From that moment on, Ethan seemed distracted.

When the fireworks ended, he finally couldn't hold back anymore. He grasped Isabella's hand apologetically.

"Bella, there's an emergency at the company. I have to go back. I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow, okay?"

Isabella looked up at him with an unreadable expression. "What kind of work is so urgent that you have to rush back from a yacht?"

Ethan stiffened slightly. "It's about some AI intellectual property issues. Only I can sign off on them. I promise I'll make it up to you—please don't be angry."

He kissed her forehead and hurried away.

Isabella walked to the deck and watched Ethan board a speedboat with staff members, roaring off into the darkness.

White foam split across the sea like her fractured heart.

An hour later, Isabella's phone suddenly rang.

It was Sophie.

Isabella hesitated for a moment, then understood immediately.

She debated for a second before answering, but the caller didn't speak. Instead, muffled voices came through—

"Professor! You actually came to celebrate my birthday! But... but today is Isabella's birthday too. Don't you need to be with her?"

"It's fine. She has lots of friends and family there, but you only have me, don't you?"

"Professor..."

The girl's moved sobs were suddenly muffled, then transformed into erotic moans...

Isabella finally couldn't take it anymore and hung up.

She thought she'd be devastated, but found she couldn't even cry.

Perhaps when disappointment reaches its peak, tears simply won't come.

She took a deep breath and dialed a number.

"Hello." As soon as the call connected, she spoke immediately. "Did you get all the photos?"

...

Ethan didn't come home that night.

The yacht was scheduled for a three-day, three-night cruise, but early the next morning, Isabella also took a speedboat back to shore.

When she got home, she found what she'd been waiting for in her mailbox.

It was an envelope full of photographs of Ethan and Sophie.

Kissing in a car, embracing in his office, even in the university library...

All taken by the private investigator Isabella had hired.

Even though she'd prepared herself mentally, Isabella's hands still trembled as she looked at the photos.

The frequency...

Almost every time Ethan said he had work and left, he was with Sophie...

Isabella slammed the envelope shut and went upstairs to retrieve a photo album from her safe.

This was her album with Ethan.

Being a photographer herself, Isabella had always loved documenting life's moments in pictures.

When she'd learned about her brain tumor, she'd been terrified of losing her memories of Ethan someday, so she'd collected all their photos together.

She'd hoped that even if she lost her memory, she could learn about their sweet past through these photographs.

But now...

Isabella's lips curved in a bitter smile as she unhesitatingly lit the photos with her lighter—

The first: Ethan carrying her on his back along the beach.

Because she'd said her father died young and no one had ever carried her, he'd carried her all night long.

The second: When she'd first been diagnosed and wanted to break up with Ethan.

But he'd deployed over ten thousand drones to spell out her name in the sky when he proposed.

The third: During her five-year coma, Ethan stood by her bed, carefully cleaning every inch of her skin.

For seven whole years, her life had been filled entirely with Ethan.

But now all those memories and beautiful moments were being consumed by flames, turning to ash...

After burning those photos, Isabella placed all the sordid pictures of Ethan and Sophie into the album instead.

She didn't want to remember the love that had turned rotten.

But this betrayal—she could never forget.

...

By the time she finished burning the photos, it was deep into the night.

Isabella fell into a restless sleep. After what felt like hours, her wrist was suddenly grabbed frantically.

She woke with a start to see Ethan's pale face in the darkness.

"Bella." His voice trembled uncontrollably. "You... you burned all our photos?"

Isabella froze, then noticed Ethan was holding a half-burned photograph.

Because there had been so many photos, by the time she reached the end, some hadn't burned completely before she tossed them in the trash.

She hadn't expected Ethan to find them.

However, the album containing Ethan and Sophie's photos was already locked away in her private safe where Ethan couldn't possibly see it.

"Yes."

She didn't deny it. Only then did Ethan truly panic, gripping her even tighter.

"Bella, didn't you say these photos were your most precious memories? Why did you burn them? Did I do something wrong?"

The usually composed and dignified man now looked like a child who'd made a mistake, almost ready to cry.

"If I did something wrong, tell me! I'll change everything!"

Isabella finally looked at him.

If she told him, would he leave Sophie?

If she told him, could his betrayals simply be wiped clean?

No.

So it was better not to say anything.

Better to forget everything completely.

So she said calmly, "Don't overthink it. I fell asleep looking at the album, and an aromatherapy candle caught it on fire. By the time I put it out, most of it was burned. The negatives are still intact anyway, so it's not a big deal."

The lie was almost laughably poor. There was no way someone with Ethan's intelligence would believe it.

"Bella, you..." He was about to speak when his phone suddenly buzzed.

He glanced down at the message, his expression changing, and immediately stood up.

"Bella, I need to take a call."

He hurried out to the balcony. Faintly, Isabella could hear fragments of conversation drifting in—

"What do you mean you haven't had it this month..."

"Did you actually test? Are you sure?"

Ethan's tone on the balcony was somewhat agitated, but Isabella had no interest in listening to what he was saying. She simply closed her eyes and smiled bitterly.

You see.

Even the most pathetic lies can succeed when the other person doesn't care.

...

Over the next few days, Ethan was restless and didn't even bother pursuing the matter of the photos.

Isabella couldn't be bothered to care, focusing instead on preparing for her upcoming memory loss.

That day, she went to the university to handle some paperwork. As she left the office, she ran into Sophie at the stairwell.

"Isabella!" Sophie looked delighted to see her. "What brings you here? Are you looking for Professor Cross?"

She affectionately linked arms with Isabella, but Isabella pulled away coldly.

"Ethan's not here either," she said flatly. "So there's no need to pretend anymore."

Sophie's phone call during her birthday had already shattered the pretense between the two women.

But Sophie still wouldn't admit it, only widening her eyes to look at Isabella with innocent alarm.

"Isabella, what are you talking about? Are you still angry about the auction when Professor Cross bid on my photo? I'm sorry, I'm sorry—I really didn't mean for that to happen... If you're still angry, you can hit me..."

She actually grabbed Isabella's hand and tried to make her hit herself.

Isabella thought she was completely unhinged and immediately pulled her hand back.

"What are you doing..."

But as she pulled away, Sophie suddenly cried "Ah!" and lost her balance, tumbling backward down the stairs.

"Sophie!"

An urgent shout came from behind. Isabella turned to see Ethan appearing at the end of the hallway.

He rushed down to scoop up Sophie from the floor, his face pale with worry.

"Sophie, are you okay? You’re…”

Before Ethan could finish his sentence, Sophie burst into tears.

"Professor!" She grabbed Ethan's hand, crying pitifully. "Why did Isabella push me... Does... does she really hate me that much?"

Sophie's outburst drew a crowd of onlookers.

Isabella's expression turned cold. "I didn't. She did it herself..."

She tried to explain, but before she could finish, Ethan had already swept Sophie into his arms.

"I'm taking you to the hospital first!"

He rushed off without sparing Isabella a single glance.

...

When Isabella arrived at the hospital, she saw the doctor speaking with Ethan.

"Don't worry, Mr. Cross. Miss Shaw is fine—she just needs some rest."

Ethan visibly relaxed. When he turned around, he saw Isabella.

He looked surprised and walked over to her gently.

"Bella, what are you doing here?"

Isabella got straight to the point, "I came to tell you that I didn't push Sophie just now. She framed me."

Isabella hadn't wanted to get entangled with Ethan and Sophie.

But she refused to take the blame for something she didn't do, so she came to clear her name.

Ethan's hand stiffened.

The next second, he said softly, "It's okay. I'll apologize to Sophie on your behalf, and we can put this behind us."

Ethan tried to take Isabella's hand and leave.

But Isabella wouldn't move.

She looked up at him in disbelief.

"Apologize? Why should you apologize? Ethan, didn't you hear what I just said? I didn't push Sophie! She deliberately—"

"Enough!"

Before Isabella could finish, Ethan cut her off, unable to contain himself any longer.

"Sophie isn't that kind of person!"

The last trace of color drained from Isabella's face.

"She's not that kind of person?" Her earlier attempt at explanation suddenly lost all strength. She smiled weakly, her voice trembling. "So Ethan, you think I am that kind of person?"

Seeing Isabella's pale face, Ethan felt like his heart had been stabbed.

He panicked instantly and grabbed her hand.

"Bella, that's not what I meant. It's just that Sophie couldn't possibly risk her own body to frame you at a time like this, because she..."

Ethan's words suddenly stopped short, and he changed direction.

"What I mean is, you definitely didn't do it on purpose. Maybe you didn't notice there were stairs behind Sophie, so..."

The more he explained, the more hollow his words sounded.

Even Ethan gradually couldn't continue. Finally, he could only look at Isabella and say almost wearily, "Bella, can we not talk about this anymore?"

Isabella looked up at him.

She suddenly remembered when she and Ethan were in high school together. Other students, jealous of her academic progress, had falsely accused her of cheating.

Ethan had believed her without question and even dragged everyone who had gossiped about her to apologize to her face.

She had thought that even if Ethan betrayed her, their years together would at least be worth mutual trust.

But now he wouldn't even trust her character.

Something inside her finally collapsed completely. She lowered her head and said quietly, "Fine."

Ethan seemed surprised that Isabella had given in so easily. After a moment of shock, he put his arms around her and spoke as if coaxing a child.

"I knew my Bella would be reasonable."

Reasonable?

Isabella smiled weakly.

She simply didn't want to explain anymore.

After all, explanations were for people who mattered.

And she had completely stopped caring about Ethan.

...

Over the next few days, Isabella began preparing divorce papers.

She sent the signed divorce agreement and all the photos the private investigator had taken to her lawyer.

The lawyer reassured her over the phone.

"Don't worry, Miss Winters. With these photos, the divorce is a sure thing. Even if you lose your memory, I'll handle everything properly for you."

Isabella nodded. "I'm counting on you for the divorce."

She hung up the phone, but when she looked up, she saw Ethan standing in the bedroom doorway.

He grabbed her hand, looking alarmed.

"Divorce? Isabella, who's getting divorced?"