Chapter 1

"Slap!"

Her mother-in-law had barely stepped through the door before throwing the divorce papers at Lana. "You better not pull any tricks for the next month, or you won't see a single penny!"

Picking up the documents, Lana flipped straight to the last page.

Seeing the signature, her eyes narrowed slightly.

Just as expected—Ethan, naturally suspicious by nature, had no defenses against his own mother.

This was exactly why, when she discovered Ethan's affair, she didn't confront him first but went to his mother instead.

If she had confronted him directly, he not only wouldn't have admitted it, but he definitely wouldn't have agreed to a divorce. His mother, on the other hand, had been hoping for their divorce from the moment they got married.

Closing the divorce agreement, Lana finally looked up at her mother-in-law. Her face, beautiful even without makeup, no longer held its usual eager-to-please expression—only cold indifference remained. “What you should be worried about is how you're going to convince your son to actually go through with this divorce.”

"That's not your concern. Just don't regret it when the time comes."

Regret...

Her biggest regret was wasting ten years of her time and emotions on Ethan.

After her mother-in-law left, Lana looked around the entire house.

This beautiful seaside villa—from its design to construction, to every detail that now filled it—she had poured so much of her heart and soul into it, believing this would be her lifelong home as someone with no parents...

With a bitter smile, Lana went to the second-floor balcony. Until today, her favorite thing had been standing here, listening to the waves while waiting for Ethan to come home late.

The sound of the waves was still as beautiful as ever, but there was no longer any need to keep waiting.

She had once naively believed that everything in life might change, except Ethan's feelings for her.

But Lily Walsh had only been at the company for six months...

Thinking of something, Lana got up and returned to the bedroom, taking out a white pill bottle from the nightstand drawer, then rushed out as quickly as possible.

The hospital.

Drug testing department.

"This isn't folic acid—it's birth control pills."

Hearing the doctor announce the test results, Lana felt her heart shatter into dust.

Six months ago, Ethan had insisted she quit her job to prepare for pregnancy, saying the company was finally on track and it was time for them to have children.

During that period, he was obsessed, constantly talking about having babies.

Actually, she hadn't wanted to have children so early. She had been supporting Ethan's ambitions all along, and with the company just stabilizing, having a baby wasn't in her immediate plans.

But in the end, she had compromised.

If he wanted it, she would have one. After all, they would have children eventually anyway.

Besides, her mother-in-law had never liked her—maybe having a grandchild would change that.

The only issue was that if she quit, the secretary position would be vacant, so she wanted to wait until they found a suitable replacement.

But Ethan told her he had already found a new secretary, saying he had been preparing for this so she could focus on having their baby without worry.

Of course, she had no reason to doubt him. Even when she met Lily during the handover and noticed her stunning figure, she still didn't think much of it.

Back then, she had been completely confident.

But the truth was, she had been nothing more than a fool, played by Ethan like a puppet on strings!

Leaving the hospital, Lana wandered aimlessly through the nearly empty streets like a lost soul searching for direction.

The autumn night wind felt cold against her skin, but it was nothing compared to the chill in her heart.

Today was their third wedding anniversary. She didn't want to remember anything about their relationship, but those memories kept flooding back like movie scenes.

From young love to marriage—ten whole years...

She had been with him through everything, from nothing to success, helping him become the respected CEO Mitchell that everyone in the city knew.

But he turned out to be just like most men—able to share hardship but not prosperity.

He had sworn he would love her forever...

A text message interrupted Lana's thoughts. It was from the same anonymous number from two days ago, but this time it wasn't photos of Ethan's cheating—it was an address.

Just as she was about to turn around and get in her car parked by the roadside, a thug suddenly blocked her path.

"Hey beautiful, who hurt your heart? You look so upset this late at night. Need me to help you get revenge?"

Lana ignored him and quickly walked past.

"Hey, ungrateful! I'm trying to help you and you're being so rude. But..." The sleazy man licked his lips. "Since you're in a bad mood, I won't hold it against you. Come on, let me cheer you up."

Before the creep could touch Lana, she quickly stepped back. "If you don't want to get arrested, get lost..."

"Oh, a little spitfire!“ The man laughed even more brazenly. "I happen to like feisty women.”

Although Lana knew some fighting moves, she was at a disadvantage because the thug pulled out a sharp glass knife from his pocket.

The blade pressed against Lana's neck. "Be a good girl and let me have my way with you, and I might spare your life. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" As Lana spoke, her neck pressed forward against the blade. Even when the knife tip broke her skin, she didn't even frown.

Seeing that she wasn't even afraid of death, the man panicked.

Not wanting to actually kill someone, he released Lana and turned to leave, but she snatched the knife from him and stabbed it toward his groin in the next second...

"Since you can't control your lower half, might as well get rid of it completely!"

Same with Ethan—but just divorcing him would be too easy. She had helped him rise to success, and she could just as easily turn him back into the broke nobody he used to be!

In a car not far away, a man who had witnessed Lana's entire confrontation felt a flash of admiration in his deep eyes.

The driver in the front seat said, "Mr. Gray, Miss Carter is quite impressive."

"Yes, she's always been impressive. It's just that certain people thought she was easy to bully."

"Should we continue following her?"

"No need. She can handle herself."

**

Lana didn't return to the seaside villa. Instead, she went to the address from the text message.

She had already guessed what she would see, so when Lana found Ethan—who had claimed to be too busy even on their wedding anniversary—having sex with his secretary in the car, she just watched quietly for a moment, then turned around and left.

Lily, who had been straddling Ethan's legs waiting for Lana to come and make a scene, was confused.

Her husband was having sex with another woman in a car, and she—his wife—had come all this way, only to watch for a brief moment, do nothing, and just leave?

Wasn't she supposed to love Ethan like her life depended on it?

Soon, Lily figured it out.

She was just a coward, afraid of her marriage truly ending.

Ha...

Being afraid wouldn't help. She was determined to have Ethan!

Just as she was feeling smug, a string of firecrackers exploded on the car roof with a loud crackling sound.

"Ah!"

Not even bothering to get dressed properly, Lily immediately pushed open the car door. Just as she was about to jump out, a group of reporters suddenly appeared.

In an instant, their shameful display was captured on camera and spread across the internet at an unimaginable speed.