Chapter 1

For the past two years, Dana Sanchez had given in every time.

At first, Kelly Hill had made Dana wash her clothes by hand. Later, she had forced Dana to slap herself. She had even made her kneel at the entrance of the neighborhood for a full day and night. Each demand was more unreasonable and vicious than the last.

"This is all your fault, you witch! If you hadn't latched onto my brother, would I be depressed?!" Kelly shouted as she stood at the rooftop edge. "Hurry up! Burn every photo you have with my brother in front of me!"

"Not moving, are you?" Kelly suddenly put one foot over the edge. "Then I'll jump! Let's see just how you're going to explain everything to my brother!"

Dana closed her eyes in defeat as she said. "Don't move. I'll go get them."

She ran home and grabbed every photo she had with Gary upstairs, along with their marriage certificate. Under Kelly's gaze, she burned it all to ash in a metal bucket. Only then did Kelly leave, laughing in satisfaction.

Dana crouched on the ground with tears rolling down her face in silence as she stared at the remaining corner of her wedding photo. She pulled out her phone and texted Gary. "Honey, you should get Kelly to see a therapist. Today, she..."

The message showed as read, but no reply ever came.

Dana stared at the screen for a long time. In the end, she got up and went to the Clerk's Office to get her marriage certificate reissued.

There were only a few people in the lobby.

Dana opened the digital copy of her certificate for the clerk. After checking the system, the clerk frowned. "Um… Ms. Sanchez? Your status shows that you're already divorced."

"What?" Dana's mind went blank, her voice shaking. "I never filed for divorce..."

The clerk turned the monitor toward her. "The system shows that the paperwork was submitted and just completed a few days ago."

Dana gripped her phone so hard her fingers went numb, her hand trembling uncontrollably.

She suddenly remembered a month earlier, when Gary had handed her a document to sign, saying it was an insurance policy. Kelly had been smashing things in the next room, shrieking for Dana to come over. Dana had signed it without even giving it another look.

The line behind her started to grumble.

"If you can't do it, move. Stop wasting everybody's time!"

"What a moron. She got dumped and didn't even know. Serves her right..."

Dana did not know how she made it out of the building.

The July sun simmered the asphalt until it seemed to heat up, but she felt chilled down to the bone. She could even feel her teeth chattering.

She took a cab straight to the headquarters of Hill Holdings.

The door to the CEO's office was half open, and laughter drifted out. Dana stopped and instinctively held her breath. Through the opening, she saw Kelly, who supposedly had refused to leave home for two years because of depression, now sitting on a couch with a bright smile.

Sandy Miller sat close beside Gary, leaning in as she cut a piece of sirloin and put it into his bowl.

"Gary, did Dana come to complain again? That's all she can do, crying here, there, and everywhere," Kelly said in a smug tone. "Don't go soft and take her side, now!"

Sandy gently said, "Kelly… Dana has taken care of you for the past two years. It hasn't been easy for her."

"She deserved it!" Kelly snapped, her voice rising. "If she hadn't been haunting my brother like a ghost and stopped him from picking me up at school, would I have been kidnapped and abused by our enemies?!"

Dana's nails dug deep into her palm.

Gary frowned, and a complicated expression appeared on his face, but he still said nothing. In other words, he acknowledged it in silence.

"Gary," Kelly's tone shifted. "When are you going to tell her about the divorce and kick her out of our home?"

Gary's voice turned low. "Kelly, she has nowhere to go. Not to mention..."

Kelly cut him off in a shrill tone, "Don't tell me you're still hung up on her?! Look at Sandy! She's gorgeous and capable. She beats Dana by a mile!"

"Kelly," Gary's voice stayed quiet but firm. "Don't alert her yet. I have other plans."

Kelly gave a cold laugh, malice in her eyes. "Good. If she stays, I've got plenty of ways to mess with her. I haven't even used my best ideas yet."

"Don't go too far," Gary said softly, sounding more like he was pampering her than anything else.

Dana stumbled back, tears pouring down her face. So, not only was she divorced, but she was also the last one to know.

She walked out of the building and watched the cars zooming on the road in front of her, a faint smile on her lips.

She had watched this farce for two years. It was time to end it.

If she was always meant to be an outsider, then she would leave on her own.

Two years ago, she had cut off her family completely for Gary. She had even sworn she would rather die than accept the marriage her grandfather had arranged for her when she was little.

Now that the divorce was already done...

Fine.

She would go back and marry the man she should have married long ago.