Chapter 2

Calista didn't say her last line out loud. She turned around and drove straight to the embassy.

The process of applying for permanent residency in Nordland wasn't complicated, especially for someone with her family background. The Arden family had moved their entire business overseas a few years earlier. Her parents and brother had relocated abroad as well.

She was the only one who stayed behind for Theodore. And now, she would be leaving too.

"The processing should take about a week," the clerk said with a smile.

She nodded, took the receipt, and walked out of the embassy.

It was finally coming to an end.

Theodore—the man she had pursued for six years, the reserved, chaste man she had once thought she could bring down from his pedestal—didn't belong to her after all.

She had sacrificed so much for him—adopting his vegetarian diet, embracing his abstinent lifestyle, and even toning down her vibrant personality just to get closer to him. Yet in the end, she couldn't even reach the deepest, most hidden desires in his heart.

She lowered her gaze to the receipt in her hand and let out a faint laugh, though her heart felt heavy. "Forget it. Theodore, if you don't like me, plenty of others do."

…

That night, Calista invited a group of close friends to a nightclub. She hadn't stepped into a place like that since marrying Theodore.

She wore a black slip dress, the hem swaying gently with each step to reveal her long, slender legs. There was a flicker of her long-lost boldness returning to her eyes.

Her best friend, Noelle Rowan, grabbed her arm. Noelle's eyes widened in surprise. "Calla, what's going on with you today? Ever since you fell for that cold ascetic, haven't you stayed glued to his side every day and stopped coming to places like this?"

Calista smiled and took a sip from her wine glass, her eyes turning slightly hazy. "Forget him. Tonight, I just want to have fun."

She turned and stepped onto the dance floor, swaying to the rhythm. Her body moved as if it had finally been unleashed, wild and uninhibited.

Her gaze swept over the male escorts nearby, a smirk playing on her lips. She reached out and lightly ran her hand over one man's torso, making him chuckle softly.

Noelle rushed over and grabbed her hand. "Calla, are you crazy? You've been touching all these guys and dancing so close. Aren't you afraid that Theodore will get mad if he sees this?"

"He's not even here," Calista said.

Noelle hesitated, then leaned close to her ear and whispered, "No… who told you he wasn't here? I've been trying to tell you—Theodore's in the back booth, and he's been watching you for a while!"

Calista's body stiffened, and she slowly looked up. Through the dizzying lights, she spotted him instantly.

Theodore wore a black suit that clashed with the surrounding chaos. He sat in a corner booth, his long fingers resting on the rim of his glass. His heavy gaze was fixed on her, and she had no idea how long he had been watching.

The music stopped at that exact moment.

She heard his friend beside him joke, "Theodore, Calla's been out there dancing for ages, and she's even touching other guys. If that were my wife, I'd have flipped the damn table by now. How are you still sitting here?"

Theodore's expression didn't flicker. He simply took a calm sip of his tea and replied coldly, "She knows her limits. She won't do anything inappropriate."

Those words hit Calista like a poisoned needle, striking exactly where she was most vulnerable.

Calista couldn't understand what he meant by knowing her limits. She wondered if he was certain she loved him too much to actually do anything with someone else or if he simply didn't care at all. Perhaps it was both.

"Wow, I'm genuinely outclassed by your level of detachment! I'm starting to wonder if there's anything in this world that could even faze you—"

The friend's voice suddenly rose mid-sentence. "Hey, Theodore, where are you going?"

Calista looked up instinctively and saw Theodore rise abruptly, his eyes fixed on the other side of the dance floor. A rare flicker of jealousy crossed his usually detached eyes.

She followed his gaze and saw Aveline standing at the edge of the dance floor in a white dress, exchanging contact information with a man.

Theodore strode over and grabbed Aveline's wrist, his voice terrifyingly cold. "Who allowed you to come to a place like this? And who gave you permission to give your number to others?"

Aveline was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes began to well up. "Why can't I be here? And why can't I give someone my number? Theodore, haven't you stopped caring about me? Then, what I do has nothing to do with you."

Theodore clenched his hand so tightly that his knuckles went white, his voice dropping to a low, heavy tone. "Who said I stopped caring about you?"

Aveline's voice broke with tears. "You did! You avoid me every day and refuse to see me! Theodore, you used to be so good to me. Why did everything suddenly change one day?"

At her words, Theodore's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice thick with suppressed emotion when he said, "That's because—"

Calista, standing nearby, felt a sharp pang in her chest. She knew Theodore couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth.

He could never admit that he avoided her because he liked her or that he lost all self-control the moment he saw her.

He could never confess that he loved her so obsessively that, despite being married for two years, he had never touched his wife. Instead, he commissioned a lifelike doll that looked exactly like her to ease his longing.

Calista gave a self-deprecating laugh and turned to leave, but then, she heard Aveline cry out, "Theodore, can we go back to how things were? I want my old brother back—the one who only had eyes for me!"

Theodore's voice was low and hoarse. "I'm married now. I can't keep revolving my whole life around you."

Aveline suddenly looked up, a hint of madness flickering in her eyes. "Does that mean if your wife disappears, we can go back to how things were before?"

Calista had just picked up her bag to leave when she saw Aveline snatch a wine bottle from the table and stride toward her.

With a loud crash, Aveline smashed the bottle onto Calista's head. The sound of shattering glass rang in Calista's ears as warm liquid streamed down her forehead.

Noelle's scream rang out beside her. "Calla!"

Calista stumbled backward, only to see Aveline raising a second bottle.

"Go die!" Aveline shouted.

The second strike landed even harder and knocked Calista out. She collapsed into a pool of blood, the world around her fading into nothing but a blur of frantic screaming.