Ezra frowned, very unhappy with what I said.

“Stop. Did we not agree we do not talk about what happened before!”

Seeing him avoid the past, I instead felt it was both silly and sad.

She falsely accused me of cheating to get awards, led me to be hurt by extreme people online, caused my right ear to have lasting hearing loss, and made me forever unable to play the cello.

For a cello player to lose part of the sound, those painful days could not be spoken of.

Even his making up for my schizophrenia and helping her clear her suspicion could not be spoken of.

During that time, I tried so hard to get treatment, hoping to go back to the orchestra, but it all ended with one line, not to mention.

“Ezra, you still love her, right?”

My voice sounded very calm, but held many mixed feelings.

His body froze, as if he had not expected me to say that.

Then, he suddenly took my hand and softly said, “Evie, what’s done is done. Why keep holding onto it? Can’t we just live well together?”

I gently smiled and pulled my hand away.

“If you truly wanted to live well, you would not still have feelings for her, and you would not lose control again over her safety.”

“Ezra, you may fool others, but you cannot fool me.”

From the age of eight to twenty-eight, I had seen how he lost control because of love.

Once for me, and many times for Heidi.

When I was twenty, studying in England, I had acute gastroenteritis. I cried and called him.

“If you were here with me, it would be better.”

After a twelve-hour flight, he came to my side. When I had a high fever and fainted, his eyes turned red.

“I’m here, don’t fall asleep. I’ll stay with you.”

Later, he would worry over Heidi’s stomach pain during her period, stay by her bedside all night when she had a fever, and believe her tears when she said I made things hard for her…

In the end, he never lost control of me again, never panicked for me again.

“Let’s divorce. Like you once said, I’ll grant your wish.”

My words felt heavy, yet to him they were as light as air.

He smiled faintly with mockery. “Evie, you won’t divorce, for this family, for our daughter.”

“Between us, we have already gone beyond lovers; countless ties bind us tightly. You won’t be willing to divorce, because you love me deeply.”

I looked at his confident expression and felt it was absurd.

“What if this time, I truly mean it?”

Before I could hear his reply, a phone rang.

It was Heidi’s; if he no longer loved her, why, after so long, was his ringtone still her instrument recording?

Such poor skill, who else could it be but her?

I still remember when we argued about this. He had said, “Heidi’s playing isn’t that good, using it as a ringtone is just to acknowledge her, and even that you want to argue about?”

After the call finished, he nervously moved toward the door. I suddenly caught his sleeve without saying anything.

“Ezra, one last time, if you go see her today, we are totally over.”

He quickly pulled away from me and spoke in a strict voice.

“Stop it. Don’t cause problems; she is not feeling well right now. I’m going to check on her.”

“Why can’t you stop being jealous all the time? If you didn’t get someone to start that fire today, she wouldn’t be in the hospital!”

At last, the door slammed shut, and all I could hear around me was the wind.

After Ezra was unfaithful, I decided to forgive him. But over the past years, I spent every day and night hurting because of what he did. He kept thinking I was acting unfairly, always bringing up past issues, so starting now, let us fully separate.

Suddenly, my phone started to ring.

It was Attorney Harper calling, her voice a bit serious.

“Ms. Russo, Ezra has just taken the money from the trust fund account you created for your daughter.”

“Every amount has been moved into Heidi’s account.”

For her sake, Ezra even took this money illegally, which is really shameful.

After the call ended, I quickly called another number right away.

“Hello, I want to make a police report. Someone has committed fraud.”

Within only half a day, I saw the money go back into the fund account, and at the same time, my phone kept ringing nonstop.

Ezra called me again and again, more than ten times, like he had lost control.

I did not even check; I simply switched on airplane mode and stayed with my daughter while she drew.

Soon after, he rushed back quickly, staring at me and speaking.

“What are you doing, acting like this? Why did you contact the police?”

I quietly shut the drawing book and looked straight at him.

“I got back the money that belongs to my daughter. Is there any issue?”

“Or do you think I should report you as well?”

Seeing how calm I was, he could not hold back his anger; he suddenly seized my wrist.

“Come with me to the police station now and say you were wrong!”

With a loud slap, the room became quiet again.

I could barely recall how many times I had struck him because of Heidi, yet he still would not change.

“Ezra, that money was what you said you would never use, and now you spend it to please the mistress, is that it?”

Three years earlier, on Vera’s one-month celebration, Ezra and I set up a trust fund for her together, to keep her safe for her whole life.

He was the one who promised that no one would ever use this money.

“Yes, so what, Evie? I already stopped loving you long ago!”

“If not for this child, I would have married Heidi a long time ago!”

“You supported me before, I truly feel thankful, but now I’m telling you we have already settled everything!”

Ezra spoke many lines without stopping, every word hurting deeply.

I stared at his face, suddenly feeling a bit lost.

What was he saying…

When I was pregnant, he gently placed his ear on my stomach and happily said, “Baby, your dad and mom are both waiting for you; you need to arrive safe and healthy.”

After the baby came into the world, he changed diapers himself, picked up baby things, and softly said, “Evie, thank you, our little family is now whole.”

And he said, if not because of this child, we would have separated long ago.

My hands shook, and I cried out in a rough voice.

“Ezra, can you return what you owe me? Without me, you would be where you are today!”

Together with Vera’s weak crying, this argument suddenly ended.

Ezra glanced at me with impatience and spoke coldly, “Evie, believe whatever you like, I will not allow her to go to jail.”

“And for you, as long as you keep acting like you don’t know anything, this home will not fall apart, you can still stay as Mrs. Howard.”

After he finished speaking, the loud sound of the door shutting echoed.

So being happy means acting like you don’t know, but I no longer want that.

Vera looked at me with teary eyes, and I forced out a smile.

“Vera, don’t worry, Mom will take you away.”

That night, Ezra did not return at all, and that account showed their love updated again.

That lovely hand-in-hand picture strongly hurt my heart.

“With you here, I do not fear anything, love you!”

I quietly pressed like on that post.

Then I called my father.

“Dad, after one week, I will bring Vera back to England.”

The man on the other side of the call laughed loudly.

“My child, I know he cheats again, a foolish man who cannot control his body.”

“This time, do you still, like before, leave him a chance?”

I looked at the wedding picture on the wall and gave a firm answer.

“No, I want him to lose everything, worse than death!”

Ezra, you think you do not owe me anymore, but I want you to pay me back what you owe me.

From that day, Ezra didn’t come back home, not even hiding his cheating.

He treated cheating like something normal, like I was an air.

I looked at that account posting often, but didn’t feel the same sadness and pain as before.

“I said I wanted to see the world, he brought me to an auction, people thought I was Mrs. Howard.”

“I came to Paris with him, the Eiffel Tower saw our love.”

“I said I wanted a house, he gave me that villa in Fairview Heights!”

…

In only one week, their loving posts went over twenty.

I saved everyone, printed them on paper, and gave them to Attorney Harper.

“I don’t only want to take back the money he gave Heidi, I also want them to pay for the hurt they caused me.”

After dealing with these things, I went to the door of the storage room near the stairs in the villa and opened it.

I walked to the old safe covered in dust and took out that faded notebook.

It kept the memories of the past twenty years between Ezra and me, every line full of real feelings.

At the same time as I tore that notebook into pieces, my phone also got a message.

“Ms. Russo, the visa process for you and your daughter is done. Welcome to England.”

After dinner, I got a teasing message from Heidi.

“Evie, I know you have been watching my account. I posted it on purpose for you to see.”

“No matter how long we stayed apart, once I move my finger, he will come to me. I suggest you leave quickly, don’t wait until you are kicked out of the Howard family and truly feel ashamed!”

I showed a faint smile, typed a few words.

“You care so much about what I threw away, then keep it properly.”

As soon as that short line was sent, I could picture her angry face.

I once believed that once I received the divorce certificate, Ezra and I would fully separate.

But during this time, Heidi never planned to let me live peacefully.

On the way to bring Vera to her art class, a traffic accident happened.

Before I fainted, I clearly heard the driver make a call, his voice in panic.

“Damn, Miss Trevino, are you trying to get me killed!”

“You never said there was a child in the car, and she belongs to the Howard family!”

After that, I could no longer hear anything and sank into deep darkness.

When I slowly opened my eyes, my head had bandages, and a needle was in the back of my hand.

When she saw I was awake, the nurse quickly went to get the doctor, but I suddenly sat up and pulled the needle out.

“Where is my child! How is she?!”

The nurse firmly held me back, trying to calm me.

“Ms. Russo, please stay calm! Your daughter is being treated, she will be alright!”

I struggled hard to get free, shouting in a rough voice.

“I need to stay with her; if I’m not there, she will be scared!”

The nurse looked at me with worry, gently comforting me.

“Ms. Russo, you have a light concussion now. You cannot leave the room! The doctors are with your child, she will be fine!”

Vera’s little face came into my thoughts.

She had always been terrified of pain. When she learned to walk, she cried for her mother after her first fall. It hurt so much, how could she endure it…

Even after hearing the nurse’s words, uneasiness and panic still surged in my chest.

A deep fear wrapped around me tightly.

As I waited outside the emergency room, I nervously called Ezra’s number.

“Vera and I were in a car accident.”

The person on the other side heard and quickly responded.

“Which hospital? I will come right away.”

After giving him the hospital’s address, a long time passed, yet he still did not appear.

I called his phone again. This time, his voice sounded very irritated.

“Evie, just to make me return, you would even say something like this about your daughter? Have you no shame?”