###Chapter 1

“Does your offer still count? I’ve decided to join Centineo Law Firm.”

I stood quietly before the window, my fingers absentmindedly rubbing against the fabric of a neatly ironed men’s shirt.

“If you’re certain, I can grant you the title of partner. But what about Cody Partridge? Twenty-five years ago, you refused the lucrative offer of a New York law firm for his sake. And your children, don’t they oppose you leaving for abroad?”

At his calm inquiry through the headset, I gave a low, mocking laugh.

“Cody doesn’t care where I end up.”

If I disappeared, would Cody feel even the slightest sadness? No, I could already see the relief shining in his smile.

That night at the last family gathering, when I placed the divorce papers in front of him, he didn’t so much as lift his eyes. He signed immediately, then drove off into the endless darkness.

It was then I finally understood: no matter how much youth I had wasted, no matter how much I had sacrificed, until the day I died, I could never melt a heart that had never belonged to me.

The children I had raised with my own hands could hardly wait for me to step down as his wife and hand it to the woman they called Aunt.

There was a pause, then the calm male voice came again through. “Then, in ten days, at the law firm’s anniversary banquet, you may attend.”

Ten days later, the exact day the divorce agreement would come into effect.

“Fine. I will attend on time.”

The evening sun slanted across the bedroom, trapping my shadow on the floor, long and unmoving.

“Attend? Where exactly are you going?”

The cold question struck from behind. Turning, I saw Cody standing at the door, suspicion written in his gaze.

Even at fifty, he remained tall, handsome, his figure carrying an air of unshakable dominance.

“Ester’s kindergarten will hold an event soon, and our son asked me to attend in his place.”

I lifted my lips into a faint smile, quickly ended the call, picked up Cody’s suit jacket, and knelt to change his shoes, my movements so familiar, they felt like the silent routine of a lifetime.

The last trace of evening glow disappeared, and the room fell into heavy silence.

Cody loosened his tie and opened his mouth a few times before finally speaking. “By the way, what were those papers you asked me to sign?”

“It was your 50th birthday gift.”

Ten days later, you realized it was the greatest surprise I had given you, freeing me to a new future, and freeing you to half a lifetime of release.

1

Hearing my words, Cody gave a faint nod. “Then I look forward to unwrapping the gift.”

“Okay.”

Since the night he signed the divorce papers, Cody had not returned home for ten days. When he saw me lower my head to massage his feet, a flicker of guilt passed through his eyes, and the stern lines of his brows softened.

“Karina, the company has been too busy lately. Tonight, I’ll stay with you…”

His long arms pulled me into his embrace, his warm breath wrapping around me in an instant.

I knew it was a lie; these days, he had been drowning in another woman’s tenderness, yet when his lips brushed against my neck, the hand that wanted to push him away only clutched his shirt tighter, unwilling to let go of that fleeting warmth.

At that moment, a distinct ringtone suddenly cut through the air.

It was the exclusive tone Cody had set for my cousin, Freya Dalton, who was five years older than I was.

“Don’t answer.” My pleading gaze met his, but the warmth of his embrace vanished in an instant.

My heart turned cold.

“Cody, my angina is acting up again… I feel so terrible…”

By mistake, Cody had pressed the speakerphone, and Freya’s frail voice spilled into the room.

His grip tightened around the phone as he cursed impatiently. “Do you know what time it is?! If you’re sick, then go to the hospital. I told you, don’t disturb my life again.”

A heavy silence followed before Freya’s choked voice returned, laced with tears. “Cody, I know you hate me for leaving you back then. If you don’t want to see me, then I’ll go and die.”

“Don’t you dare! Freya!”

The words burst from his teeth, his voice raw and unfamiliar. For twenty years, since taking charge of the family, Cody had always been calm, composed, untouchable. Never once had I seen him lose control like this, for anyone.

“Stay home and behave. I’m coming over right now.”

He ended the call in a rush, grabbed his jacket, and bolted for the door.

Only when he reached the stairway did he pause, turning back with a flicker of guilt in his eyes. “Freya’s illness can’t be delayed. I’ll take her to the hospital first.”

Before his words had even faded, he was already gone around the corner.

I stood frozen, staring into the thickening night, until tears finally slipped free, mingling with the hollow sound of my silent laughter.

Twenty-five years ago, the second young master of the family, Cody, had announced his engagement. But the very next day, his fiancée Freya vanished without a trace.

Cody went mad, pouring every resource into searching for her. A month later, he learned Freya had fled to South Africa in pursuit of freedom.

That night, drunk and reckless, he barged into my home, pressing me hard against the wall.

“Didn’t you want to marry me? Then marry me tomorrow!”

Even knowing he married me only to spite Freya, when his lips touched mine, I, who had secretly loved him since childhood, was still overjoyed.

I believed that as long as I gave him my true heart, one day Cody would finally fall in love with me.

So, I gave up my career and became a housewife who went unnoticed.

He disliked strangers in the house, so I dismissed the servants and shouldered every chore myself.

He was particular about food, so I rose early each day to prepare his breakfast.

When he returned drunk from social gatherings, even on stormy nights, I went out personally to bring him home.

I managed everything for him and raised our two children.

Gradually, he began to hold me gently as we watched the stars from the terrace. On special days, he would choose gifts with care. In winter, he pressed his warmth against my cold hands and feet.

From my twenty-fourth year until I was forty-nine, I thought that was happiness.

But just over two months ago, Freya returned from South Africa. Cody grew furious, restless, yet soon enough, he returned to her side.

A stolen love, in the end, was nothing but a fleeting dream.

I picked up my phone and booked a plane ticket for ten days later.

###Chapter 2

By morning, Cody still had not come home. It wasn’t until the afternoon that his call arrived.

“A last-minute business trip. I won’t be back for the next two days. What gift do you want? I’ll bring it for you.”

At the same time, a message flashed across the tablet on the coffee table.

[I didn’t expect that after so many years, Cody still only has me in his heart. Last night he almost broke my waist. Didn’t you satisfy him at all? Do you need a cousin to teach you a few skills?]

With a flick of my finger, the photos Freya sent filled the screen.

By the pool at Oregon Suites, her makeup was flawless, her swimsuit clung to fiery curves, her wheat-colored skin glowing with sultry allure.

In each photo, a man’s broad back or slender hands appeared, never fully shown, but unmistakable.

My gaze drifted instinctively to the mirror, reflecting a woman, thin, worn, a shell of herself. My hands, once delicate, were rough and calloused from twenty-five years of housework.

She was my cousin, yet looked like a younger sister, ten years younger. Of course, he would choose her. They were the perfect match.

I lowered my eyes and said faintly into the phone, “You go on, I don’t want anything.”

After hanging up, I pulled out the long, customized dress I had buried away for years.

My friend Anne Raven knew I was about to leave, so she invited me to meet at a hot spring club.

I applied lipstick for the first time in so long, when behind me came a child’s mocking voice. “Wow, Grandma, you look like a clown in the circus!”

Ester, holding a doll, jumped onto the sofa.

At the sound, my son Carlos Partridge came out, his glance sharp as his words.“Mom, that dress looks ridiculous on you. At your age, what are you dressing up for?”

My hand, frozen in mid-adjustment of the dress, trembled, and my heart felt as though cut by a blade.

Then a dirty baseball uniform was thrown at my feet.

“The community game is the day after tomorrow. I need to wear this. Hurry and wash it today.”

I stood there coldly while he sat on the sofa, flipping through a magazine and snorting through his nose.

“I know you envy Aunt Freya, but no matter how you dress up, you’re nothing more than a pale imitation. If you want to win Dad’s heart, then just do your duties well. Don’t humiliate yourself.”

A sharp bitterness rose in my chest. They all knew of Freya’s secret with their father. Not only did they not care, they welcomed it. They even hoped she would take my place, stepping into their so-called happy family.

And I, trapped in that villa like a prisoner, was nothing more than a lowly maid, a ghost of a presence, serving them endlessly until death claimed me.

But twenty-five years had been more than enough.

“I don’t have time. Wash it yourself.”

I threw the baseball uniform back without hesitation, ignoring Carlos’s stunned look, then slung my bag over my shoulder and left.

As soon as I entered the hot spring club where I was to meet Anne, my gaze unexpectedly landed on Freya across the way.

She was dead drunk, collapsed against the arms of a young blond man, her lips curving into a teasing smile as she hooked her arms around his neck.

“Hi, handsome, do you have a girlfriend?”

A beautiful woman, still glowing with charm, flinging herself at him, the man blushed at once.

And the one who was supposed to be on a business trip, Cody, appeared with a face like thunder, dragging Freya out of the man’s arms.

“Freya, are you insane? Do you even know what you’re doing?”

Freya shoved him off, her drunken eyes reddened as she roared, “Who are you to me, Cody? Whoever I want to be with, what business is it of yours?”

When she stumbled forward, nearly leaving with another man, Cody didn’t think; he just pulled her back into his embrace.

His voice, ragged and low, spilled out as he cried her name again and again, “Freya… what the hell do you want me to do?”

Freya pushed against him, sobbing bitterly. “You told me to go; you were the one who cast me aside! Don’t interfere with me now!”

“I will!” Cody’s embrace only grew firmer, his eyes brimming with pain. “I want no one but you!”

The scene blurred before my eyes, my body trembling helplessly like a leaf in the wind.

###Chapter 3

Beside me, Anne ground her teeth, spitting out, “Damn it, I’ll help you kill that pair of dogs!”

“Forget it…”

I swallowed the tearing pain in my chest, forcing a bitter smile as I caught her fist. “Very soon, I won’t have anything to do with him anymore.”

While we soaked in the hot spring, Anne suddenly brought out a birthday cake.

“The day after tomorrow is your birthday. I thought you’d want to celebrate with your family, so I prepared it in advance.”

When she urged me to make a wish, I suddenly realized that my birthday was near. Every year, Cody had quietly prepared a birthday surprise for me. And this year?

Clutching onto an expectation I shouldn’t have, my birthday arrived in the blink of an eye.

That morning, as I went downstairs, I saw workers carrying several delicate boxes inside.

My son, Carlos, walked in front, giving instructions. "These were bought at a high price. They’re for tonight’s banquet, handle with care.”

My nose stung. So they did remember.

In the yard, Cody stepped out of a black sedan. He halted in front of me, hesitated for a moment, then said slowly, “Freya lives alone outside with no one to care for her, so I’ll bring her here to stay for a while.”

From the corner of my eye, Freya’s luxurious heels touched the ground. The smile I had not even managed to form froze at the corners of my lips.

A chill coursed through my body, and into my ears came Carlos’s voice. “To celebrate Aunt Freya’s photography award, Dad invited some guests tonight to hold a banquet for her.”

It had all been me being self-indulgent.

Things that never belonged to me, foolish fantasies, in the end, were never meant to be awaited.

I forced out a hum, swallowing back the tears that threatened to escape.

“I still have something to do, I’ll go back to my room first.”

Rushing into my room, I began packing my luggage in haste. Not another moment could I bear to stay.

The echo of high heels closed in; Freya’s voice carried arrogance and provocation.

“Karina Hawke, all these years you shamelessly clung to Cody, cherishing the trash I once discarded.”

“Oh, isn’t this the photo I threw away in high school? How did he pick it up and even print it to hang on the wall?”

“This vase wasn’t it the one we made while traveling? Our names carved beneath it—thirty years, and he still couldn’t let it go.”

“Oh my, this watch, just a twenty-dollar roadside trinket I once gave him, and he preserved it in a crystal box!”

Freya lifted her hand to her mouth, deliberately letting out a loud, mocking gasp.

I remembered, when we had first married, asking Cody where these things had come from.

“They were gifts from my parents, so I kept them.”

I had believed him. But now, that complicated look in his eyes resurfaced in my memory. What had it hidden?

It was love for her carved deep into his bones, a lifetime’s unwillingness, a desire forever out of reach.

I swallowed the bitterness in my throat, so be it. At least I no longer needed to pretend, to hope that the one who never loved me might one day look back.

A sharp pain twisted my stomach, and I collapsed, curling on the floor. The medicine box was on the bedside table; I reached for it, but Freya’s hand blocked my way.

Her voice lowered, venom dripping through my veins.

“Let me tell you, I never loved Cody.”

“Then why do you hold onto him? Why destroy my family?!” My trembling voice broke through the agony as I questioned her.

"Because I simply couldn’t bear to see you doing well. I enjoyed toying with these lapdogs in my grasp, watching Cody kneel at my feet."

"For twenty-five years, Cody hadn’t forgotten you for even a single day, yet you mocked his devotion, are you still human!?"

As rage burned in my eyes, she burst into bright laughter, her tone flaunting every word.

"What? Jealous of me? That’s right, even someone as proud as Cody spoiled me alone. Believe me, he would do even more for me."

Before I could stop her, she seized my medicine and hurled it out the window.