softly on either side.

Kaia was seated at the table, wearing a revealing nightgown.

As soon as she saw me walk in, her face lit up.

“Honey, come sit down. Look what I made for you.”

When I didn’t move, Kaia stood, took my hand, and guided me toward the table.

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I’ve been thinking. These past two months, I’m not the only one who’s been in pain; you have too.”

“I’ve been trapped in my own sadness and never considered how you felt. I won’t do that anymore. Let’s start a new life together.”

“Honey, let’s stop fighting, alright?”

While she spoke, she leaned forward slightly.

After two years of marriage, I knew exactly what that gesture meant.

Ever since what happened two months ago, Kaia had refused my touch.

Forget physical closeness; even when I merely approached her, she would scream in fear.

It seemed she thought I wanted a divorce because she wouldn’t let me touch her, so she had staged this entire performance tonight.

Damn, she really underestimated me.

Pulling my hand free, I switched on the living room lights.

“Kaia, stop wasting your effort.”

“I already told you, no matter what happens, this marriage is finished.”

Kaia froze, looking as though she couldn’t believe that after everything, I still refused.

Before she could respond, two figures suddenly stepped out from the guest bedroom.

My father-in-law and mother-in-law stood before me, their faces twisted in fury.

My father-in-law jabbed a finger toward my face, but his words were directed at Kaia instead.

“How did I raise such a useless daughter?”

“How could you fall for a man like this? Look at yourself, you’ve gone through all this, and he still insists on divorcing you. He’s disgracing you!”

My mother-in-law’s expression was a mix of anger and pity as she pulled Kaia behind her protectively.

“I’ve lived long enough to see through this kind of thing. He must be cheating!”

“Who divorces over something like that these days? And if he really wanted a divorce, why didn’t he do it two months ago? Why now?”

“Apollo, I’m asking you, are you seeing another woman?”

Kaia’s face froze in disbelief; her tears stopped.

“Apollo, is what my mom said true?”

Before I could respond, she kept talking quietly. “Yes, it must be.”

“These past two months, you’ve been coming home late every night, and whenever I asked where you were, you wouldn’t answer.”

“So you really do have someone else, Apollo! How could you do this to me?”

I almost laughed at how shameless Kaia’s accusation sounded.

“Who actually cheated? Who’s the one with someone else?”

“Kaia, your parents are right here. Do you dare to tell them…”

Before I could finish, my furious mother-in-law suddenly rushed at me, teeth clenched and hands swinging.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, you monster! You’re not even human!”

“My daughter went through something like that, and you still have another woman? You’re nothing but an animal!”

I hadn’t expected her to attack so suddenly, and before I could dodge, her nails had left several bloody marks on my face.

But since she was an elder, no matter what had happened between Kaia and me, I couldn’t fight back.

I quickly moved back, putting some space between us.

Kaia, startled as well, rushed forward to hold her mother back.

I turned to my father-in-law, who still seemed to have some sense left.

“Take her home.”

“I’ll repeat myself, if you don’t want things to get ugly, just finish the divorce quickly.”

My father-in-law glared at me as though he wanted to tear me apart.

After holding back his rage for a moment, he looked at his wife and Kaia.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

Three days later, Kaia showed up at home again.

The second she saw me, her eyes turned red.

“I called you, but you never answered. I sent you messages, and you ignored them.”

“Apollo, what are you trying to do? Why are you treating me like this?”

I didn’t bother to look up and kept packing her things around the house.

“We’re getting divorced. There’s no reason to stay in contact anymore.”

Kaia’s face shifted.

She wiped away her tears roughly, then, after a few deep breaths, she clenched her teeth and spoke each word clearly.

“Apollo, I’ll ask you one last time, are you really set on divorcing me?”

I said nothing and didn’t even lift my head.

When I kept quiet, my father-in-law, furious, threw a stack of papers at my feet.

“Then get divorced!”

“But Kaia did nothing wrong. Since you’re so set on this, you’ll leave with nothing!”

I put down what I was holding, picked the divorce papers up from the floor, and let out a cold laugh.

“Whether she did anything wrong in this marriage, you should ask your dear daughter.”

“You want me to walk away with nothing? You people make me sick.”

Right after those words, my mother-in-law rushed out from behind my father-in-law, swinging her bag straight at my head.

“I should’ve never let my daughter marry you! I could tell from the start you were a selfish man! You useless thing, don’t tell me you’re trying to blame my daughter now?”

“I’m warning you, either you leave with nothing, or we’ll see you in court. I’ll make sure you don’t get a single cent from our family!”

I caught her bag, and her words actually made me feel a bit calmer.

Going to court was exactly what I wanted.

My mother-in-law mistook my silence for fear, pulled her bag back, and kept shouting.

“You ungrateful brat! You’re an orphan with no parents. If our family hadn’t ignored your background, do you really think you could’ve married my daughter?”

“Now that you’ve got someone else outside, you come up with a random excuse to divorce my daughter, and you even try to blame her for everything?”

“I’m telling you, there’s no such easy way out in this world!”

I didn’t want to argue with them any longer.

“Since we can’t settle this, we’ll meet in court.”

“Talking more won’t change anything. Let’s let the judge decide.”

A week later, Kaia and I finally had our divorce hearing at the courthouse.

A crowd of her relatives came; they nearly filled every seat in the gallery.

They were all there to side with her, staring at me with anger and disgust.

Before the hearing started, Kaia stood before me, her eyes red as she spoke.

“Apollo, do we really have to go this far?”

“If you just say no, we can go home. We’ll live our life together again and never bring up the past, alright?”

I didn’t bother replying and walked straight into the courtroom without looking back.

When the hearing began, the judge went through the documents submitted by Kaia’s side and then looked up at me.

“Miss Velasquez’s situation was an accident. You can apply for divorce, but the extra conditions you proposed are unreasonable.”

“In this case, Mr. Granger, you have no right to demand that Miss Velasquez leave with nothing.”

I rose from my seat and met the judge’s eyes. “I have other evidence.”