2.

I left work early to go back to the marital mansion and pack.

Three years living there, and I'd accumulated plenty of things.

But the only things that belonged to the man of the house, Oliver Gilbert, were the two sets of pajamas his mother had prepared before the wedding, one red and one blue.

On our wedding night, he'd worn the red set and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"You smell so good, Jennifer Fox. Too bad you're not her."

Before I could even ask who she was, he let go and went to sleep in the guest room.

The next day he moved into an upscale downtown apartment, and he never came back after that.

And back then I'd actually been foolish enough to hope I could make this marriage work.

Looking back now, I only think how truly stupid I was.

Oliver hated that I had suddenly agreed to the arranged marriage, ruining what he had with Bella White, so he'd been cold and hostile to me the whole time.

Because there was only Bella in his heart.

So after the wedding, he stayed faithful for Bella's sake, and threw away his dignity for Bella's sake.

But an arranged marriage was never something people like us, sons and daughters who lived off the family's resources, got to choose. It looked like I had agreed to marry him, but really it was all decided by the elders of the family.

He only had to think about it for a moment to understand the truth of it.

But he insisted on pinning the blame on me.

I'd carried that blame for three years. After the divorce, all I wanted was to never have anything to do with him again.

By the time I finished packing, it was seven in the evening. I picked up my phone and found, to my surprise, that Oliver had sent me a string of messages.

Jennifer Fox, you ask me to meet and then you don't show? Are you messing with me on purpose?

Why aren't you answering?

You don't actually think this is how you get my attention, do you?

Insane.

I blocked him and deleted the thread in one clean sweep.

What I didn't expect was for Oliver to come charging into the marital mansion with Bella in tow.

"Jennifer Fox, right now! This instant! Apologize to Bella!"

He was shouting the order before he'd even laid eyes on me, and it startled the housekeeper cooking in the kitchen so badly her hands shook and she nearly cut herself.

I calmly steadied her.

"Narelle Chavez, keep cooking. I'll go see what this is about."

"Miss Fox, between husband and wife, it's kindness and patience that go the distance. Mr. Gilbert hardly ever comes home. Couldn't you just bear with it a little?"

I walked out of the kitchen with a faint smile and fixed a cold stare on Oliver's dark face, questioning him without any courtesy.

"Oliver, didn't you once say that if you ever set foot in this marital mansion again, you'd be a dog?"

His face darkened further, and he ground out through his teeth, "I came for the pajamas my mother put together for me. I certainly didn't come back for you."

Then he steered straight back to the topic of me apologizing to Bella.

My voice came out colder than before. "Oliver, did you not see the local courier I sent you today?"

He frowned and guiltily looked away from me.

Bella stepped up again to apologize on his behalf.

"Miss Fox, Oliver didn't mean it. He, he was just so worried about me that he didn't open the package in time."

Then she glanced toward the luggage stacked by the floor-to-ceiling window on the ground floor and asked me, puzzled.

"Miss Fox, are you leaving here?"

"Yes."

Bella was shocked. "But this is your and Oliver's marital home."

I let my eyes sweep coolly over her and Oliver.

"The marriage was never real. There's no point living in the marital mansion anymore."

Oliver gave a cold snort. "Jennifer Fox, at least you know your place. But don't expect me to be nice to you just because you're being sensible. Hurry up and apologize to Bella."

I looked at Bella, cold and steady. "Does Miss White need that sum of money that's coming due?"

She let out a nervous little laugh and said stiffly, "Oliver, you're being too harsh. Miss Fox is your wife. You shouldn't talk to her like that."

"People who know the situation will say you're protecting me. People who don't will only say you can't separate business from personal feelings, that you're being unfair to Miss Fox."

Oliver didn't mind in the least. "Let people say what they want. All I care about is that you're happy."

Bella shot me a smug glance. I acted as if I hadn't seen it.

I was leaving anyway. Better one less thing to deal with than one more.

I hadn't expected that, seeing I wouldn't apologize, Oliver would turn on me and bark it outright.

"Jennifer Fox, you've already packed everything, so get out of the marital mansion right now. You never deserved to live here in the first place."

"Fine."

Nothing could have suited me better.

3.

I contacted a moving company online, quick and clean.

"I'll be gone in an hour."

Oliver's face went dark with fury. He kept yelling at me through gritted teeth.

"Jennifer, you don't actually think this little stunt is going to threaten me, do you?"

"I would never beg you to stay. Go check whether you've finished packing your things. The last thing I want is you using some excuse to come crawling back to me later."

It came out of him so easily, as if he had no idea the words were meant to humiliate me. He stormed upstairs, still fuming.

Bella didn't follow. She stayed, watching me eat in silence, suspicion in her eyes.

"Miss Fox, are you really leaving?"

I looked at her, unbothered. "Miss White would rather I didn't?"

She said nothing.

I let out a soft laugh. "Bella, you had him bring you here because you wanted to push things further between you two, didn't you?"

Still she stayed silent.

I went on. "In that case, there's no need to do anything unnecessary."

Her brow tightened slightly, but she was smart enough to drop the subject. Instead she brought up the courier package I'd received earlier that day.

"Miss Fox, what was in that delivery?"

"Divorce papers."

Her voice jumped in surprise. "You're serious?"

I didn't answer, but she clearly believed it. The joy on her face was impossible to hide.

Just then Oliver came storming back down the stairs, glaring at me, saying nothing.

I kept eating, calm as ever.

Bella took his hand and said gently, "Oliver, Miss Fox sent you divorce papers."

"Divorce papers?"

He frowned, his eyes angrier than before.

"Jennifer, moving out of the house wasn't enough? Now you're sending me divorce papers too? You don't think this is going to make me cave, do you?"

He took too much for granted, and his anger made no sense.

I was the one filing for divorce, handing him and Bella their love story on a plate, and he acted like I was playing some game of hard to get.

I couldn't be bothered. I only reminded him quietly, "Remember to sign the papers and send them back to me."

Veins stood out at his temple. He clenched his fists and said in a cold, low voice, "Jennifer, once I sign, you'd better not regret it."

"I'm doing a good deed here. Of course I won't."

I didn't spare him another glance.

He kicked the couch hard, then called his assistant to open the package and forward him the divorce agreement.

Once he'd read it through, he questioned me coldly.

"Jennifer, you were my wife for three years. And you want nothing?"

"There's nothing between us. Nothing here belongs to me."

"You don't even want the house you lived in for three years?"

"It's the house your parents arranged. It belongs to you. I just happened to have the right to live in it for a while."

His brow stayed knotted, his eyes fixed on me, complicated. He looked reluctant, and also, somehow, relieved.

I couldn't read it. I only confirmed, evenly, "When will you sign?"

"When I have time."

"Not today?"

"You're in that much of a hurry to divorce me?"

I looked at him calmly. Silence said more than words.

He lowered his eyes and gave a low laugh. "Tomorrow, then."

"Fine."

Right as I answered, the moving company arrived.

They were startlingly efficient. In no more than ten minutes, all my things were packed and out.

I said a proper goodbye to Narelle and left the mansion. But Oliver came running out after me.

4.

“Jennifer, once you move out of here, where will you live?”

Bella clutched his hand tightly, her lips pushing into a pout, her voice sour and needling. “Oliver, Miss Fox is about to divorce you. How can you still care about her this much?”

“Do you—do you like her? You don’t want to stay with me anymore?”

Oliver answered on reflex. “Bella, you’re the only one in my heart. I just think it isn’t safe for a woman to move out on her own.”

“But this is Miss Fox’s choice. You should respect it.”

Bella didn’t want Oliver saying another word to me. She was in a hurry to flaunt their closeness right in front of me.

My expression didn’t change in the slightest. I spoke coolly.

“I’m the eldest daughter of the Fox family. I don’t lack for a place to live.”

“But it’s already late, Jennifer. Stay tonight. Leave in the morning.”

Oliver went against what Bella wanted and offered, on his own, to make me stay.

Something rippled faintly through my chest, then drowned just as quickly under a soundless sigh.

His willingness came far too late.

I had given up on him three years ago. Him acting this way now only made me ache more for the woman I used to be.

“Thank you for the kindness. The place I’m going is very safe.”

Then I turned to Bella of my own accord. “Miss White, would you remind Young Mr. Gilbert to sign the divorce agreement? I’ll be going now.”

I didn’t wait for Bella to answer before the car pulled away.

Oliver and Bella stood at the villa door and watched me leave.

The next day, Oliver messaged me first.

Jennifer, I’ve already signed. How do I get it to you?

I sent him an address, and he actually offered to deliver the signed divorce agreement himself.

“Why are you the one bringing it in person?”

“I wanted to do something for you.”

I pressed my lips together lightly, not sure for a moment what to say.

He, however, made himself right at home on the sofa in my office, brewing tea with smooth, unhurried movements, and even poured a cup for me without being asked.

“Sit down and have some tea, Jennifer. I want to talk with you.”

“I don’t think there’s anything you and I need to talk about.”

But Oliver was stubborn, wearing the look of a man who wouldn’t leave until we’d talked.

I glanced at my watch. “Twenty minutes.”

He nodded slightly. After I sat down and took a sip of tea, he studied me. “Jennifer, these three years you schemed so hard to marry into my family. Do you regret it?”

I set the cup down and said it to him plainly, once more.

“I never schemed to marry you. I simply followed the family’s arrangement and married you.”

“And I don’t have the right to regret it.”

He frowned in disbelief.

“How could you not regret it? You married a man who doesn’t love you. You wasted three years of your youth.”

“By your own logic, didn’t you waste three years of yours too?”

He fell silent, his grip tightening around the cup. After a long while he asked me something else.

“Jennifer, if I said let’s make a real go of it, would you be willing to keep this marriage?”

I folded my arms across my chest and looked at him coldly.

“Do you think I should be willing?”

“Three years of this marriage, and you brought Miss White to every important event both families held. Did you ever once give me an ounce of dignity?”

“I didn’t ask you to eat with me or go out with me. I didn’t ask you to live with me. All I wanted was the most basic dignity a marriage should have, and even that disgusted you.”

He lowered his eyes, his voice dropping very low.

“I understand. It was my fault.”

I offered no comment. He rose to his feet and gave me one deep, weighted look.

“In a month, I’ll see you at the courthouse.”