Chapter 8

As night fell, Nina walked into Lucas's study with the divorce papers in hand.

Lucas was wearing headphones, listening to something. When he saw Nina enter, he said quietly, "Nina, I'm in a Zoom meeting. Could you come back in a bit?"

Meeting? Nina's gaze dropped to Lucas's lower body. His belt was undone, and his pants were hanging loosely on him...

What meeting? He was clearly engaged in a sex video call with Melody.

She had entered too quickly. He had only managed to pull up his pants but hadn't had time to zip them.

"It's just a signature, it won't take long," Nina said, taking out the divorce papers, turning to the signature page, and handing it to Lucas.

Lucas was still wearing his headphones. Melody was probably teasing him on the other end, and he was so distracted that he didn't even look at what Nina had given him. He simply signed it.

Nina laughed bitterly as she took back the divorce papers. "Aren't you going to look at what you're signing?" she asked with a smile.

"No need. If it's from my wife, I'll sign it, whatever it is," Lucas said tenderly. "Even if you handed me a knife and wanted my life, I'd gladly give it to you."

He was remotely flirting with Melody while making these heartfelt declarations to her.

Nina couldn't help but tear up. She couldn't understand how someone could be so shameless.

Not wanting to engage with Lucas any further, Nina turned around and left his study before he could see she was about to cry.

About an hour later, Lucas must have finished his business. He returned to the bedroom, lay down beside Nina, and embraced her from behind.

"Nina, I've been so busy with work lately and haven't had time to properly be with you," Lucas said gently as he held her. "Tomorrow night, let's have dinner at that Italian place you love, okay? Let me make it up to you."

Tomorrow was also the day Nina had arranged with the doctor for her hypnosis session.

This works out well, Nina thought. Before the hypnosis, she would hand him the divorce papers in person, then they would part ways, never to meet again.

The next day, Melody continued bombarding Nina with texts and calls.

She kept sending Nina videos of her encounters with Lucas and taunting her in various ways.

[See this? Your husband and I even did it in your marital bed. I've even worn those Victoria's Secret nightgowns of yours.]

So Nina took all the clothes from her closet, threw them into the yard, and set them on fire.

[Hahaha, recognize this? It's Lucas's study. I was bent over his desk while he took me from behind.]

So Nina set another fire, burning down Lucas's study.

[Hehe, this is your garage, right? We've had sex in every single car in there, even the Bentley.]

There were too many cars in the garage to burn individually, so she might as well set the whole house on fire.

Leave cleanly, not even leaving ashes behind.

Nina lived in the suburbs, so burning down the entire mansion wouldn't affect anyone else.

After setting the fire, she called 911. She had calculated that it would take about an hour for the fire trucks to arrive, by which time everything that needed to burn would have burned. The firefighters could then put out the fire, preventing any harm to the surrounding landscape.

After calling emergency services, Nina drove to the restaurant.

Lucas hadn't arrived yet.

Nina didn't plan to wait for him.

She placed the divorce papers on the table and then turned to leave.

Before leaving, her phone vibrated again. Melody had sent a new message: [Hehe, are you waiting for Lucas to join you for a romantic dinner? Don't bother waiting, he's ‘licking’ me right now!]

Below the message was another explicit video.

Before Nina could open the video, Lucas called.

"Nina, I'm sorry I'm late," he said, his breathing slightly uneven—it wasn't hard to guess what he was doing. "Wait for me a little bit, I'll be there soon..."

Before he could finish, Nina cut him off. "Don't bother coming."

With that, she hung up, then tossed her phone into a trash can.

She didn't want the phone or the car she'd driven anymore. They felt contaminated.

She took a taxi to the hospital and, following the doctor's instructions, lay down on the therapy couch.

The doctor lit a special incense and dimmed the lights. "Ms. Jackson, please look at the pocket watch in my hand and follow my instructions."

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Begin hypnosis!"

In the dim light, Nina stared at the pocket watch in the doctor's hand, tears streaming down the corners of her eyes.

Nancy, I'm sorry. Even though you sacrificed your life to save me, I remain as weak as ever.

This world is too big, and human hearts are too complicated. I really tried to adapt, but I just can't handle it.

More than once, I've thought how much better it would have been if you had been the one to survive.

But it's okay now. I'm giving this body to you. I believe that you, being brave, will surely live a wonderful life...

Nina slowly closed her eyes. Under the doctor's guidance, her consciousness gradually faded, sinking completely into darkness.

And when her eyes opened again, those gentle amber eyes had lost all their warmth.