###2

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he parted his lips to explain.

But I no longer looked at those feigned gentle brows and eyes. I simply turned and walked into the room.

“Last night, Alyssa’s house didn’t have water, so she came here to take a shower,” Elio followed me into the bathroom in long strides. Staring at my thin back, he added, as if to make up for everything, “Didn’t you say you wanted to go shopping? I’ll take you to pick out a few new outfits.”

But then my gaze fell on his toothbrush cup, and I froze. There was an extra toothbrush resting inside.

Elio had severe OCD. He once refused to speak to me for two whole days because I’d accidentally touched his towel.

Yet now that Alyssa had returned, she shared his toothbrush cup. They even had a matching couple of toothbrushes.

My hand began to tremble. The comb slipped from my grasp and clattered onto the floor.

Clutching my aching chest, I bent down to pick it up. When I straightened, Elio had already hurried out.

“There’s something urgent at the company. I’ll go shopping with you another time.”

As his figure quickly disappeared, I began gathering every gift he had ever given me and packed them all into a box.

Dragging the box into the hallway, I suddenly heard the maids downstairs whispering.

“So it’s true? Young Master really plans to divorce Abigail and be with his adopted sister, Alyssa?”

“Of course! Didn’t you see it last night? Miss Alyssa just dirtied her skirt from her period, and Young Master carried her into the bedroom like a princess, right in front of his parents!”

“All those gifts Young Master gave Abigail over the years were actually based on Miss Alyssa’s tastes. And only that fool Abigail cherished them like they were something precious.”

The box slipped from my hands and crashed to the floor, expensive gifts scattering and shattering in all directions.

The noise swallowed every whisper in the house.

I squatted down, silently picking up those things that had never truly belonged to me, and threw them all into the storage room without a word.

By 8 p.m., I was sitting on the steps outside the house, wiping dust off a photo of my late mother.

Suddenly, a delicate piece of Black Forest cake landed in my lap.

Elio’s arms reached around from behind, encircling my waist.

“It’s so cold out here. Why aren’t you inside?”

I stared blankly at the cake in my lap. His warm breath drifted against my ear.

“You girls like desserts, don’t you?”

I had always loved sweets. When we first married, I once told Elio I wanted dessert.

He had sneered in disgust. “Do you just want to eat carelessly, ruin your figure, and disgrace the family’s image? Don’t forget, you’re representing more than yourself now.”

For five years of marriage, just to please him, I gave up every dessert and all the food I loved most.

Now, he was the one handing me the cake.

Seeing I didn’t move, he frowned. “Didn’t you keep pestering me about wanting dessert before?”

I looked up with a blank expression. “It’s too late. I can’t digest it now.”

After a long pause, Elio scoffed coldly and turned away. “I’m going for a run.”

Over half an hour later, I saw a new Instagram post from Alyssa.

[Just because I said I wanted something sweet, a certain big idiot bought every famous dessert in the city. Are you trying to turn me from a spicy little hottie into a chubby pig? But since you’re taking me abroad to have fun, I’ll forgive you.]

In the photo, Elio was carefully placing a mountain of little cakes in front of her.

I silently turned off my phone and began packing my luggage.

It wasn’t until deep into the night that Elio finally came home.

The moment he stepped into the bedroom, a cloying unfamiliar perfume clung to the air, making me nauseous.

His gaze fell on the drawers I had emptied, and his brows drew together.

“I’m going abroad for business soon. If there’s anything you want, send it to me.”

I sank into the pillow, turning my back on him. “No need. There’s nothing I want.”

Only four days left. The only thing I wanted was to leave him.

Annoyed, he threw his suit onto the floor and growled at the back of my head. “Abigail, are you done sulking? Just because breakfast didn’t suit your taste, you’re giving me the cold shoulder over something so trivial?”

Before I could answer, he sneered again. “Who do you think you are? Don’t forget your place. Without me, do you think you’d be living like this?”

With that, he slammed the door and disappeared into the guest room.

In the past, every time he lost his temper, it was always me who tiptoed around afterward, humbly trying to please him and beg for his forgiveness.

But now, I was utterly exhausted.

That night, Elio lay in the guest room, staring at the sliver of light under the door. But no matter how long he waited, the light never revealed the shadow of me coming to make peace.

I used to rise early every morning to prepare his breakfast.

But now, I no longer intended to.

The next morning, I woke up very late.

Elio stormed into the bedroom, his face dark as he shook me awake.

Agitated, he shoved his phone in front of me and barked. “Have this carved for me, a replica, before the afternoon the day after tomorrow!”

###3

That commanding tone, as if I were nothing more than his employee or some lowly servant.

Before marrying Elio, I had been a well-known student in the field of sculpture. I had already won several international awards while still in college.

Every year, on his parents’ birthdays, I would carve a pair of statues for them.

For our wedding anniversaries, I always crafted the most unique gifts with my own hands.

But this time, the design Elio showed me was of Alyssa’s favorite anime character.

I fell silent.

After a long moment, it was as if Elio finally sensed how unreasonable his demand was.

He mumbled, “Forget it.”

But I had already climbed out of bed, my lips pressed into a tight line. “I’ll go to my studio to start preparing now.”

Five years ago, if it hadn’t been for him, my father’s legal case would never have been resolved so smoothly.

And without the money for treatment, maybe my father wouldn’t have survived at all.

Once I finished this sculpture, I would consider us even.

As I walked away alone, Elio stood there in a daze and murmured, “Abigail.”

I turned back calmly. “What else do you need?”

“Nothing… Just be careful with your hands… don’t get hurt.”

Before turning around again, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.

If he truly understood what being hurt meant, I wouldn’t have been wounded so deeply and for so long.

On the way to the studio, I began deleting our entire history from my phone.

That was when I realized I had sent him 6,541 messages over the past five years.

He had replied only thirty times.

On the third night, I received a call from Elio.

“What are you doing?”

I was at a sculpture exhibition. My voice was indifferent. “Why? I already delivered the piece. Didn’t you receive it?”

His voice sounded soft, almost gentle. “No, I got it. It’s beautiful, really well done.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Um… for our fifth wedding anniversary, is there something you want?”

Before I could answer, Alyssa’s delicate voice drifted through the line.

“Even though everyone says Sister Abigail and I look alike, you can make such beautiful sculptures, while I can’t do anything. No wonder brother Elio won’t let me lift a finger. Even when I drink, he insists on feeding me himself.”

Elio suddenly raised his voice, cutting her off. “That’s enough. I’m hanging up.”

The next moment, all I heard was the cold, mechanical dial tone.

Two minutes later, he sent me a location pin. [Bring a pack of sanitary pads for Alyssa.]

When I arrived at the hotel pool, Elio was holding Alyssa’s hand, patiently teaching her how to swim.

The instant my footsteps reached the edge of the water, his brows knitted tightly. “What are you doing here?”

Alyssa leaned against his chest, her eyes misting over in the rippling blue. “I’m sorry, brother Elio. I just ran out and lied to Sister so she’d bring them for me.”

Elio’s expression softened at once, and he gently pulled her from the pool.

He ran his fingers through Alyssa’s wet black hair and softly asked if she was feeling unwell.

I tossed the sanitary pads into his arms. “I’ll be going now.”

Seeing my calm and unbothered face, Elio actually looked a little agitated. “Abigail, don’t you have anything else to say to me?”

I looked at him in confusion. “What do you want me to say?”

Watching how gentle he was with her made me jealous.

No. I wanted to congratulate him. He had finally gotten what he wanted.

Elio’s face grew even darker. Suddenly, he let go of Alyssa and reached his hand toward me.

I stepped aside to avoid his touch. As he stared at me in stunned silence, I turned and walked away from the pool with long strides.

Just as I stepped into the hallway, I heard a voice calling after me from behind.

###4

I turned around. Alyssa had chased after me.

“You probably don’t know yet… I’m already pregnant with brother Elio’s child.”

She ran her hand over her still-flat belly with a smug little smile. I lowered my gaze.

“Then congratulations.”

She grinned, her face glowing with arrogant triumph.

“Even though everyone says you look like me, seeing how pathetic you are really puts me at ease. How could brother Elio ever fall in love with someone as hideous as you? Now that the real one is back, shouldn’t a fake like you obediently step aside?”

“If you want him, you can have him.”

I let out the stale breath lodged in my chest and turned to leave without another glance.

But just then, she seemed to notice footsteps behind us. She seized my wrist and shoved herself against my shoulder.

The next moment, she collapsed to the ground.

“Alyssa!” Elio rushed over, his face twisted with worry as he scooped up the weeping Alyssa.

“She… she only came to thank me, but she blamed me for stealing brother Elio and told me to die… then pushed me down…”

Elio’s eyes went bloodshot. He didn’t even give me a chance to explain.

“You’ve gone too far, Abigail! How could you bully such a pure, innocent girl?!”

He brushed past me, clutching her in his arms as he hurried to the hospital.

I sank to the ground, my fingers, already torn from my carving tools, splitting open again, pain cutting straight to the bone.

When I returned home alone, I packed my things in silence. Just as I finished, I got a call from Bruce.

“Ready? I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.”

I wiped the dryness from my eyes.

“Yeah. I’m ready.”

No sooner had I hung up than Elio’s suspicious voice sounded behind me.

“What are you getting ready for?”

I calmly put my phone away and lied without hesitation.

“I’m preparing to start a new project.”

Hearing that, Elio didn’t question me further. Instead, he shifted the topic.

“Why did you throw all the gifts I gave you into the storage room? If it’s because you’re upset I scolded you earlier, there’s no need. The doctor had already checked, and Alyssa wasn’t hurt. I’m not blaming you.”

He had seen the things I hadn’t managed to throw out yet.

Those gifts, once precious treasures to me, had lost all meaning now that I had decided to leave.

I said lightly, “I’m not mad. The house was just getting cluttered, so I did a bit of cleaning.”

Sensing how strangely distant I sounded, Elio froze halfway through changing his clothes.

“Abigail, didn’t you always want to see a meteor shower? There’s a once-in-a-century meteor shower tomorrow night. Let’s watch it together to celebrate our fifth anniversary.”

To watch a meteor shower with the one I loved, to make a wish beneath a sky of falling stars, once had been my most romantic dream.

But when the shooting stars finally streaked across the night, my heart felt empty.

I yawned again and again. Elio noticed and frowned.

“Why aren’t you making a wish? Wasn’t this the kind of ritual you always dreamed about?”

“I already did,” I replied blandly.

Even when he fastened my favorite Patek Philippe watch around my wrist, I only forced a thin smile.

“That’s extravagant.”

Sensing my cold, perfunctory tone again, his eyes narrowed. Just as he was about to speak, his phone vibrated.

He stood without a word and walked away.

He never came back, even after the meteor shower faded and the sky sank into silent darkness.

I was about to go look for him when I spotted two familiar figures near a car in the distance.

Alyssa clung to Elio, her legs wrapped around his waist as she playfully tried to tie a cherry stem knot with her tongue.

Elio held her thighs, lips parted, indulging her every move.

When he finally noticed me approaching, his expression turned cold, a flicker of regret flashing in his eyes as he pulled his tongue away from Alyssa’s mouth.

“What’s wrong, brother Elio?”

A few seconds later, Alyssa, looking dazed and flushed, finally seemed to notice me. She blushed and lowered her gaze shyly.

“Sister Abigail, please don’t be angry with brother Elio. It’s all my fault…I was just curious about trying the cherry stem knot with him…”

Elio gently set her down, his voice especially tender.

“It was just a game. No need to apologize.”

Then he looked at me, smoothed the wrinkles from his collar, and said calmly, “Let’s go home.”

Before I could utter a word, the ground suddenly trembled, a violent quake sending everyone on the mountain scattering in panic.

Before I could react, Elio had already scooped Alyssa into his arms and dashed to the car.

Once again, he left me behind in danger.

Several minutes later, the earthquake subsided.

Elio’s car returned to the mountain.

He searched for a long time but found no sign of me, only a familiar wedding ring lying in the dirt beside a custom Patek Philippe watch.

Two hours later, I sat on the airport shuttle bus.

My phone kept ringing, Elio’s name flashing again and again across the screen.

Bruce dragged my suitcase behind him, his sharp features glinting with faint amusement.

“Not going to answer my nephew’s calls?”

I hung up without hesitation and typed, [The five-year contract is up. Happy divorce.]

As I sent the electronic divorce agreement, I removed my SIM card and snapped it clean in half.

Boarding Bruce’s private jet, I watched as the cabin door slowly closed.

Outside the window, a familiar figure was running toward me, desperation etched across his face.