I thought Caspian and I could make a clean break. I never imagined he would drive to the West Coast overnight.

His bulletproof SUV screeched to a halt in front of me. The window slowly rolled down, and I met his cold gaze calmly. Caspian gripped the steering wheel tightly, saying nothing.

After a long, suffocating standoff, he finally slammed his fist on the steering wheel and snapped impatiently, "You're the Donna of the Knight family, the matriarch of Chicago. What more could you possibly be unsatisfied with?"

Yes. I was the Don's wife, an object of envy for everyone. What was there to be unsatisfied about? However, I was also a wife who deserved her husband's respect. If he didn't love me, then I would leave. It was that simple.

"Caspian, my position couldn't be clearer," I said. "I want my freedom."

"Damn it!" Caspian threw open the car door and grabbed my arm. His muscular arm clamped around me like an iron vise. "Samantha, are you sure you want to give up this family?"

I looked at the hand that had once been tattooed as a promise of love and felt only a sense of mockery. In that moment, with a sudden, stark clarity, I realized he disgusted me.

I frowned and shook off his hand. "Caspian, what on earth do you want?"

His hand froze in mid-air.

After a long moment, he finally sighed, his tone softening noticeably. "I… I want you to come home."

Seeing his conflicted expression only fueled my irritation. Caspian was a smart man. How could he not understand why I was so insistent on leaving? He was just playing dumb.

I took a deep breath and explained it to him with the last shred of my patience. "Caspian, you yourself said that Angelica is the woman you need to protect. You said I stole the position that should have been hers. You said Rosalie needs a father figure. And it was you who stubbornly refused the C-section, causing our child's death and nearly costing me my own life."

"Now, I've done exactly as you wished. I'm willing to separate from you and give up the title of matriarch. I'm giving you and your 'responsibility' what you've always wanted, so why are you fighting it?"

"Caspian, I'll say it one last time: I want an annulment. Do you understand? I want my freedom."

Caspian rubbed his temples, looking utterly defeated, and smoked one cigar after another. When the cigar case was finally empty, he crumpled it into a ball and threw it on the ground.

"Samantha, I…"

It was he who refused to draw a line with Angelica, slowly eroding all the love I had for him. So why was he acting like the victim now?

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration, suppressing the anger rising in my chest.

"I've entrusted all matters to Mr. Sterling. If you refuse to cooperate, he will petition the family elders on my behalf for the annulment. Caspian, it's over between us."

After that night, Caspian seemed to vanish completely from my world. My life fell back into the rhythm of running the gallery, everything settling into a peaceful order. In my spare time, I would attend charity auctions and meet like-minded people.

"Samantha, it's cold today. The air conditioning in the venue is strong, you should wear something warmer."

A familiar male voice sounded behind me.

I spun around, and my gaze met Caspian's, his expression a tangled mess of regret and frustration.