When I woke up again, I was surrounded by private doctors.

"Mrs. Payne, you have a high fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. If we hadn't discovered you in time, you might’ve almost died." Their tone was urgent, but I remained calm.

I had almost died, huh?

"Hurry and inform Mr. Payne!" Alfred urged from the side.

I interrupted, my voice as soft as it could be, "No need. Mr. Payne is very busy right now. He doesn't like being disturbed, even if it's by me."

“Mrs. Payne...” Alfred sighed. "Mr. Payne is just seeking a bit of novelty for a while. Once he gets tired of her, he'll come back to you. After all, you two grew up together."

His tone was filled with regret because he had witnessed Atlas and me grow up from children into adults. He had witnessed both Atlas breaking his vows to me time and again, as well as us loving each other so much that we were willing to sacrifice our lives for the other.

However, all of this was in the past. Atlas had changed, and he no longer loved me. He was in love with someone else, and she was pregnant with his child. We did not have a future together, so it was time for me to let myself go.

After the medical staff left, I began to think about strategies to escape.

Atlas was powerful, with informants all over the world. No matter where I fled, he could easily find me. The only way to escape completely was to fake my death, and the best way to die was in a fire.

Atlas feared nothing except fire. Years ago, his mother died in a fire, leaving him with severe trauma. This was the only way he would not dare rescue me.

However, perhaps I was overthinking it, because Atlas might not come to rescue me regardless of the situation I was in.

After all, Jasmine could become Atlas' wife once I was gone.

With this in mind, I let out a long sigh and contacted a friend abroad, asking him to arrange a new identity for me in Buldaria.

Once I faked my death and escaped, I would go there to start a new life.

I transferred my assets and started packing, sending out some expensive items in advance. Halfway through packing, I realized I had very few belongings, most of which were gifts from Atlas. There were also things that held shared memories, such as a collection of love letters he wrote for me and photos of us from every Christmas.

I caressed the corner of his smile in the photo frame, my eyes stinging with tears. We were so deeply in love back then.

Atlas walked in just in time to see this. "What are you doing?"

I immediately put the photo frame back and whispered that I was fine.

Atlas paused, glanced at the frame, and a hint of guilt flashed in his eyes. He helped me to bed, touched my forehead, and spoke gently yet reproachfully. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

A gust of wind blew in from outside, sending the cheap perfume on him into my nostrils. It made me nauseous, so I brushed his hand away. "It's just a fever."

Atlas stared at his dangling hand, startled. I had never refused his touch before. "Are you mad at me?"

Hearing my silence, he chuckled and pulled an exquisite box from his bag. Inside was a necklace I had liked for a long time.

Atlas gently put it in my hand, whispering in my ear, "A belated apology. Naomi, I promise I'll be on time next time."

His eyes held a seriousness I had never seen before, but I knew there would be no next time.

Atlas sat by the hospital bed and chatted with me for a while. He was unusually patient, but I did not want to listen to him anymore.

Seemingly sensing my perfunctory attitude, Atlas did not say any more. He stood up, walked to the window, and lit a cigarette. "Naomi, Jasmine is pregnant."

The pungent smell of cigarette smoke spread through the room.

I did not expect him to say it so brazenly. "Yeah, I know."

Hearing my words, he seemed to forget to breathe. It was not until he choked slightly that he came to his senses. "You don't mind?"

"It would be useless even if I did, right?" I gave him a bitter smile.

Atlas was taken aback. He turned around, extinguished the cigarette butt, walked up to me, and gently cupped my face. "Naomi, don't get mad, and don’t act like I’m treating you badly. Don't worry! Once this child is born, I'll break up with her once and for all. We'll raise this child together."

Having said that, he lowered his head and kissed my lips. The kiss was aggressive, seemingly expressing dissatisfaction with my nonchalance.

I did not know how much time had passed before he let go.

Seeing my dazed look, he smirked in satisfaction. "But don't mention the wedding ceremony before she gives birth to the baby. It might complicate her pregnancy if she finds out."

He turned around and left, tossing a black card onto the table. "There's no spending limit on this card. Use it to have some fun next year. Consider it your compensation."

I heard the door close. I threw back the covers and went to the window to watch him disappear into the snowstorm with a red bag. He was heading toward a black car in the distance.

The car door opened, and a petite girl rushed out and threw herself into his arms.

Atlas immediately took off his coat and wrapped it around her, afraid she would get cold.

The pair looked as sweet as newlyweds.

I watched from the window for a long time, until the car lights disappeared into the distance, before turning back to my room. I turned my head to look at the oil lamp on the table. It was a small antique that Atlas had specially bought. I imagined it falling to the floor and bursting into flames.

While I was deep in thought, my friend from Buldaria, Felix Green, called. "Naomi, your new identity is registered, and the house has been purchased. I'll be waiting for you at the airport in two days."

I hummed in reply. "Thank you, Felix."

A silence fell across the other end of the line. He suddenly sighed. "Naomi, are you sure you're giving up on Atlas? There's no turning back after you leave. After this, Naomi Lindell will cease to exist."

"I really don't want him anymore." I sent him a screenshot of Jasmine's recent social media post.

The photo showed them sitting in an incredibly romantic restaurant. She raised her right hand as Atlas slowly put a diamond ring on her ring finger.

I realized then that Atlas had only returned to retrieve the diamond ring worth tens of millions of dollars.

Below the picture was a caption.

Jasmine: [This is the best day I've ever had. It’s been full of surprises after surprises!]

Seeing this, I smiled bitterly. Today was truly the worst day of my life.

"You saw it, didn’t you? It's not that I've given up on Atlas, it's that we don't want each other anymore."

Atlas came back a day later. This time, he brought Jasmine home.

As soon as she entered the door, she looked left and right. Her composed expression made it seem as if she were the mistress of the house. Seeing me, she smirked and caressed her flat belly. "Go pour me a glass of red wine."

Hearing her commanding tone, a chill flickered in my eyes.

Before I could respond, Atlas frowned. "Drinking while you're pregnant? Naomi, go pour Jasmine a glass of milk."

I simply could not believe my ears. My gaze fell on the oil lamp not far away as I slowly headed toward the kitchen.

Today was the last day I would be around, so I would let them do as they pleased.

Seeing me come out with milk, Atlas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why are you being so obedient?"

I ignored him and turned around to work on something else. Atlas could not help but glance at me a few more times. Finally, he could not help coming up to me. "I’m not comfortable with Jasmine carrying my child while living outside, so I'll let her stay at home for the year."

I said nothing.

He stopped pressing the matter and turned to instruct the housekeepers, "Put away all the dangerous things in the house. If Ms. Scott gets hurt even slightly, I won't spare you!"

The housekeepers put protective pads on every table corner and put the small oil lamp in the storage room. The storage room was the closest to my room, which was perfect.

Alfred could not help but remind, "Mr. Payne, maybe we should throw this away. I’ve always thought it was a bit dangerous to keep it around. What if it catches on fire?"

Atlas retorted impatiently, "How could it possibly catch on fire? Even if it did, this villa has fire extinguishing facilities installed."

Looking at his confident expression, I smiled and kept quiet. I had already deactivated the fire extinguishers.

Jasmine was incredibly touched as she immediately wrapped her arms around Atlas's neck in front of me. "Atlas, you're so good to me. I love you so much!"

She spoke to Atlas, but her eyes were on me.

Atlas instinctively looked toward me and only relaxed when he saw that I did not react. He walked up to me and said earnestly, "Naomi, I have some things to take care of at the company, so I'll leave Jasmine in your care for now."

As he spoke, he bent over and whispered in my ear, "But don't worry, I'll still sleep in your room tonight."

I suddenly felt like laughing. I wondered, 'What's this? Do you think you’re doing me a favor?'

I forced a smile and nodded. "Sure. You can go ahead and take care of work."

He ruffled my hair, satisfied. "Don't worry. Jasmine's very well-behaved." Then, he left.

No sooner had he left than Jasmine's shrill voice rang behind me. "Now I understand why Atlas doesn't like you. You're just too pathetic."

She walked up to me. She was much younger than I, yet she lectured me like an elder. "Women have to cry and make a scene for men to care about them. Don't wait at the door like a lapdog every day, hoping he'll come home."

Hearing her provocation, I scoffed. "But after all you've said, everyone still calls me Mrs. Payne, not you. You've schemed and plotted, yet you're still worse off than a lapdog."

Jasmine immediately lost it. "What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think you can be Mrs. Payne forever? Atlas already told me he'd divorce you as soon as the baby's born!"

With that said, she angrily opened her phone's recording app and played an audio clip. A familiar voice rang out.

"Jasmine, don't worry. I'll marry you after the baby is born. Naomi is just a mistake I made when I was young, and it's time to end things with her here."

...

My mind went blank.

Before I could react, Jasmine fell backward, and a huge glass bottle shattered on her.

Blood instantly splattered onto my face, and I immediately grabbed the first-aid kit to treat her. I heard her crying behind me. "Atlas... Don't go... It hurts so much..."

I turned around stiffly and saw her holding up her phone, giving me a triumphant smile.

In less than five minutes, the door was kicked open.

I had never seen Atlas like this before: breathless, panicked, and furious.

My first instinct was to explain, but he only gave me a cold gaze.

He scooped Jasmine up in his arms, his eyes filled with an unprecedented disgust. “Naomi, I thought you were sincere, but it turns out it was all an act! I've only been gone a short while, yet you've already resorted to violence! If anything happens to Jasmine's child, I won't spare you!”

He turned to look at Alfred. “Lock Naomi in the storage room. She's not allowed to come out without my permission!”

Watching his resolute back, I completely lost the desire to call out to him. I just let the bodyguards drag me into the storage room.

Soon, the world was plunged into darkness.

Alfred's comforting voice came from outside the door. "Mrs. Payne, don't be afraid. Mr. Payne is just in a fit of anger. He still cares about you!"

'Cares about me?' I pondered as I looked around at the impenetrable walls and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

If Atlas had even the slightest bit of affection for me, he would not have thrown me in here like garbage.

Fortunately, I was prepared. I took out a key and kicked down the oil lamp in the storage room without hesitation. Then, I lit a fire, disguising it as an accident caused by the lamp. Afterward, I escaped and hid in the backyard, watching the housekeepers scream and run out of the villa.

The luxurious, pristine white manor was now shrouded in thick smoke as it was engulfed by flames.

I threw away the key, tore off the necklace around my neck, and threw it into the fire. Then, listening to the roaring flames behind me, I left the villa where I had grown up. I thought, 'Atlas, let's never meet again.'