When Josephine returned home, she saw Roderick and Katie. They were sitting side by side on the sofa chatting in low voices to each other. 

Upon seeing Josephine, Roderick's face instantly darkened. Katie, on the other hand, her eyes were red. And she scrambled to stand up from the sofa with her arms tightly around her child.

“Josephine, don't be angry. I'll stay far away from Roderick. Please, don't ever hurt my child again. He's still so young and innocent. If you have any grievances, you can just come to me!”

Josephine snorted lightly, “Katie if you used your acting skills to frame me in a movie, you might even win a Best Actress award this year.”

Roderick finally could no longer stay seated. He stood in front of Katie to block her.

“Josephine, apologize to Katie right now! It was your fault to snatch the child. Katie is magnanimous and doesn't hold a grudge. Yet you still dare to slander her?”

Josephine's gaze landed on Roderick's face. He suddenly felt utterly absurd. He actually believed Katie's words and believed that she would harm an innocent child.

After knowing her for so many years, was she so ruthless and heartless in his eyes? Katie poked her head out behind Roderick and smiled faintly at Josephine, full of provocation and complacency.

Josephine coldly lowered her face. “I will never apologize. I won’t admit to something I didn’t do.”

Roderick pinched his eyebrows. His face filled with impatience. 

“If you didn't do it, how did the child end up in your hands? Look at his face, it's still swollen even now. Josephine, when did you become so cruel like this?”

“In order to not get divorced and do this kind of unethical thing. Aren't you afraid that retribution will come to your own child?”

“Shut up!” 

Josephine's eyes nearly blazed with anger. For the sake of Katie's child, Roderick dared to curse the child in her womb. He was not worthy of being the father of her child.

“Early tomorrow morning, see you at the City Hall.”

Josephine turned around and went upstairs. And in a short while, she walked out with her suitcase. Roderick grabbed her hand. His expression changed slightly. 

“Where are you going?”

Josephine shook off his hand. “I’m moving out so that if anything happens later, you can’t blame it on me again.”

“Josephine Marchand!” 

Roderick said angrily, “You want to threaten me with running away from home?”

“Think whatever you want, but don’t forget to go to the City Hall tomorrow.”

Roderick darkened his face. “Okay, don't you regret it?  Since you're so stubborn, don't come begging me when you want to remarry.”

“Josephine, remember this, I'm not obligated to you. The day you don't apologize to Katie, the day I won't forgive you.”

Josephine was too lazy to pay attention to him and left without looking back.

***

The next morning, Josephine waited at the entrance of the City Hall for an hour before Roderick finally arrived.

“You are late.”

He frowned as he walked in front of Josephine. “Are you so impatient?”

“What else can I do?”

Roderick walked into the City Hall with a cold expression and said nothing.  Twenty minutes later, the two successfully obtained their freshly issued divorce certificate.

“Josephine, if you realize your mistake, apologize to Katie. And by the way, help take care of the children at home. Otherwise, I will never agree to remarry.”

Before Josephine could reply, the phone rang.

“Josephine, the divorce procedures are done, right? Three days from now, you will attend a birthday banquet on behalf of your father. And then I’ll send a car to take you to the airport.”

Josephine nodded. “Yeah, everything is done. Then I'll go straight back in three days.”

Roderick snapped his head up to stare at her. “Where are you going back to? You haven't apologized to Katie yet. You're not allowed to go anywhere!”

Josephine found it funny. “We are already divorced. What does it matter to you where I go?”

“It's up to you, Josephine. In three days, I’ll be getting married to Katie. You can come or not!”

After saying that, he opened the car door straight away, ready to drive away. Meanwhile, Katie sat in the passenger seat. She smiled provocatively at Josephine.

She used her lips to speak silently, “You lost. Roderick is mine now.”

Katie didn't know that Josephine didn't want Roderick a long time ago. A man who had been tainted like him, she would never look back to pick him up again.

After leaving the City Hall, Josephine went to the investment company. This company was specifically set up by her for Roderick.

Borrowing the background of the Marchand Family, she slowly pushed Roderick into the public eye. It could be said that Roderick's current achievements were entirely due to Josephine's efforts.

In order not to put Roderick under pressure, Josephine had never revealed this matter. She just didn't expect that Roderick would betray her and get mixed up with Katie just after he had stabilized his position at the top of the stream.

Since they had already divorced, she naturally would no longer provide financial support, connections, or resources. For specific matters, she explained that her secretary would help her to do it on her behalf.

“Mrs. Girault, regarding the withdrawal of investment and shares, when would you like me to discuss this with Mr. Girault?”

“Let's do it after Roderick and Katie’s wedding. This wedding gift, I hope Roderick likes it.”

Josephine recalled what Roderick had just said. He told her not to regret it, that he didn’t need her. She wanted to see if he would regret it without her.  

Josephine's cell phone rang. It was a WhatsApp message from Katie. She sent a photo.

Wearing a lace camisole, Katie was lying in Roderick's arms. Her hair was messy with clear signs of intimacy. It looked like they had just finished. 

Josephine couldn't help but frown. The lace garter on Katie looked familiar as if it was hers. In the next second, Katie confirmed her suspicion.

Katie: [Josephine, the pyjamas you picked out are nice, the bed is nice and of course, the man is even nicer. But from now on, all of this belongs to me.]

Josephine snorted derisively, blocked Katie’s number and called a few more bodyguards to go home with her.

Just as she entered the door, she saw Roderick. He had a determined look on his face.

“Do you know you're wrong? Katie just left out. Wait for her to come back and you apologize properly.”

“I have no intention of doing that.” 

Josephine pointed to the bodyguards behind her and ordered, “It's just moving house. Don't get carried away.”

Roderick's face turned a few more points colder. “Fine, go ahead and move. Don't ever come back if you have the guts.”

He walked straight out the door without looking back. The sound of the door closing completely drowned out Josephine's voice.

“I won’t be coming back.”

She directed the bodyguards to move things around. The clothes, shoes and bags in the closet, the jewellery and cosmetics from the vanity table and pots, pans and utensils from the kitchen, everything that could be taken were packed up and carried away.  

Everything else that was inconvenient to take, Josephine smashed to pieces. Finally, she looked at the wedding photo on the wall.

Josephine tore down the half that had her in it. One by one, the pieces scattered across the floor.  

Roderick came back and only saw a mess. Katie carried the child through the door and was shocked by the miserable state of the house.

“Roderick, what's going on in the house?”

Roderick gritted his teeth. “It must be Josephine's doing.”

“Roderick, I'm sorry. It’s all my fault for interfering with your relationship with Josephine. Why don't we not get married? And after the wedding is over, you can remarry her.’

“I'm afraid that Josephine will be too angry and won't be able to think of coming to hurt my child again.”

Roderick heartbreakingly hugs her. “Don't be afraid, I will protect you. If I said I would get married to you, I would definitely go. We'll go as soon as the wedding is over, okay?”

“But what about Josephine?”

“It's fine. It'll be fine when she's done throwing a tantrum. She loves me so much, she wouldn't want to leave me.”

Roderick gently raised his eyebrows, as if everything was under control. He waited for two days, but never received an apology from Josephine.

For two whole days, there was no sign of her. He opened his cell phone and looked again and again. But Josephine actually didn't even send him a message this time.

It was too abnormal. Roderick was vaguely uneasy inwardly, but quickly put it down again. In Josephine’s age now, it was impossible to find a man with better conditions than him. He believed she would never leave him.

On the way to the birthday party, Josephine received some WhatsApp messages from Roderick.

Roderick: [Katie said you blocked her number. Josephine. How long are you going to keep acting this way?]

Roderick: [At twelve noon, Katie and I are going to hold a wedding ceremony. If you still want to remarry, come to the wedding venue and apologize to Katie. I'm warning you, this is the last chance I'm giving you.]

A few minutes later, he sent two more messages.

Roderick: [Josephine, you really disappoint me too much. It's obvious that you were the one who was wrong in the first place, why do you just refuse to apologize?]

Roderick: [The wedding is about to start. Hurry up and come over! Katie is still waiting for you. She said she would forgive you as long as you apologize.]

Looking at the constantly refreshing chat box, Josephine felt annoyed and decided to block him as well.

Not long after blocking him, Roderick switched to texting again and sent it over.

Roderick: [Josephine, you have gotten bold. Do you even dare to block me too? If you keep this up, I really won’t tolerate it anymore! I'll give you one last chance, add me back and come over immediately to apologize, or else don’t even think about me agreeing to remarry you.]

Josephine was speechless to the extreme, so she decisively blocked all of Roderick's social media accounts to regain some peace to herself.

After the birthday banquet ended, she was about to get into the car to leave when she happened to run into Roderick and Katie.

Roderick’s face was so dark that it could drip ink. “Josephine, it's really you! Since you're here, why don't you find Katie and apologize?”

“Roderick, don't be angry. I think it must be because there were too many people at the wedding and Josephine was embarrassed.”

Josephine only then realized that their wedding and birthday party were held at the same hotel.

“Don't think too much. I came to attend the birthday banquet. And it has nothing to do with you guys at all.”

Roderick sighed helplessly. “Josephine, don't be tough. Bernard's birthday banquet only invited friends. How could you possibly get in?”

“Forget it, Josephine. I don't need you to apologize. Roderick is just afraid that public opinion will affect me and my child, so he was kind enough to help us. If you really mind, hit me and scold me all you want. Please don't hurt my child anymore, okay?”

Katie suddenly knelt down, crying with tears streaming down her face. Roderick wrapped his arms around her.

“Katie, don't beg her. With me here, no one will dare to harm you and your child.”

“I've already said it's just a fake marriage. It's not like I don't want her. She’s so petty, insisting on causing trouble for no reason!”

Josephine was uncomfortable by their arguing. She felt a dull pain in her stomach. She irritably covered her stomach in annoyance. 

Her voice clearly impatient said, “Are you two done acting? If you're done, get out of my way. I don't have time to waste with you.”

After she said that she was about to get into her car and leave. However, Roderick couldn't guess what Josephine was thinking.

He tugged on her arm. “What exactly do you want to do here today?”

Josephine held up the accompanying gift in her hand. “Look at the name on it. Don't get your hopes up.”

Roderick's eyes widened in shock. “Do you really know Bernard?”

“Whether I know him or not is my business. What does it have to do with you? Don't forget, we're already divorced, okay?”

Josephine got into the car without looking back.

***

In the rearview mirror, Roderick grew smaller and smaller until he was just a blurry speck. Josephine lowered her head and tenderly touched her abdomen.

“Baby, let's go home.”

Watching the car drift away, Roderick felt a hollow emptiness in his heart, as if he had lost something forever. He used his assistant's WhatsApp to send a message to Josephine.

[Josephine, I know you're upset now, but Katie and I are only married in the name. After we get the certificate later, I will come back to accompany you and the child. You wait for me at home obediently.]

Josephine replied with a smile. [Roderick, I won't wait for you anymore.]

She turned off her phone and got on the plane without hesitation. Everything was over. From now on, she was going to run a brand new life.