At around 9:00 pm, Trevor and Jordyn returned home.

Jordyn clung to the hem of Trevor's coat and got out of the car sluggishly. Because Celeste was at home, she was reluctant to return that night.

But Wynn had said that Celeste came specifically to be with her and Trevor, and if they didn't return, she would be sad. Trevor also said that if they didn't go home that night, Celeste would definitely insist on joining them on their outing to the sea the next day.

Reluctantly, Jordyn agreed to come home.

Still worried, she muttered gloomily, "Dad, what if Mom insists on tagging along with us tomorrow?"

"She won't," Trevor replied confidently.

In all the years they'd been married, Celeste had always tried to find ways to spend more time with him. But she was also sensible. As long as he made his stance clear, she wouldn't dare make him upset.

In Jordyn's memory, Celeste always listened to Trevor. Since he said she wouldn't, she felt reassured. As a result, her mood lifted. She made her way into the villa cheerfully and told Hannah she wanted to take a bath.

"Sure, sure," Hannah replied to Jordyn. Then, she remembered Celeste's instructions and handed an envelope to Trevor. "Mr. Fleming, this is from Mrs. Fleming. She asked me to give it to you."

Trevor took the envelope and asked casually, "Where is she?"

"Mrs. Fleming packed up and went back to the country this afternoon. Didn't you know?" Hannah responded.

Trevor paused mid-step as he was heading upstairs. He turned back, feeling a little surprised. "Has she gone back?"

"Yes."

Why had Celeste suddenly come to Andostan? Trevor hadn't given her a chance to tell him about it. He hadn't cared to ask either. Upon learning she'd left, he didn't dwell on it.

Jordyn was a little surprised too. When she heard the news, she felt a small twinge of disappointment. She'd been thinking that even if Celeste didn't join them for the outing tomorrow, it might be nice to have her around at home in the evening.

Polishing the seashells made her hands hurt—she had been counting on Celeste's help in finishing the necklace.

Though it had been months since Trevor and Celeste had seen each other, she had made the effort to visit but only to leave without seeing him in person. Hannah recalled Celeste's grim expression as she left and thought that things felt a little off.

She couldn't help but say, "Mr. Fleming, Mrs. Fleming looked upset when she left. She seemed angry."

Hannah had assumed Celeste's sudden departure was due to an urgent matter. Upon realizing Trevor hadn't known she'd left, she began to feel something was amiss.

"Angry?" Trevor repeated in his mind.

In his presence, Celeste had always been patient and accommodating. So, she could get angry too? This was new.

Trevor smiled faintly and responded to Hannah perfunctorily before heading upstairs.

Back in the bedroom, he was about to open the envelope Celeste had left when Wynn called. After answering the call, he tossed the envelope aside and walked out the door.

A short while later, the envelope slipped off the bed onto the floor.

That night, Trevor didn't return home.

The next day, Hannah noticed the envelope on the floor when she was cleaning. Recognizing it as the one Celeste had asked her to hand over, she assumed Trevor had already seen it and placed it in a nearby drawer.

…

Right after getting off the plane, Celeste went home and began packing her belongings. She had accumulated quite a few things in the house since she'd been living there for six years, after all. But she only took a few sets of clothes, two sets of daily necessities, and some books that were related to her field of study back in college.

After their marriage, Trevor had been depositing money for her and Jordyn into two separate accounts every month. One account was hers, and the other was Jordyn's.

However, Celeste was used to spending her own money only. She had never touched the money in Jordyn's account. Because she loved Trevor, whenever she went shopping and saw clothes, shoes, cufflinks, or ties that suited him, she couldn't help but buy them.

In contrast, she didn't have many expenses on a daily basis because all she did was go to work. Her heart and mind were always focused on Trevor and Jordyn. She wanted to give them the best of everything.

Most of the money Trevor deposited into her bank account was spent on him and Jordyn.

Given this spending pattern, there shouldn't have been much money left in Celeste's account. But over the past year, her opportunities to buy things for Trevor and Jordyn had decreased significantly because they were in Andostan.

Now, there were over three million dollars in her account. That amount might not matter to Trevor, but to her, it was no small sum. And since it was her money, Celeste didn't hesitate to transfer it out.

She left both cards behind, dragged her suitcase out the door, and didn't look back.

Celeste had an apartment near her workplace, which was a little over 1,100 square feet. She'd bought it four years ago to support a friend who had been struggling to meet their sales targets. She had never lived there before.

Now, the apartment came in handy. She had it cleaned regularly, so it wasn't dirty. After a quick tidy-up, it was ready to move in.

After a long day, Celeste washed up and went to bed around 10:00 pm.

…

The shrill sound of an alarm jolted Celeste awake. Startled, her mind went blank for a moment.

When she came to her senses, she realized that while it was 1:00 am here, it was 7:00 am in Andostan, where Trevor and Jordyn were. This was their usual breakfast time.

Ever since Jordyn had gone to live with Trevor in Andostan, Celeste had developed the habit of calling her at this time every day. As she was always exhausted from work and was used to going to bed early, she had set this alarm to ensure she wouldn't miss the call.

At first, Jordyn hadn't adapted well to living in Andostan and had missed her terribly. She had called Celeste constantly. But as time went on, the calls that used to be full of yearning and dependence had grown perfunctory and impatient.

The alarm was no longer necessary. She just hadn't been able to let go.

Smiling bitterly, Celeste deleted the alarm and turned off her phone before going back to sleep.

…

Meanwhile, Trevor and Jordyn were nearly done with breakfast. Though he knew Celeste usually called Jordyn at this time, he wasn't always home and hadn't paid much attention to the routine.

He noticed that Celeste hadn't called that day. The fact registered in his mind, but he didn't care. After finishing breakfast, he went upstairs to change.

Jordyn, finding Celeste increasingly annoying, had grown less fond of their calls. Upon realizing that Celeste hadn't called yet, she figured something must have come up.

She grabbed her backpack and bolted for the door.

Hannah hurried after her. "Ms. Fleming, it's still early. There's no rush!"

Jordyn ignored her and ran to the car happily. She was thrilled that Celeste hadn't called on time that day. If she stayed home, she might still have to talk to Celeste later. Well, she didn't want that!

…

After getting married to Trevor, Celeste had joined Fleming Group for his sake. Now that she was planning to divorce him, she saw no reason to stay.

The next morning, Celeste handed her resignation letter to Zeke Jackson after arriving at the office.

Zeke was one of Trevor's personal secretaries. When he saw Celeste's resignation letter, he was extremely surprised.

He was one of the few in the company who knew about the relationship between Celeste and Trevor.

Anyone familiar with Trevor knew that he didn't love Celeste. So, he had been cold to her and rarely went home after their marriage.

To get closer to and win over Trevor, Celeste had chosen to work at Fleming Group.

Her initial goal was to become his personal secretary, but Trevor refused vehemently. Even when Arnold stepped in, he couldn't get Trevor to agree. In the end, Celeste had to settle for a position in the secretarial team, becoming one of Trevor's many ordinary secretaries.

At first, Zeke had worried that Celeste's presence in the secretarial team would create chaos. But to his surprise, she didn't bring them any trouble. Although Celeste used her position to get closer to Trevor, she was mindful of her timing and never overstepped her boundaries.

On the contrary, she worked diligently and performed exceptionally well, hoping to gain Trevor's respect. Whether during her pregnancy, childbirth, or any other time, she strictly adhered to company policies and never sought special treatment.

Over the years, Celeste rose to become the head of the secretarial team. Zeke had observed her feelings for Trevor from the sidelines all the while. To be honest, he had never imagined she would resign one day. He felt skeptical about her willingly giving up her position.

Something must have happened between Celeste and Trevor for her to resign now. Zeke understood that this was something he wasn't privy to—it must be something significant enough for Trevor to have ordered her to resign.

While he found it a pity, Zeke maintained a professional tone. "I acknowledge that I've received your resignation letter. I'll arrange for someone to take over your duties as soon as possible."

"Alright." Celeste nodded and returned to her workstation.

After working for a while, Zeke started an online meeting with Trevor to report on company matters. As the conversation neared its end, he suddenly remembered Celeste's resignation.

"Oh, Mr. Fleming, there's one more thing—"

Although Zeke had told Celeste he would quickly arrange for someone to take over her position, he wanted to gauge Trevor's thoughts on the matter first. If Trevor wanted Celeste out immediately, he would make the arrangements right away.

But as the words left his mouth, he remembered that when Celeste first joined the company, Trevor had explicitly stated that all matters regarding her employment should be handled per company regulations. He made it clear that there was no need to report anything to him since he wouldn't concern himself with her.

And indeed, over the years, Trevor had never actively inquired about Celeste's work at the company.

Even when he encountered her at work, he treated her like she was a complete stranger.

When Celeste was set to be promoted a couple of years ago, the team had hesitated. Everyone was aware of Trevor's dislike for her. They had even brought it up with him to gauge his opinion back then.

Trevor had frowned in annoyance and reiterated that he wouldn't interfere and that they should handle it according to company policy. He had emphasized that they shouldn't bring up Celeste's matters with him again.

Seeing Zeke's hesitation, Trevor frowned. "What is it?"

Zeke snapped out of his thoughts and quickly replied, "Oh, it's nothing."

Since Trevor was already aware of Celeste's resignation but hadn't brought it up, it was clear that this matter wasn't important to him. So, Zeke decided to proceed as usual and handle the matter according to company regulations.

With that resolved, Trevor ended the call.

…

"What are you thinking about?" At noon, a colleague patted Celeste on the shoulder.

Celeste came back to her senses and smiled, shaking her head. "Nothing."

"Don't you need to call your daughter today?"

"No, not today."

Typically, she called Jordyn twice a day—once at 1:00 am and once at around 12:00 pm.

Her colleagues at work were aware of this habit. What they didn't know was her daughter was the child she had with the company's CEO.

After work, Celeste went to the supermarket. She bought some groceries and a few potted plants before heading home.

After dinner, she browsed online for information about the upcoming technology exhibition.

After that, she made a call. "Please reserve a ticket for next month's tech exhibition for me."

"Are you sure?" the person on the other end replied coolly. "The last two times you asked me to reserve tickets, you didn't show up. Do you know how many people's lifelong dream is to get one of those tickets? You wasted them thoughtlessly."

The annual tech exhibition was a major event in the industry, and tickets were not easily obtainable.

Their company had a limited number of slots, and many IT elites working for them eagerly vied for the opportunity to attend it.

"If I don't show up to the exhibition this time, I will never ask you to reserve a ticket for me ever again," Celeste promised.

There was silence on the other end before the line disconnected.

Celeste knew that he'd agreed. The corners of her mouth tugged upward into a smile. What she hadn't said was that she wanted to return to the company.

Though she was one of the partners of her tech firm, she had stepped back during its early days to focus on marriage and family. Her decision had disrupted their development plans and cost them many opportunities.

Her colleagues had been both angry and frustrated with her. Over the years, they had rarely been in contact.

While Celeste was eager to return, she knew she had been out of the industry for too long. If she went back unprepared, she was worried she wouldn't be able to keep up with the company's current pace.

So, she planned to spend some time familiarizing herself with the industry's latest developments before making a concrete decision.

For the next few days, Celeste focused on her work during office hours and spent her evenings tending to her own matters. She didn't reach out to Jordyn or Trevor, and they didn't contact her either.

Celeste wasn't surprised. For over half a year, her communication with them had been one-sided. They had only passively responded to her efforts.

…

Meanwhile, in Andostan, Jordyn had developed the habit of calling Wynn first thing every morning.

That day, she called Wynn right after waking up as usual. However, the call didn't last long before she burst into tears.

Wynn had told her some bad news. "I'm going back to the country soon."

Devastated, Jordyn finished the call and immediately phoned Trevor. "Dad, did you know about this?"

At his office, Trevor flipped through some documents. "Yes."

"When did you find out?"

"It's been a while."

"Dad, you're so mean…" Jordyn hugged her pink stuffed pig and cried loudly. "I don't want Wynn to leave. If she's not here, I don't want to go to school here anymore. I want to go back too!"

Trevor's tone remained even. "It's already being arranged."

Jordyn didn't understand. "W-What do you mean?"

"We're going back next week."

Jordyn jumped out of bed in excitement. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Trevor replied.

"Then why didn't Wynn tell me just now?"

"It was just finalized. She doesn't know yet."

Jordyn was ecstatic. "Dad, let's keep this a secret from Wynn. We'll surprise her when we go back to the country, okay?"

"Alright."

"You're the best, Dad! I love you so much!"

After hanging up, Jordyn was still overjoyed. She sang and danced on her bed.

After a while, she suddenly thought of Celeste. For the past few days, she had been in a great mood because Celeste hadn't called her. In fact, to avoid talking to Celeste, she had deliberately left home early and even turned off her phone or kept it far away from her after school.

But after two days, she was worried that Celeste might get angry if she found out. So, she stopped doing that. To her surprise, Celeste hadn't called at all in the days that followed.

At first, she thought Celeste had discovered that she was deliberately avoiding her calls. But then she remembered that based on past experiences, that wasn't very likely. If Celeste knew she had done something wrong, she would immediately ask Jordyn to correct her wrongdoing instead of sulking and not calling.

After all, she was the most important person to Celeste. Jordyn knew that Celeste loved her the most, so she didn't think that Celeste would purposely refrain from calling her simply because she was upset.

As Jordyn thought about this, she suddenly missed Celeste. It was the first time in days she had thought about Celeste, and she couldn't resist dialing Celeste's number.

But just as the call connected, she remembered that while she would get to see Wynn after returning to the country, Celeste would undoubtedly try every possible way to prevent her from meeting Wynn. She wouldn't be able to see Wynn whenever she wanted like she could now.

This thought dampened Jordyn's mood.

It was midnight in Celeste's time zone. She was already asleep when she was woken by the call. Upon seeing Jordyn's name on the screen, she was about to answer when the call abruptly disconnected.

Although Celeste had written in her divorce agreement that she would relinquish custody of Jordyn, she still felt a sense of responsibility as her mother. Worried that something might have happened, Celeste immediately called back.

When Jordyn saw the incoming call, she turned her head away and refused to answer.

Celeste became more concerned and quickly called the landline at the villa.

Hannah answered promptly. After hearing Celeste's concerns, she reassured her, "Ms. Fleming should be fine. She went to bed late last night and woke up late today. When I checked earlier, she was still asleep. I'll go upstairs to take a look and call you back."

Feeling relieved, Celeste replied, "Thank you."

When Hannah went upstairs, Jordyn was already in the bathroom brushing her teeth.

After Hannah relayed Celeste being worried about her, Jordyn lowered her head and lied, "I accidentally hit the call button."

Hannah believed her and didn't doubt what she said. Seeing that Jordyn was still brushing her teeth, she went back downstairs to update Celeste that Jordyn was fine.

Jordyn watched as Hannah left. She huffed and finally felt a bit better.

After hearing Hannah's reassurance, Celeste felt relieved too. Still, having been abruptly woken, she struggled to fall back asleep. She wasn't in great shape the next morning at work.

The envelope containing the divorce agreement was completely forgotten by Trevor after the phone call with Wynn.

On the day they returned to the country, Trevor packed the last document into his briefcase and ensured that nothing was left behind before heading downstairs.

"All set. Let's go."

The Lincoln stretch limousine departed from the villa and headed to the airport.

…

Celeste had no idea that Trevor and Jordyn had returned to the country. No one had told her.

Half a month had passed since she moved out of the villa. During that time, she had gradually grown used to and even fond of the peace and leisure of living alone.

It was the weekend, and she woke up late. After freshening up, she opened the curtains to a sunny day. She stretched lazily, watered her plants, and was about to make herself a simple breakfast when the doorbell rang.

It was her neighbor, Tilda Emery, who lived across from her.

"Ms. Rodriguez, I hope I'm not intruding," Tilda said apologetically.

Celeste replied warmly, "Not at all, I was already up."

"That's good," Tilda said enthusiastically. "These buns and pastries are fresh out of the oven. I just made them this morning, and I brought some over for you to try."

"Thank you. It's so kind of you to do this, Mrs. Golden," Celeste said.

"It's the least we could do. If it weren't for you saving Sylvia from that rabid dog the other day, who knows how badly hurt she might have been? My husband and I have been wanting to thank you properly for saving our girl, but work has kept us busy. We felt so bad about it."

"It was nothing, Mrs. Golden. Don't mention it."

After a few more pleasantries, Tilda left.

Back inside, Celeste ate breakfast while studying the algorithm of an AI she had been researching.

Later that day, a news notification about Trellis College's centennial celebration popped up on her phone. Celeste paused to check the date and realized that it was indeed Trellis College's 100th-year anniversary.

She browsed the news online and saw several trending hashtags about the event. The celebration was receiving high attention, not only because Trellis College was the top educational institute in the country but also because this was its first centennial celebration.

Many distinguished alumni had been invited back to the alma mater for the event. Those honorary alumni were highly regarded figures in various fields.

Celeste stared at the screen for a while. When she saw several familiar faces in the photos, her hand trembled slightly. Memories of her time at college flooded her mind. Her heart became unsettled.

If she hadn't gotten married right after graduating with her bachelor's degree, she might have been among those honored alumni invited back for this event.

Celeste closed her laptop and hesitated briefly before driving to Trellis College.

It was already late in the evening when she arrived. Many of the high-profile attendees had already left, but the campus was still bustling.

Celeste wandered aimlessly and eventually found herself near the familiar lab building.

A familiar voice called out to her. "Cel?"

…

20 minutes later, at a cafe outside Trellis College, Matthias Yoder poured her a cup of coffee.

"How have you been lately?" he asked.

Holding the cup, Celeste smiled faintly with her gaze lowered. "I'm doing well. It's just that… I'm currently preparing for a divorce."

Matthias hadn't expected such a response. He paused for a while before saying, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright."

"What's next? Are you planning to return to the company?"

"I am, but…"

Matthias couldn't understand why she was hesitating. He said earnestly. "Cel, the company needs you. You're a part of it, so I hope you'll come back to take charge."

"But I… I…" Celeste felt conflicted when she saw his serious expression.

It wasn't that she didn't want to return. The AI field had advanced rapidly, and she had been out of the industry for six years. Even if she went back now, she feared she wouldn't be able to keep up with the times, let alone lead the company and be at the forefront of the industry as she once had.