Chapter 3

Several pairs of shoes lay strewn across the entrance foyer.

The couch flown in from Syldora was covered with cheap stuffed toys won from claw machines. Even the wedding photo hanging on the wall had a dartboard covering my face.

The corners of my lips twitched uncontrollably. I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't even force out a sneer.

So this was the surprise Lucian had prepared for me.

Just then, the front door was pushed open. Lucian had returned with one arm wrapped around Evelyn to support her.

The two of them immediately froze when they saw me sitting on the couch. Lucian hurried forward to explain, "Evelyn was kicked out by her landlord, so I decided to let her stay here for the time being.

"I wanted to tell you earlier, but it all happened so suddenly. Besides, no one's living in the house. I thought it wouldn't hurt to have someone around as it'll feel less empty…" he trailed off.

I raised my hand to cut him off. "Tell her to pack up and leave immediately," I said curtly.

My words seemed to have caught Lucian off guard. I had always been tolerant of his behavior, so he hadn't expected me to be so resolute this time. "Are you mad? Is it because I left you alone at the city hall earlier?" he asked.

So Lucian knew that he shouldn't have done that.

I took a deep breath before repeating, "I'm going to sell the house. Please clear it out."

His expression instantly darkened. "You're going to give up on our home over a mere ring?" he snapped.

Lucian quickly softened his tone when he realized he'd been too agitated. "If you don't want to wear the ring because Evelyn already wore it, I can buy you a better one immediately. Please, dear… don't be mad anymore," he coaxed.

"Tell her to leave." This was the third time I'd repeated myself.

All of a sudden, Lucian flew into a rage. With a loud thump, he swept all the stuffed toys off the couch and fumed, "I only allowed you to stay here temporarily. Now look at what you've done, Evelyn!

"Not only did you turn the whole place into a mess, but you even made Roxanne mad! What are you still standing here for? Get out!"

Sobs wracked Evelyn's body as she bent down to pick up the stuffed toys off the floor.

"I didn't know any better. I'm sorry for causing you trouble, Ms. Schmidt." Her voice trembled as she apologized to me.

I closed my eyes, but this time, I didn't brush it off like I always did before.

That was, until Evelyn dragged her heavy suitcase over my foot. The sharp pain instantly brought tears to my eyes.

I instinctively called out to Lucian just as he was about to leave, "Come back—"

I was just about to ask him to get some ointment for me when he cut me off harshly. "That's enough, Roxanne. Don't push things too far. Whatever you want to talk about can wait until I've sent her off."

Then, he slammed the door shut.

…

In that instant, Lucian's harsh words extinguished the last trace of affection in my heart. I contacted a property agent and finalized the price without hesitation.

Then, I asked Dad's team to complete the evaluation on Stellaria Group's equity stakes as soon as possible.

Lucian and I had founded the company together. All these years, I'd poured in both money and effort to turn Lucian into a rising star among Dravoria's business circles.

But things were bound to turn messy now that I was about to proceed with an asset division.

I've got my hands full to the point that one of my employees had to call me to remind me. "Don't forget about tonight's new product launch, Ms. Schmidt."

It wasn't until I hung up that I finally noticed the dozens of missed calls from Lucian on my phone.

After some thought, I decided to meet him one last time. Even if the five years we'd spent together had been nothing but a farce, I still wanted to give it a proper closure.

Besides, I'd poured my heart and soul into the new product. From market research to the breakthroughs in our core technology, I participated every step of the way.

I'd lost count of the endless nights I worked through, the rounds of business drinks that left me sick, and the design drafts I scrapped just to get this far.

After all the years I'd struggled to build my career, there was no way I could return home without bringing along something presentable.

…

By the time I arrived at the venue, the product launch had just begun. Lucian took the stage with ease as he prepared to introduce the biggest contributor behind the new product.

After a round of drum rolls, the spotlights flickered on.