On the day of our wedding anniversary, while Heath Curtis’s woman driver was taking me out, we got into a car crash.

The airbag on the passenger side didn’t work. My whole body was covered in blood, while she only got small scratches.

Heath only took five minutes to leave his meeting and rush over to the accident scene.

I cried and screamed, “Heath, I’m hurting so bad, save me...”

But without even pausing, he went straight to help Aurelia Suico. His face was full of worry as he told her, “Don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll bring you to the hospital right now!”

My hand was pinned down hard, and the pain spread across my entire body.

As I watched his cold back, I slowly shut my eyes in pain.

After I woke up, they told me the nerves in my right hand were hurt. My hand was permanently disabled, and painting no longer had anything to do with me.

I lost control. I broke down and shouted loudly, “Heath, why didn’t you save me?!”

He walked over to me, looking unconcerned, his voice calm.

“I’ll find someone to treat your hand. Stop making such a big deal out of this small thing.”

“I’ve owed her too much these past years. Right now, she only has me.”

At 17, you smiled and told me that one day I’d become the best painter.

But at 27, I could no longer paint, yet you still called it a small thing.

Tears ran down my face, and at that moment, my heart completely gave up.

“Dad, I’m willing to go to England and take over the Hamilton family business. I promise I’ll never come back to Avondale.”

From that day on, you and I never saw each other again, forever standing on opposite sides.

…..

1

By the time the ambulance took me to the hospital, my consciousness was already fading. The only thing left near my ears was nonstop shouting.

“Miss Hamilton, stay awake, you mustn’t sleep!”

“There are still people in this world who love you. If you’re gone, what will they do?”

My entire body hurt, and each breath only made the pain in my chest worse.

I painfully endured it and kept the last little bit of consciousness.

When I was pushed to the emergency room entrance, the nurse hurriedly asked, “Miss Hamilton, we contacted your husband already, but not one out of 99 calls went through.”

“Your condition is very serious right now. A family member must sign the surgery risk notice before the operation can begin. How can we reach him?”

I picked up the phone and tried calling his number.

Beep.

The call connected, and the nurse quickly spoke, “Mr. Curtis, your wife needs a signature for surgery. Please come to Starlight Medical.”

After hearing that, the man on the other side spoke with annoyance and anger.

“Kira, have you gone too far this time? I’m busy bringing Aurelia to the doctor. I don’t have time for your useless tricks.”

“You enjoy hiring people to put on acts so much. Instead of being a painter, go become a director and make movies!

Then the call ended.

A strange look appeared on the nurse’s face. She wanted to say something, but stopped herself.

The injuries on Aurelia’s body weren’t even worse than the wounds on my arm, yet he panicked so much that he completely lost control.

But his own wife was dying in the emergency room, and he didn’t even bother asking one question.

I still remember when I was 20. On the way to celebrate my birthday with me, we got chased by enemies and ended up in a car crash.

Back then, he held me tightly under him to protect me. Even after we reached the hospital, he ignored his own injuries and stayed busy taking care of me. Holding my hand, he kept saying, “Don’t forget me, Kira. I love you!”

Later, the doctor told me he already had temporary memory problems at that time. Loving me became his instinct, and he was scared he’d forget me.

Seven years later, love really did come with an ending sometimes, and feelings could also turn fake.

“I’ll sign it myself!”

I bit down hard and signed my own name.

When I was pushed into the operating room, my life was no longer under my control, and I wasn’t fully sure I’d wake up again.

After I woke up, my right hand felt weak. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t lift it.

The doctor looked at me with regret in his eyes and awkwardly said, “Mrs. Curtis, the heavy impact damaged the nerves. Your right hand is permanently disabled. We’re very sorry, we already did everything we could.”

Bang.

My mind went blank, and my whole body turned freezing cold.

Heath stood beside my bed, and Aurelia was there too.

I grabbed the lamp beside me with my left hand and threw it hard at them.

The man immediately stepped in front of her, and his forehead split open from the hit, blood running down.

“Kira, it’s only your right hand that’s disabled. There’s no need to argue over something this small.”

Yes, to him now, nothing mattered more than Aurelia.

I lost control, completely broke down, and shouted angrily.

“A small matter? I’m a painter! Don’t you understand what permanent damage to my right hand means?”

Seeing this, Aurelia walked up to me and acted like she wanted to kneel, her face full of sadness.

“It’s all because of me. Miss Hamilton, don’t blame Heath anymore. If you want to yell or hit someone, just take it out on me!”

Heath quickly pulled her into his arms. Ignoring everyone around us, he looked at me coldly and said, “That’s enough. You just can’t paint anymore. Without my help, your paintings are nothing but useless paper anyway.”

“If you want to throw a tantrum, then do it somewhere else.”

Those words hit my heart hard, and I felt like I could hear it breaking apart.

They were right. Giving my whole heart to watch a boy grow up was too stupid.

I looked at his back as he walked away, while tears blurred my eyes.

If a heart was never mine to keep, then I didn’t want it anymore.

I called my father’s number.

“Dad, I promise you. I’ll stay in England, take over the Hamilton family business, and never go back to Avondale.”

Heath, from now on, no matter how far you search, you’ll never find that honest heart that once loved you.

A month after leaving the hospital, I went back to the house that once belonged to both of us. The moment I stood by the door, my mind suddenly drifted away.

This private villa in Southville Bay had been planned by him little by little. It once stood for our love.

When I opened the door, I saw him crouching beside Aurelia, gently putting medicine on her ankle.

“Aurelia got hurt at work. She’ll stay here for now while she heals.”

He looked at me calmly as he spoke.

I walked past them without any expression. “Whatever.”

After hearing that, Heath’s hand froze for a second. He lifted his eyes toward me, confusion flashing across his face.

“If you’re bothered by it, I can…”

I cut him off before he finished.

“You’re thinking too much. Stay however you like.”

With a loud sound, he dropped the item in his hand, stepped toward me, and tightly grabbed my wrist.

The pain made tears gather in my eyes.

“What are you trying to do this time? Don’t think you can bully people again just because you have power.”

Only after seeing my tears did he quickly let go of my hand, shock showing on his face.

Aurelia slowly stood up while limping, quietly crying.

“Heath, I should go. I don’t want to cause problems between you and your wife. I can look after myself.”

Without saying anything else, Heath hurried over and pulled her into his arms.

His eyes were full of care as he softly comforted her. “Stay by my side and don’t go anywhere. I’ll take care of you.”

After saying that, he carried her upstairs.

I looked at his back and slowly remembered the past.

As the illegitimate son of the Curtis family, he spent the first eight years of his life in a broken alley, staying in an old house that leaked whenever it rained and often lost power. After he was brought back to the Curtis family, everyone mocked him for being poor and kept away from him.

When I was ten, I visited the Curtis family for the first time and saw him alone in the back garden, quietly hiding in the corner.

I smiled and pulled out a piece of candy from my pocket before giving it to him. “Big brother, I have candy for you. Come play with me!”

After that, he and I spent the best ten years of our lives together.

I stayed beside him as he slowly reached the top and took control of the Curtis family. Even after the Hamilton family moved to England, I still gave up the family fortune worth billions and chose to remain with him.

But love also came to an end. After finding out he cheated on me, I once completely lost control and kept asking him, “Why did you betray me? You’re the one who said you’d love me forever!”

What I got back was him climbing onto the windowsill and using his life to force me into a divorce.

“Kira, real love is the hardest thing to get in this world.”

“As long as I can’t stay with her, I’d rather die!”

“Let’s get a divorce. If you won’t agree, then I’ll jump!”

Back then, I didn’t believe he’d truly throw away his life for Aurelia, so I shouted at him angrily.

“If you’ve got the nerve, then jump!”

“If you really jump, then we’ll get a divorce.”

Bang.

Yes, he really jumped down.

After that, cheating became something mutually understood without being spoken about between us.

Whenever I was ill, he was with her, eating at an Italian restaurant.

During my birthday, he was in bed with her, staying close to her.

In the end, he even made her his personal driver so they could meet every day.

People all over Avondale mocked me for being foolish, but I simply loved him too much. Was that really a mistake?

But now, I don’t love him anymore.

That night, I called my lawyer friend.

“Cindy, help me make a divorce agreement. I want to divorce him.”

My friend’s relieved voice came from the other side of the call as she answered with a laugh.

“You finally came to your senses and decided to get rid of that garbage.”

“What plans do you have for dividing the property?”

Suddenly, a woman’s sweet voice came from upstairs. The two of them were so wrapped around each other that they didn’t even care that his legal wife was still downstairs.

My hand tightly curled into a fist, my nails digging hard into my palm.

“Based on the agreement Heath and I signed before marriage, all the property belongs to me. He leaves with nothing.”

Heath, you spoiled her while she destroyed everything I had. This is what you owe me.

After the call ended, a message suddenly appeared on my phone.

“Kira, Dad already asked people to speed up your immigration process. In one month, you’ll be able to get it.”

After one month, let’s completely leave everything in Avondale behind.

That night, I cleared away all my belongings and quietly left in the dark.

The next morning, Heath called me more than thirty times.

I answered calmly, but he was full of anger.

“Kira, where did you go?”

“What game are you playing now? Are you trying to run away from home again and hide at Grandma’s place to stir up trouble?”

I slowly let out a breath.

Back when Heath first cheated me, it wasn’t that I never thought of ways to fix it. I had gone to Grandma Cecile crying and making a fuss before.

She felt sorry for me, angrily scolded Heath, and even sent people to bring Aurelia back to the old residence for punishment once.

Ninety-nine family strikes, Heath blocked everyone for her. His body was covered with injuries as he lay in her arms, while the woman cried painfully.

He stared at me and said in a cold voice, “Kira, even if you complain, it won’t change anything.”

“If I don’t love you anymore, then I just don’t. Acting like this only makes me dislike you even more.”

That day, as I looked at his stubborn face, I suddenly laughed. That laugh carried comfort and freedom.

After that, Grandma Cecile kept giving Aurelia a hard time and scolding him again and again. He always thought it was because of me, but the truth was that she only felt too bad for me.

“You’re thinking too much. I just need some peace and quiet.”

After hearing that, the man finally calmed down a little and spoke without emotion.

“Go anywhere you want, but if you still try to hurt Aurelia, I won’t forgive you.”

The call ended. I carelessly threw the phone aside and dropped onto the bed.

I was extremely tired.

I stayed there blankly for the whole day, from morning until night, and I couldn’t even feel hungry.

Bang.

Someone suddenly kicked the bedroom door open, and I quickly sat up in fear.

Heath stormed inside in anger and roughly pulled me to my feet.

“Kira! So this is your idea of wanting peace? Paying people to post black PR articles?”

“The crash was already an accident, but you had people turn it into a story about the mistress trying to kill the legal wife, making Aurelia cut her wrists and try to kill herself!”

I couldn’t understand what he was talking about and quickly tried to explain.

“I stayed in the hotel the whole day. I didn’t do any of this.”

“Mr. Curtis can control all of Avondale, yet checking the truth is too hard for you? Instead, you’re making up lies for no reason?”

He tightly held my wrist, and his grip kept getting stronger.

After unlocking the phone, he raised it in front of me, and a news article appeared before my eyes.

[Mistress uses every trick to move up, purposely breaking traffic laws and causing a car crash?!]

The comments underneath looked even worse.

[Some mistresses should stop acting so shamelessly. The whole Avondale already knows how loving the Curtis couple is!]

[So disgusting, completely cheap and without morals, and she even tried to hurt people!]

[Someone like her should just die. Being a mistress isn’t enough, now she even wants to murder someone!]

A painful headache spread through my head, and I truly had no idea about any of these things.

“Heath, if I really planned to kill her, I wouldn’t choose such terrible methods.”

“I’d directly beat her in front of everyone.”

His anger had already confused his mind, and he couldn’t listen to my explanation anymore.

A moment later, his eyes stopped on the divorce agreement resting on the table. I said nothing.

Heath shoved my hand away and immediately stepped over to pick it up.

After looking through it for only a short moment, he violently tore the paper apart.

The veins on his forehead stood out, and his brows pressed tightly together as he shouted at me.

“Divorce? Kira, you really know what you’re doing, huh? After nearly killing Aurelia, now you want a divorce so you can run away?”

“Back then, your own family already gave up on you just so you could marry me. Without me, you’re nothing. You’re like an old broken shoe nobody wants anymore.”

Every word Heath said cut deeply into my heart again and again.

Everyone in Avondale knew the Hamilton family had worked in politics for generations. They hated business families the most, and there was no way they wanted their heir to marry into a merchant family.

Back then, I insisted on marrying him. Grandfather beat me until my body was covered in wounds, and I went through ten hours of emergency treatment before surviving.

In the end, Dad only left me with one sentence.

“Your grandfather and I will only give you this one chance.”

“Within ten years, if you want to return home, we’ll wait for you in England, but you must never come back to Avondale and completely cut ties with him.”

But now, all the things I gave up had become the cruel weapon he used to hurt me.

“Heath, back then, you were the one who asked me to get a divorce and let you two be together. Now I agree.”

“I’ll print another copy. Once you calm down, sign it.”

He stepped in front of me and grabbed my neck tightly, his eyes completely red.

His lips parted slightly, but before he could speak, a phone call stopped him.

“Aurelia woke up? I’m heading there now!”

He casually let go of me like throwing away garbage, and I heavily dropped onto the floor.

A warm liquid slowly ran down my body, while a severe pain spread through my lower stomach.

I reached out to touch it, and it was blood!

My face instantly lost all color, and I cried out in fear, “Heath, help me, I’m bleeding!”

His steps suddenly stopped, and he turned around to look at me.

After only a few seconds, an irritated look appeared on his face. “That’s enough! Just because you want to stop me from seeing Aurelia, now you’re pretending again!”

“It was only a fall. Are you really that weak? You didn’t even die in the car accident!”

After saying those words, he never looked back again and quickly left.

And I passed out in the blood.