Randy's choked voice and the steady thrum of his heartbeat filled my ears at once.

"Zoey, let's get married. I'll… try to love you."

I thought my devotion had finally melted his heart. But later, I realized it had all been wishful thinking on my part.

Not long ago, Jeanne's marriage collapsed, and she returned home in disgrace. To ensure he could see her the moment she landed, Randy sped to the airport and ended up in a car accident.

I stayed by his side for three days and nights without sleep, yet on that hospital bed, he called Jeanne's name a thousand times.

Five years of giving him everything still couldn't compare to a single tear from his precious Jeanne.

I knew then, my mission from five years ago would never be fulfilled.

Now, with Jeanne divorced and my contract with him at its end, everything fell into place with a cruel kind of inevitability.

After years of waiting, Randy finally had his beloved turn back to him, and the lock on my cage fell away.

I had been waiting for this moment for five years.

After dinner, Randy's mother called.

I stepped out onto the balcony and answered.

"Zoey, have you decided? Do you really want to divorce Randy?"

I gazed quietly out the window. Beneath the wall lamp, the petals of the cloud blossom were slowly unfolding.

After a long pause, I said, "Anne, Randy and I were bound only by that piece of paper. Now the contract has ended, and with Jeanne back, leaving is the best choice."

Anne Perkins' sigh drifted through the speaker and into my ear. "These years have been hard on you. Well, five years ago, you gave up the chance to study abroad for Randy. Now that you're divorcing, do you want me to help arrange things over there?"

My gaze shifted slightly. I looked at the blossom stretching ever wider and felt my lips curve faintly. "Thank you. I'd appreciate that."

Five years ago, I was a top art student. To help Randy escape his heartbreak, I gave up the chance to further my studies.

My life had been on pause for far too long. Now, at last, I could move forward again. My absurd marriage was finally coming to an end.

At some point, the cloud blossom outside had withered in silence, leaving only the wall lamp glowing alone.

"Who were you talking to?"

Perhaps noticing my absence, Randy had come to find me on the balcony. A faint trace of inquiry lingered between his brows, and his dark eyes fixed intently on me.

I turned calmly, my voice light. "No one."

That night, when the world fell silent, moonlight spilled through the window.

I sat motionless, staring at Randy's face.

His bone structure was exquisite, his thin lips pressed faintly together, long lashes casting shadows beneath his eyes, trembling ever so slightly with each rise and fall of his chest.

Perhaps dreaming, he turned over. And the next moment, murmured in his sleep.

"Jeanne…"

I froze for a heartbeat, then let out a bitter smile.

Even in dreams, it was her. He truly did love his childhood sweetheart.

The next morning, Randy stepped out of the bedroom fully dressed. When his eyes fell on the breakfast laid out on the table, his brows knitted.

His gaze on me carried an uncharacteristic edge of reproach.

"Didn't I tell you I don't like Nerovian dishes?"

I lowered my eyes, speared a bite, and placed it in my mouth.

"The only ingredients left in the house are for this," I said.

He didn't think much of it and sat down reluctantly.

In truth, the fridge still held plenty of other ingredients, but I was busy preparing to study abroad.

All the while, his attention never left his phone. His eyes were bright with anticipation, as though waiting for a message from someone.

I took one look at the anticipation on Randy's face and knew instantly.

There was no need to guess. Whatever Jeanne had sent him, it made Randy genuinely happy. The icy mask he usually wore seemed to melt, softening into a faint smile like spring sunlight breaking through winter frost.

Before long, he abandoned his meal altogether. His eyes were glued to the screen as he busied himself typing.

Watching him, I took out the divorce papers I had prepared a long time ago and held them where he could see.

"Let's get a divorce."

He didn't even glance up. His gaze stayed fixed on his phone, and at my words, he merely nodded faintly, answering with a perfunctory "Mm."

I wasn't surprised. He had treated me with the same indifference for the past five years. Now that Jeanne had returned, he would be even less willing to waste a single moment on me.

Flipping the document to the last page, I pointed at the signature line.

"Sign here."

He took the pen without hesitation, still typing with his other hand, never sparing the agreement a look.

"From this moment on, there will be nothing between us," I said.

I tucked the papers away and looked at him quietly.

He only responded with another faint "Mm," wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and rose to leave, never once setting his phone aside.

As I watched him walk away, I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Randy, did you hear what I just said?"

His steps faltered slightly. He turned, puzzled, irritation flickering in his eyes at being interrupted. "Isn't it about that public welfare subsidy? Didn't I just sign the contract? What's the problem?"

I let out a small, self-mocking laugh and shook my head. The charity contract had been signed long ago.

Forget it. Whether he cared or not no longer mattered.

After he left, I put up for sale everything I had ever received from the Johnson family. When I finished, I gathered all the gifts I had once given him and sold them for scrap.

Over the years, I had prepared countless presents for him, but he would merely glance at them once before tossing them into a corner. He had never cherished a single thing I did.

As the scrap truck rolled away, I brushed the dust from my clothes and turned toward the villa, only to have a Bentley stop in front of me.

Out stepped the Johnson siblings and a delicate, pretty woman.

It was my first time seeing Jeanne.

Her blonde hair fell to her waist, and her eyes seemed to hold a faint allure even in a casual glance. Yet she wore a white dress, giving her an air of innocence. No wonder Randy could never let her go.

Patricia Johnson's gaze followed the scrap truck until it disappeared. She swept her eyes over me from head to toe, the ridicule in her expression unmasked.

"As expected from someone who came from a poor family. You even sell scrap for cash."

At this, Jeanne stepped forward and took her hand, her eyes glimmering softly. "Patricia, that's not very polite. Zoey is still your sister-in-law."

Patricia pursed her lips in frustration, shooting me a sharp glare.

Off to the side, Randy chuckled under his breath. He reached out to fondly ruffle Jeanne's hair. But when his gaze shifted to me, all warmth was gone, replaced only by cold detachment.

"Jeanne wants to go to the amusement park. You can come along," he said, tossing the words at me like a handout before turning to get in the car.

On the way there, the three of them chatted merrily, shutting me out entirely.

After a while, as if suddenly remembering my existence, Jeanne turned to me with a hint of apology.

"Zoey, sorry for ignoring you. It's just… you weren't part of our lives before."

Her words stirred nothing in me. I returned her smile politely.

Their lives—past and future—would never involve me again.

At Jeanne's words, Randy's brows tightened for a brief moment before smoothing out again. He kept his eyes on the road, giving me no further glance.

The amusement park was bustling, packed with visitors coming and going.

While riding the carousel, the machine suddenly malfunctioned, spinning violently out of control.

By that point, all the other riders had fled the platform. Only Jeanne and I remained.

I clung to the handle with all my strength, refusing to let myself be thrown off. But the carousel's speed was dizzying, my head swam, and in the next instant, my grip slipped. I fell hard from the machine.

At the same time, Jeanne was flung off as well. She screamed in panic.

In that split second, Randy lunged forward, catching Jeanne in his arms.

I wasn't so lucky. After hitting the ground, I barely had time to react before one of the wooden horses crashed straight toward me.

A sharp, sickening crack split the air from my lower leg. Splinters flew into my eyes. Pain ripped through me so fiercely that for a moment, I couldn't even speak.

"Zoey!"

After settling Jeanne down, Randy rushed toward me, for the first time showing genuine panic.

His thin lips had lost their color, and sweat beaded at the bridge of his nose. I had never seen him this tense over me.

"Don't cry. I'll take you to the hospital right now!"

I looked up at him. Pain spread through every inch of my body, and my lips trembled without a single word managing to escape.

"Jeanne, why do you look so pale?" Patricia suddenly said.

At that, Randy immediately set me down and hurried to her side, his steps stumbling in urgency.

The injury on her pale arm was no more than a faint scrape—nothing compared to the state I was in. Yet he fussed over her, fanning at her arm as if she were gravely hurt.

Jeanne's eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She stubbornly pushed him away.

"I'm fine. You should take Zoey to the hospital first."

Her selflessness only deepened his tenderness. Without a second thought, he scooped her into his arms and strode out of the amusement park, leaving me behind, disheveled and in pain.

The park staff cast sympathetic looks my way, and somehow that made the pain sharper.

After an emergency dressing was applied to my injury, I made my own way to the hospital, where I happened to overhear the nurses chatting.

"Mr. Johnson treats Miss Moss so well. Just a scrape and he's completely beside himself!"

Another nurse laughed in agreement, praising him as a good man.

I glanced at my leg, that still looking gruesome even after being treated, and let out a low, derisive laugh.

'A man who abandons his seriously injured wife to dote on an old flame—yes, a very good man indeed,' I sneered inwardly.

Back home, I continued packing up my remaining belongings. Time trickled on, bringing me closer to the day I would leave.

Then, out of nowhere, Randy sent me a couture gown, telling me to accompany him to his mother's birthday banquet.

There were still some important documents I needed from her, so I changed into the dress and went.

The banquet hall glittered with light, guests coming and going in a whirl of elegance.

In the center of the crowd stood Jeanne, surrounded and admired by a circle of socialites.

As soon as I entered, Anne called me over. She handed me my documents.

"All these years, you've managed every detail of this household for Randy. The Johnson family has run smoothly under your care, yet he's ignored you from beginning to end. Now you're going abroad… who knows when we'll meet again. Zoey, are you sure about this?"

I met her gaze with a faint smile.

"It's all in the past. It's time for me to move forward."

She let out a long sigh, patted my shoulder, and a flicker of regret crossed her face.