Chapter 3

Samantha suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Yvonne by the throat with great force.

The next second, Calvin seized her wrist and flung her away. She staggered back and slammed hard against the wall. Blood instantly trickled down from her temple.

Calvin froze and instinctively wanted to step forward, but Yvonne threw herself into his arms first. She clutched her neck, and her whole body trembled.

"Calvin, I almost died."

Rebecca was terrified as well. She wrapped her arms around Calvin's neck and cried so hard she could barely breathe.

Calvin frowned and yelled, "Samantha, stop playing dead."

The pain and overwhelming dizziness forced Samantha to try several times before she managed to stand.

Blood slid down her pale forehead and dripped onto her lashes. She forced her eyes open and looked at the man holding Yvonne with one arm and Rebecca with the other.

Four years of one-sided love and six years of marriage amounted to one dead and one critically injured.

This was the man she had sacrificed everything for.

Bitterness, grief, and rage filled her as she stepped forward until she stood in front of Calvin. Suddenly, she raised her hand and slapped him as hard as she could.

Smack!

The loud slap snapped his face to the side.

A vivid red handprint appeared. The outlines of the handprint swelled almost instantly.

She had used all her strength.

"Calvin, I want a divorce!"

Her terrifying expression silenced everyone around them.

After saying that, she turned around and staggered toward the door.

Her slender figure, wrinkled clothes, unkempt long hair, and trembling hands made her seem downtrodden yet unyielding.

She heard a sneer from behind.

Samantha knew Calvin would never believe she dared to divorce him.

In his eyes, she was a woman who had drugged her way into his bed just to marry into wealth. How could she ever give up the luxury she clawed her way to?

That was what he had always believed.

She had tried to explain for six years that she wasn't the one who drugged him, but he never believed her.

Calvin pressed his tongue against his cheek and watched her leave. There was an unmistakable fury in his eyes. How dare that woman slap him?

-

The day before the surgery, Calvin returned to Riverview Manor again.

With the operation and recovery afterward, he would be gone for at least a week.

After showering and changing upstairs, he planned to give Samantha a chance to make peace.

But after searching the entire house, he didn't see her anywhere.

All of Celine's belongings were gone too.

'Damn it. That woman actually took the girl and ran away!'

Swallowing his pride, he pulled out his phone and opened his chat with Samantha.

The last message was from several days ago.

[Where are you? Please, come to the hospital. Celine really needs you.]

His assistant had said that day, when Celine was sent to piano practice, she had been perfectly fine.

'Samantha, you really never learn.' Calvin thought Samantha was using Celine's health to manipulate him.

He felt disgusted, but the image of Samantha bleeding from her forehead flashed through his mind. Irritated, he typed a brief message.

[Get back to Riverview Manor.]

After he sent it, he realized the message hadn't gone through. Samantha had blocked him.

Calvin actually laughed in fury when he saw it.

Six years of obedience, and now she was throwing a tantrum like a spoiled child.

By then, Samantha had already returned to the Granger family home.

Back when the Granger family went bankrupt and her parents died in an accident, Nancy Hamley had saved her. Nancy paid off her debts, brought her into the Hamley family, and on Samantha's eighteenth birthday, bought back the Granger family home and gave it to her.

Yet Samantha never dared to come back.

Now, standing here again, looking at Celine's urn beneath her parents', the favor she owed the Hamley family and her hatred for Calvin warred within her.

She wanted to die.

Suddenly, the piercing sound of brakes screeched outside the yard. Her whole body trembled.

Her memory was violently dragged back to when she was fourteen. Back then, the debt collectors had cornered her at home the same way.

"Young lady, blame your family for offending someone they shouldn't have. If you don't leave now, I'll sell you on the black market."

At that time, she was completely stunned. She hadn't thought it through at all.

Could the Granger family's bankruptcy have hidden truths behind it?

She bolted outside.

But standing in the yard wasn't the thugs from back then. It was Calvin.

The tangled memories made it hard for her to tell reality from the past.

The man was already closing in.

His impatient voice carried cold sarcasm. "Samantha, you actually had the nerve to come here?"

There was a familiar scent mixed with another woman's perfume.

Samantha took a step back, took a deep breath, steadied herself, and lifted her gaze to his face.

His eyes were calm.

"Is the divorce agreement ready? Or should we go straight to the courthouse?"

Calvin's gaze swept over the dried blood on her forehead.

Two days had passed, and she still hadn't treated it.

Was she deliberately putting on a show for him?

Annoyed, he looked away.

"If you divorce me, you won't get a single cent."

"It's fine by me."

Samantha didn't hesitate for even a second. The answer choked back everything Calvin was about to say. His gaze darkened as he stared at her in silence.

Samantha raised her hand and pointed at the house behind her.

"This was Grandma Nancy's coming-of-age gift to me. The deed is in my name. I'll pay her back for the house myself. It has nothing to do with you, and you have no right to take it back."

Calvin had no idea what had triggered her. He didn't bother arguing with her and strode past her into the house.

"Stop right there."

Samantha ran after him.

But her legs were too weak. By the time she caught up, Calvin was already sitting on the living room sofa. He opened the box in his hand and explained casually, "I bought this competition outfit for Celine. Have her come down to get it."

He waited for the little girl to rush downstairs like she always did.

In the past, no matter what gift he brought her, she would happily put it away and shyly say, "Thank you, Dad."

She never clung to him sweetly like Rebecca did, but setting Samantha aside, he hadn't truly disliked her.

Yet it remained silent upstairs. There were no sounds of footsteps.

"Where's Celine?"

He turned to Samantha in confusion.

Samantha stepped closer. The moment her gaze landed on the gift box, they welled with tears.

It was a white gown embroidered with dazzling crystals. There was even a pretty tiara on top of it.

It was the gown and tiara Rebecca had already worn at her birthday party.

Now he was giving it to Celine and claiming he bought it just for her.

'How ridiculous!'

"Answer me. Where is Celine?"

Losing his patience, Calvin stood up and headed upstairs.

"She's gone."