In my previous life, Chloe pretended to give up after I persuaded her. That night, she invited Rachel to a bar, planning to swindle some men there and earn the money she needed for the surgery. However, her victim's wife caught her in the act.

By the time I got there, the fight had been over. Chloe sat on the bed, her expression twisted in agony. Her eyes were red and there were scratches on her face. She sobbed at me, “Honey, believe me, the wine was drugged! I just went drinking for a change of mood. I have no idea what happened after I drank the wine…

“Forgive me this time, please? If you don't believe me, you can test the wine for drugs.”

She swore on her life. That time, I had asked my friend for a favor and tested the wine overnight. As expected, the results showed there were sleeping pills in the wine.

Of course I forgave her after that. Even up till my death, I never once considered she was the one who put the pills there to drug the man.

In my previous life, I even felt bad for her after the incident. I comforted her and signed her up for the most expensive overseas tour package so she could get over the trauma.

My actions cost me and my daughter our lives.

This time, I would not interfere anymore. Instead, I was going to use this opportunity to thoroughly muddy the waters.

As I expected, Chloe crept out of the room with her things at midnight.

I sat in the living room for a while, then I locked the door and took a cab to the address on my phone.

In my previous life, the other man's wife had just found them at this point in time. They were probably still engaged in a heated fight.

I arrived to see the room door wide open, a huge hullabaloo unfolding inside. Someone even threw a piece of clothing at my head.

“You loser! You married into my family, and you still dared to cheat on me?! With such an lowly woman, too! Are you that desperate?!”

The woman slapped her husband over and over again, but he just took the beating in a daze, as though he was still half-asleep.

“Honey! Honey, listen to me. I can explain…” Chloe grabbed her clothes in a panic and tried to approach me, but she was so flustered that she fell from the bed, completely naked.

I saw the bags under her eyes and understood. The man was obviously not capable of doing anything right now, so she had to do the bulk of the work.

The woman scrutinized me up and down before ordering her subordinates to carry her husband away. Before she left, she gave me a mocking look. “Your wife is ruthless, I'll give her that. She even dared to drug a man.”

Chloe did not have time to distort the truth. The man's condition made the truth obvious for all to see.

After the man, his wife, and their posse left, the room fell silent.

Chloe was the first to give in to the pressure. She covered her body with the sheets and sat next to me, giving the exact same excuse she gave in my previous life.

I listened to her quietly. Perhaps it was the air-conditioning on full blast, but I could see the goosebumps all over her arms. At the same time, a sweat had broken out on her forehead due to her anxiety.

Eventually, she could not stand the silence anymore. She stood up, ran to the coffee table, and picked up the fruit knife, placing it over her wrist.

I took a step forward, staring at her trembling hand. So she was scared of dying, too?

Did she ever stop to think if my daughter and I were scared when she burned us to death in the previous life?

Recalling the agony of being burned all over and my daughter's anguished screams, I turned my gaze away coldly.

“Let's get divorced. I get Ellie and the house, and you get the thirty thousand dollars I promised you.” My voice was emotionless to my own ears.

Chloe stared at me in disbelief for a second before accusing me angrily, “What do you mean by that? Are you trying to throw me away after using me? Don't forget, you're the one who begged me to marry you! I'm the one who got you your current position as head of your department!

“Don't even think about abandoning me! So what if I cheated? You come home late every night! Can't a woman have needs?”

I broke free from her grip with a look of disgust, taking one step back to put some distance between us.

Although I had experienced the same thing once before, I still feel repulsed to see it happen again.

“I got into the hospital back then because my teacher requested for me by name. Did you think I'd never find out after your father escaped overseas?

“Also, I would never have had anything to do with you if you didn't get pregnant back then, much less marry you.”

It was not easy for me to go to university, having come out of an orphanage. To make it worse, I majored in medicine, one of the most difficult fields.

During my five years in medical school, I never dated anyone. I spent all my time in the library, at my part-time job, and in my dorm. On the contrary, Chloe was a famous heiress. I would see her surrounded by her lackeys, slacking off in every corner of the campus.

We came from completely different worlds, but we ended up having a one-night stand after a party one day. That was when Ellie was conceived.

Soon after that, we got married. Even after I finished my specialization and found a job at the hospital, I always assumed Chloe's father was the one who got me hired through his connections.

However, Chloe always knew her father never mentioned anything to the hospital.

Her dazed expression made me feel a bit better. While she was still caught off-guard, I turned and left the room.

When I got home, Ellie was still asleep. About half an hour later, Chloe opened the door and came in quietly.

“I agree to the divorce, but only if you give me a hundred thousand dollars. That's non-negotiable.”

I stealthily packed Ellie’s bag for tomorrow, saying calmly, “I don't have a hundred thousand dollars. I can give you fifty at most.”

Chloe was not happy with that result, but there was nothing she could do. She knew our financial situation. She knew that my salary had been spent on Ellie’s school fees and her plastic surgeries.

After her father's company collapsed, the authorities swooped in and confiscated his assets. He and his wife ran abroad, leaving Chloe behind.

She raised her voice to embolden herself. “Fine, then I'll sign the papers after I receive the money tomorrow. Also, you can't stop me whenever I want to see Ellie from now on.”

I scoffed inwardly. She was not that attached to Ellie; she just wanted to keep Ellie as leverage over me.

Once I agreed to her conditions, Chloe took off her ring and smashed it to the floor at my feet. “I'm sick of living in poverty! Good, now that you've asked for a divorce, I won't have to share my future fortune with you anymore.”

I picked up her ring and tossed it into the trash along with mine. My tone was hard. “Agreed. As your soon-to-be ex-husband, I would still like to give you a word of advice. All that plastic surgery will come back to bite you someday. It's your life, you decide.”

Chloe looked away nonchalantly and left with her luggage.

The next morning, I transferred thirty thousand dollars into her account and texted her, saying I would give her the remaining money after she signed the divorce papers.

I was not giving her the money out of the kindness of my heart. Her father had given me the money a while ago when he could not reach her. If it were not for that, I would not have given her a single cent.

By the time I arrived at the local registry, Chloe and her best friend Rachel were already waiting. “Hurry up, or the office will close soon!”

I nodded without a word and followed them inside, the necessary documents in hand.